Todays Shopping Trip

Can I just say how much I love coupons and stores that triple them.

Total before coupons $63.67
Total coupon savings $53.30
Total money spent out of pocket $10.37


Not a bad shopping day at all.

Silly boy!

Yesterday Zack and I made the trip out to see my mom.

The whole way out there he talked...and talked...and talked. I was hoping to get a little peace and quiet on the drive but he obviously had other plans. LOL

While we were there we went outside to enjoy the warmth and the sun and Zack's squirters (water guns). I started squirting him the minute we were outside. He loved it. After a while of playing with the squirters my mom brought out a bucket of water for him to play with.

He decided it was more comfortable to strip down and run around naked! Thank goodness mom doesn't have any close neighbors. My little nudist played out there with the water for quite a while before he would go inside.

I do not know where my brain was but I never put sunscreen on the poor kid. He was very lightly sun burned on his arms and shoulders and also

the top half of each BUTT CHEEK!

It is hilarious to see because the bottom part of his butt is still pure white while the top is a lovely shade of red! It is almost like he has a lined drawn across his butt.

Thankfully he has not complained about being burned, nor does it appear to bother him. I guess I need to start keeping a small container of sunscreen in the diaper bag because I don't think he is going to be in the house much this summer.

Easter Candy

Last week Kris came home and asked if he could take some of Zack's Easter candy to put in the candy jar at work. That is fine (those jelly beans had to go as well as some of the other none chocolate stuff he got). I don't have a problem with that since Zack is not going to eat it all anyway.

He got some from the Easter Bunny at the mall, some from the Easter egg hunt he went to and some the bunny left at the house.

Kris starts going through it and he's taking all the good stuff!
And by good stuff I mean the chocolate.

So I said something about him taking all the good candy and to leave some here.
By some, I mean all the chocolate.

How dare he even think about taking all the chocolate away from this chocoholic!

He makes a comment about the Easter Bunny leaving to much candy, apparently my husband has not quite figured out yet that I am the flippin' Easter Bunny in this house and I buy the candy that I want to eat!!
Did he really think I bought all that candy for Zack to eat?

Let me make this clear for you Honey... I am the Easter Bunny, I buy what I want to eat and I will be damned if you think you are going to deny me the pleasure of stealing chocolate from my kids basket!
Got it?

Okay now that it's settled and you understand, we can live in peace and harmony.

Bad Day.

Bad days that just get worse as they go along really stink!

I had one of those days a few days ago, it just seemed like every thing that could go wrong did.

Zack was in a mood from the moment he woke up which just was not what I needed.
Things went from bad to worse at home so I figured maybe a change in scenery would do me some good. I gather up the kids, whatever they might need and we headed to my favorite store.

I break out the coupons and tell the kids if they are good they will get to play the piano when I am done getting what we need. There is a keyboard in the back of the store they love to play.
Every 3.5 minutes Zack asks can we play the piano yet? Is it time yet? Are we going to the piano yet?

It's very hard to concentrate on what is a good deal as opposed to a great deal using my coupons when he is constantly asking a million and one questions. I deal with it and try my hardest to get through the store in a decent amount of time so they can have their time. I just get to the last section of the store that I need to purchase something in and start scoping out my deals when Zack looks at me in total shock. He never told me he had to go to the bathroom and he just wet his pants!

He is day time potty trained so why he never said anything is beyond me. Extra clothes are in the car, it is pouring rain outside at the moment so I decided just to get the last item and go to the check out. I figured what more damage can be done he is already wet.

I unfortunately got stuck at the register of the coupon Nazi! She scrutinized every single coupon I had. She stood there trying to argue with me. At this point I was getting pissed because Zack started with the mommy I have to go potty. I finally get everything done and paid for and tell Zack to hold on.

I can't take him to the bathroom because there is to much stuff to carry in and the store employees will not watch my stuff, so to the truck we go. I am not running through the rain again so I put a diaper and pants on him (I forgot to stick underpants in the diaper bag).

Now we are off to the grocery store because we are completely out of milk, bread and various other items. It is a 2 minute drive from one place to the other. We get there and I go to put Zack in the cart and he was wet. Somehow he wet so much it flooded the diaper and on to his pants.

At this point I don't care, we are here and I am getting the stuff before going home! The lady at the deli counter asks if she could give the kids a treat. Sure what the heck they never did get to play the piano so why not. She gave them each a cookie, it was much bigger than I thought it would be but I let them eat it anyway even though it was close to dinner time.

I get the kids in the truck, stuff the groceries in the passenger seat since my rear window will not go down (that is a story in itself). I get home, the rain has died down to a very slow drizzle now. I get the kids out and in the house, I open the door to get the groceries out and the gallon of milk comes flying out onto the ground, thankfully it did not bust open because I probably would have bust out crying if it did.

Oh yeah and to top the whole day off.

I was summoned to appear for Jury Duty! Ugh.

Mother of the year...Not

It is official, I will never be Mother of the Year.

I decided to take the kids on a nice walk to the park. I figured we are walking so I decide to leave everything at home except the kids cups (duh moment number one). Which were completely empty by the time we reached home.

The second we headed in that direction big mouth (I mean Zack) was yelling to anyone and everyone within ear shot that we were going to the park. Ugh does the world have to know where I am going and when I will be back? Apparently so.

We get to the end of the sidewalk, there is a lot of construction going on there so I grab the kids hands to cross the street, not cool with my darling 3 year old. He starts pitching a fit. I remind him that if he isn't good we are turning around and going home.

We get over to the park and there are several girls softball games taking place. The playground in right smack dab in the middle of 2 of the ball fields. I think nothing of it (duh moment number two)...until someone hit a foul ball that popped up and landed 2 feet from the playground, just missing the spot the kids are playing.

Even though the kids nearly were hit with a ball do you think either of them would leave. Heck no they were not going to let a measly little ball ruin their fun.

A short time later an older child who lives in my neighborhood comes over and starts playing with the kids. They are having a good time. Until this boy leaves. Zack is at that moment climbing the chain ladder. He is a half a second away from being to the top. He decides to look around to find this boy and looses his grip.

Down he goes with a thud!

He landed face first. Ouch.

It took him a second to realize what happened and then the water works started. I am trying very hard to access the damages. His poor little face has a bunch of scraps and scratches, a little blood around the hairline. First thought that came to my mind...
You idiot why did you decide to leave the first aid kit at home (duh moment number three).

We walked all the way home, there was no peroxide to be found in the house (duh moment number four). Good old soap and water will do the job.
I get him cleaned up. Okay not that bad just some scraps. The thought that popped into my mind...
Good thing I did not schedule an appointment to get his pictures taken.

When I told Kris what happened he asked me why I did not just take Zack into the bathrooms there to clean him up (duh moment number five). I did not even think about that.

By the way, not a single person there watching, playing or coaching the ball games ever bothered to come over to see if he was okay or see if they could help. You have to love the helpfulness of others.

Troublesome Threes

Oh these troublesome threes are going to be the death of me.

The attitude I am getting from this child of mine is to the point of driving me insane.

The mood swings are incredible. Who knew the mood swings of a three year old could be worse than any female with PMS. Those that say women with PMS are miserable or mean have never been around a (mainly my) three year old when he does not get his way. One second he is happy and singing or dancing around, the next he becomes Satan's brother!

If you are ever around him pay attention because when he gets that look in his eye, you just need to run as far away as possible. And I really do mean as far away as you can get.
Trust me when I say there are many times I wish I could run in the other direction until that sweet little boy comes back out.

This morning be became all kinds of upset because I told him to put the flashlight down. He knows he has one in his room he can play with. He knows he is not supposed to touch the big one. He got that look in his eye and then the sweet boy was gone.

Please tell me this is a phase and he will be grown out of it in no time. If you can't tell me that then please find a good facility for me to be admitted to.

He has fallen and can't get up.

Can someone please tell me how a child can fall out of bed, hit the floor and not be awaken from it?

I went to check on Zack before heading to bed.
He was not in his bed. I was getting ready to start panicking. Then spotted him on the floor (it was dark).

I know he fell because he was an odd position on the floor with several stuffed animals underneath him. He never gets out of his bed until Kris or I come into his room to get him. If something is wrong he sits there and whines or cries until we get there.

Kris lifted him up and put him in bed, he never woke up. This is not my child. My child wakes up the second you open the door, if by some miracle you get the door open and walk in there he is awake before you get over to his bed.

I was upset that he fell out of bed and never cried or woken up.

Kris trying to be the voice of reason says "I did it all the time when I was a kid."
Lets just say that did not help. I already knew there was something wrong with my husband now I will worry my child will be defective too. LOL

Just kidding honey you know I love you.

Star Burst, now banned from my house.

Next year that sneaky little Easter Bunny better not put those Star Burst jelly beans in my kids Easter basket again. I will have to become violent with that rascally rabbit!

With Zack not feeling well he woke up early...
very early.

I was able to stall him for a while before coming downstairs to find his basket that he had left out for the bunny to fill.
Then when he remembered the basket he could not get down the stairs fast enough. The look of disappointment on his face when he looked at the table and the basket was not there was a bit upsetting.

Note to self: next year teach the child the bunny hides the basket once he fills it.

I told him to go into the living room while I made breakfast, once he was there it took all of 2 seconds for him to find the basket and boy that frown was no longer in existence. He was all smiles from ear to ear.

That bunny left him books, a DVD, a train, and some candy. The handful of Star Burst jelly jeans the Easter bunny left in the bottom of the basket proved to be the defining moment when I knew I wanted to go all Elmer Fudd that bunny!

Although Zack was told he could have a few, he kept sneaking back into the basket until they were all gone! Not a good thing I tell you... not a good thing.
This is the kid that does not get a lot of sugar so I am sure you know what happened for the next few hours.

By the time breakfast was cooked and on the table both Kris and I were pulling our hair out.

Zack was non stop, full speed ahead. He barely sat to eat breakfast, his mouth never stopped moving. No I am not talking about him eating fast, he never shut up! He wasn't even down with one sentence and he was moving on to the next. He even had the hands going.

The kid was in a full sugar high!

It was awful, I had never seen him like that and I was afraid he would never come back down from those stupid jelly beans.

So I warn you Easter Bunny if you so much as put one Star Burst Jelly Bean in my kids Easter basket next year I will have to hunt you down.
Stay away from any candy that has the word Burst in it.

Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!

Black Lights and Belly Aches.

Last night we sat down with Zack to watch the movie Bolt. Everything was going well even though Zack had not taken a nap yesterday and was on the tired side. Once it was over he was practically running to bed. It was 8:40.
I started feeling queasy just before the movie ended. I do not know what came over me. I was light headed and nauseated. My first thought was "Oh great it is going to be one of those nights".
I went to bed early but could not sleep.
Poor Zack whined every half hour and when Kris or I went up there he complained of his throat hurting.

This morning I brought him into our bed hoping I could catch a few zzz's.

It didn't work.

I held him off as long as possible before the whining for breakfast started.
When K showed up we only had a short period of time before we were to leave for the egg hunt I promised the kids. Just as I was getting things ready poor Zack threw up on the kitchen floor. Ugh. Thank goodness Kris was home to clean it up because I don't think my stomach could have handled it.

(thank you honey, you are such a good hubby)


We went to the egg hunt anyway. I didn't want either kid to be disappointed by not going so we toughed it out.

What was I thinking?

We registered, waiting for our number to be called then went inside. Yes inside, it was being held at a laser tag place. That would have been wonderful but I was still feeling light headed. We go into a little room and were told what was going to happen, then we were ushered into a black light room for our eyes to get used to the lights. The kids thought it was "cool" that their clothes were glowing.
Then we were able to go hunt.
The kids had a blast, I was a bit light headed by all the lovely glowing colors. Thank you Kris for being there, I don't think it would have been good for me to drive home but we are home now and hopefully I will be able to nap when the kids do. I really need it.
I do not want to be sick on Easter, that wouldn't really fit into our tradition of going out for a yummy pizza dinner.

Who tells the best Jokes?

One of the funniest things that I have witnessed in a long time is a couple of 3 year old kids telling jokes to each other. I wish I could video it to post it but whenever I get the camera out they become different so it isn't as funny.

Twice now Zack and K (the little girl I babysit for) have decided to tell each other jokes. Neither one can remember the jokes people tell them so they make up their own.

The first time it happened they were telling each other knock knock jokes.

Zack: Knock Knock
K: who's there
Zack: Orange
K: orange who
Then the two of them bust out into a fit of laughter!

K: Knock Knock
Zack: Who there
K: Car
The laughter then ensued!

That is right, there was no punch line at all. I was nearly in tears laughing with them and believe me that isn't a good thing when you are driving.

A few days ago I went downstairs to do some laundry and I can hear them in the monitor when Zack started telling jokes.

Zack: Who lives in the barn?
K: the cow.
The laughter erupts at this point.

K: Who lives in the barn?
Zack: the horse.
They both proceed to laugh hysterically.

I just have to tell you there is nothing funnier than a couple of 3 year old kids telling each other jokes! If you are having a bad day, this will help turn it around.

The little man.

My little boy is now a man.

Zack and I went to see my mom yesterday. While we were there Zack was getting a little stir crazy being in the house so it was decided the three of us would take a walk. We started out and didn't get very far before a pack of dogs came running out of the woods just down the road from where we were. That ended that walk we made a quick get away since neither of us had ever seen these dogs before.
Just before we got back to the house, Zack turns around holds his hand straight out in front of mom and I then says "I will handle this ladies...Don't worry".
Who knew my 3 year old was no longer a baby? He is now thinking like a man and handling any problems us ladies seem to have. LOL
Gosh I love that kid.

A short time later Kris called moms house to check up on us and of course Zack just had to talk with him on the phone. He told him all about our short walk and all about going over to see Pudgy (moms dog who is penned up). While telling Kris about seeing Pudgy, I hear Zack say to his father
"Pudgy, can you say Pud-gy?"
As if Kris were a 2 year old.
I don't think Kris really saw the humor it.

Listen up.

I can no longer say Zack doesn't listen when I speak. The problem is he listens to all the wrong things...


I have a tendency to call Kris "Babe". So when he is leaving I say something like

"Have a good day Babe".

Yesterday when he was leaving I just said "Have a good day" and left it at that.

Zack said "no mommy, say have a good day Babe".
_________________________

I try very hard not to swear in front of him because he will repeat it...

over and over and over again.

So when something gets on my nerves I tend to say the word freak or freakin' instead of the other F word.

Zack has now taken it upon himself to start saying

What the freakin'.

I have gotten many looks while in the grocery store.
I like most parents have tried to get him to stop but it is a slow going process.
_________________________

I try to explain things to Zack all the time, like how things work for example. Usually during my explanations he tends to interrupt when he thinks he knows what will happen next. Most times he is wrong and I come back with "No actually... blah blah blah".

Several times now I have noticed when he is trying hard to explain something to someone whether it is me, Kris or someone else he just blurts out "Well Actually... blah blah blah".
_________________________

During his troublesome phase, he was getting into everything. Making mess after mess.
I would tend to walk upon the devastated area and immediately spew out

"Oh Lord child what are you doing".

Well that has come back to haunt me because several times when I have asked him to do something and he has inadvertently made a mess he blurts out

"Oh Lord child!"


Maybe just maybe I will get lucky when he is older and will listen to all the right things I say to him...
I can dream, can't I?