"SURPRISE!"

Goodness, I should have known. When the "snack mom" failed to show up at Brandon's baseball practice this morning (leaving six very hot and sqirmy 3 year olds without their just rewards), I should have known.
The day was going to be filled with surprises.
Not the whole gang popping up from behind the couch and merrily yelling "Surprise!" kind of surprises either.
No, more like the, "Oops, I didn't mean to wash those red towels with your white work shirts," kind of surprise (I didn't really do that by the way.)

Okay, so. The first surprise of the day came just before we left to spend the afternoon at the lake. The kids had gathered up the requisite sunscreen, beach towels, sand buckets and shovels. Hubs had packed a cooler full of ice, cold drinks, some shelled peanuts and some juice boxes for the kids. I let the dog outside, planning to kennel him just before we headed out the door. We were almost there when...

HONK! HONK! HONK!

"What's that?" asked hubs.

HONK! HONK! HONK! HONK! HONK!

"It's a duck. No, a goose. It's definitely a goose. Hear it?"

Oh, I heard it alright. The last time I heard it was about 13 years ago. It was coming from the basement then, and you'd have thought we kept a goose prisoner in some dark basement corner.

Only, it wasn't a goose back then and it wasn't a goose today either.
No, the honk, honk, honking was actually (and unfortunately) the dreaded sound of Bordetella. If that word, Bordetella, sounds like the plague, you'd be close enough to correct. In fact, it was our dog who was making the hideous honking noise.
Our dog, who spent 5 days boarded at the vet while we visited family in Ohio.
Our dog, who came home from the vet on Thursday.
Our dog, who has come down with an active case of kennel cough (a.k.a. Bordetella).

It's not pretty, folks.
It's downright honkity.
He honks until he spits up (a little or a lot, depending on when his last meal or drink was.)
It can last 2 weeks.
I'm counting on 2 days.
Now I just need one of those bumper stickers. You know, "Honk if you're..."
Hey, I know. How 'bout, "Honk if you're TIRED OF CLEANING HONKED UP DOG SPIT!"
Yeah, that'll work.

Moving right along.
Surprise #2.
So we were coming home from Dennys this evening (yeah, that Denny's for those who have been around long enough to remember the great Denny's incident of 2008). The kids were singing in the back seats of our van. Now, you have to know that singing in the van is not some lovely Partridge family experience for us. Oh no, that would be dreamy but no, definitely not our reality. Instead, our kids like to make a nasty little competition out of singing.
Who can sing the most repetitively just to annoy the others?
Who can sing the loudest just to annoy the others?
Who can sing the fastest (you get it by now) just to annoy the others?
(Darling, I know.)

And tonight was no different.
The big annoying sing-off was in under way.
Our little maestros were trying to control one another lead the band for all they were worth.
Their "drive it into the ground" song of choice?
Ultra Man, the theme song (Anyone?)
Sakes alive, that song is annoying!

So they were singing their competitive hearts out, vying for loudest, fastest, most repetitive, when I couldn't take it anymore (the song nor the unkind spirit in which they were "performing").

"You kids stop singing that song this very instance."

Their dad chimed right in as he approached the stop sign.

"I'm with mom. Enough already with the Ultra Man song. If you can't all sing something together without trying to be in control of the others, then don't sing at all."

We rolled on (which became key to the moments that followed).

In the next moment, I found us slowing down on the side of the road, directly next to the "blueberries and rasberries, $2" sign.
Hubs had failed to stop at the Amish farm market earlier today that I had wanted to check out on the way home from the lake.
"Isn't this sweet? He's going to make it up to me by stopping to pick up some locally grown fresh berries. Awwww!"

Amazing how quickly an adoring, "Awwww!" can morph into an, "Aw, shoot!" because I believe that's what happened when I suddenly realized the only blue and red I was going to see right then was from the flashing lights behind us.
Yup, we got ourselves pulled over by the sheriff.

SURPRISE!

Apparently, that "roll on" that we so casually made is illegal in all 50 states.

As in, hubs rolled on, right through the stop sign while yelling at the kids to stop singing.
And thereby broke the law.

It seems the dog wasn't the only one "honking" in the H household today.
I, for one, was honking mad that we got pulled over for something so ridiculous as the Ultra Man theme song distracting us.
No time for 'tudes though.
"You catch more flies with honey," my mom always says.
Time to be very nice to the officer.

Hubs: "If you say I rolled through that stop sign, officer, I'm sure I did. I do apologize."
Me: "We were distracted by our kids' singing, sir. They were getting too loud and I'm sure he must have rolled through as we asked them to settle down."

Sheesh, that was a dorky (but genuine) excuse.

"Licence and registration, please."
"Why yes, sir. That's what I'm looking for right here. Is this it? No, that's a napkin from Taco Bell (duh). Here it is,...wait...no, that's just a receipt from Big O Tires. I don't suppose you want to see that. Goodness, what color am I looking for....oh, never mind, found it. Here you go."

He smiled so politely, then walked away.
I sighed.
Hubs quietly fielded questions from our four kids, who found the whole experience invigorating.
Nothing like watching Daddy about to bite a $100 fine and a few points on the ol' record, eh?
"See, kids, this is exactly why you have to obey. It starts at home and it follows you right into adulthood."
Reece, suddenly laughing: Daddy, what will happen if you just drive away reeeal fast while he's in his car?"
(Honestly kid, you're missing the whole point of the "obey" speech your father just made.)
Me: "He'd go to jail. Now, shhhhhh!"
(Isn't the lack of quiet what got us in this mess in the first place?)

Well, gotta love Officer Love (yes, his last name was actually Love.)
Because the dear man let us go without a ticket.
Just a warning.
Do you know how relieved we were to not be hit with our just punishment? I assure you, we were very grateful.

So the day started with poor Brandon and his teammates not getting their just rewards.
And it ended with us not getting our just punishment.
The officer was very kind to let us off with only a warning.
I'm truly thankful for his extension of grace to us in that moment.

I couldn't help but be reminded of the grace that God the Father extends to us when we place our trust in Jesus as our Savior.
The realization that there is nothing I can do to make God love me more.
(can't earn it through my own merit.)
But there is also nothing I can do to make Him love me less.
(can't destroy it in my human failings.)
Because when Jesus went to the cross to pay the price for all our sins (yours and mine) for all time, God loved me at His very, very best.
Here's hoping you've consciously experienced the grace of God in your life recently. If you haven't, it is my sincere prayer for you, that you will.

Ephesians 2:8
For by such grace you have been saved through faith. This does not come from you; it is the gift of God

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Toni