Odds & Ends

The children are finally all in bed after a tiring day. Ben is finishing reading up a book and I now have a few free moments to dish out all of our happenings as of late.

I have been busy getting things ready for a garage sale which my mom, aunt, and I are having next week. I have been sorting, organizing, and pricing and already have seven huge boxes of items ready and lots yet to go through. Our garage sales are a hit each year as my mom sells a lot of her excess stockpile that she gets for free or nearly free through couponing. I have a bunch of outgrown kids clothes, books, knick knacks, and a huge box of movies...not to mention a high chair, old kid's school desk, and lots more household items. I'll be taking a before and after photo of the sale as you won't believe how packed full the tables are before and how empty the sale looks after.
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and I hope that you all are able to take some time to reflect on the true meaning of the day. It is too easy to get wrapped up in egg hunts, Easter Baskets, and family gatherings and forget that we are rejoicing in the resurrection of our Lord and remember the sacrifice that He made for us. We usually go to my Grandma's on Easter to visit with family but with renovations going on at her house we will be keeping the kids away so they don't get into trouble and will just be spending the day together with a small egg hunt in the house for the kids, church, and a ham dinner.
As per my twitter post earlier, I promised a post of why shopping with kids is a big no-no. For anyone who has an almost two year old, I'm sure you can understand. Shopping has not been an enjoyable experience for several months now, ever since Joe realized he could try to get out of the cart, or pull things off the shelves, or scream for something he wants. It doesn't help that Rebecca has had an attitude lately and fights with her younger brothers and demands a treat at the store.

We drove to "the big city" today to do some grocery shopping. At the store Rebecca picked on Jacob, Joe constantly tried to get out of the cart (why are those seat belts not effective in keeping him in?!), and I got so stressed that I couldn't think of anything to buy. Yep, you heard that right, not only did I make the mistake of taking all three kiddos shopping with me but I made the grave mistake of not making a menu or shopping list this week. Gasp!

So anyway, I got to the point that I was exhausted just thinking about continuing the shopping trip so I made a run for a couple dozen eggs, some green beans, and a few other things and decided to check out. At the checkout lane things were going okay, that is, until Joe grabbed the counter and pulled the cart forward, slamming into the man in front of us. He let out a huge "OUCH!" and looked back at me as though he wanted to punch me in the face right then and there. I can't blame him really, it hurts like the dickens when someone slams a cart into your ankle so I also didn't blame him when he paid for his purchase and then walked away muttering. Then Joe ripped the cash register tape out of the register and the cashier ripped it out of his hands, probably thinking him a little brat after the ankle crushing episode she witnessed earlier and I'm fairly certain at this point she thought I was a horrible mother for allowing such a little devil out in public. Sigh. I had wanted to do more shopping but felt defeated so said I just wanted to go home.

Once home I decided to go to our grocery store as we needed the makings for an Easter dinner. I left the kids at home with hubby and went to the store, again without a list, and saw that all the good hams were gone. I had a choice between a huge picnic ham for $30 or turkey ham...so we will be eating turkey ham tomorrow. I wandered the aisles and picked up meal items here and there. I paid $65 and only came away with a few meals worth of food though, so this is the exact reason why I must stick with menu planning and grocery lists. I also went a little overboard with the strawberries as they looked so good and I was craving them so picked up three packages - not realizing that they added up to over 5 lbs. and were over $7! We all love strawberries though so I will chalk it up to a good treat for us.


I did have enough forethought to pick up the above bottle of wine at the grocery store. I'm sipping on it now and can say that it is just what the doctor ordered after a day like today. I don't usually spend $8 for a bottle of wine but it beckoned to me from the shelf and I gravitated to it without thought. It was calling my name! Come on, the back of the bottle says it all:
"Somewhere near the cool shadows of the laundry room, Past the litter box and between the plastic yard toys. This is your time. Time to enjoy a moment to yourself. A moment without the madness. The dishes can wait. Dinner be d---d. Mad Housewife White Zinfandel."

On that note I am off to fill the plastic Easter eggs and spend some time with hubby.

Happy Easter!