Marshalls makes me happy

I am not a shopper. I bargain-hunt, and I do lots of shopping to get the best bang for my buck, but I am not a shopper, and especially not a clothes shopper. When I am at the mall, I go to the stores I need to go to, and am fine with skipping the rest. Trying on clothes is annoying (especially with two children), finding something unique and pretty that doesn't go halfway to my bellybutton is sometimes impossible, and clearance racks seem a bit bare lately.

But then, there's Marshall's: my favorite place to shop. Period. And my Marshalls is also a HomeGoods, so it is a double-whammy favorite. I was there today to do a little shopping for Adam, and I did find a little something, but I can't say what it was because he reads here from time to time. But the shopping didn't stop there...

A quick scan of the kids shoes clearance resulted in some sneakers for Katie for $10. I know that isn't a fabulous deal, but I can't find them cheaper at Payless or Wal-Mart, and Katie is outgrowing her sneakers just about every two months.

Then I went through the ladies clearance rack and found gobs of cute things, but only bought this adorable number for $7!! I think I will wear it for Christmas at my in-laws. I also found an adorable green suede short trench coat, but that was not $7, so on the rack it stayed.

Then it was back to the toys, where I found for $6.99, the very same Thomas motorized engine I bought at Target for $9.99. So I bought one, and will return my other to Target. Katie is currently intrigued with the motorized trains. It's not a very girlie present, but there will be more trains to keep the two kids happy when having fun at the train table.

I told myself I was not going to go into the HomeGoods section, because basically I would be setting myself up for a session of serious coveting of the worst sort, but somehow (???) I wound up there. I was just going to look for King size shams, but I got distracted with the duvets on clearance. The screams in my head of "Run away! Run away!"were too loud to ignore, so I quickly left, only to scan the baby decor for a moment. Sigh... (where I found some cute wooden giraffes and monkeys with pegs that will go great in the kids bathroom, but now is not the time to be spending money on the kids bathroom!)

So I dashed for the check out, and I believe I left with a content heart. I got a stocking stuffer for Adam, a new blouse, a present for Katie, as well as sneakers and mittens for Katie all for $36.

Happy.

And I hope all your final Christmas preparations will be happy too.

(I still have 4 or 5 gifts to get - is everyone else done?)

Three Thanks Thursday

Today I am thankful for:

1. My new mini-van radio/CD player. Mine broke a while back, so Adam found one on ebay and installed it today for great savings. A helpful and money saving husband - be still my heart.
2. 50 cent laundry detergent at Walgreens.
3. My healthy children.

Photabulous

Katie's prudent judgment of how much cinnamon and brown sugar should go in her oatmeal (during the 1.3 minutes I was in the bathroom).

"Mom, why are you taking a picture of my oatmeal?"

My 24 count muffin pan - share the branny love.

What remains of the slain paper beast.

Accomplishment

Some may post about homeschooling success, decorating splendor, or a tender baby moment as a highlight of the day's accomplishments. Not me. Not today anyway.

Today's great feat was neatly clipping and placing in a baggie all the Box Tops I have been throwing in the back of one of my drawers. I knew some of them were going to expire next year, and I didn't want all my Box Top tearing to go to waste, so today was the day I got them ready to be placed in the Box Top box at church.

Now, with that amazing inspiration of what one woman can accomplish with just a pair of scissors and a baggie... go out there and do something great!

Monday, Monday

(Warning: the following post is a boring recap of my day - feel free to ignore. I am feeling chatty today with no one to chat with but my unfortunate readers.)

It's Monday again. Time to recover from Sunday, which has the strange ability to leave most of my house trashed, the sink full of dishes, and stuff everywhere. The ideal Monday would be a day of cleaning and organizing to start the week off right; but grocery shopping has found its home on my Monday.

Adam isn't home from work until 9 o'clock on Mondays, so it is a good day to be out all morning, because if I get behind, I have until 9 to catch up. So on my weekly schedule, I have written for Monday:
- grocery shop
- coupons
- library or fun

I know that doesn't possibly sound like enough to fill an entire day, but somehow it does (which speaketh volumes of my skills as productive homemaker). Grocery shopping isn't 45 minutes inside one store. Grocery shopping is hitting many stores for the best deals at each. Today's trip was Weis, Walgreens, Giant, and then Wegman's. Joey and Kate come along, and I am sure they wish they were doing something much more fun the whole time. Joey is a great shopper since he has been doing this for 4 years now. Kate is pretty good too, though she usually has some tears at our last store, which is most often Wegman's, so the people there probably think she is a terrible child, or I am a terrible mother, or both.

I am home around 12:30, then lunch, unpack, get kids down for naps and then it is 3 o'clock already. Then I get to the coupon part of the list and clip and sort my q's from that week, and discard any expired ones, and put away all weekly fliers and coupon holders into their bin. That is usually followed by some time wasted on the computer with a cup of coffee, then I will get dinner prep going.

We eat around 5-5:30. If it is library night, we locate all the books and CDs, I log all the ones we have read, and head off to the library while Adam's dinner is in the oven. We drive to the library which takes me through some of the beautiful old homes in the city that I admire every time we pass by. We then return our gazillion books, pick out a gazillion more, I say "quiet voices!" a gazillion times, and head home. Katie is usually ready for bed then, so I get her down. I finish up Adam's dinner and clean any kitchen mess. I then unpack the books with Joey, reading him the titles of all the ones I picked out so he knows what they are.

Soon it is 9, Adam is home, he eats and hangs out with Joey for a little bit. I put Joey to bed, and around 10 is time with Adam until bedtime around midnight.

And that is my Monday. That is how three tasks fill up my whole day. You were all wondering, I'm sure.

Determined problem-solver or troublemaker?

Christmas wonder

Last year for Christmas, Katie received this push toy from my sister-in-law. It came with nine blocks for sorting.

This picture was taken today.

Can you spot the Christmas miracle?

Did you count the blocks? All nine have survived!

That, to me anyway, is a miracle. ;)

Three Thanks Thursday

Today I am thankful for:

1. A friend's sweet little baby finally coming home from the hospital!
2. My new phone. Adam got me a great deal (in part because the salesman lied to him - three times! - about having to have the data plan, so the manager gave him a big credit as an apology for the lies) on a new cool one with bells and whistles. I am not a tech toy kind of gal, but I think I am going to like my new friend Blackjack.
3. This crazy girl:
   

O Christmas Tree

We decorated the tree last night. Actually, we finished decorating. Adam brought the tree up from the basement on Thursday, and Joey decided it needed snow. He found a piece of batting, tore it into smaller pieces and placed them on the tree (right at his height, on one side of the tree). For Thanksgiving dinner, all the tree had was lights and a bit of "snow" to great our guests.

On Saturday, I brought up the decoration boxes, and Joey found a bit more batting, or "fluff" as he calls it. While I was in the kitchen, he worked by himself and did a good job of covering most of the tree with his snow. He ran into the kitchen when he was done to show me the "beautiful tree!" As he proudly showed me his handiwork, he explained, "I had to throw it to get it up on the top."

He likes it so much, we have kept it on the tree. It's very unique;), but I know a whole lot of Joey-love went into it.

Yesterday we hung the ornaments.

Joey helped

and Katie helped

and then Katie "helped" some more.

The finished productHappy Decorating everybody!

It's nice to be a grown-up because...

...you don't look like this after eating a bagel with cream cheese.

Joey's prayers

Joey's prayers are some of the sweetest things, and sometimes funny too. Back in October when we were reading various months-of-the-year books, Joey was introduced to the concept of trick-or-treating. Costumes and candy in the same night--what a fantastic idea to a four-year-old. We were not going to trick-or-treat, nor had I suggested we would, but I guess Joey figured we were. So one night Joey's prayer at dinner included, "Lord, please help Halloween to get here soon!" My guess is that that may have been the first time the heavens heard that prayer.

He is also very grateful for various things such as "all the creatures in the forest" and that "Daddy has a job to pay the bills so that we have all the things we have."

And sometimes, my son prays for miracles. Over the weekend, after seeing part of an interview with Barack Obama, Joey ended his dinner prayer with, "And please help John McCain to still be our new president. In Jesus name, amen."

Amen, Joey.

Christmas decorating

I changed backgrounds. I am feeling Christmas-y.

It was the easiest decorating I will do all week.