LOST

Our first new little find of the season was Furry-O. Josh found him in the backyard and he soon had a new happy home in a glass cup on our cupboard well stocked with grass, leaves, twigs and a few drops of water for good measure. After three days I began to worry about him. He seemed sad, lazy and I knew that life in captivity just wasn't going to end happily. So I let took him outside and helped him crawl away. I smiled as he disappeared into the dense ivy leaves that hug the brick by our front door.

Matt wasn't pleased with my decision, as he is a champion caterpillar caretaker, but he hadn't found this small fella, so his departure was not dwelt on or talked about. It just simply wasn't meant to be. But caterpillar season is upon us, so we knew our cup would not be empty for long.

The next day was Tuesday. My turn to pick up carpool and whisk the crew off to Trey's piano lesson. Brynn was being Brynn and refused to put on the top I had selected for her. After many futile minutes of attempted negotiations, she simply would not budge. I wasn't surprised, but she needed some clothes and we were going to be late. After much horn honking and 'encouraging' yelling from the garage she finally made her way to the van, making us five minutes late for pick up in the process. Man, I wish daily I could just pick those little girls up and haul them downstairs myself, but I digress.

The gang of boys (my three, plus another two) were well on their way walking home when our van came into view. They piled in, backpacks, legs, arms mashing each other and the girls as they shoved into the back seats. But not Matt. He carefully entered and proudly displayed his new friend, his first caterpillar of the year, Yo-fur (they are oh so soft and fuzzy). He was pleased as punch with his new pet moving up his arm.

After a quick U-turn we were back to the house dropping off the extra two passengers. Matt cried, begged even to run into the house and get a proper home for his new buddy. But we were late and no such thing was going to be possible. "Hold him tight," I shouted back.

Not three minutes later, while the black little bug crawled on Josh's arm disaster struck. As I made a right hand turn past our Super Wal-mart, the tiny thing slipped off Josh's skin and vanished from sight. Yells, yelps and screams told the story clearly to me before the dreaded words were uttered. "You LOST Yo-fur!!" Bad. Very bad.

Three boys wiggled and hunched and peered under the seat and over the edge seeking, searching for our lost friend. I worried that the excess movement might have already squished the life out of the poor guy before the looking even had begun.

We pulled up to the piano teacher's house. Trey was literally hanging head first into the back of van. I instructed Josh and Matt to grab hold of his pants and pull him free, hoping to get him inside before the lesson was supposed to begin. Off he happily went, carefree even, book bag in hand swinging as he walked, ready to plunk out some notes.

Matt on the other hand was despondent. Their attempts to find the creature had not gone well. "He's dead already. I know it. I just never should have picked him up!" Matt wailed.

A trip to the post office was going to fill our 30 minute lesson period, so I told Matt to not give up hope. Once we got there, we would get out and search the back. I really thought we'll find him then.

It was a tense five minute drive. There were two stone-like boys in the very back seat. One had a guilty look on his face. The other's eyes moved rapidly-side to side, up and down looking. I hoped we would get good news once we stopped.

The parking lot was packed and we wedged our van into a tight spot, clearly marked for the consignment store, but desperate times call for desperate measures. There was a bug that needed rescuing and we were on a tight schedule.

With the girls still safely strapped in their car seats, Matt, Josh and I exited the van to explore the trunk. Mind you, the blasted tailgate is still broken. Our trip to the mechanic uncovered the truth that the dumb thing is a recalled part and under warranty. Great, except that I haven't had a free day to drop it off at the dealership to get the dang thing fixed.

Since Josh technically lost Yo-fur, he had to hold the million pound door up. Like the mighty Atlas carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, he struggled and grunted to hold it up as Matt and I emptied out strollers, blankets, lawn chairs and other lost items from the black hole. While we did find one very rotten strawberry, a moldy peanut butter sandwich, one missing shoe and a whole lot of trash, sweet Yo-fur was not among our discoveries.

Time insisted we stopped our search and mailed the package. As I weighed the box, Matt started complaining of an upset stomach and a touch of nausea. Stress= vomit for my kids. I tried to calm him. He refused to listen. "I knew I shouldn't have picked him up. I just knew it! He's dead already- starvation or squished. This is just horrible."

We dumped the box into the drop bin and flew to the van, re-loaded and sped to pick up Trey. Yes, we were going to be a few minutes last, but our van evacuation in the post office parking lot pushed us behind schedule.

As we drove on, I tried to encourage Matt. I told him we could leave the windows down and Yo-fur could crawl to safety in our garage.

Then Josh dropped a bomb. "You'll forgive me tomorrow Matt, because you are just going to forget."

That just isn't what you should say to a grieving brother.

"Josh, I will not! I had a bad feeling about this from the start. Mom, I knew you should have let me in the house when I had a chance. You have to know that anytime you take a caterpillar and add a gas driven machine it will equal two things- either getting squished or dying of starvation. It always does. I knew this would happen. I just knew he would get lost. He's lost forever! Just like when Joseph Smith lost the pages of manuscript he translated from the Brass Plates!!"

(Yes, he should have said Golden Plates, but the fact he even knew about the Brass ones, I'll give him props for that....Seems they are listening to that Book of Mormon reader read aloud before bed.)

Well, I hadn't thought of it like that. And I had to hide my smile and he raged on.

The mumbling increased.

The air was tight with tension and anger.

Red light, after red light we finally returned to retrieve Trey.

I sent Josh to grab him. It was safer for him being outside of the van instead of next to a seething Matt.

Seconds later out skipped a pleasant Trey a smile on his face, his book bag bouncing with each step and a curious cup in his hand.

There in the dish was none other than Yo-fur. That sneaky thing appeared like magic on Trey's neck during his lesson.

You had to be kidding me.

All the endless searching, worry and intense words and there he was safe and perfect.

Lost no more, our furry friend was finally FOUND.

All the drama, dialogue and death threats- for not.

I was shocked, but truly relieved.

The tragdey of Yo-fur miraculously had an instant happy ending.

Matt couldn't have been happier.

Nope not possible.

And I had yet another funny story of real life with my kiddos.

And just so you know, Yo-fur is not lonely like Furry-O.

Matt is a on a mission.

And you can see how determined he is.

Intense might be an understatement....

I think we all stopped counting after twenty.

And just in case you were wondering, we do NOT have any road trips planned with these fellas tagging along for the ride....

I bet you can guess why.