Outing

I've always heard crazy stories from mothers, mostly my own, about how hard normal everyday things are with kids. I always got a pretty good kick out of them until yesterday. I realized that those stories are not just stories anymore. They are my life.

Of course the grocery store is always difficult. At Macey's, they have these huge carts with a car on the front and those are wonderful. James sits in there the whole time, pretends like he's driving, and doesn't make a peep. Sometimes, I forget I have two kids. However, Albertson's is not so wonderful. I usually go to Albertson's a few times a week to take advantage of great deals, but boy, is it rough. Noah sits in his seat quiet as can be, but James is a different story. If he's walking around he is either begging to be held or ripping things off the shelves. If I put him in the cart, he tries to rip open all the packages of the things I'm buying. It's a lose-lose.

Yesterday, I thought I would be brave and go to the mall on my own to try to find something for us to wear to Marissa's wedding this weekend. I love my double stroller, but it sure can be difficult in the mall, especially when none of the handicap buttons by the doors work. I was feeling pretty accomplished after finding some new khaki pants for 5 bucks at Children's Place for James. Then I moved on to find something for myself. I walked into a store, found what I was looking for and made my way back to the dressing rooms (so difficult with a double wide stroller). I had to stop a few times on the way to pick up the clothes that James had ripped off the racks. While in the dressing room, James opens the door over and over and over again (he has a strange obsession with doors). I finally got him to quit that and he started crawling underneath the door. So here I am, half naked, dragging James back into the dressing room by his foot. Needless to say, the shopping trip wasn't near as productive as I had hoped it would be.

I got home and crashed on the couch, completely exhausted. Then I got to thinking. What on earth am I going to do when Noah can walk? That's a scary thought!

Bragging Rights!

You'll have to excuse me, but I feel the need to brag for just a minute. I get a little excited about grocery shopping these days and I want the whole world to know what kind of deals I'm getting.

#1 - Yesterday, I went to Wal-Mart and came out with 7 bags of groceries and only paid $17 (down from $49 before coupons). That included Kraft salad dressing for $.08, Duncan Hines cake mix for $.61 and McCormick seasoning packets for FREE!

#2 - I also hit up Albertson's in the afternoon. After buying six boxes of Raisin Bran, the store actually owed me $0.57. That's right! They paid me to take home a bunch of Raisin Bran.

#3 - Today, I went to another Albertson's and spent a total of $6.78. I walked away with 6 3-packs of Treetop juice boxes, 6 boxes of Ronzoni SmartTaste pasta (the good stuff), and 3 boxes of Red Baron French Bread Pizza. Can you believe it? I actually had to do that in few different transactions, but for one of my transactions, I only paid 9 cents!

I'm still in awe at how incredible this is and I still feel like I'm doing something illegal. It kind of does feel like a full time job, but hey, it's worth it.

Technical Difficulties!

Ok, so I'm a bad blogger, but I have a good excuse. Our computer was in the shop once again (fyi, if you ever buy a mac, be sure to buy the protection plan). Also, our camera is still having issues. It still takes great pictures, but I can't load our pictures onto the computer for some reason. I've been putting off posting because who wants a post with no pictures? Well, it's been long enough and it's time for an update with or without pictures.

My boys are both getting big and gearing up for the summer. James has an obsession with the great outdoors and throws a major tantrum every time he is forced to come inside. He just figured out the childproof door handle in nursery and spends most of the time letting the other kids out. Can you tell that he is Hans' kid? He also loves his little brother to pieces, sometimes a little too much.

According to the pediatrician, Noah is tall and skinny. He just started smiling about a week ago and can't get enough of it. We're counting our blessings that we've made it into the spring without him getting sick. We were quite paranoid. We blessed him on March 29 and it was an incredible day. We were surrounded by lots of friends and family and the experience was just amazing.

Hans is as busy as ever. He's doing a lot of little projects on the house because it is officially on the market. We're hopeful that we'll be able to sell in the next month or two so we can move into a house that fits us a little better.

I spend my days chasing James around, cleaning up his messes and feeding Noah. I recently picked up couponing (I don't think that's really a word). You can make fun of me if you want, but it's actually kind of a rush to spend 50 cents on 6 boxes of cereal or getting free cough drops. Not to mention all the money we're saving. It actually keeps me pretty darn busy.

So there you have it, a complete update on our lives. Boring, I know. But we're loving it and we couldn't be happier. Oh yeah, and it's snowing outside. A lot! Bummer!