Weekend Adventures

We live an hour from Wal-Mart!  But as crazy as that sounded when we moved to west Texas, I've grown somewhat accustomed to driving.  But days like Friday make it somewhat difficult.  I am such a tight wad, but we finally couldn't ignore that "Maintenance Required" light on our dashboard anymore. In the back of my mind I knew it was referring to the oil change that we seem to be stretching to the 3,500-4,000 mile mark these days, but I also knew we needed to have the timing belt (whatever that is) changed in our Honda Accord. Matt and I have had countless conversations about how it's cheaper to maintain a car than to fix something when it goes wrong, but still...it seems so expensive and I am all about not spending large amounts of money.

So I made an appointment with the nearest Honda dealership (again...an hour away) to get the timing belt and water pump changed. At some point in my conversation with the service department boss guy, I mentioned that I would have to schedule a time when my husband could come along with our other vehicle due to the fact it would be a 4-6 hour wait time. He was so nice and told me it was no problem for them to take me back while my car was being serviced. Sounded good to me!

So I made an appointment for Friday morning. But then I realized that this guy probably didn't put two and two together that I live an hour away from the dealership. In addition, hubby had to work Friday morning. But I thought, "That's no problem. I'll just have them take me and Isaac to the mall. We can shop around and then when we get bored, we can walk next door to the Target, Kirkland's, Ross, and whatever else jumps out that's in walking distance." However, when I thought about just how long it would be for this pregnant mama to tote around a toddler in a stroller for 6 hours, it didn't sound so good anymore.

Thank goodness my knight in shining armor came and rescued us from endless wandering around Target and treated us to lunch at McDonald's.  Isaac was quite a happy camper.

He climbed up on the "little kids" slide all by himself!  Just look at that determination!  Then he decided he would be even braver and play on the "big kids" playground.  He didn't get far, but he had a heap of fun in the entrance "bubble" and attempting to climb up the slide.  Before I know it, my eldest child will be flipping off his shoes and climbing around the tunnels and towers with all the other stinky feet children.

 After some other errands and wandering around the mall (again), we went to the Honda place to wait for our car and they gave Isaac one of those HUGE balloons they put on the cars.  It provided endless minutes of entertainment...until it came off the string and floated to the ceiling.  Thankfully, one of the salesmen felt compassion for our poor, balloon-less child and gave him a replacement from the nearest new Honda.

The next morning we hung out at a garage sale held by several of the ladies from our church.  It turned out to be a chilly morning because of the wind.  And unfortunately, mommy underestimated how cold it would get.  Thankfully, one of the little girls in our church had a jacket for Isaac to wear.  It was somewhat big for him, but it made for a cute picture.
 

Hobbit?  Or Little Red Riding Hood?

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Then on Sunday we had our spring revival at our church with a youth mission trip spaghetti fundraiser for lunch.  Quite a busy day, but it was awesome to see and hear what God is doing in the lives of our church members.  I know for me, personally, my life seems like one big routine sometimes and unfortunately that affects my walk with Christ.  But I'm thankful for focused times of renewal.  It's great to be reminded of the sacrifice that God made for me and how my time on earth is just a moment compared to eternity.  Far too often I get preoccupied by the "worries" of my day and forget that serving Christ is a joy, an honor, and there are others that need to know the saving grace of God.