Cat in the Hat...Nope, Cat in the House

This morning went surprisingly well.  Kenneth had all the boys fed by the time I was out of the shower, and when he left for church I managed to get all the boys clothed, teeth brushed, bags packed and ready to leave at least 30 minutes before we needed to head out the door.  I even thought to myself, "Wow.  I can't believe we are actually going to make it incident-free this morning.  I think we are going to make it to church on time, and probably be pretty early." 
Why in the world do I do that?  Why?
Have I not learned? 
I must be a glutton for punishment. 
I cursed myself.

I was thinking good thoughts and remaining calm as I got the boys ready to leave.  This in and of itself is a major victory around our house on Sunday mornings.  Why, O, Why does it seem like the gates of Hades just open up and try to swallow our house on the Lord's Day?  Spiritual warfare is alive and well here, for sure. 

Anyways, I even had a great moment as a parent.  I watched Noah lovingly teach and encourage Nathan how to get on his bottom and go down the stairs carefully.  He was very patient and slowly scooted down the steps with Nathan to guide him where he needed to go.  My heart was melting, and then Aiden jumped in to help too.  This was totally of their own volition, and I could not have been more proud.

As the boys got into the van, again without incident, I should have known something was going to happen.  I was strapping Asa in and I started to hear an animal.  I assumed that it was one of the toys that we keep in the van.

And then it happened. 
I turned just in time to see a cat run into our garage.  I started freaking out.  I hate cats.  I yelled.  The cat ran deeper into the garage, which is full of boxes.  I looked up and to my horror the boys had forgotten to shut the door leading up to the rest of the house.  I could not find the cat anywhere.

So much for being on time to church.

I asked Noah and Aiden to get out of the van and help.  They looked at me like I was nuts.  Well, I will give them that one. 

After pulling them out of the van I told them to help me find the cat.  They refused.  I told Noah to man the garage door to watch and see if the cat came out.  Aiden went upstairs with me to try to look for it.  We searched and searched, and could not find it.  When we came back to the garage I noticed Noah back in the van with the doors all shut.  When I asked him what he was doing he yelled, "Well, you don't want the cat to come in here and hurt my brothers, do you?!"  Goodness.

So after about 20 minutes of looking for this cat, I gave up.  On to church we went. 
I have NO idea where that cat is. 
I hope it doesn't decide to climb into bed tonight.