The Weekend's Tender Mercies

Wow. What a few days it has been. It all started on Thursday morning when Patrick was scheduled to fly to LA and then to Vancouver. It was a short notice kind of thing and I was definitely not looking forward to being on my own with the two kids and a newborn. The responsibility to get kids up, dressed, fed and to school while dealing with a hungry baby and cold temperatures felt a bit overwhelming. I was up nursing Kai at about 6am when the school called to say they were making it a short day in preparation for the blizzard coming through town. Also they were re-routing the kids to a different elementary school because of a gas leak they couldn't repair at our school. Patrick was up at the same time to catch his cab to the airport. With a quick kiss goodbye, I was on my own to face the day.

I opted to not send Ronin to school at all. The weather wasn't too bad yet, (there was a bit of snow) but I knew the probability of catching the bus on time was slim, which meant me in the car with all the kids driving to a different school (in the snow) only to get in the car 3 hours later to pick him up from the bus stop. I am sure most mothers would feel they were short changing their kid, but I figure its only Kindergarten and I was prepared to do all the homework at home. Ronin of course was ecstatic to spend an entire day doing what he pleased.

At about 8am I texted Patrick to see if he had left only to find out his flight was cancelled. In fact most of the flights that morning were cancelled due to weather in other areas. It wasn't even snowing at the airport yet so Patrick felt a bit odd leaving to come back home but that is what he did and I am so grateful that he did.

He arrived home just as the storm was picking up. The snowflakes were HUGE! It was coming down quickly and snowed for the next 24+ hours. Last night at about 8pm the power went out. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal. The only real problem with it is that we are below the street which means we have an electric pump that pumps all sewage out from our house. With the power out we have no way to pump out any extra water from toilets, washing machines, sinks and the like. This is slightly inconvenient but manageable, for a time. Well, right before the power went out Ronin threw up all over the living room rug. And he really didn't stop throwing up all night long. Then the diahrrea set in. This is a big problem when you have no toilets!! Everything Ronin ate came back up almost instantly. Patrick was busy finding our 72 hour kits, placing candles around the house and finding a way to get us a bit of power from a small generator while I was busy holding buckets of puke and trying to settle a cranky baby. (Thank heaven Cache was sleeping!)

I finally got the baby to sleep at midnight around the time the power came back on. He was SO exhausted from the previous few hours that he slept the entire night and didn't wake until 9am! This was good because Ronin was still up every 20 minutes throwing up. I think at about 3am he finally got to settle a bit and sleep but would wake every once in a while to rinse his mouth out. Every time he spit into the bucket I would jump thinking he was throwing up again.

Today we woke with well over a foot of snow. The driveway was covered with bent branches from the surrounding trees and bushes. In the back you could hear branches snapping under the weight of the snow. It continued to snow all day. Light snow at times but still it kept coming down. Patrick was busy most the day working from home and Ronin spent all his time on the couch watching movies. We received a call from a guy in our ward who said he was coming over to snow plow our driveway. I told him he didn't need to worry because my husband was home and would take care of it with the snowblower. Thankfully this man knew a snowblower would not do much with the now 2 feet of snow we had and came anyway. It took him 3 hours to clean the driveway and he had a jeep with a snow shovel on the front of it! He got stuck quite a few times. The neighbors phone line had fallen over our driveway and there was a lot of pruning that needed to be done to get the jeep through. It was so slick Patrick fell multiple times and is now nursing a hurt back, side, arm and rear!

It was dark by the time they were finished but I am so grateful he and his son were willing to come help us out. Patrick headed in the car to get more salt and a new shovel since the heavy snow broke the one we had. I stayed home with the boys and a friends son and dog who are spending the night. (they are still without power and headed to a hotel). Not long after Patrick left I smelled something coming from the boys room in the basement. It was an odd smell, not natural gas, but definitely there was something wrong. I called Patrick once and he didn't answer. After a quick prayer and a re-dial he picked up. He said he didn't even hear it ring but just pulled it out of his pocket while he was driving and saw I had called. I told him to turn right around and come home. There was a smell and I was scared. All alone with all these kids and a dog! I called 911 and they sent out the fire department. I heard the local siren that calls the volunteers and they made it to the house the same time Patrick did. The car got stuck in the snowbank at the top of the drive. All the kids got their boots and coats on without any coaxing (I think they could hear the panic in my voice) and I wrapped the baby in some blankets only to find the keys to the other car were with Patrick. Thankfully it was unlocked and I huddled the kids in the other car in the driveway just incase the house exploded. The firemen came in with pick axes and all their gear. That was scary enough. They found a clip light that had been turned on and was face down on the Love Sac that was down in the kids room. It was smoldering and smoking. They dragged it outside to the porch and cut that thing up. It is an absolute mess out there! We finally got back into the house and got dinner for the kids and they are now all on the airmattress in the living room sleeping.

When i watch them laying there, mostly unaware of the events of the day. Thinking how so many things could have gone wrong today. I am so grateful Patrick's flight was cancelled. So glad he made it home intime to be safe with us. So glad he was there to track down our 72 hour kids and get the flashlights and candles out. So glad he was there to throw out buckets of puke and help me clean up. So glad he picked up his phone at just the right time. SO glad a saint in our ward took time to come shovel us out of our house. So glad there was a clean driveway to shuffle kids out to a car to keep them safe. SO glad there are firemen who volunteer their time and talents, so glad I didn't have to watch my house burn down tonight. When I think of all the little things that have made the last two days manageable, when it could have all gone SO wrong. I feel grateful. Grateful that prayers are answered. Grateful that we are watched over even when we are imperfect and make mistakes, Heavenly Father still considers us worthy of his help and guidance. I am humbled by these last two days. I am so glad my babies are safe. Amazed that they look to me for comfort when I don't know what's going on or how we will all make it through life. But somehow we do. I just hope we are through with all the excitement for the weekend.