cannery catastrophes and a camping crybaby

i'm not sure whether to split my stories up...or just go for a possible novel here. but i'll really try to keep it short and sweet, especially since i need to go to bed in ten minutes. a couple weeks ago (the friday of conference weekend)... sam decided to have an emergency camping drill. i would've been more excited if it didnt' happen to be our date night. i had had the craziest day dragging the kids in and out of the cannery that morning and i really needed a break and some good quality grown-up time. it all began on our way to the lindon cannery. we sang old macdonald, and for some odd reason, isaiah did not want a cow to be on old macdonald's farm. however, i ignored isaiah's protests and went ahead with the dumb cow. little did i know, it would cause a huge amount of contention and frustration for isaiah. oopsie. just a little background before i go on...isaiah has never, ever blown up at me before this stupid cow incident...ever. unfortunately for me, i just pushed his buttons and sent him over the edge. before we had even gotten out of the car, he said, "mom, i'm mad at you." why isaiah? "because, you did the cow. i didn't want the cow. i don't like you now." the entire 5.5 minutes we were stuck in line to pay, isaiah managed to yell at the top of his lungs, "I DON'T LIKE YOU MOM!" just as i pulled a sucker out for my sweet little girl and replied back, "its okay, because my makayah likes me." isaiah spotted the treat and immediately tried to back peddle, "I LIKE YOU MOM, I LIKE YOU!!!" too late. and that's when all hell broke loose. i ignored the tantrum as best i could and surprisingly when i saw the chair flying across the floor and two gray-haired sister missionaries coming to the rescue...i kept my cool. i thanked the sister missionaries, smiled and grabbed hold of my fuming son and led him to the car explaining why his behavior was unacceptable...and must now pay the consequences. i still had to go back in and pick up my jam. so, i told isaiah he was confined to the car since he couldn't behave in public. i put him in the backseat, rolled down the window a couple inches and set out with makayah on my hip to the pick up door less than 20 yards away. i turned my head for a split second and isaiah had already clung to the window looking like he was gasping for air, but really was yelling for help with his fingers curled over the top of the window, "HELP ME! HELP ME!" just as an unsuspecting woman was passing by, of course - why not make a scene?! she looked to the left and looked to the right, obviously wondering where this boy's unfit mother must be - how dare she lock him in the car to suffer...until i called out from behind her, "isaiah you ARE OKAY!" she spotted me, smiled to herself and knowingly shook her head (ahh yes, i remember those days). thankfully my jam was ready and we were off in a matter of minutes. so now you can see why i was sooooooo looking forward to DATE NIGHT. oh well. i knew sam was really excited to go camping. so i made up my mind that i would be excited too, and then i actually was...for a while anyway. this time, isaiah wasn't the problem, he was an angel. he was thrilled to be going camping, sitting round the fire, roasting marshmallows, and sleeping in a tent. it was worth going just to see his eyes light up and watch him enjoy every minute. HOWEVER, little miss diva thought it might be fun to run away into the darkness every chance she got. she also has no sense of danger and would try to jump into the fire pit, almost succeeding a couple times. i was exhausted by the time she actually fell asleep for a mere two hours. she woke up at 11pm just as sam and i were getting cozy by the fire. our cute little banshee would not stop screaming and absolutely did not want to go back to bed on the ground in a tent, sharing her sleeping space. it's a good thing she's cute. sam, seeing my patience begin to wane, insisted i go home with makayah and get a good night's rest in my own bed and makayah in hers. "but babe, we can stick this out, i want to stay." sam insisted once more, "no, go home." and so we went. i got home, put makayah to bed, took a nice long warm shower, and was about to fall asleep at 12am just when i heard some banging and clattering in the kitchen. i made my way to the noise and there was poor nathan, sam's brother. yes, poor nathan, because by that time i had completely lost all patience and he was the only person there to receive my wrath. in so many words i ended up kicking him and his friend out so i could get some peace and quiet. he left quite confused..."what's up with monika?" and i thought, sam was smart to make me leave...he was trying to save his own skin. ;) anyway, i did eventually smooth things over with nathan and his friends and then they weren't so scared of me since i made them a yummy pancake breakfast complete with berries and homemade whipped cream. but back to the camping. makayah and i went back the following morning to have breakfast with our boys. isaiah thought it was the coolest thing to wake up in a tent. he and his daddy ate breakfast inside the tent and when sam accidentally spilled a bit of his orange juice on the sleeping bag, isaiah said, "daddy!" and gave a scolding grunt. sam apologized and isaiah giggled and said, "its okay daddy!" we all went to the creek nearby and took some pictures. except we had to take them quickly because makayah attempted to jump in more than once and almost lost her shoe. nevertheless, we all had a great morning in the GREAT OUTDOORS. personally i've had my fill of camping for the season if its going to involve makayah...maybe we better wait a couple months before we take her out again.