Rollin' Down The River!

There is no way to really appreciate what it takes to grocery shop with toddlers until you have done it, by yourself, for at least ten items.  I have to grocery shop today, and when I say have too I mean that if I don't we are pretty much going to eat eggs and turkey bacon for the next three days.  Since we had that last night, I think I better go.  There are days that I am up for the challenge and there are days that it would be a lot easier to just hire a babysitter for two hours and get it over with.  Today I am not up for the challenge, but I don't have a babysitter, so Trader Joe's here we come like it or not. 

I look outside and notice the overcast skies that offer the possibility of rain and it takes me back to the last time that I grocery shopped with both girls in the middle of a day full of cloudy skies.  We went to Kroger.  I was in the truck and had strategically parked it out in the parking lot all by itself, willing to brave the sprinkles as we got out to avoid a ding in the side.  I put both girls in the buggy,  Scooter in the back, Presley up front and made a light jog into the Kroger through the misty rain.  In hindsight, a ding may have been the better option. 

We quickly strolled through the store, picking up all necessary items and anything that I was reminded we needed as we walked up and down the aisles (again, not a list maker so there was no list).  Right before we left I had a huge AH HA moment and remembered toilet paper and paper towels.  Now this may not sound like a miracle to you, but I kid you not when I say that since I have been married I have bought these types of household goods about 5 times.  Seriously, I don't even know what kind of paper towels we buy and that was made apparent by the cheap and useless ones that we lived with for two weeks after this shopping spree. 

I digress, back to the story. So there I am on the paper goods aisle buying TP and the world's most useless paper towels, and trying to figure out where to put them in a buggy that is holding a 2 year old.  I did what any mother would do, I put the paper towels in her lap and the TP on the bottom (of course tearing a hole in the side of it trying to stuff in under there).  Did she complain, yes, did I care, nope we were almost done and they were not heavy. 

Off to the check out aisle. We checked out, I paid, and we walked out having made a pretty calm and uneventful trip to Kroger, or so I thought.  I get to the doors and as they open what do we see, buckets. Buckets and buckets of water falling out of the sky.  I kid you not, the parking lot was already so deep in water that it was running like a river.  I know what you are thinking, wait it out.  Yeah sure that's a brilliant idea except for the fact that I have two year old in the back of the buggy under 5 bags of groceries and a 12 pack of paper towels and a one year old in the front holding the eggs.  Did I mention that there were black clouds as far as the eye could see?! 

So there I stood, looking at the people around me with umbrellas, kids that can run and cars parked up front with disgust.  I said to Scooter, "what do you think Scooter!?  Run for it!?" well of course she said yes, she's two and loves the rain.  So I rolled up my jeans and prayed for my sandals and ran.  Now this was no light jog like the one on the way in, this more like the 100 yard dash with two kids, a buggy full of groceries and heeled sandals (or you could call it a train wreck, whatever works).  As I am running I think of my dear friend Billy (aka Missy), I remember that she told me one of the BEST things about having a truck was throwing the boys in the back and climbing in when it rains.  BRILLIANT! 

Finally, I get to the truck.  I open the back, unload the groceries and soaking wet Scooter who has laughed the entire time and toss Presley in with her.  I close the hatch and quickly look around to find the closest buggy return available (I HAVE to return my buggy to the right place, I have a deep disgust for those who do not).  And then I see it, floating down the river that was once a parking lot is my 24 pack of Cottonelle with the hole in the side.  Unbelievable.  Now I am the spectacle, I am the woman who left two babies in the back of a truck in the pouring rain and chased an open pack of Cottonelle through the flooded parking lot of Kroger in heeled sandals. 

I rescued the TP, got the buggy in it's proper place and took myself, jeans soaked, hair slicked back, contacts floating, back to my ding-less truck and my babies that were parked 100 yards away.  I went home defeated by that which is mother nature and a God that has an absurd sense of humor.  With me I took two delighted toddlers that enjoyed every second of their adventure in the rain. 

I stand by my earlier statement that if you have not grocery shopped with two kids, alone, for more than ten items, you have no idea how hard it is.  But if you have and it has rained, well I hope yours had as much fun as mine did!!  I am off to Trader Joe's, and assure you that I will get my groceries rain or shine!  I hope you enjoy your Monday. 

Love and Blessing,
Melanie

Groundhog Day.

It's Friday.  I love Fridays.  I know I have said that before, but I can't help but repeat it I LOVE FRIDAYS!!  This Friday is especially wonderful because I am on the verge of a small, but much needed breakdown and daddy being home will buffer my sweet children from the wrath that is mama. 

I don't pretend to have this mama thing figured out, not for a minute.  And just when I think I am getting the hang of it I do something really stupid like take away a paci or attempt to potty train.  BAM! There I am, back in the kiddie pool with my swimmies on just trying to stay afloat.  I mean seriously, there is absolutely NO WAY to have a normal life, day, morning, moment, when you are raising kids because you never know what to expect.  Walk out of the room, they eat a crayon.  Let'em play outside, they try to drown each other.  Put'em in the bath, one of them poops in the floor while the tubs filling up.  Feed them lunch, inevitably someone chokes or bites their tongue.  It's like that all day, all of the time.  You know what I am talking about don't you?  And if you are like me, usually you laugh and take it in stride.  Don't cry over spilt milk (or at my house water) right!?

But every now and then there comes THAT day.  The day where one of them poops in the floor while the other one simultaneously almost drowns in the tub.  The day where they don't nap for you, but then they cry all day because they are tired.  The day where you have to remind yourself exactly what you were thinking when you decided to get pregnant and realize that the second time must have been a fluke because there was NO WAY you did that on purpose twice! Have you ever seen the movie "Groundhog Day"?  Yeah, well that's me since Tuesday having THAT day.  So I am asking for prayer friends.  Thank you and have a blessed day.

Just kidding.  Actually I am sitting here chatting with you while drinking a GIANT cup of mint tea and listening to classical music, and I will say that this was not part of yesterday, so things are looking up!  Oh man do I love my life. Every single moment of it, even the ones with poop and CPR, are absolutely wonderful.  Days like this make me miss my sister, she is funny and she and I can laugh at just about anything, which was actually a much needed survival skill growing up (just kidding mom and dad) ;). 
Whoops...there goes my baby girl, payback for my mean joke I guess.  BRB.

Okay so anyway, where was I? Oh yeah I was talking about my sister.  Anyway, if you don't know her, you need to, she's a riot and I am pretty sure I would have lost my mind years ago if not for her following me around and picking it up from where ever I left it last. 

So, again, it's Friday.  Doc comes home this evening and all will be right at the Hall house for a few days.  Scooter loves her daddy more than she loves ice cream.  And that's a lot.  He just makes her day better by being in the same house with her!  I know how she feels, I don't blame her a bit for picking him as her favorite, heck, he's mine!  He has to mow the lawn this weekend, poor guy, but at least he'll be home with us.  I have no idea what else we will do, but I sure hope a nap is part of it because we have both earned one. 

Well friends, I have a screaming one year old I have been ignoring (don't tell anyone) so I must go!!  Leave it to the teething baby to put a damper on your 7 minutes of heaven.  That's okay, my cup is empty as are my arms, may as well go fill one of them.  Have a wonderful weekend friends.  Thanks for listening! ;)

Love,
Melanie