Do You Ever Laugh Until Your Face Hurts?

OK, so here is the setup:

Chappy and I do our best to go on a date once a week. Caleb is 15, so we put him in charge of his younger siblings and take off for two to three hours.....usually somewhere nearby. We have one rule: Don't call us unless it is an emergency, and only Caleb can text us if he needs to. If the rule sounds harsh, it really isn't. Without the rule, we would get a call every 15 minutes (we learned this through experience).

So, here are the texts I received this evening during my 2 hour date with Chappy:

"Hey please reply....I'm sick...like achy all over, horrible headaches, and inactive....what do I do??? (Caleb)

Well, of course I called him immediately----we had only been gone for 30 minutes, and he seemed fine before we left, but I thought maybe he had come down with something horrible. During my conversation with Caleb, I decided he must have overdone it this week with a full load at school and three basketball games, so I told him to put on a Barney tape for Hope and Charlie and lie down with a blanket on the couch. He did and said he was already feeling 10% better. I ended the call by telling him to call me back if he started feeling worse.

Next text (45 minutes later):

"Hey, Hope just fell down and has a bump on her head..." (Caleb)

"Put ice on it for 5 minutes" (Me)

"Trying.... she popped a vessel though" (Caleb)

"Hang in there and let me know if you think there's a problem" (Me)

"Alright, I just finished putting ice on it....I'm positive I stopped the flow of blood so it shouldn't bulge out any more than it already has....she stopped crying, so the pain must have stopped...but she has a nice pump knot on her head....she popped a vessel from what I can figure, but she'll be alright...love ya!" (Caleb---10 minutes later)

"Thanks for the update . We'll be home soon." (Me)

"No problem...love you a ton....and I'm feeling 50% better." (Caleb)

When we returned home, I took out my magnifying glass to locate the busted blood vessel and pump knot on Hopey's head.....she was happy as a little clam. I praised Caleb for doing such a magnificent job even while feeling under the weather himself. He was pleased, and now (thankfully) seems to be feeling 75% better. Lydia and Natalie just about knocked me down when I came in the door to tell me about the emergency situation and how they had assisted Caleb. They were so excited about the entire event; they gave me a complete rundown with impressive dramatic interpretation.

I love this life!!! What do parents who only have one or two children do for fun??? Ha! Ha!

"A merry heart does good like a medicine!" Proverbs 17:22