Happy Valentine's Day!

Did you know that Valentine's Day is also the day that we chose for our doggies birthday?  Our sweet girl is 13 this year.  Although she was a very tiny puppy when we brought her home, we aren't sure of her exact birthday.  We were told it was January 26 by the woman who had her, but the vet said that she was probably 2-3 weeks younger than that based on her initial exam.  So we decided that we would make her birthday Feb 14th because we had hearts in our eyes for her!  Can you believe that I woke up on the morning of the 14th and with everything else that had been going on in our crazy busy lives, didn't have a gift for this dear member of our family?  After getting up and getting the kids their breakfast, I headed out to run a few errands while they did their easy schoolwork.  On my way to the car, I noticed that the mass casualty drill that the base had planned for that morning had landed itself in our section of the neighborhood.  I saw the guys in the big silver hazmat suits, so I went back in, closed all the blinds and told the kids that no matter what they heard or saw outside, that everything was fine, that they were just doing an emergency preparedness drill.  I instructed them not to open the door if anyone knocked or rang the doorbell, just to stay inside and no one would know they were there.  

Oh Mama!  The mess that happened while I was gone.  You just can't make. this. stuff. up.  I was at our church picking up some flowers this lovely woman got for me to thank me for all of my work at the Sweetheart Banquet just a few days before when I got a frantic phone call from Abby.  The phone call was made all the more odd by the fact that she didn't have any way to call me.  We'd had a big discussion just before I left about responsibility and the fact that she'd lost her cell phone charger, so she had no way of calling me when I wasn't home.  (Our cell numbers are long distance and the house phone is for local calls only.  Rough economy.  LOL)  After picking up the dog's gift at walmart, I was going to call Abby at home and if she hadn't found the charger, she was going to be buying one out of her hard earned babysitting money.  I am sure she thought I was over reacting and that being home without a way to call was no big deal.  So.... are you ready to hear WHY she was calling???

Turns out that during the course of the Mass Casualty drill, the Marines were instructed that if any of the homes had a sign in front of them showing destruction of the home (see above) and the doors were unlocked that they were to enter the home and do a sweep for victims.  Unfortunately, that message was never passed on to anyone who RESIDES in said homes.  So while I was chatting with Ms. Bonnie about the banquet, my home (with 3 kids inside) was being invaded.  By strangers.  Wearing big silver HazMat suits.  Of course, the marines thought that we were part of the drill and honestly, must have thought that my kids deserved Oscars for their award winning performance.  I mean, they really played the part of terrified children in the midst of a disaster.  Poor Marshall was sitting at the kitchen table in typical homeschool attire, pj's (which for him that day was a tshirt and underwear!) when he saw the two guys walking through our itty bitty back yard.  Quick thinking lad that he is, he decided he didn't want them to catch him, so he ran into the living room and hid behind a chair.  Unfortunately, they did find the back door unlocked (thanks to said elderly dog who needs frequent potty breaks) and just came right in.  The girls apparently decided to hide in a closet upstairs.  The dog met the first guy in the living room and was sniffing him when the second came in through the back door.  That raised her hackles even further and she let the first guy slip upstairs while meeting the second in the kitchen.  When I expressed shock later at the dog not biting them, Abby reassured me that she thought that she probably was.  She said that Semper was making noises she had never heard her make before and that the Marine was repeatedly pleading with Semper to "Be nice", "Don't Bite" and "Stop it".  When the Marine found Abby and Amelia hiding upstairs, he told them that they were part of the drill and that he needed to take them with him, despite Abby trying to tell them that they were not participating.  Abby was "triaged" and had a zip tie applied to her wrist to indicate her medical urgency.  Thinking the kids were playing along, they told them that the roof had blown off of the house (see the picture above) which sent Amelia into a whole new level of shock and terror.  The Marines did ask where I was as no child was to participate without parental consent and when Abby didn't immediately respond, they asked her if I was in the shower to which she readily agreed.  When I didn't answer to their calling for me (thankfully they had enough sense not to enter my bathroom!), Abby said that I must have gone for a walk around the block, but that I would be right back.  After it became apparent that she was unable to convince these guys that they were not part of the drill, she got the little kids dressed and headed out the door, telling them that she needed to tell our next door neighbor where she was going... I'm not sure what their plan for my kids was, but some of the patients were flown off in helicopters.  Eeeks!  Can you imagine if I'd come home and they were just....gone?

In walks shining knight on big muscle laden horse.  I mean my neighbor, Heather, who went all Mama Bear on the Marines, shoving my kids in her house and ripping the sign out of my yard.  (SOOO thankful for quick thinking 13 year olds and protective moms!)  She let Abby use her phone to call me.  That same Abby who thought it wasn't that big of a deal to not be able to talk to me immediately if I wasn't at home was now very eager for me to spend her money on a cell phone charger as soon as possible.  Long story short, I came home and looked over each of my babies, consoling poor Amelia who was visibly shaken and then, like the dog, went to bite someone.  Jeremy did the same when he was told of our big adventure.  I was able to talk them into sending the Marines (dressed in regular marine uniforms) back to the house so that they could explain what happened to the kids and to tell them they wouldn't be back to do it again.  They did one better and brought a fire truck for them to play in and blow the horns and sirens.  All along I was wondering how this could have happened and questioning the judgement of the Marines.  Then I saw them.  They are just babies themselves.  Babies fighting wars, looking not much older than Abby.  One look at their young faces and forgiveness for them, if not their supervisor melted all over me.  And they confirmed that dog will indeed bite when her babies are threatened.  Thankfully, we have resumed our lives at the rather rapid yet happy pace with which we exist.  All is well.  No one permanently scarred.  Except, perhaps, the dog.  She sits up at night waiting for the silver suited prowlers to show their faces again....