It's Your Key To Heaven

I know you're waiting to find out what happened with the whole car breaking down thing, but there's something else I wanted to tell you about.

One of the GOOD things that happened amongst all the car chaos, that also deserved it's own entry.

So yes, I will finish the 'car story'. Next post. Promise.

But for now ... let's break it up a bit ...



I've been getting quite a few comments/compliments on one of this year's Mother's Day presents.

When the boys came home from their dad's that evening, the first thing they did was to hand over kisses, cards, presents, and wishes of 'Happy Mother's Day, Mom!'

Then, Adam gave me this ...

I held it up, took in the pretty flower design, gave him a hug, kiss and said, 'It's beautiful Hun! I love it. Thank you!'

Then, while putting it on, I asked him, 'What's the key for? Does it open something special?'

To be honest, I was pretty cocky confident I knew the answer.

When I asked the question, I was positive he was going to reply, 'It's the key to my heart, of course.'

Which is why I was completely surprised when instead, he quietly said, 'It's your key to Heaven, Mama.'

Oh.

Wow.

Wasn't expecting that.

And if that wasn't enough to cause my heart to liquify ... instantaneously, into a puddle somewhere near my stomach; he followed it up with ...

'... and when you get there, God will have a BEAUTIFUL house all ready for you.'

Oh.

Again, wow.

Now, those of you who have been hanging around the Korner for awhile, (didn't your mother warn you about hanging 'round corners, People?!?), all you regulars know there is no love lost between my (w)rec(ked) room and I.

Adam is very aware of this, too.

He knows I've wanted to move for a very long time.

He knows a new-to-us house would make me happy. Very happy.

Yeah.

So, for all you people who look at us parents, who choose to use/wear/display a present we've received from our child; something we may not necessarily have chosen for ourselves, something that may have cost them $59.99, $29.95 or $1.00+tax at the dollar store ...

... hopefully now, you'll understand why.

Why we say 'it really doesn't matter what they give us.'

Simply, because it's true.

It's more so the thought they put into it, and meaning behind it that makes us do what we do.

And for me, that means holding my key to Heaven close to my heart.

OK, so let's all pretend the boobs aren't there, and focus on the necklace, m'kay? M'kay!

Hope you all had a WONDERFUL Mother's Day!

Oh ... and by they way ... when y'all get to Heaven ... kitchen party at my place!

K.

P.S. So ... um ... Will.i.am ... if you're out there, lurking in my Korner, and you happen to see this, and are still in a 'I'm gonna buy you a house!' kind of mood, this good, hard-working, deserving mama is waving at you pleading 'Oh OH... us ... pick US! I already know which one! Nothing fancy, just finished, and functional.

Ya know, just sayin' ;-)

If you have no idea what any of that P.S. meant, it will all make sense if you just go HERE.

HELP! I'm Stranded With Three Kids And A Cake!

OK, so I mentioned in the last post that I had three surprises for the boys' birthdays.

One night, about a week before his birthday, Alec mentioned he wanted to go to the PBL All Star dunking and three point competitions.

It was taking place the day of his birthday. One of his favourite players from the Halifax Rainmen would be participating.

I agreed it would be a cool outing, but made no promises to get tickets.

The next morning, on the drive to work, I'm listening to Frankie and Ana on The Morning Bounce, and got an idea.

I remembered hearing them give away tickets to the PBL event.

Damn! Was it morning or afternoon?

When was the last time I heard them give one away?

Could I win us a couple of tickets?


So, as soon as I got to the office, I fired off a quick email to Frankie, asking if they were still giving out tickets, explained it was Alec's b-day that day and I was hoping to win some for my own three point dude.

I didn't get quite the reply I expected.

Frankie didn't offer info on when the next drawing would be.

He flat out offered us four weekend passes to all the events!

HOLY CRAP! Alec was going to FREAK!


Which, my friends, brings us back to ...

Back to when we were sitting in the car, right after the boys finished putting on their new armbands, (Surprise #1) and I said ...

'Now, this next one, is for Alec, for his birthday, from Frankie Hollywood at 101.3 The Bounce.

But we'll ALL be going to it! He gave us four weekend passes!'

Two mouths dropped.

As far as they were concerned, it didn't matter WHAT it was.

It was four weekend passes, from their favourite station and Mom thought it was 'surprise worthy'.

WooHoo!



Once again, eyes closed, hands out, big grins plastered on two expectant faces.

I dug the tickets out of my purse, put them in their hands and said, 'OK ... open'

Alec was the first to react.

'We're going? I didn't think you were going to get tickets! How did you get tickets?'

I gave him a smile and said, 'Thank Frankie Hollywood.'

Adam was still looking at his ticket.

Trying to figure out the acronym of the upcoming event that obviously had his brother so excited.

Finally, he simply looked at me and asked, 'where are we going?'

And before I could say anything, Alec replied ... 'THE PBL GAMES!'



YES! Yes we were. If my vehicle would get us there ...

Oh yes, there's a side story within this story, people!

Of COURSE there is!


I had been having vehicle problems.

By the time it was diagnosed, the 'small leak' turned into needing a new radiator.

While waiting for that part to come in, I still had to get back and forth to work. Run errands. Pick up birthday 'stuff'.

Get everyday shit done.


By the time Saturday rolled around, I had already broken down in the Wal-mart parking lot earlier in the week.

Yeah.

THAT was fun.

Can ya see me?

Hood up, jug of water in hand, pouring ... pouring ... pouring into the rad.

Yeah.

My mechanic had told me to 'keep putting the water to it and it should be fine until that new rad gets here.'

That was on a Monday.


Saturday was Alec's birthday.

He woke up to 'the usual'.

Something I started for Alec when he was little and have done for the boys ever since.

From the time they walk out their bedroom door ...

To the bathroom ...

... to where they find their presents.

That afternoon, Alec invited a friend over, who was going to spend the weekend and attend the games with us.

As usually happens if it's a 'sleepover weekend', I ordered a pizza from the local Pizza Hut, then set out to pick it up a few minutes later.

Got there. Got the pizza. Got back in the truck. Turned the key. Nothing.

Wouldn't start.

Crap!

Just out of the blue, wouldn't start.

This wasn't good.

I knew I had put fluid in the rad just before I left the house. It shouldn't be overheated.

I gave it a few minutes.

Tried it again, sputtered some, then died.

Then, the strangest thing happened. A vehicle malfunction I hadn't yet experienced.

It started, reluctantly, but it started.

The NEW problem was, if I took my foot off the gas, it stalled.

Turned it off.

Tried it again. Same thing.

Would start, with loving encouragement, but the minute I took my foot off the gas ... Stall.

I looked at the clock. It was almost 4pm.

I had three boys waiting back at the house for the large Meat Lovers that was getting cold on my passenger seat, the game started at 5pm, it took half an hour to get to the venue and I was still in the Pizza Hut parking lot.

Wasn't. Going. Anywhere.

Great. Happy Birthday Alec!

Damn!

I debated calling a cab, and having the CRV towed, or calling the ex, and having the CRV towed.

I called the ex. Explained the situation and that I was desperately in need of a ride home.

I'd figure out how we were going to get to the game, and how I'd get the truck home, later.

One crisis at a time, please!

He arrived, got in the truck, started it, took his foot off the gas and ... it kept running.

WHAT THE?!?!??!

Yup, all he did was sit in it and start it up and all of a sudden it was OK to hit the break, and gas, and break again, and NOT stall.

Alrighty then!

Off we headed for home. He followed me, just in case.

While the boys inhaled the pizza, the ex put more fluid in the rad, as well as topped up the oil.

And me?

I was muttering my new mantra ... 'just get us through the weekend, until the new part gets here! 'just get us through the weekend, until the new part gets here! 'just get us through the weekend, until the new part gets here!'

Finally, we piled back in the truck, said a quick prayer to the vehicle gods, and ...

Started no problem.

WooHoo! We were out of there!

Late, but out of there!

At last, we made it to the Legends game.

By the time we got there, we were almost half an hour late, but so was the start of the game. HA! YES!

Didn't miss anything!

They were non-ball players. But it was entertaining nonetheless.

Then, it was time for the events that Alec was REALLY interested in.

The three point and Slam Dunk challenges.

And that's where we saw some GOOD ball!

We also saw other strange spectators watching good ball.

And then we saw some very STRANGE ball! ;-)

By the time the evening was done, it was about four hours later.

Definitely a night of fun, and worth the stress to get there.

OK, so these fan waving things below.

People left them in the seats after the game. Apparently, I NEEDED to have 60 of these things brought home, for the boys to smack each other with.

When we got to the parkade, I looked at the CRV.

Was it going to start?

Were we going to be stranded, trying to figure out how to get home?

Was I going to have to hit it with one of those fan thingies?

I had nothing to worry about.

Started on the first try.

On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store, to pick up Alec birthday cake

It was 9:30pm.

We ran in, picked out a cake, ran out.

Everyone looking forward to the late night chocolate treat when we got home.

We WERE, that is, until the truck wouldn't start.

No! NO! NOOOOOOO!

Not now!

Not here!

Not tonight!

But no matter how many 'no!'s' I threw at it, it wouldn't turn over.

At all.

DAMN!

By the time I had given it some additional time to cool off, and tried it again, and cool, and try, it was 10pm and the store was closed.

I finally had to give up.

I couldn't keep the boys there all night, hoping the stupid truck was going to start.

So what was I going to do?

Have you ever tried to think, with 'what are we going to do, Mom?', and 'are we going to walk home?' and 'are you going to call Dad?' and 'can we eat the cake?' ... all being thrown at you at the same time?

Yeah. Not exactly a thinking-friendly environment.

Then, Alec asked, 'Can we go run around the empty parking lot while you figure out what we're going to do?'

I looked around, saw that the place was entirely empty, knew it was something they were never allowed to do on a normal visit, needed the space to think, so said 'Sure, fill yer boots! But BE CAREFUL! and don't go far. Stay where I can still see you.'

So they did.

And I once again placed the SOS to the ex.

The ex who lives about 10 min away, and decided to answer my desperate plea of, 'HELP! I stranded with three kids and a cake!'

He got there about 15 min or so later.

We left the truck, took the cake and fan smackers, and headed for home, finally getting there close to 11pm.

So what do you do, when you finally get home after an evening of fun, followed by a bit of not so much fun?

You have cake!

Late night Birthday Cake :-)

At one point, while dishing out cake, I said to Alec 'I'm sorry we broke down on the way home from the game hun', and he looks at me and says "Mom, between Frankie giving us those tickets, and what happened tonight ... BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!!!'

PHEW! Surprise #3 ... SUCCESS!

The next morning, I made the phone calls.

First to my mechanic, letting him know what happened and where the truck was, and my dilemma of how I was going to get to that afternoon's game.

He told me if I could get the truck to his place, I could take his car for the day, and to work tomorrow, until we figured out what was going on with mine.

Good enough!

Next call was to the next door neighbour, and god love 'im, he drove me down there, waited while I refilled it with water, gave my engine a boost, and ... yeah ... it was running!

I set out immediately for my mechanic's house, my neighbour following me.

I pulled into his driveway, and without any fuss whatsoever, other than a small sigh, the engine died.

Not to start again.

Could have been worse. At ANY time, on the way to his driveway, it could have decided that was IT.

But it didn't.

So we did the car swap.

That afternoon, it was off to the All Star game.

Now THAT was some good basketball!

Half-time show consisted of tricks with a trampoline, basketball and 'high flyers' :-)

They were pretty cool!

And of course, the Weather Girls!

After the game we made our way down to the floor for pics and autographs.

Before we made it to the players, I noticed a few of the Weather Girls were posing for a pic with some guy.

The boys noticed it too, and started arguing between them over who was going to ask if they could get their pic taken with them.

Had I left it up to the three of them, the girls would have been long gone before we even took another step.

I stopped the debate with a, 'hang on ...', waited for the guy to finish, then walked over to the girls and asked, 'Hey! Would you mind taking another pic since you're all right here? :-D' and yes, I DID give them that big smile.

Which sort of gave me funny looks in return.

So I clarified it with a, 'not with ME,' as I turned around and pointed at the three boys standing mute ... smiling, but mute, behind me, 'with THEM!'

They said 'SURE!' and gave the boys one of the highlights of their weekend, I'd say. Right boys?

The Mascot, Thunder, stopped for a pic.

Then it was on to the Players!

They didn't get pics with all. By the time we made it through as many as we did, some were already gone.

But did manage to get one with Ross Demasi of the Vermont Frost Heaves.

Sorry, it has to be said ... he was a cutie!

And Michael Anderson, of the Maryland GreenHawks, totally rocked the boa, Baby!

As well as a few others, before catching up with Alec's favourite, Eric Crookshank of the Halifax Rainmen!

He had his pic taken with him at a game last year also lol.

Before we left, guess who Adam spotted in the crowd?

Someone who we needed to say a huge Thank You! to.

Frankie, Frankie Hollywood :-)

We all thanked him for the tickets and let him know the whole weekend was a great time, and an awesome birthday present.

He was nice enough to stop for a pic with the boys, too!

Thanks again Frankie, and 101.3 The Bounce!

The weekend was AWESOME!

OK, the whole breaking down multiple times thing wasn't great, but other than that ...

Later that night, once the boys were in bed, and the weekend was over, it was time to worry about my stupid inoperable vehicle.

Worry about how much the repairs were going to cost me.

And if it was going to be too much, should I even bother, or look for something else.

But what could I afford if I had to look for something else?

Oh ... right ... that would be a grand total of just about ... nothing.

Right.

And as I closed my eyes that night, I was STILL thinking of that stupid truck.

What was I going to do when I had to give my loaner car back, and I still didn't have anything to drive?

That question was answered a couple of days later, in a most unexpected way ...

K.

'I Have Not One ... Not Two, But ... THREE Surprises!

A few interesting things happened over the past couple of weeks.

However, because I've been living these events, I haven't had much time to write about them :-)

Now, it's time to tell you about a few surprises I had for the boys for their birthdays.

Sooooo ... if you popped by for a quick read, come back later.

We're playing catch-up today!


A few weeks ago, Adam turned ten yrs old. Double digits, people!

It's not often I post close up shots of the boys, but he just looked so damn cute in this one I HAD to share that cuteness (as well as a few others) with the entire world.

He decided he wanted to have a party at the house this year.

A boy/girl dance party.

A-hem.

Oh yes, Mama was there to chaperon!

And I DID join 'em, for one song, until Adam gave me a 'look' that sent me back up to the kitchen again LOL

Around 9:30pm, the girls left, and boys stayed for a sleepover.

The night before the party, I put on my decorating hat and attempted to transfer the (w)rec(ked) room into a Disco Wonderland. Complete with strobe lights, and disco balls.

A little dancing ... sure ... more just running around being goofy with the music on ;-)

Next up, only a few weeks later, was Alec's birthday.

My baby, turned 14!

Hello, my name is Kim, and I am the mother of a full fledged teenager!

Now, along with birthdays, usually come presents.

My kids tend to want many things for their birthday.

I get them to tell me their 'really want', and then depending on the cost of that, they'll get one or two more.

One thing both boys had originally asked for as a birthday present, was a Rey Mysterio (wwe wrestler) mask.

Pic taken from HERE

Yes, I could have ordered these from the WWE website, but each one would have cost me $50, as well as $30+ for shipping to Canada.

Sorry boys, wasn't gonna happen.

What I did instead, was find some dude on Kijiji who was selling Jeff Hardy armbands (@ $7 compared to $15 each), told him I wanted a couple pair for my kids for their birthdays, and then figured I may as well ask him if he knew of anyone who had any masks.

Turned out he runs something called MainStream Wrestling Entertainment, which is currently touring across Canada, and would be coming to town in time for Alec's birthday.

He would have armbands, AND masks (for less than half the price on the website)!

WooHoo!

Unfortunately it would be too late for Adam's birthday, but I knew he wouldn't mind a belated present ;-)

So we made arrangements to meet.

That plan didn't pan out.

At first, I was disappointed, because I thought I might not get the items in time.

Now, looking back, I realize that if things had gone according to plan, the next set of events, and what turned out to be a HUGE surprise for the boys wouldn't have happened.

We made arrangements to meet later in the week.

I took a late lunch, went down to the pub where the show was taking place later that evening and found the Armband Dude.

Perfect. Half the mission accomplished.

Unfortunately, the guy who had the masks hadn't arrived yet.

Damn.

Then, it hit me, it was probably best if I had the boys with me to pick out the masks anyway.

I had a general idea of what they wanted, but hated the thought of getting home and seeing a look of disappointment on their faces if I had chosen something 'uncool' after all.

So, as I looked over to the guys assembling the wrestling ring, an idea began to form ...

The boys would freak if they came down and saw the ring set up, and maybe a wrestler or two!

I told Armband Dude that I'd be back after work, WITH my kids, and I'd let them pick out their own masks.

We wouldn't be staying for the show.

Kids can eat in pubs, but can't stay past a certain hour. 8 pm I think?

When Alec called later that afternoon, I told him to make sure he and his brother were ready to leave the house right away as soon as I got home, because we were going out for a surprise, then we'd grab some dinner afterwards.

Picked them up after work, and didn't tell them where we were going, or why.

Before we left, we sat in the car for a minute, and I said 'I have not one ... not two, but ... THREE surprises!'

And before they could begin with the 'is it a ...' I said 'close your eyes, put out your hands, and you'll get the first one.'

And they did.

As soon as the package hit their fingers, their eyes opened to find, and immediately put on the armbands :-)

Surprise #1 - Success!

Now, instead of telling you immediately about Surprise #2, I'm instead going to skip straight to #3, since it continues with this whole wrestling theme ;-)

So, with armbands in place, we left.

And it was a 20 min drive filled with 'is it a ...' or 'what about a ...' or 'can we x with it?' or 'is it a puppy?'

No, no, no, and NO!

When we finally got there, they still had no idea where we were or why.

But once we got inside, and they saw the wrestling ring, they knew whatever it was, it was going to be something GOOD!

I told them we were there to pick out the masks, and explained that no, we weren't allowed to stay for the show.

We found Armband Dude, and you know what? He was GREAT!

Treated them like little VIPs.

Grabbed one of the show promo posters, and had the wrestlers who were there sign it for them.

Introduced him to some of 'The Boys' who were hanging around, waiting for things to get started.

And then ...

And THEN ...

He gave Adam the ULTIMATE birthday present, by saying 'SURE!' when Adam asked ...

'Can we go in the ring?'

Oh yeah!

The boys, with one of the guys who is supposed to be one of the 'bad' guys.

You want to see a kid LIGHT UP?

No more encouragement required, they were in the zone.

We were there about half an hour or so, hangin' out

After I was finally able to coax them out, they picked out their masks and off we went for a birthday dinner.

But not before even Mama was offered a free ticket, if she wanted to come back later that night for the show ;-)

Mama appreciated, but declined.

And after dinner?

Oh YEAH!

It was ON BABY!

Surprise #3 ... SUCCESS!

OK, so let's backtrack a bit.

Back a couple of hours or so.

Back to when we were sitting in the car, right after the boys finished putting on their new armbands, and I said ...

'Now, this next one, is for Alec, for his birthday, from Frankie Hollywood at 101.3 The Bounce.

But we'll ALL be going to it! He gave us four weekend passes!'

Two mouths dropped.

As far as they were concerned, it didn't matter WHAT it was.

It was four weekend passes, from their favourite station and Mom thought it was 'surprise worthy'.

WooHoo!

Once again, eyes closed, hands out, big grins plastered on two expectant faces.

I dug the tickets out of my purse, put them in their hands and said, 'OK ... open'

Alec was the first to react.

'We're going? I didn't think you were going to get tickets! How did you get tickets?'

I gave him a smile and said, 'Thank Frankie Hollywood.

Adam was still looking at his ticket.

Trying to figure out the acronym of the upcoming event that obviously had his brother so excited.

Finally, he simply looked at me and asked, 'where are we going?'

And before I could say anything, Alec replied ...

... to be continued.

*******************************************

Sorry my friends, that's where we're going to stop for tonight.

This post has taken on a life of it's own, and the Surprise #2 event really deserves an entry all to itself.

Not only do you find out how we spent Alec's birthday weekend, but you'll also hear about how we became stranded, un-stranded, stranded again, rescued a couple of times, and ... the story behind 'Mama's New Ride!'

Oh yeah, you'll want to come back to hear all about THAT ONE!

And how during one breakdown, I had three boys waiting at the house for dinner, before heading out to the first weekend event, and I'm in the Pizza Hut parking lot, with a large meat lovers on my passenger seat.

And CAN'T. GO. ANYWHERE.

Yeah.

Welcome to my world, people. Welcome to my world lol.

K