You Win Some, You Lose Some

We have come out on the better side of some close calls lately.

Josh and I were standing in the freshly cleaned kitchen (which you know means that 4 unattended kids created uninhibited chaos un-freshly cleaned elsewhere HA!) But, as we stood there reveling in our newly mint-condish (empty) sink... water started POURING out of the bottom of our running dishwasher. But you know what?!  We were standing RIGHT THERE so we just pushed "Cancel" and mopped up. :)  #win! (broken dishwasher #lose)

BUT!  Our home owner came right over and fixed it! #win...but I ran it again today and it still floods the house leaks. #lose. And I thought I hit "Cancel" and mopped frantically only to realize I actually DIDN'T push "Cancel" and the water just kept on coming. The kids were breaking land speed records bringing me fresh towels! Maybe not a win. UPDATE: we get a new Dishwasher!! (it was already new...but we get a NEW new one! #win)

Jordan has sailed right thru potty training- she's doing fantastic...until the last few days she has forgotten that #2 goes IN the potty.  Wait, you say....how is this a win??  Well, let's just say that the only time (S) she's remembered to go IN the potty have been diarrhea-like "less solid". #WIN  Let me say that again. #WIN!!

Labor Day weekend was sneaking up on us and there we sat. Zero plans in our new hood. But just when it seemed all was lost, Hurricane Hermine cancelled Dad and Beth's plans for a FL weekend of sand and sun so they came northward!  We got to see the sights, the weather was beautiful!  And we finished off our Labor Day evening BBQing at a friend's house and visiting with our favorite Centurion.  The kids could not believe Mr. Brooks is actually 100!! :) #WIN

Over the weekend I stumbled across some pictures (and video!!) on our TV/Amazon Fire Stick that were suuuuper creepy. For 1.  They were of the kids, and the house. 2 They were all taken from the same vantage point.  3 That vantage point seemed to be from our front window. (YES SERIOUSLY). 4.  I was no where to be found in any of the pictures. 5. I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU EVEN GET PICTURES ONTO A FIRE STICK....So I'm wracking my brain...neither Josh nor I have those pictures on our phones, the laptop is always password protected (after like 30 seconds of non use) and I have no idea how to take pictures with the laptop camera, let alone from that angle.  Then I think...maybe on our tablet?!  So I scour it for how to get to the camera...can't figure it out.  I give it to Beth to look over and she ingeniously asks Renae if there's a way to take pictures on it.  Oh sure!! Renae proceeds to close it, go to the lock screen and find this teeny tiny camera icon that requires no password and wha la.  PHEW.  I was thinking we were going to have to move.  ((The picture/movie taker had sat in the window sill to take them.))  Since I have a Kindle Fire, it would sync automatically to our Fire Stick and presto... scary pictures on our TV.  This could very easily be a loss (there were a lot of pictures!  From multiple dates! That's called great parenting...)...but I'm just very thankful we don't have a creepy stalker! #win

Well, then there's the big NOPES.  Like that time I was having adult conversation time upstairs and Jack dumped AN ENTIRE CONTAINER of gold glitter all over the floor.  I'm still finding it. Every. Where.

Or the time I asked Jack if I could have his towel (he was fresh out of the shower and just a few steps left down the stairs to his bedroom to get dressed) to save me some steps to take it back upstairs.  And then he proceeded to fall down the remaining 4 steps. Nude. (He was completely fine, thankfully!)

Also...our children have reverted back to riding the midnight-parent's room-carousel. They've got the timing down perfectly.  Some nights it's every 60-90 minutes we have a new rider. Some nights it's not quite that torturous bad, but those are the night(S) (YES-NIGHTSSSSSS) where I get bitten by a bug in the bed. I'm not quite sure when the last time both either Josh and I have slept thru the night. The black circles are becoming permanent, people.

Speaking of sleep...Jordan is in the prime age (2.5) for naps that make a HUGE difference in attitude.  Girl needs her beauty sleep!  Well, I'm doing some school work with the big two downstairs (kind of under her room). About 45 minutes into her nap she starts crying (after it took her 45 minutes to fall asleep).  I make the kids be quiet silent as the grave for the next 20 minutes hoping she'll go back to sleep. Nope...moaning, tears, silence, crying, silence, wailing, screaming....ahh!  So I go up to try to calm her down.  She's standing up in her crib in the dark pointing across the room.  "Mommmmy'ssss phhhhhhooooonnnne.........."  What?  Yep, there it was.  I had recieved a phone call with a voicemail, 2 texts, and I have a reminder alarm that goes off every afternoon at 3pm...and it had snoozed twice. C'mon Mom! Yea she didn't go back to sleep.

But really, football has started (whoohoo!!).  The heat is on it's last hurrah this week. Mornings are cooler. Noah is certain he sees leaves changing. BSF starts next week. School is in full swing...we've had our first real dose of school-time DC traffic.....WOW.

Life is good. :)

Hey Life, Top THIS!

We had a beyond fabulous weekend!  ((I'll keep it real in the parenthesis--I wouldn't want anyone to think that life with four kids ages 6, 5, 3, and 2 is sunshine and roses all the time.  **Sidenote: who ARE those people who are so quick to destroy JOY shared on social media because it doesn't accurately show *reality*??  My reality- life is hard, and I still have a lot of joy! Sorry...moving on**)) We had a really great weekend!! I have to share:

Friday soon after Josh got home from work our homeowner stopped by with presents for the kids.  He is the sweetest guy.  Josh knows his story better than I do, but he is from Vietnam, basically became an apprentice for a handyman (starting in TX maybe?) and 20 years later with a wife and kids works here in DC.  Anyway- he LOVES the kids.  His English is a little rough, but he and Noah have been talking about baseball the few times he's been here fixing things around the house.  Check this out:

Bats, helmets and baseballs for each kid. :)  So generous!  The kids have been practicing and practicing ;)  And of course they were WAY too excited to hold still for a picture, but the blur just adds to the picture IMO. ;)

Saturday morning Josh finally got a bike!  So all 6 of us went on a bike ride...2+ miles. ((the + was too much for Noah...it took almost as long as the 2 miles to coax him the last bit home)).  It was a beautiful morning, and I had Jordan on my back so it was also a great workout!  My Dad also gave us a tip on how to fix Jack's bike, so the chain didn't fall off even once!  ((But I scraped my knee going too close to a tree, and one of the kids rode over the largest animal poo I've ever seen UGH)).

After our bike ride we went to Sam's and Walmart and got some groceries and returns done with ((kids fighting and screaming)). I introduced Josh to the "Waze" app...a necessity in this area! ;)  Slowly but surely we might be catching up with technology ((who am I kidding)).

I made a delicious salad for lunch--I know what you're thinking--Me, Salad...it is a miracle.  It was so good!  The kids even liked it! 

Then it was lawn mowing time.  The kids played with their new baseball stuff and Josh did the weed eating, and I mowed.  My favorite way to finish up mowing is in a downpour.  Well, my favorite way to finish up mowing is to actually finish up!  But, it's a close second :)  We got rained out mowing about an hour in...and stayed out about another hour and let the kids play in the rain.  It started with running around playing tag and ended with all of us sitting on the driveway enjoying a perfect summer rain!  The kids played in puddles, Josh and I sat and enjoyed.  It rained pretty hard for about 25 minutes, but the rest of the time was just light rain.  Beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing!  ((Immediate laundry and bath needs, trails of grass clippings thru the house, and digging dirt out of ears))

Saturday night we spent watching the Olympics with the kids.  Of course they've never seen anything like it before--by the end of the night each kid had a new favorite sport.  Volleyball, Beach volleyball, Cycling, and Gymnastics.  :)

Sunday we went to church and heard an incredible message, watched more Olympics, then finished up mowing the yard. Made and ate waaaay too much French Toast for supper. Josh took the kids on a walk while I cleaned up, and then we watched Olympic swimming until bedtime. :)  ((And then Josh and I continued watching the Olympics while listen to Jordan *loudly protest* bedtime for over an hour))  ((And then Josh and I stayed up past midnight and I'm not sure there's much to prevent that from happening for the rest of the Olympics))

And I forgot to share this story, but last week Jordan had been telling me for a couple days that she had an apple up her nose.  She would show me her play-food apple, point to her nose and tell me she had an apple up her nose.  Since her most repeated phrase is "that's so funny, Mommy" I thought she was just being silly.  ((Actually she had been digging around in her nose quite a bit, but that's not abnormal for a 2 year old)).  Finally on the 3rd day, after MULTIPLE nose-blows to try to get her to stop picking her nose, she comes over and hands me a slimy chuck of apple about the size of the two-bump lego. WHAT?!?  "Apple not in my nose, Mommy.  Here."  0_o

And here's a couple pictures of our family outing to the Smithsonian a couple weeks ago.  We even had lunch at a food truck! :)

AUGUST!!!

Well, our next adventure has begun!  We've been in Springfield, VA nearly a month!  It's been a pretty good transition- the kids and I have only had 2 things on our schedule the WHOLE MONTH.  So we've done library trips, park excursions, and lots of down time. Which makes my heart happy after going 1,000 miles an hour for months!

Josh is really liking his new job at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (The Military's Med School) in Bethesda.  He is in charge of Protocol for the University, if you want more info on what that entails you'll have to ask him :)

The kids have been extra funny lately.  Also extra grumpy.  We're at extremes here with all the change, but I've saved some good stories for you so hold on to your hat!

Renae- 6 1/2 (WHAT?!!)

We're gearing up for 1st grade!  I can't even believe it.  Renae has such a cheerful heart, she's really the only one who understands what moving really means.  She misses her friends, she really misses Miss Terri (her dance teacher), and she misses church!  But, she's got a great attitude about it and trusts that God's got great plans for us here, too!   We've watched her performance at Dance Camp this summer quite a few times over the past weeks, and I realized that I hadn't shared it! The theme was about being Jewels--Renae was a Ruby (wearing red)--about how we are Priceless to God and about shining for His glory!   ENJOY!! (click ENJOY to watch! hahaha) She does the Charleston all day long :)

Also, this girl is STRONG!! She did not inherit her Mom's muscles, that's for sure.  She helped me move furniture, assemble furniture, and move boxes around :)

Renae and Jack discovered the live lobsters at the grocery store.  They like to count how many of them have different color rubber bands on their claws.  They say the rubber bands keep them from "cripping"?!?  "You don't want them to CRIP you Mom!"

Jack - 5

Kindergarten! WOW!  He is more than ready and excited!  While Jack still keeps us on our toes, he seems to have mellowed out a little more.  He is definitely not a crowds or attention guy, he will often times be off by himself in large groups, rarely talks to strangers, and will not do anything on command.  He's very particular...wonder where he gets that from?? HA! :)  This kid is hilarious.  Here's a bit of a conversation I overheard:

"Daddy, am I still going to have hair when I'm a parent?"
-"I don't know, only God knows that."
"I hope so, I want to keep my hair!"

Every night ends with "Mom, what are we going to do tomorrow?" And he has a very sweet side.  He wants more hugs or kisses than any of the other kids.  He LOVES babies.  He will spend time playing/talking to them more than the other kids as well. :)

Last week  Jack somehow located and acquired silly string and used the whole can trying to kill a cricket in our basement bath tub.  He was laughing so hard--that is one of my favorite things about him.  He laughs so easily.

Noah 3 1/2

Noah is still smack dab in the hilarious/adorable part of the end of toddlerhood.  He is so imaginative.  Just yesterday he told me that he was going into the TV screen to help a squirrel.  He was going to break the TV....go into the screen...fix it up behind him so the bad guys couldn't get back out...and then help his friend squirrel.  Uhhhh, let's not try that.

Also hilarious is that Noah barely can stand to be outside for very long...he complains about the HEAT!  "I'm too Hot, Mommy. I don't like to be HOT!" Son, you've lived in GA for 3.5 years and never mentioned it...?!

Noah also wants to tell bedtimes stories every night.  Usually they are very dramatically told starting with "Once a spon a time..." there's usually a ghost or a pirate, and most especially a golden treasure.  One time the story ended with "and then we all had glass teeth. Then End."  I started recording them after that one came out.

Also hilarious: Noah came over and climbed on my lap.  "Please lick my head Mommy, I'm Simba".  He told me it was his bath and that Mommy lions lick their babies clean.  When I gave my best pretend lick (I was actually really impressed with my sound effects) he turned around furious...the phrase "looking daggers at me" wouldn't even adequately explain this..."I'm serious, MOM.  Lick my hair!!!"  When I tried to negotiate into any scenario where I would not have to actually LICK HIS HAIR...he just got more and more upset.  I felt bad, but it was really funny.  Finally Renae piped in "I'll lick your hair, Noah!" To which I said, "Who wants to watch the Lion King?!".  Crisis averted.

Jordan- 2

Cutest 2 yr old ever. EVER.  One of our friends up here has rightly nicknamed her "Bouncy".  She is the kid you see running and you are always cringing, just waiting for her to trip and fall.  She rarely does though..she's just very bouncy.  And she answers to it, too!  She thinks it's so funny.  Actually, that is probably her most repeated phrase right now, "That's so funny, Mommy, its so funny."

She is continually around me asking to be picked up all day long, so when she came over a few nights ago while I was cooking and started leaning on my legs I didn't even turn around.  Next thing I knew, two tiny hands were hiking up my shorts...."There you go, Mommy, all better." Uhhhh.  Apparently saggy shorts and on her list of pet peeves because she will help you out if she sees the need. :)  hahaha!!  I didn't even know she was tall enough to do that!  Maybe I'm already shrinking in my old age :)

She continues to have several dare devil moments.  Mostly because she so badly wants to play like the big kids.  I rescued her from hanging from one arm off a swing, watched her go down a 6 foot playground ladder hands only.  Like the double fireman's pole with no legs...maybe she'll be in the Navy-that's definitely a ship skill!

A couple days ago I walked in on Jordan playing with shaving cream that she somehow reached.  The only place she put it....on her head!  #balddadproblems  hahaha ;)

She will still ask me before bed if "we rock a minute?" YEP. ;)

Lots going on here!  If you want our new address, let me know and I'll get it to you! :)

From then to Now!

Terminal Leave...check

Schools Out...check

Disney Trip....check

ETS date...passed

New civilian IDS...check

Get a new job...check

Celebrate a 5 year old!...check

1st weekend of Army Reserves Duty...in progress

Move to VA....the countdown is on!

We have entered crazyville!

WOWZERS!!

Well, life is crazy here.  :)  Who's surprised?  I've been saving some real treats for y'all....

-Josh's last active-duty, uniform-wearing, day of work is rapidly approaching!  (He still has many non-uniform wearing, workless days of leave on active duty remaining...HA!)  Job applications all around the country.  New opportunities every which direction!  WHEW!  ((Fair warning...extreme overuse of exclamation points in progress)) 

-Renae only has 4 weeks of Kindergarten left!  And Jack is about 1/3 of the way thru learning how to read!  Now, while he constantly sometimes complains about sitting still enough to learn how to read (he is definitely an auditory learner at this stage) he will do almost anything if I will let him sit on my lap and tickle him and tell him jokes.  To which I say...OF COURSE!!  Now if only there was a way to read without looking directly AT any letters....he would be all for it.

-Today when we got home from church Renae says "Man, all that churchin' sure made me tired today!".  I am forever grateful for having 4 little Georgia kids...and all the grammar that comes with it!  

-And lastly, I have two more events to add to our Outdoor Bathroom Memorable Moments list.  A couple weeks ago we had to text a neighbor an apology after our son urinated whizzed 'went' very nearby their air conditioning unit alongside their house!! Fabulous, make yourself at home. And our most recent OBMM came while Josh was watching kids R, J, and N at the park. Josh is talking with kids R, and J on the swings and he looks over to see kid N finishing up a #2.  In a very small, very public, park DOWN THE STREET from our house!!!!  So Josh walked home to clean him up and grab a bag to take care of the issue. HAHAHA!!!!! Sick.

Life here is very, very funny. :)

Our Christmas Letter...Kinda

So, I was going to write a Christmas letter this year.  A much needed, better-late-than-never, life update!  A reminder that we MOVED (let me know if you want our new address, I don't want to miss any of your wonderful Christmas cards!).  I was going to write a great summary of our year, and a brief look ahead to our future.  I was going to.  And then print it.  And then stuff a bunch of envelopes.  But then I remembered I have 4 kids.  Things came up.  GOOD THINGS.  So in the battle of which good things win....Christmas Letter gets bumped to blog style (off the top of my head in 15 minutes or less) and posted electronically.  :/ !!  :)

2015:

The New:

The year I wasn't pregnant or with a new baby....since 2008.  YUP.  2008.  :)  Josh and I got to go to Las Vegas in April for some Army training/visit some great friends.  In May, Jordan started to walk (at 17 1/2 months old).   In June, we moved to a new house in the same city on nearly no notice. :)  In August, we got to go to Michigan for a few weeks of summer fun! We started to homeschool this fall and have far and beyond loved it! In September, I journeyed to NYC to visit some friends and spent a wonderful few days with them.  For Thanksgiving we road-tripped 26 hours to Colorado and had a blast! We are now in the midst of the Barricklow "12 Days of Christmas"...when we have a 5 year old, a 4 year old, a 3 year old, and a 2 year old---for 12 days (until one very excited girl turns 6!) :)

The News:

The Barricklows finally found out our future in a downsizing Army.  As many of you know, we have been waiting for promotion news for over a year. The list was finally released the week before Thanksgiving and we were not on it, which means a separation from the Army.  Unfortunately, quite a few Soldiers/Families are finding themselves in the same boat.  There is some disappointment to be sure, but we are at peace knowing God, who has faithfully directed us thus far, has our future planned and we can trust His provision and care to continue.  We had known this outcome was probable and have been preparing for awhile.  The past 11 years in the Army have been a fabulous and tough adventure!  Josh (and the rest of us) has loved serving.  We have quite a number of possibilities in front of us- Josh has had several people offer to assist in finding what's next.  Overall, we are very excited!!

The Truth:

No matter what life throws at us, the most important things never change.  God loves us.  There are always trials to come.  He will never leave us.  God is more loyal to those who love Him than we could ever even imagine. There is more to life than our short lifetimes...eternity awaits. Because of God's great love, Jesus came to dwell with us.  His birth was the wonderful beginning to an incredible love story already in play.  Ultimately, Jesus' death (in our place), and resurrection (which He willingly shares with us) allows us the miraculous opportunity of spending eternity with the God who loves us.  To believe Jesus paid for our sin, and in return allows us to serve and worship Him for a thousand lifetimes!!  The Good News!  There is HOPE.  The Prince of Peace loves, transforms, and makes valuable that which was unlovable, wasted, and ruined.

This is just as true in 2015 as it will be in 2016!  Join us in celebrating the Son, the Lamb who is Worthy!  Jesus is ALIVE!

Merry Christmas!

Love, The Barricklows

#momfail(S)

because if YOU can't laugh at yourself...who can?  ;)

Example 1: (and 2 and 3 and probably 4)

Last Wednesday we had a chance to go to a park after BSF so our group could have some more fellowship time.  I hurried the kids into the van afterwards to head towards the park.  All is great, the park is fabulous- it even has a gate (!!) ... until Kid "N" comes over and tells me he has to go potty.  There. Are. No. Bathrooms.

Now, Josh and I are not of the 'use a tree' persuasion.  If we lived in the country (as I did) we probably would let the kids go potty outside (as I did). But, we don't.  Outdoor pottying is reserved for camping in the middle of nowhere.  Who wants their kids to play in a park, or a friend's yard, where every mysterious puddle might be urine?  Or every time a child drops their snack (andthenpicksitupandeatsitsofastyoucan'tstopthem) you are continually wondering how many kids and pets peed in that spot?  Not me! Consideration people!

Anyway, I was quickly convinced to leave my opinion, convictions, moral high ground as the fear of wet pants stared me in the face.  Peer pressure at it's finest!  So since Kid "N" is just barely 3, I showed him the ropes.  Find some privacy, go off the beaten path, you know - the ropes- of public urination.  Well, let me just say that I am not a boy.  It is supposedly easier for boys, right?  And I figured his bladder must be at least partially drained due to the visual wetness of his pants.  BOTH of those assumptions were WRONG.  I also picked a slope-in the not our favor direction. I know, I know, rookie mistake.  So as bladder emptying commenced, the puddle took on a form more like that of a wide river journeying downhill toward both of our feet.

I panicked.

With one hand holding his shorts appropriately down (I was futilely attempting modesty), I scooped up Mr. Over40lbs with my other arm to move us to dry land.  Except for he was still going potty.  And the fire hose was now untamed in the upheaval.  My arms and my shorts holding hand were grave casualties.

Wonderful.  He finishes up.  I sneak to the van to get wipes FOR MYSELF.

That could have gone better.

As I'm finishing cleaning myself up, making mental notes, continuing to fellowship with my fellow Mommies, Kid "R" shows up in dire need.  Dire as in- she probably should have gone 30 minutes ago.  Sigh. So I tell her to find some privacy and go behind a tree.  She's gives me the A-OK.

A few minutes pass and she doesn't return so I venture behind the pavillion to find her.  She's walking towards me like she's saddle sore, with one leg of her leggings pulled up above her knee and DRENCHED.  "What happened?" I asked nervously.  She said she got potty on her leggings.  No other information offered, so I begin asking questions.  "How far did you pull down your pants?"  She points to her ankles.  So far so good. "Did you squat down?"

No.

NO!?!   !?!?!?!?!!!  I am sure my face was a mix of miffed, holding in laughter (which would have hurt her feelings at this point), and complete shock. For real.  NOT ENOUGH INFORMATION MOMMY!

So at this point fellowship is over for the Barricklows.  Begin rounding up the crew.  A friend had kept Jordan occupied with snacks during the whole fiasco and Jack was just playing away in some mud.  I ask him to rinse his hands in the water fountain so he can get in the van mud free.  Ok, we get to the van.  I remove Kid "N's" wet shorts and put him in his carseat in his undies.  Tell Kid "R" to follow suit.  Kid "J's" shorts were wet from his attempts to clean his hands in the water fountain, so he joins the undie party.  I'm laughing with a friend about how chaotic life can be sometimes when Kid "J" taps me on the shoulder.

"I need to go potty, Mommy".

For. Real.  So my friend stays by the van to keep the other hoodlums kids in line, while Mommy and Kid "J" venture to a third set of bushes.  (Reminder: He's not wearing pants.) He accomplishes his duty without any hiccups.  (I clamped my mouth shut when his put his undies down around his ankles.)

We head back to the van and he asks me innocently, "Mommy, what's that box over there?"

For the love.  "Well, son, that would be what we call a port-a-potty."

"What's it for???"

Who even knows.

Example 5:

That time your 4 year old ask you to draw a picture of a word that starts with "I" and you drew an eye.  (this just happened today) #facepalm  ((AND THEN YOU GOOGLED WORDS THAT START WITH "I"!!!))

Example 6:

The day I went to Target to return something (this is a whole fail in itself because I never actually returned the item--AND while I was in there, Jordan kicked off her shoe -somewhere...- so we had to backtrack the whole store to find it.  Renae spotted it, of course, with her "I spy eyes".  A Target employee was walking around with a broom and dustpan and swept it up (!!!).  Renae reached right in her little trash bucket and pulled out Jordan's shoe...the worker just kept on sweeping.  C'mon!), then had to go to Wal-Mart to return something, then went to Staples to look for something they didn't have, and then went to the post office.  WITH THE KIDS. That went about as well as you can imagine it did.

Example 7:

I made a freezer meal (read: made in a disposable foil dish) casserole a week and a half ago or so.  Baked it, served a quarter of it, then went to move it to the fridge when the pan buckled and dumped hot food all over me and the floor.  We still ate it.

Example 8:

I took the kids to Kohl's today because I had $20 of KOHLS CASH that was going to expire.  We pull in to the parking lot, I get the umbrella stroller out of the back of the van (while all the kids are still inside--I still have a few brain cells left!) go to unfold the stroller (had years of practice on this one) and it acts as if it's spring loaded and flies out of my hands...wheels everywhere...me desperately grabbing at air (several times) while it heads to the ground.  Surprisingly, mostly assembled.  (#meanttodothat?) Oh, but in the process the handles hit the giant fancy black pickup parked next to us- CAR ALARM.  As if getting four kids from carseats thru parking lot to front door were easy.  Try ramping the noise level up 180 dbs.  Ear shattering   Lots of crying   Mommy "talks" over the noise  Awesome.

We go in.  We survive.  We exit.

A soldier is getting in his super nice giant truck.  Great!  I'll get to apologize and tell him what happened.  Sir, I'm sure your truck notified you that the alarm had gone off, I'm really sorry, I bumped your truck with the stroller.  I didn't see any damage (which was the truth because I didn't look), please let me know if you need me to do anything, I'm really sorry...(all while shooing four kids out of traffic).  He smiles, "It did. And it's ok.  I saw the whole thing..."

And I was instantly beet red.  #icoulddie

I think I muttered something like "Thanks for being understanding", but I don't remember because 1: I was mortified that he saw my embarassing battle with the stroller, and then ensuing fiasco where I used my voice at a reasonable volume and 2: there were 4 kids fighting over car seats and two of them were already crying.

Sweet.