How I "Accidentally" bought a Machete For My 11 Year Old & Other Random Confessions

Oh my, oh, MY!! Where did this week go?? I don't know about you, but sometimes I would actually love for a week to feel long or at least long-er than this week, so that I don't feel so robbed of my life by all of the crazy business.  I'd like to just sit and savor instead of sprint. How about you??

Here's my "Seven Quick Takes" for the week:

Thank you, Jen, for hosting!

- 1. -

On Sunday, Steve and the older boys went to Cabela's to pick up a few things for their big camping trip.  After being gone for over FOUR HOURS they finally called me to say they were finished.  When we met up that evening for supper (because they were starrrrving and exhausted from pushing a heaping cart around all day), I just looked at them all and said, "Mmmm, hmmmm.  Just a few things, huh?" (You know I'm envisioning a little "few things" shopping opportunity of my own, yes?) After I listened (unsympathetically) to Steve groan over how exhausting it was to compare products, search for the best deals and keep the kids together the entire time, I realized he was having a revelation about how difficult it's been for me all these years to shop with kids. Poor guy, his idea of shopping is running into Quick Trip to grab a bag of sunflower seeds and a bottle of water!  Afterwards we were laughing about how funny it would have been for a Cabela's associate to come over the intercom and announce, "Mr. Husband, you have reached our 4 hour and 6 shopping carts limit.  Please report to customer service immediately."  {Snicker}

- 2. -

After the big four hour trek around Cabela's, Andrew, who is an avid pocket knife collector, came to me and asked if he could order a knife from the Cabela's website.  He very politely explained that the store did not have the knife he wanted for the camping trip in stock, and that DAD said it would be OKAY if I ordered it.  Sure. No biggie.  Andrew found the knife online, handed me his hard earned money as payment, and skipped off. In an inattentive hurry, assuming he had already shown the knife to Steve, I placed the order.  Three days later a very LONG box from Cabela's appeared on our door step.  Hmmmmm, I'm thinking that's not a pocket knife in there.

When I placed the order, what I failed to investigate was:
 1.  The description of the knife - Gerber Gator Jr. MACHETE.  I just bought my son a MACHETE. {Scream}  And,
2. The actual dimensions of the knife.  "Jr." my fanny!  What a misleading description.  THIS is a JR. Machete??

I intended to snap this photo for comparison sake with just the machete and the bunny (poor bunny). Then, Charlie bounced into the pic, and, well, now you can obviously see how enormous that thing is AND that ordering the machete/saber/sword/scythe was a slight parenting oversight on my part - which is why the knife is currently still in it's package and hidden in our gun safe. Our son, Ben, tried to ease my anxiety over the whole situation by trying to convince me that it would be prudent to keep it for a future camping trip to the Amazon.  Oh, Nelly.....

- 3. -

Are you tired of the camping stories yet? Okay, good.  I actually love to camp, but this time it's boys only. Steve has always dreamed of taking the boys adventure camping, where you basically set up camp out in the middle of no-where and go into survival mode for several days. The time for them to do that is finally here.  I'll be staying home with the little ones and praying that the bears stay far, far away from the rest of the crew. A few weeks ago, Steve and I stumbled across this clip of Jim Gaffigan talking about camping.  He made us laugh so hard, I had to share it with ya'll!

- 4. -

Now for some other random stuff.  Does anyone else out there have a child who refuses to wear underwear? I've got a Mr. Commando in my house.  He only wears underwear when he puts on his Wranglers (can you say chaffing?? Yikes!).  Otherwise, everything else seems to be completely comfortable for him to wear with buff buns. If I catch him without undies, he will usually put them on upon request, but not without a major eye roll and some huffing and stomping to his room to grab a fresh pair of Lego Ninjago briefs.  Yesterday, I overheard this little conversation between Henry and George:

Henry: Life was so much better when I was a baby, 
because I could just be naked all the time.
George: Well, Henry, you never wear underwear, 
and that's kind of the same thing as being naked.
Henry: Yah, but Mom hates it when I don't wear my underwear.
George: She gets so mad at you. She calls you Mr. Commando.
Henry: I know. One of these days I'm going to have to give it all up and just put the stupid underwear on.

- 5. -

If you don't already read Kathryn's blog, Team Whitaker, you really should go and visit her sometime. She shared a very personal post this week about embracing another baby after enduring a difficult medical journey with their precious son, Luke.  Her words are beautiful and inspiring!

Bosch Universal Mixer

6.  What am I going to do while the boys are camping? I started making a list this week, which includes: Go apple picking with the younger boys, take naps when they nap (woo-hoo!), creatively arrange a wall of family pictures, and bake lots of bread.  I have a mega BOSCH bread machine that mixes the dough, and then I simply divide it, shape it and bake it.  Would you believe me if I told you that I can literally make 6 loaves of bread in 30 minutes (minus baking time)??  I'm thinking that I might have to blog about this, and the wonderful bread recipe book that I use to bake all year long.

{Read more about Mom's story here.}

7.  Saving the best for last.....I have GREAT news about my mom's breast cancer prognosis! This week she learned that she is NOT a carrier of the BRCA genes (hallelujah!). Her lymph nodes test also came back very positive.  She has only a very, very tiny speck that has metastasized in the lymph nodes yet can thankfully be treated with radiation and oral chemo, which she will take over the course of the next five years. Knowing that she will not need to endure chemo or a mastectomy is an enormous relief.  We all have a tremendous amount of hope that he will beat this!

Thank you all for your prayers and loving concern that you have shared with me and my mom over the past few weeks. She is strengthened and encouraged by your faithfulness!  I thank God every day that the cancer was discovered at such an early stage and that Mom is being cared for by a team of amazingly talented and compassionate physicians. We are truly blessed!!

Have a great weekend, everyone!!