Shopping is like a Marathon

I have never been much of a shopper. I think if I had a ton of money, I might enjoy it more, but most of the time it seems more of a chore. However, since I have become a stay-at-home mom, it is a break in the routine and so I get excited to get out, just for groceries. The hard part is the two kids and the massive amounts of food we buy, no matter how much I try to limit it to the bare essentials.

So today, I realized grocery shopping is like running a marathon for me. I have never ran a marathon, nor will I ever, but I have heard lots of stories about them. So, I start out and I am excited, I have lots of energy. I put Josh in the cart and Caleb straped to my front in his little Jeep carrier. Everyone thinks they are so cute and are always talking to them and tickling Caleb's toes. It is lots of fun, but after two aisles, I am already working muscles from bending over to get cottage cheese, milk, and diapers with an extra 20 lbs. weight attached to my front. But I look at the shopping list and so little has been checked off, so we keep going. I try to keep a smile on my face while Josh starts saying "go home now" or "buy this too Mama." It goes on like this and I try not to look frazzled and I try to be polite and happy to everyone else in the store.

By the time I get to the bread I think, "I'm just going to stop and go home now." But then I remember all the fruit and veggies that I need to get. So at that point I feel like I have hit the wall and I have to shove myself onward to finish the shopping, to get it done so I don't have to come back for another two weeks. And as I pick out the apples and try to find lettuce that isn't already brown, I keep thinking "3 more things..." "okay, one more thing."

Then when my brain thinks, "just the last stretch now," I realize I still have to pick a line, then load all the mountain of supplies out of cart and onto the table to be scanned and placed in bags, and then from there I have to load them back into the cart trying to not crush bread and tomotoes, not to mention the eggs which I have no idea where they are. And the whole while Caleb is getting completely seasick from me moving from side to side putting things in and out of the cart. Not to mention, I have to strategically place the cart so Josh can't reach any of the side candy which I am secretely hoping he will so I can eat it.

Then when our bank account is significantly decreased, I must push the merry crew and baggage to the van, load that up and buckle the kids in and wait 10 minutes so the lovely lady that has happened to park directly behind me can chat away with her friend while Josh says repeatedly "go get Daddy!" So I try to breath in deeply on the 15 minute drive home, focus on the road and at last pull into our little driveway. That is when I notice it is very quiet.

Suddenly, I don't really care how hard grocery shopping is. Crossing the finish line was all worth it.

Do you ever think, "wow, those two kids are mine? I gave birth to two of them!? I'm not a little kid myself anymore? When did that happen? I'm married!? I pay taxes and bills? I drive a van? What? Wow, I'm an adult?"

I'm thinking that right now.

They are as weird as me and I love it

Box riding, a sport for toddlers.

Yes, he totally dresses himself. He wore this hat to the doctor the other day, it was hilarious. I thought about telling him no, but then, why kill his spirit? He doesn't see anything wrong with looking odd, why take that away from him? Haha, plus, it makes me laugh the whole time. :)

This is Caleb's hat that Josh loves to wear over his head like this, I'm not sure why, but it is really funny.

My favorite Josh quotes

"Josh like butterfly, no, Josh LOVE it!"

"Oh no gracious, my puzzle!"

"Josh say shut-up, Josh go time out"

"I love you too, Mama. Oh, Josh made Mama cry!"

"Hehe, Josh smack Daddy on de butt."

I read Emilie's blog and I was thinking of all the funny things kids say when they start to talk in sentences. So I had to write some of my favorites that Josh says nowadays.

Nap Time

I go to put Caleb in his crib when Josh is finally quiet (if I put them in there at the same time, they play for hours and never sleep). However, the door won't open more than a centimeter. I think maybe Josh fell asleep in front of the door so I softly nudge it and see bars through the crack in the door. I'm thinking, what did he find to put in front of the door? Then after a little harder of a push, I find the crib. That is what he found to put in front of the door. Josh never ceases to entertain me.

Anniversary-Plan B

Happy Anniversary to Tyson yesterday (and happy birthday Kirsten)!

We had a fun time yesterday, it wasn't what we were planning, but what ever is? We had planned to go to a bigger town about an hour away, do some shopping and eat dinner at a nice restaurant. However, we have been way too spoiled with having Kenni and Cassie be here. We never really have to worry about finding a babysitter. Well, they both are out of town so I thought, well, now that I am in young women's, it will be really easy to find one of them to watch the boys...Nope, not one. They were all out of town or busy. Everyone else we know or could think of have their own kids and we didn't want to take them away from their own families. (sorry Bunk, we do that to you all the time.)

So we had plan B. Tyson was awesome and left work much earlier than usual. We took the boys and went to a local Italian place, got some take out, came home, put the boys in bed. Which turned out to be much easier than usual because they had taken like the shortest naps ever which made me mad at the time, but turned out to be a blessing because they were so tired. So they fell asleep and we went down to the basement where Tyson had laid out a blanket on the floor and lit some candles (which is really different for us, we never light candles). So we ate our take out on the floor and talked about our past anniversaries. It was really fun.

I love how much Tyson loves me and always makes me feel special, no matter what day it is or where we are. Sometimes it is hard being a mom and having to worry about the kids even on days when I want to celebrate and be alone with Tyson. But I am so thankful I get to be a mom and I know this may sound weird, but I know Heavenly Father knew that I needed to spend some quality time with Tyson, so He had the boys sleep extra deep. I am so thankful for days that remind me of why I love life and how lucky I am. Tyson, thank you for marrying me four years ago. Thank you for making every day wonderful and for keeping your promise and making me laugh so much. Thank you for writing notes on all our windows so every time I look outside, I remember you love me. Guess what? I love you.

My Man of Common Cents

In honor of my fabulous husband and his upcoming birthday, I wanted to write a little blog about him and the things he loves. I was talking to his little sister, Cassie, today and I was asking her about what kind of guy she wants to marry. She is much more mature in her thoughts than I ever was, which made me start to remember what I used to want. I wanted basically somebody just like me, but from Tennessee with an accent that could ride horses. I'm so glad I got someone infinitely better than that.

Tyson is very different from me. He is confident, driven, realistic, yet hopeful, he is like a rock, so stable. He loves things that I can't even picture liking, like olives and museums. I love to read his blog: www.commoncentscustomerservice.blogspot.com because customer service? I would have never really given that any thought except, "that teller was really helpful." But I would have marked it as personality, not actually as a good way of doing business. He is just amazing the things he thinks of and how he always wants to make things better.

I have been kind of grouchy with him today, and he has been so good and nice to me. He is off with the little boys at Walmart right now getting me a present. That is the kind of guy he is. He is amazing and I love him. I want him to know it, so everyone reading this, click on his blog and look at it. He can see how many people look at it, and that will make him so happy. Thanks. :)