Shopping at 4am? I am insane.....

We went to St. Louis for Thanksgiving. We caravan ed with Hubster's brother and sister and cousins and Aunt to get there. We started off early and 12 hours later, we end up at his sister's house. It was fun. That's all I'm going to say about that.

We wake up the next morning and AB is excited to go spend the morning with my brother-in-law. The same one that broke his arm last year. AB woke up early. At 5am. To tell me that he was going to go wake up his Aunt and Uncle so that he and his Uncle could go 'shopping'.

Since I had just gone to bed at 1am, waking me up at 5 was not really a good idea. I tell him to go back to sleep since there is no movement in the house. He insists that he is getting up. I insist he go back to sleep.

I win. After he falls asleep crying.

He then wakes up at 7 when he hears voices in the kitchen. He gets dressed, tells UB that he needs to get dressed as well and off he went to wake up the other little cousin. When they are all dressed, they tell us that their Uncle D was taking them to IHOP and then shopping.

Uncle D had a 5, 6 and 7 year old boy with him. He took them to eat a big breakfast at IHOP then off they went shopping at Wal-Mart. They each came back loaded with toys.

They then went outside to play in the leaves with Uncle D.
While the boys were outside playing, my organized sister-in-law was looking at her list that was posted on her fridge, to see what needed to be put in the oven first. She had gotten all the casseroles ready the day we were traveling and so all she had to do was put them in the oven. She even had all the dishes out with a sign in each one telling what food item went in it. She is so like me. NOT! I wish I were like that, but I'm a procrastinator.

We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Even if we did eat 3 hours after we originally said. But I was Thankful for all the family there and no one hurting each other.

We went to bed at 1:30am. I was exhausted and wanted to sleep in, but my sister-in-laws wanted to go shopping with the other 4,000 people in the neighborhood. I get up at 3:30 and we load up (I'm the driver) and drive to Kohl's. All I can think about when I see that the line to get in the store is 2 miles long (no lie) is that I am insane. Insane to be out in the cold and with all those people.

Since I used to work in retail for 12 years, I vowed that I would never be like those crazy people fighting over cheap toys. That is why I went as the driver. Besides, I got to hang out with my 3 sister-in-laws.

My sil M that lives there and I decided we didn't need to go to Kohl's, so I drop off my other two sil's and we drive to Target because there was some stuff there that we were wanting. We park, see the short line and talk to stay awake. The 2 sil's show up and get in the car with us. It is 5 minutes to 5 and we think we have a good chance of getting stuff at Target. Until we realize that they don't open until 6.

Off to Wal-Mart we go. We have 5 minutes before they open the doors. They have no Supercenters there so it is a small regular Wal-Mart. I again drop off the shopping queens and I go find a parking spot in a neighboring town.

Can I just say that it is insanity? INSANITY!!!!!!!!!

It seemed like there were thousands of people there in a small store. Lines everywhere just to get down the aisles. People fighting over who was there first. Even fighting over the computers. People throwing stuff on the floor because it wasn't what they wanted and not to mention, people invading my space. MY SPACE. I don't like it when complete strangers want a piggy back ride down the aisles. I need my space.

My sil's are like competing for the supermarket sweep contest. They do good. They got all they wanted, with the exception of one thing. We get out of there and drive back to Target. Almost 6 by this time, had to make it there in time.

In time we did. We got there just as they were opening the doors. We park, run in and look for what we wanted.

We get home by 7 and go back to bed. We were tired. All that fighting the crowds gets a girl tired.

It was a fun time, but not something that I enjoy doing. I only went to hang out with my sil's. That was the main reason I went. But I am insane for going out that early instead of staying home under the warm blankets and sleeping.

INSANE I tell you!

The 4 wheeler and the kids

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Philippians 4:6

This past weekend was a time that we all used this verse.

We got to my sister and brother in laws house Wednesday night. A loooooooong trip because we had 2 men, 3 women, and 7 children with one of those being a 3 month nursing child.

Thanksgiving day started off as any other day. The turkey and ham were in the oven, the kids were running up the stairs so that they could slide down head first. Or running down the stairs trying to race each other.

We women started to cook some of the food, but we didn't have much to do because my organized sister in law had whipped everything together the day before and all we needed to do was just stick the casseroles in the oven. No one had any idea how convenient that would later be.

The kids got bundled up to go play outside in the cold and damp 31 degree weather. But they didn't care how cold it was, they were going to ride 4 wheelers.

They had been out for about an hour when I decided to go take pictures.

Each of the three men out there had two kids each. One in front and one in back. I didn't have a good feeling about this. I had already told my man to go slow.

About 2 minutes after they all had gone into the woods on the 4 wheelers, I hear a man's voice loudly yelling.

I turn to look and it is one of my brother in laws-Dan. My first thought was that they were playing a joke on me. The only one I saw was Dan. No other sounds or voices.

I looked up to the house to see if anyone is up there then look back at Dan. He's coming out of the woods yelling "my arm, my arm came off and I had to put it together, I need to get to the hospital"

I of course don't have my glasses and can't see too far. I start picturing him without his arm and his arm on the ground somewhere. I yell up to the house for Mindy to call 911.

Dan is holding his left arm close to his body with his right arm. Yelling "I need to get to the hospital, my arm, my arm is broken off and I need to get there"

By this time, I could tell he was in shock. His face was awfully white and he was talking continually. Some of it not making sense.

I walk him around the front of the house to wait for the ambulance. He continues to walk down the road. I call out to him and he says that he sees the hospital and he's got to get there. I walk over to him and bring him back home.

Mindy is worried about the food, the kids are all freaked out and terrified that their uncles arm is going to have to be cut off or something, the men are still out back with the 4 wheelers trying to get kids off and everything back where it belongs.

Dan is still yelling painfully and still trying to walk to the hospital. I tell Mindy that she probably just needs to take him herself. So we load Dan in the car and off they go.

The ambulance did show up about 5 minutes after they had left.

Dan had a boy in the front of the 4 wheeler and a girl in the back. While they were riding, the boy wanted to go faster and put his hand on the throttle making it go fast on a hill. This caused the 4 wheeler to lose control and fall on top of them.

Somehow Dan caught this monster toy and the kids were OK. But his arm got caught and snapped.

The Dr's told him that his arm was broke in two between the shoulder and the elbow and that it was just laying there. He stayed there to wait for the surgeon. Mindy came home to eat the meal that she had prepared but we had somehow managed to cook.

We ate, loaded up the kids and went to go see Dan. The kids needed to see that he was OK. That he wasn't going to die or lose an arm.

He had surgery Friday. They put a plate in his arm and had to pack it down with some bone from the bone bank. I didn't even know such a bank existed.

It was a Thanksgiving that I'm sure no one will forget. It was a wonderful day despite the accident. We sure had a lot to be thankful for.