Turberville Boys Seaside Gentleman's Club, and also: Me =)

I always seem to have the hardest time writing about family vacations. . .

It just always seems like there's so MUCH that happens, and then I need to get home, get everything put away, take a couple of days to decompress. . . and  by the time I get around to actually trying to write about it. . . everything's just gone.

ZWOOP!!

Straight outta my head.

And I'm left sitting here thinking:  . . . what did we DO??

Which is why, even though nothing earth-shattering or remarkable happened on our 2014 Family Beach Trip this year, I am writing about it NOW.  While it's still fresh.

I make no promises that this is going to be interesting.

It is merely a log.

=============================

First log-point.

We left in the early morning (early-ISH), Sunday before last.

Got up early and loaded up the truck, sat out the water and feeders for the cat, and were out of the house by about 7 a.m.

From my perch in the front passenger seat of Crystal Gale (Mister's truck's name), I had everything I needed:  a bag full of Pull-Ups, wipes, gummies and Hot Wheels to keep Took pacified, and also a bag filled with books, magazines, assorted reading glasses, a small afghan, and snuggy travel-socks.

To keep ME occupied.

=D

Getting out of the house that morning was quick and easy, as we only had one Turbo-offspring with us, the Grey Took.  Our plan was to pick up other Turbo-offsprings as we made our way south.

First stop was to collect Padawan.

His mother had him for the weekend, and assured us that she would meet us as 7:30 SHARP, at the agreed-upon site.

. . . I will just admit right now that I had serious doubts about this.  NOT because I have any problems with his mother, but simply because there are people in this world that are almost always on time, and there are people in this world that are reliably late (almost always).  I am not making judgements about right or wrong here. . . I am just saying that we all know people that we can pretty much count on to be late.

And she is pretty much consistently one of those.

But lo and behold. . . we pulled into the gas station at 7:26. . . and she was pulling in right in front of us.

And then I felt guilty.

0.0

I mentally apologized to the universe in general for my shameful lack of faith, we collected our monster, and moved on to McDonald's for sausage biscuits, to be consumed on the road.

****Sidenote:  This is one of my favorite things EVER.

Eating in the car!!!!

Sausage biscuits, in particular.

It is a near-divine delight that only happens every-so-often.  (Usually when we are en route to some exotic-ish location.)
The scarcity of this enjoyable event is what makes it so beautiful.

Sausage biscuits.  On the road.  Eaten in the passenger seat, propped up on napkins on the travel pillow in my lap.

Heavenly.  =)

So we got the Padawan, and moved on to Montgomery to collect the larger Spawn, who would be following us, with his girlfriend, in her car.

. . . As another sidenote, our youngest son is possibly/most certainly in love with Spawn's girlfriend (much as he is, INSTANTLY, with pretty much any lovely girl that takes the time to talk to him and allows him to hold her hand).  He is utterly shameless in his attempts for her affection, and it was something we witnessed again and again over the several days that she was able to stay with us.

Up until this point, Took has merely referred to her as "Friend", as he has been unable to pronounce her name correctly, and has been loathe to embarrass himself with any failed attempts.  Near the end of our trip, however, he came really, REALLY close, with a drunk-sounding drawl of:
"Mewwy Awe-nnnnn."  

We were all very impressed, and he received many high-fives, and a blueberry Yoplait yogurt, for his efforts.  =)

(Regaling Friend with tales of his exploits.)

And so, aside from several not-entirely-veiled threats to visit bodily harm upon the occupants of the backseat unless they ZIPPED IT RIGHT NOW. . . it was an uneventful ride down.

=D

(Seriously, I was ready to sedate them.  But just about the time I started looking for the Children's Benadryl in earnest. . . we started seeing sand on the side of the road.)

THANK YOU TO ALL THE DIVINE FORCES IN THE UNIVERSE AND NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY MY MOTHER WAS NEVER AS RELAXED AS SHE WANTED TO BE ON FAMILY VACATIONS.  

My children are my joy.

But don't take that to mean that they can't SUCK THE JOY RIGHT OUT of Crystal Gale after several hours.

. . .because they CAN.

"HE'S TOUCHING ME!!!!  HE'S GOT HIS HAND ON MY SIDE!!!!  HE WON'T QUIT HITTING ME!!!!"

Me (after several hours of this):  

"I.  DO NOT.  CARE.  . . . I do not care who gets hit.  I do not care who touches whom.  I do not care if you BLUDGEON each other, as long as you DO IT QUIETLY!!!!"

"But he won't stop touching me!!!"

"AM I SPEAKING GERMAN??  . . . what part of 'I DON'T CARE' was unclear??!  I want you BOTH to sit still, and just pretend like the other one does not exist.  Do not speak to each other, do NOT touch each other in any way, do not acknowledge each other in ANY WAY.  From this point forward. . . each of you is an only child."

Anyway.  

Shortly after that we stopped for some fries and drinks, and then passed Padawan on to his older brother, to complete the ride down in THEIR car.  It was pretty quiet after that.  =)

So we eventually arrived, and, after a quick grocery run, we were camped out on the beach under our EZ Up.

(This was our first time taking the EZ Up to the beach.  It was definitely a good decision.  We just put it up on the first day, and it served as Base Camp for the rest of the week.)

Mister had reservations about taking it. . . because it was so heavy.  But I thought it was a GRAND idea.

. . .

Just in case that was too subtle:

HEY MICHAEL!!!  I WAS TOTALLY RIGHT!!!

TAKING THE EZ UP WAS A FANTASTIC IDEA!!!

DID YOU HEAR ME MICHAEL??

THIS IS JUST ME. . . BEING TOTALLY RIGHT.

ANYHOO.

As family beach trips go, I suppose it was standard fare.

We sat on the beach, and drank cokes, and Capri Suns, and pre-mixed slushy-fruity alcohol drinks.

I got sand in mine.

A LOT.

The boys played in the sand,

and Spawn dug a huge hole, that was both an enticement to the younger boys and, in my mind, a death-trap to anyone that might happen by.

My family.

Perched on the edge of The Death Trap.

#ThrillSeekers

On our second or third day, we decided on Bahama Bob's for lunch (which, thanks to Took, shall heretofore be referred to as 'Bob's Burders').  As Bob's is only a few blocks from where we were staying, we decided to walk over for lunch.

And for some idiotic reason, I thought it would be a GREAT idea if we just walked down the beach.  (It is situated ON the beach.  You can walk right up.  Great idea, right?)

Wrong.  Because I'm an idiot.

By the time we got there, Padawan was pretty much soaked with seawater (because he doesn't understand the concept of "just walk in the EDGE of the water"), and Took was panting and whining like we'd just made him walk to Disney World by way of Downtown Birmingham.

So we got a seat, ordered a table full of appetizers for all of us to share, and Mister, Spawn, Friend and I made short work of the wings, fries, shrimp and AMAZING fried crab claws. . . while Took drank his Coke with great zest and refused to touch anything even resembling food, and Padawan stared sullenly at his plate of chicken fingers.

Whatever.

Those wings were GOOD.

=D

In the evenings, Mister made Low Country Boil, and Jambalaya, and other assorted delights (because even a ham sandwich tastes GREAT if you're at the BEACH), and we watched The Simpsons together (and Michael and I watched Supernatural, after the kids were in bed), and we even played a few games of cards.

("No, Took.  We said we're gonna play 'CARDS', not 'cars.'"

Sidenote:  He is nearly impossible to play cars with anyway.  He never lets you have the cars you want, and always complains that you're parking them wrong.)

A few days into the vacation, we got up early and arrived at Lulu's just as they were opening for lunch.

We sat right beside the water (even saw a DOLPHIN!!!), and the view was GREAT.  =)

And while I usually don't make it a point to plug restaurants. . .

. . .that was probably THE BEST cheeseburger I've ever had.

. . .

I'm just gonna need you to take my word on this one.

I have consumed a LOT of cheeseburgers.

And I mean:  A.  LOT.

And this one. . . THIS ONE was. . . 

This one was the cheeseburger equivalent of Westley and Buttercup's happy-ending kiss at the end of The Princess Bride.

In the history of the cheeseburger, there have been five cheeseburgers that have been deemed the most passionate, the most pure.

. . . This one blew them all out of the water.

. . . medium rare, pineapple, jalapenos, cheddar, and bacon.

MMMMMMmmmmmmm. . . .  =)

Seriously.

I saved my second half, JUST SO I could enjoy it on the beach, with my toes in the sand.  (Note:  It was even good cold.)

. . .

So I've just realized that I've spent more time talking about this cheeseburger than I have spent talking about anything else. . . 

But honestly:  It WAS that good. 

It was a treasure.

=D

Also, Took thought the cokes at Lulu's were just top-notch.

(SRSLY.  Dat coke tho.)

So, in conclusion, I guess we did all the normal things that people do on family vacations.

. . .And I guess what makes it difficult to write about is that I'm trying to write about it in a linear way ("We did this, and then on the second day, we did THAT", etc.), and memories don't HAPPEN in a linear way.

So here's my ACTUAL take-away from our trip:

I remember sitting under the EZ Up, reading my new Dean Koontz book and drinking a coke that my offspring kept sneaking sips from when he thought I wasn't looking.

I remember Padawan and Took playing in the edge of the water, running away from the waves and screeching and squealing with an audible delight that echoed down the beach.

I remember Spawn digging an enormous hole, and his exquisite attention to detail, and I remember him spotting and catching a sand crab that Padawan ultimately (accidentally) set free.

I remember my husband dancing on the beach, and asking me every few hours if he was doing or saying anything that might embarrass Spawn TOO MUCH in front of his girlfriend.

I remember Friend patiently playing with her little constant Took-shadow, and I remember the look of SUPREME DELIGHT on his face when she offered to take him to the pool.

I remember the boys making a pillow fort on the couch.

I remember Spawn playing frisbee with Pad and Took, even though both of them suck at frisbee.

I remember climbing in bed at night, and that sweet-sleepy feeling you have after spending all day on the beach, and the UNBELIEVABLE amount of sand in the sheets at the foot of the bed.

I remember asking my husband, after he'd made a run to the convenience store across the street, did he happen to notice if they still sold those little individually wrapped pralines?  And turning around to find him holding out TWO of them for me.

=)

I remember the day Mister took the boys down to the beach after lunch, and just let me NAP.  =D

I remember little boys jumping in sand-piles, and saying "Mama, watch THIS!", and doing jumps and tumbles like their bones were made out of well-cooked pasta.

I remember taking the boys to spend their Lemonade Stand money on souvenirs, and not being a BIT surprised when Took selected two cars, and Pad chose a shark tooth and a severed alligator head.  (Pad. . . whose mom is a vegetarian.  . . . Hell, I'll eat any animal that happens to be delicious, and I still wouldn't want that thing in MY house.  But we told them they could buy what they wanted with their money, and that's what we stuck to.  

**Pornographic material and hermit crabs excluded.)

I remember little boys BEGGING to go to the pool, and trying to explain to them that we HAD a pool at HOME, but we did NOT have a beach at home.

. . . and then I remembered my mom trying to explain the same thing to me, many, many years ago.  =)

I remember going out for ice cream, and Pad and Took deciding on the "Crazy Colors" flavor. . . 

. . . and I remember the excitement and delight when, the next day, both boys discovered that Crazy Colors ice cream results in. . . OTHER things being crazy-colored.  =D

. . . I remember THAT being a topic of conversation for a WHILE.

I remember my husband playing with three different-aged boys, with three very different personalities, and the consideration and time he tried to give to all three.

. . . I remember swimming in the ocean.

Just me and my Grey Took.

I remember him saying:  "Mama, this SO FUN!!!" and grinning at me.

And I remember thinking that it was pretty much the greatest thing that I had ever experienced.

EVER.

I remember snacks on the beach, and constantly discovering what appeared to be fistfuls of sand in my beverage.

And then we came home.

And OH!!!!

OH.

MY.

GOD.

. . . I always KNEW I was a home-body. . .

But I don't think there has ever been a girl in the history of EVER that has been so very, very glad to get back to her own home.

=)

Home.

Where things are like you like them.

Home.

Where the cats missed you, and are still alive, thanks to plastic feeders and the attention and care of great neighbors.  =)

Home.

Where the bed feels like it's supposed to, and there's no sand at the bottom.  =)

HOME.

It's not a huge place, and it's not overly fancy or impressive.

But dear GOD. . . I LOVE THIS PLACE.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Mister and I were talking about it, the night we got back.

We were both giggling and grinning from ear to ear, and pointing out this and that that we were happy to get back to.

And we were just sitting on the back porch, lazily wondering about WHY we were so glad to be back. . .

"It wasn't a bad vacation. . . I had a really good time.  Why do you think we're so glad to be back home?"

". . . Because this is the first time in my life that I've had a home that I wanted to get back to so much."

=)

Wherever you go. . . there you are.

Beach, or back yard.

We've made a concerted effort to fill this place up with Happy.

. . . and Happy is what was there to greet us when we all returned home, again.

So here's all I really wanted to say:  

I'm grateful.

For beach trips, and for returning home.

For the threat of Time-Outs, and for Waffle Houses, and for people who don't judge you for putting sugar in your grits.

For pillow-forts, and sunburnt noses.

For cheeseburgers that make you want to slap your mama.

And always, always, always:

For Dean Winchester, his tireless battle against the forces of evil, and his endless quest for pie.

=)

Because I DO deserve pie.

I really, really do.

=D

Lemonade Stands, Breakouts, and Caillou in Crisis =/

Today is June 19th.

It is ONLY June 19th.

. . .and I have already reached that point in our summer where I am pretty much ready to put the two younger boys out in the backyard, leave out a bowl of water for them, and lock the back door.

Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE these children.  They are FANTASTIC!!!

. . .EXCEPT for those brief, several hours-long period during every day when they have to actually INTERACT with each other.  Then everything just goes straight to hell in about 8 seconds.

. . . Padawan antagonizes Took (which he heartily denies. . . too bad I've seen it with my own eyes), plays games of keep-away with Took's prized possessions (Sheepie, Sheep-Turtle, Baby-Dog, and his Spiderman sunglasses), and Took has gotten into the habit of taking out his frustrations on his older brother in a physical manner.

. . .Mama won't let me paint right now?

Smack the crap out of Padawan.

. . .Mama says we can't go to the pool because it is lightning?

Kick a cat.

. . .Mama says you can't HAVE any more gummies right now?


Time to pick up the battle axe and prowl around for victims.

Seriously.

In addition to this, my youngest child seems to believe that I am not just here to "mommy" him and tend to his needs, but also to fill the role of maid, servant, juice-fetcher, and beck-and-call girl.

This makes me sad, because I can blame no one for it but myself.  
=(

And soon, Took is going to be pretty sad, too, because THAT shit ended YESTERDAY.

. . . It has taken me a while to get my head around it, but I finally have:   I'm not doing my child any favors by waiting on him hand and foot.  (This was NOT my intention, we SWEARS.  He was just my only baby.  And he was so LITTLE!  And so CUTE!!!  And so I helped him.  TOO much.  And that's over now.)

It started innocently enough:  "Mama?  Help me find my blue car?"

And so I did.

"Mama?  Help me find my juice-y?"

And so I did.

. . . and NOW it has gotten to the point where, yesterday, Took was sitting on the couch and watching Bears.  His juice cup was sitting on the coffee table, roughly 1 1/2 feet away.

"MAMAAAAAA!!!!  I NEED MY JUICE-Y!!!!"

0.0

It was right in front of him, but sweet-precious-little-baby didn't want to have to get down and get it himself.
=(

. . .

(This must be NIPPED, and with a quickness, before I end up raising a bright-purple ass-hat.)

So now, whenever my youngling comes to me and says:  "Mama find my blue car."

The answer he gets is:  "Find it yourself, baby.  I didn't play with your car, YOU did.  YOU find it."

(This is usually met with tears and complaints, immediately followed by a Time-Out, which is met with MORE tears and complaints.)

But this is just Phase One.

We are just about ready to enter Phase Two, which will entail the removal of gummy treats before nap time, a complete loss of night-night juice, and will be immediately followed by the brutal beheading of Caillou.

. . .even as I WRITE THIS, I am listening to the boys in the tub, taking swipes at each other, constantly complaining, and whining incessantly.

I hear:  "STOP, Nolan!  Don't DO that!!!  STOP!!!  DON'T DRINK THE BATH WATER!!!"

. . .

And I actually went in there and JUST SAID to my children:

"Hush.  Both of you.  You stop being bad, and YOU stop complaining and tattling.  I do NOT CARE if he drinks the bathwater.  It is gross, and we've told him that repeatedly.  But is is NOT poisonous, so if he WANTS to drink the bathwater, THEN JUST LET HIM DRINK THE BATHWATER!!  

UNLESS HE IS TRYING TO START A FIRE OR DRINK TOILET CLEANER, I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT!!!"

. . .

So.  There's THAT.  =/

In my own defense. . .drinking bathwater will probably help him strengthen his immune system.

Yes.

I'm sure it will be fine.

======================================

In OTHER news, Spawn has been here this week, and it has been fantastic to see him.

=D

He was here for Father's Day, got to go with us to Pawpaw's house for a visit, got to work on some yards with his Dad (and earn some money), and we even fit in a pizza dinner at Mellow Mushroom with my mom last night, before he goes home today.

It has been GREAT having all three of them here!  =D

And today, before he leaves for home, we'll all go visit Daddy at work, and eat lunch in the cafeteria.  (Which, personally, I am RATHER excited about, as they have GREAT food, and a HUGE variety.  . . . Continuing evidence to support the notion that it doesn't take much to make me happy.  . . .basically, just the promise of a good lunch.)

And then he'll have to go home, and the next time we see him will be our beach trip next month. . . and then?  Probably not again until after he is officially a College Man.

. . .

That doesn't bear contemplation right now.

Moving on.

=================

In addition to working on yards with his dad, Spawn ALSO assisted dad yesterday in turning an old pallet and some spare pieces of wood into a LEMONADE STAND for the two younger boys!

We are participating in a neighborhood yard sale this weekend, and the boys have decided that they would like to man a lemonade stand (also for sale:  MINI MUFFINS!!!) at the side of our driveway, in an effort to have fun and make monies.

They are PRETTY excited (as seen below).

The stand is basically finished, we now just need to add a sign saying "Lemonade!!".  

And. . . "USED CARS!!".

(That last bit was Padawan's idea.)

So. . . what else?

uuuummmmmm. . .

Oh.  

I mentioned that we went and ate with The Fam last night, and it was great.  Good pizza.  =)

So we got home from dinner, and it was getting late, so we started getting the two youngest boys ready for bed:  teeth-brushing, night-night juice preparing, jammy-dressing.  

And, as it is summer in Alabama, and just BROILING hot, as SOON as we got home I walked into our bathroom so I could wash off my makeup.

(Just as a sidenote:  I am a firm believer in makeup.  I'm not saying I care if anyone else wears it, not at all.  I'm just saying that I am vain, and getting older every day.  And when my husband comes home from a day of work, and the house is a wreck, and the children are fighting, and the cats are hacking up hairballs, and I'm in a paint-stained old t-shirt. . . at LEAST I am (usually) wearing at least a little lip gloss or blush.  Not JUST for him, but also because it makes me feel better about MYSELF.

Like my Granny used to say:  

"Every old barn looks better painted."

Too true, Gran.  Too true.)

But I digress.  It was HOT, dinner was OVER, and we were HOME.  

I was washing that crap OFF.

So I did. . . and looked up at the mirror, face still dripping wet, and find that my face has exploded with blemishes.

WTF????

I AM ALMOST 40.  I HAVE LAUGH LINES, AND CELLULITE, AND I'M MAKING STRIDES WHERE I CAN, BUT I AM NO LONGER A SPRING CHICKEN!!  SO WHY THE HELL AM I STILL HAVING TO DEAL WITH THINGS LIKE BREAKOUTS??????!!!??

STRAIGHT.

SHENANIGANS.

So I'm standing there, thinking basically ALL of this, and saying to myself:  WHY is my face so broken out??  WHY is this happening??!  THIS MAKES NO SENSE!  I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING DIFFERENTLY---

Oh.

. . .

My traditional evening Butterfinger.

=/

(I have only JUST discovered that this is my favorite candy bar, and have been enjoying one every evening for the last several days.  It has been delightful.)

BUTTERFINGERRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

CURSE YOUR SUDDEN BUT INEVITABLE BETRAYAL!!!!!

. . .

Speaking of betrayal, that brings me to my final thought for this post:

A few days ago, Took and I were watching Caillou while we laid down for his nap.  And I noticed something. . . AMISS.

The dad's voice was different.  

And the Granddad's.

They had. . . switched voice actors.

I HATE IT when shows do this!!!

I just HATE IT.

. . . It would be like if a main character was a blond, 8 year-old fairy princess, and then one day, BOOM.  She was replaced with a drooling green space mutant, without ANY explanation at ALL.

DID YOU THINK WE WOULD NOT NOTICE???!!??

DID YOU THINK WE WOULD NOT CARE???!!??

YOU SIMPLY COULD NOT BE MORE WRONG.

. . .honestly, I have not felt this betrayed since they replaced Aunt Viv's on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, with no explanation at all.

I CARE VERY MUCH ABOUT THE PLIGHT OF AUNT VIV.

. . . wherever she may be, I just hope she is safe.  And happy.

=/

That's all for today.

#CHAOS

Thrift Stores, Reading Lists, and Basically Killing It.

The children are in bed.

. . . . . . 

Allow me to repeat:  

THE CHILDREN.  ARE.  IN BED.

=D

Now I'm gonna have some ME TIME!!!!  

. . . which, sadly, translates to "time for me to write something while I swig cherry coke and look at cat pictures and think about possible snack options in the pantry."

=)

So I just sent a long-winded message to my mom (as I often DO), and was just thinking about how it would be REALLY SUPER GREAT if I could just write a blog post as easily as I write a message to her.

So that's what I'm gonna do here, as an exercise.

We'll see how it turns out.  =)

OH MY GOD I LOVE THESE CHILDREN BUT SWEET LORD WE'RE ONLY A WEEK INTO SUMMER AND I THINK THEY MIGHT KILL EACH OTHER AND THEY ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY AND DO WE HAVE TO TAKE THEM WITH US ON VACATION???

And okay-- to veer off topic for a moment?  I just had to turn off the safe-search on my computer, JUST TO LOOK UP the phrase 'mama cat is having none of your shit.'

And so I thought:  Sure!  I'll turn off safe-search!  How bad could that possibly be??  . . .

Perhaps I am naive, but I was a smidge disappointed.  =(

Anyway.

The children.

It has rained for most of the last week here, so the boys have been largely confined to the indoors.  This has not been an ideal situation.

No it has NOT.

We've played with cardboard boxes, we've played with play-doh.  We've painted with several different mediums, we've gone to Target.  We've gotten milkshakes, we've played card games, and we've read lots and lots of books.  And we even got to the pool, once, before the dark clouds chased us in.

. . . the boys drove their Power Wheels truck to the pool.

And I really cannot stress ENOUGH how very much they thought that they were awesomeness personified that day.  =)

But aside from these fleeting interludes of sibling bliss, these two little turd-squirrels have positively been at each other's throats.  It was after only about 4 1/2 days together that Took began to walk around the house, declaring to anyone that would listen:  "Desi need to go home to his mama!  He need to go to HIS mama's house!  His mama miss him!!"

And then on Sunday, he actually did go see his mom for a while, and pretty much before their car had left the driveway, Took was already saying:  *sigh* "I miss him."

. . . granted, this was still only roughly 45 minutes after he had smacked the crap out of the back of his brother's head with a plastic hammer. . . but perhaps he was experiencing remorse for that.  One can hope.  =)

What else?

Oh!  The kids are getting an allowance for the summer, and they're doing really well with it.  We had a discussion about how they were each going to be given chores to do each day, with the chores fitting their respective ages.  At the end of the week, I would decide how competently, and without argument or whining, they had completed their chores.  And this would result in an allowance. 

Once Padawan got his head around the money aspect of it, he was 100% on board.  Whenever I asked him to do something, all I had to say was that it was a "chore", and he would stop what he was doing and jump right up and do it.  Took was. . . more reluctant.  Until I discovered that I could give him his money in coins, and let him carry some in his pocket, and take them out and look at them from time to time.  (Don't worry mom -- I washed them first.)  =)

So they each got their first payday today.

We were out bargain-hunting for some summer clothes for both of them, and the whole time I was driving I was explaining how money worked, and how they could save it and plan for bigger items they'd like to buy, etc., etc.  

Then we went to 2nd & Charles, to let them spend it.  Before we got out, I asked them what they were looking to spend their money on.

Padawan:  "A video game.  Baseball or football."

Took:  "New baby!!!"

=)

So we browsed.  We compared prices.  We circled the whole store.  Twice.  We made some difficult decisions.

Pad had $5.00 to spend, and Took had $3.00.  And when we left a bit later, Pad was proudly waving the baseball game he'd found for $4.50, and Took was clutching a fluffy white stuffed dog that he'd found for $3.00.

They were just happy as cats.  =D

-------------------------------------

While we were walking around the thrift shop today, Took sprawled in the back of the cart, Padawan lagging behind, I turned to Pad and said:  "Hey.  . . . do you know where we are?"

He looked at me.

Pad:  "No.  . . . where are we?"

Me:  "We're in the THRIFT SHOP."

Pad:  "REALLY?!?"

Me:  "Yep."

Pad:  "COOL!"

Me:  "Hey.  . . . you know why I got that shirt?"

Pad:  ". . . why?"

Me:  "CAUSE IT WAS ONLY 99 CENTS!!!!"

. . . which, aside from being a lame joke, was also a huge mistake because we were both humming that damn song for the rest of the day.   =/

Hmmm. . .

So. . . I guess the only other thing I have that's on my mind is just that I am basically killing it at life lately.

SRSLY.

My husband has been doing what he does in the summer, and that is keep busy.  Last year, he started doing yards in our neighborhood on his off days.  Because he said he liked it.  What can I say about my boy? 

He's a good earner.

But this was about ME.

=D

So usually the set-up in our house is that I take care of the boys' breakfast and lunch, and my husband makes dinner.

But he's been working.  Even on his off-days.  Hell, ESPECIALLY on his off-days.

So I figured I could step up and do a little more, and I decided to start making dinner for him.  Not just every once in a while, but pretty much all the time.  (The only reason for not ALL the time is that it is something he really enjoys doing, and is very good at.)  

So we've had taco night, some amazing BLT wraps, some roast beef wraps, some shrimp po-boys, some chicken fried rice. . . and I forget what else.  As you can see, nothing fancy.  But we have eaten WELL this week.  =D

And it made me feel really good!

And sometimes I'd find myself looking around the house, thinking:

"It is almost 5 p.m.  The children are still alive, and neither is currently concussed.  The pets are alive and holding up nicely, considering.  We are all clean, and well-fed, and the house is picked up, and the clothes are clean and put away.  And I am wearing real clothes, and not just repurposed pajamas.   . . .I have literally not stopped moving all day, and I really feel that it's pretty obvious that I am completely kicking ASS at this stay-at-home mom routine.  Oh, what?  The kids need new clothes?  How about consignment shop?!!
BOOM!!!  You're clothed for summer!

Oh, two kids in the house, ALL THE TIME, instead of just one?  When I am completely not used to that, and the baby isn't either and is fairly vocal about it and it has rained for 5 days straight?!??

How about art instruction and play-doh time??  

BAM!!!

Kids getting bored and climbing the walls and really making me start to question my own sanity?

How about let's do some CHORES and make some MONEY and learn some RESPONSIBILITY??!!??  The cats don't need clean water EVERY day, right??!!?

EAT MY BLUEBERRY MUFFIN-FLAVORED DUST, CAROL BRADY!!!

What's that you say?  Padawan needs to strengthen his reading skills this summer?

How about a WHOLE STACK of chapter books??  How about a Ninja Frog that solves crimes??

HOW ABOUT FROG AND FREAKING TOAD, WHICH WAS SUGGESTED BY HIS TEACHER AS A GREAT FIT FOR HIS READING LEVEL??!!!??

And wait.  We found it at the thrift shop??  So we were able to get it for NEXT TO NOTHING???!!!??"

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOSH

Quadruple points.

I win.

I win at life.

=D

So that's all for now.

. . . I know what you're thinking. . .

And the answer is no.

It doesn't take much to make me happy.  

Not much at all.

=D

=D

Also, we have these things in our shower.

One is a gator, and one is an octopus.  They've been in there for two days.  After the third day, they are supposed to be quite a bit larger than they were to begin with.  (I do not have the exact figures here in front of me.  My apologies.)

So as of tomorrow, the waiting is over.

. . . I'm thinking the boys are thinking they're going to be, like, 8 feet tall or something, sentient, and possibly friendly. 

It is the only way I can rationalize their excitement levels being this high.

=D