Blessed Beyond Measure: Toddler Tales Week 30: The Good, The Bad and The Normal

Toddler Tales Week 30 was overall a pretty good week. It started off with normal family life...

While we were getting ready to leave the house one morning, we turned around and found this. He was just laying there with shoes on his hands staring at the ceiling??...

On our day off together, Asher & I were upstairs, when he disappeared for a moment. When he reappeared, he had Eric's electric razor and he was attempting to shave like daddy!

Video: Asher Wants to be Just Like Daddy

After naptime on Wedesday, I decided that Asher and I would make some chocolate chip cookies. Originally, my plan was for us to make some cookies for Daddy and bring them to his work to surprise him. However, Asher didn't wake up from his nap until after 3pm and we still needed to make a trip to the store, so there wasn't enough time for that. We still had a good time making the cookies together and Asher did a great job helping. I measured out all of the ingredients and then let him pour them into the bowl. He also was my official taste tester (pre-egg addition), and enjoyed eating the sugar that he spilled off the counter and chair. Unfortunately though he was not very happy when I had to use the mixer and wouldn't let him help.

When the cookie dough was done, our friends Britni and Theo (her little guy) came over to enjoy dinner and dessert with us. It was fun to share a simple crock-pot meal together and catch up on the events of our lives afterwards.

On Friday, I received some great news. After years of being told that I "deserve a raise", my boss finally gave me one (such a blessing) and told me that I will be getting my own office in the next few weeks!

Then, after work that evening, we loaded up the van and headed North. A few weeks prior, my mom had asked us if we would be willing to come home this weekend for a belated Klingenmaier (extended family) Christmas party. Since we rarely have a chance to see those members of our family we readily agreed. By the time Friday night came though, the weather was not looking real great. There was light snow falling, which wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't blowing all over the roads. While we were in Kenosha, it didn't seem bad though, so we decided to go on as planned. The drive home wasn't terrible (most of the way), but it was a bit stressful. We left Kenosha at 6pm and didn't get there until almost 1am (even though it is normally at 3.5-4 hour drive). By the time we got to Menominee, MI it was about 11:00 and we were thrilled that we were almost home. Another 15 minutes down the road, however the thrill changed from a positive to a negative. Just after Wallace, we came across a deer standing right on the white line. Eric tried to slow down for it, not knowing if it would stay where it was at or stupidly cross right in front of us. When he slowed, we realized that the roads had gotten dangerously icy and the van immediately went into a spin. We quickly turned almost 180 degrees and went flying into the nearby ditch. It was terrifying. In just a few seconds, millions of thoughts crossed my mind as I wondered if we would hit the deer, if we would hit the telephone pole that we were headed towards, how to comfort my husband who was calling out to God to save us and protect our family, what the damage of this accident would be to our family, and what the damage of the accident would do to the value of our (hopefully sellable) van. When the van came to a stop, we were in the ditch, surrounded by snow and very shaken up (Eric was swearing that we would get a new vehicle immediately and won't travel again until it happens and Asher, who had been woken up by the incident was screaming unconsolably in the back), but we were safe and unharmed. The van had no damage to it, but we were far enough down in the snowy ditch, that we were not going anywhere on our own. Eric got on the phone with AAA and I called my dad who was home waiting for us to come and get us, thinking we would just leave the van until the next day. A few moments later though, a state patrol car pulled up to check on us and then called a local tow truck who (for $65) was able to be at our location within about 20 minutes and pull us out. The whole ordeal only lasted a little more than an hour, but when it was over we were more than ready to get home. My dad followed us home where we promptly put Asher to bed (who went to sleep without a peep). Then Eric and I tried to get some rest and push our the thoughts and horrors of the day (although I had several dreams that night about hitting deer).

The next day, we were able to relax a bit in the morning with Aaron, Erika, their boys and dad. Mom was not able to make it home until later that afternoon as she had gotten stuck in St. Ignace after a work trip downstate and closed roads. Later in the morning though the relaxation went out the window as I found out that Mom had promised to bring the dessert for the party and since she wasn't there, the task was given to me. She had the ingredients to make Oreo truffles, so I whipped up a batch of those and then Eric and I headed to the store to find something else...we bought an apple pie and a turtle pie.

When the desserts were ready (we had to bake the frozen apple pie) and so were we, we headed out to my Aunt Gail and Uncle Mike's home on the Menominee river. It was a great party, although I was utterly exhausted from the previous night. We had a fun time catching up with the family and watching the children play. Then we headed back home for a quick dinner and everyone was in bed by 8pm!