who knew

School shopping is not for the faint of heart, that's for sure.

After grabbing the couple items at Kroger and Publix on sale cheaper than Walmart's ad, I made my way to the mega store this morning with my list in hand. I will say it was pretty cool to have gotten the list last week and first, walked outside (I can't seem to figure out how to spell the past tense of the word mosey) to the storage and began a decent size pile from what was already in the stockpile. Ziplock bags I remember being BOGO at Publix a while back were added to this pile. What's a box of tissue or two from the leaning tower of Kleenex? This was a very cool feeling. About a third of the list I already had at home! Next year my goal will be to have half if not most of the school items waiting for school to start. Anyhow, I derailed. So... making my way up and down the "back to school" aisles at Walmart with all the other crazy moms there, I've got some general observations from today's experiences.

I'm sure glad I did not have my kids with me. I will continue to do "school shopping" WITHOUT my kids with me in the future whatever it takes. Wow. It's hard enough to manage the shopping cart without running into anyone else or being blocked by someone else or blocking in someone yourself when you're solo. Can you imagine three kids tramping along (not that Micah tramps yet).... aye. The moms there today that I saw had ten year old kid A saying "I want this folder, can I have this folder, I need this folder" and five year old kid B saying "Let me pick my own crayons, Mommmmmy I have to have my own box" and 7 year old kid C saying "I don't like that notebook. I don't like any of these notebooks." I'm so not kidding. The lady today that made me laugh and actually I really had to stop myself from laughing out loud was with 5 year old kid D saying "I don't need glue. We not gonna glue Mommy. You don't like glue. Why you put glue in there? I not gonna glue. I get sticky. Mommy why we buyin glue?" Can't you just see that unfolding before your eyes? And just think, if I had my kids with me, you know I'd have been one of those ladies. I will admit, I did call Jamie and ask to talk to Matthew (which I'm sure he thought was silly) and asked Matthew which lunch box he'd rather because I couldn't find either of his favorites and had to substitute in second and third runner ups. And I will also say that I was super grateful for the Experienced Mom in the store. When I was down to literally my (second to) LAST item and I couldn't find it, after walking up and down three times each aisle deciding it HAD to be SOMEWHERE... I started asking "Excuse me, sorry, this is my first time shopping for school supplies, do you know where to find X notebook?" I got two blank stares and then the Experienced Mom stepped up. "What kind of notebook?" she asked me. "Um, this Mead Primary Journal, I think it's like a composition book, but I don't know where to find it" she goes "Oh, it's one aisle over, on the left." I stared at her. "Really?" She said "Yup, I'll show you. I have three kids, the youngest is six." I said, "I have three kids, the oldest is five." She smiled so nicely at me as if to say 'you crazy fool, ha ha ha, I'm done with that.' No, in all honesty, I was glad for her help. She knew right where it was and she wasn't snarky about helping which is really nice in a world where like no one wants to help anyone ever.

I did have to go to Hobby Lobby for the last item on the list but that's okay, I knew I was going to go there, they have the cheapest plain white t-shirts I've seen so I hauled myself over there after the walmart craziness was over.

But! At least I'm done with that!
Matthew has a rockin' new backpack and (non-matching) lunch box.
Both Matthew and Mark have new "rest" towels.
All three boys acquired new clothes today. I couldn't help myself ... there was a onesie that said "stud" and had the picture of a muffin on it. So yah, Micah's got that waiting on him for the right size. $3 dollar clearance item!
I have crayons and colored pencils and markers and erasers and gluesticks and folders coming out my ears! BUT... I do not have to suffer the masses with the children in tow! And for that I'm thankful.

we survived...

.... The DENTIST!

I was not a very eager parent to take my toddler or even preschooler to the dentist. (tisk tisk, I know). But, in order to get into public school, Matthew had to go. We talked about how the dentist was going to count his teeth and tell me how many he had. I was told sometimes on the first visit, the child can be anxious, so he was welcome to sit in my lap if he or I wanted... HA. Not this big boy. First, he was told to pick out a color of HAND PAINT. And he got to put his hand print on the wall. Pretty cool if you ask this five year old. Then after washing that off, a nice crazy lady came up to him and said she was the fairy princess here to clean his teeth. He laughed at her. She introduced him to "Tickles the Tooth cleaner" and "Mr. Thirsty the spit slurper". He cracked up. He sat proudly in the chair by himself and wore his cool sunglasses just like he'd done it 100 times before. He held my hand the whole time but I was so shocked. Thank you so much to my friend T for giving me this recommendation. I was floored with this practice. And we got to check off another first on Matthew's list. I can not believe that Kindergarten registration is next week. ACK! .... Maybe I'll be brave enough to take Mark to the dentist before the week before he's in kindergarten now that I know it's not that scary.

Charleston trip

We had a great time this weekend with Papa, Grandma and Kiki...

at the beach

at the house

at a fun park

what a fun way to end summer! Matthew starts Kindergarten in less than two weeks and he had a blast!

bath times three

How many little muffins can we fit in the tub?

as promised...

...us, as cows

trip down south

We went down south to Nana's house for a cousin's wedding. I had the blessing of being able to sing in it. You can see that on youtube by clicking here if you're interested. Papa was quick to scoop up the big boys and Aunt Kimby finally got to meet Micah! She ate him up! We had a great time with Jamie's family and the wedding was fun. I love being at Nana's house. Everything is simple, everything is nice. Nana is so sweet and darling, she reminds me so much of my late Thelmy. She makes me miss her, but in a good way. Nana is her own person and has her own special place in my heart. It was wonderful for her to get to meet Micah and love on all the boys this past weekend.

Papa and his big boys

Aunt Kiki got her hands on Micah first thing!

Papa and Micah talkin

Grandma gets her turn with Micah.
She seemed to be the only one he'd let put him to sleep over the weekend.

getting ready for the wedding

all dressed up and ready to go

waiting for the wedding to start ( I love these boards! )

why yes, my eyes *are* blue

Papa and Micah

this is what happens when all the girls run away...

Aunt Kiki and her boys

Matthew blowing bubbles

me and my hunny

Jamie and Kimby

four generations with Micah

Nana with all three boys

Papa with all three boys

Nana and Micah bear

In other news, Matthew tried something really cool.... corn on the cob! and liked eating it! I was so proud of him... side note: last time we were there, Matthew ate popcorn for the first time. Apparently Nana's is the place to try corn, ha.