limits and advertising

I was at the grocery store yesterday with Alivia.  We were in the Laundry Detergent isle.  I was about half way down the isle from where Alivia was when I heard her scream "MOM! COME QUICK!!!"  I looked down at her and asked what was going on.  The pointed to a tub of oxyclean and said "I've seen this stuff on TV!  Its really good at getting stains out!  You should get some!"  She was so excited to have found something in real life that was on TV and according to TV  this stuff was awesome and we needed it:)

Later that day, Alivia was able to go to walmart and spend her 10 dollar gift card.  She was so excited to be able to buy something with her "credit card."  She picked out a pink skirt with ruffles for 8 dollars.  Then the life lesson began.  She wanted a matching shirt for her new skirt.  I told her that she couldn't afford a skirt and a shirt because she only had ten dollars. If she wanted something different she would have to put the skirt back.  It was very hard on her to be happy with just the skirt.  She actually threw a little of a fit from the cash register to the car.  Eventually she got it together and was happy about her new skirt.

The Walmart Chronicles

We have had a few adventures at Walmart lately.  I honestly shop at Walmart about once a month.  This month I went twice and I paid dearly for it.

I took all three kids to Walmart because we needed groceries and non grocery items and I wasn't in the mood to buckle everyone up, unbuckle everyn, unload the kids from the minivan, shop with the kid, load the kids back into the van, buckle the kids into their car seats, drive, unbuckle the kids from their car seats, unload the kids from the minivan, shop with the kids again, load the kids into the minivan again, buckle them in again...you get the idea (aka: haul all three kids to two stores)

So we had a very successful trip, the big kids rode on the side of the cart and Molly was ok with sitting in the seat of the cart.  We played "find the food" and "all aboard (the cart is ready to move)" and filled the cart to the top with much needed items.  We were almost done, in the very back at the milk and orange juice.  I opened the refrigerator door to get out some orange juice and hit Marlin in the head with the door.  It didn't feel like I hit him that hard.  I didn't even turn around to look at him until I had reached in to get the orange juice.  When I turned around he was holding his forehead and crying.  Blood was running down his face.  It did not look good. 

Then the chaos hit...

Alivia saw the blood (that Marlin was un aware of at this point)  Alivia screamed and panicked and started freaking out. 

Molly decided that there was a lot going on and she was missing it so she didn't want to be in the cart anymore and started screaming to get out. 

I needed something to wipe the blood off so I could decide if this was a bandaid emergency or a stiches emergency.  I was thinking it would be stiches.  So I pulled the cart with Molly screaming and arching her back, Alivia freaking out and Marlin crying with blood all over his face and hand down the isles to the bathroom area where I ran into a Walmart employee who ran to get me a first aid kit.  As we were headed to the bathroom I remember thinking "even if we have to go to the hospital, I am buying this stuff first because I am not taking all the kids back here to do this shopping trip again."  I'm such an ass but hey, I have three kids.  If it would have been my first or second trip to the emergency room I would have probably skipped the check out lane. 

Once we got the blood cleared away I saw that we did not need stitches.  I thanked the lady for her help and her tiny bandage and I hauled our circus to the first aid supply isle.  We sat down in the middle of the isle and opened antibiotic cream, butterfly bandages and spiderman band aids and fixed my little man right up.  No problemo.  Did I listen to the Karma gods and stay away from Walmart?  Nope

The next week we returned to walmart where we needed to buy some non grocery items.  We were in the toothpaste isle.  Everyone was picking out  new toothbrushes and new toothpaste.  I decided to try the blue mouthwash for kids.  The idea is that you rinse before you brush and then you have to brush the blue off your teeth.   Brilliant (btw the bottle is still full and in my bathroom if anyone wants it).  So as we walked along Molly was riding in the back of the cart and throwing things out of the cart.  No big deal, the big kids pick the things up and it keeps them all entertained.  Then she threw the blue dye mouthwash out of the cart and everything started moving in slow motion. 

As the bottle hit the floor I saw it split open and start glugging blue dye into an enormous puddle on the floor.  At that exact moment Marlin was stepping forward and he stepped into it, slipped around for quite some time and landed face down in the puddle.  It was on his face, his sweater and his tan pants.  Marlin was crying, Molly was laughing and Alivia was freaking out because she thought we would be in trouble.  I thought that too but I didn't care.  I was hoping someone would notice and help but they didn't so I dragged the crying blue Marlin to the laundry detergent isle and sprayed him down with Shout stain remover.  I needed to buy some more stain remover anyway. 

I threw the stain remover in the cart and headed to the check out lane.  On our way there I passed an employee that  noticed my blue child and I said "we made a mess in the mouthwash isle, you might want to check it out" and then I jsut kept on walking.  I have not been back to the store since.  I'm not sure they will let us back in. 

New Van

We got a new van.  I think the kids are as excited as I am.  Molly just turned one so she gets to ride facing forward in the new van.  She looks out the windows and really likes going places now. 

We have a DVD player in the van now.  The kids are only allowed to watch movies when we go on long trips.  I turned one on the other day for Alivia and Marlin and look who was the most excited...

Yep, Molly is pointing at the movie screen.  We only have two sets of head phones.  I really need to get a third. 

I took Alivia to Valparaso to Courtney's shower a few weeks ago and she watched movies the whole way there and the whole way back.

She really enjoys it and it makes the ride nice for both of us.  There are a few details that she is still figuring out.  For example, when she has the headphones on she screams at the top of her lungs "MOM, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
On the ride back from the shower Courtney and her cousin Jenna were with us and Alivia was watching Mary Poppins.  Everyonce and a while she would just burst out in song with the movie.  She was completely oblivious to the fact that we could hear her.  It was so cute.

A Group Effort

Ah the grocery store.  The place where we go to get all the things we need to eat.  The place where I continue to foolishly think I can do EVERYTHING and I bring my three children with me to gather food. 

In the first picture you can see Molly holding the "ba" (ball, aka orange)  Notice the food stacked in the seat of the grocery cart and the child in the back.  Anything wrong with that picture.  She won't sit down.  I can't get the strap tight enough to keep her from standing up so I give up and let her be in the back of the cart where she can stand up, eat and smoosh the groceries and throw anything out of the cart that she doesn't think is worth purchasing.  Is she my major challenge in the grocery store?  Well, its a three way tie.

Still in the first picture, note my sweet Alvia...with my purse.  Three minutes before I took this picture I heard her talking to someone and when I turned around to look, she was wearing my purse and talking to her dad on my blackberry.  How old is she? 5? or 15?  Sometimes it is hard to tell.

She is actually helpful at the grocery store if she is in a good mood. 

Remember the nursery rhyme...

There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good she was very very good

and when she was bad she was horrid! (see next picture)

Actually, in this picture she is just making that face for the camera.  She likes to make the worst face possible when I take her picture.  It's awsome, NOT

Does your grocery store have jungle gyms?  Ours does.  You pick one up right inside the door and push them around with you the whole time you are in the store.

Three kids can climb at once.  But they can also tip it over.  I spend most of my time at the store saying "Get off the cart." 

For some sick reason I actually like to take them to the store. (In theory anyway) After I get there I always wonder what I was thinking but I do it over and over again.  Every third or fourth time it even goes smoothly and we all leave happy and eating chocolate rewards.


***This is not because Matt will not watch them and let his poor wife go to the grocery store.  I'm just nuts and voluntarily do this to myself all the time.

LOST

We were at a birthday party this weekend and I lost Marlin! It was awful. Way worse than when I lost him at the Children's museum. At the museum I could block off the exit and work from there. At the party, (we were at a park) I didn't even know which way he went.

We were at a playground at the top of a hill. At the bottom of the hill are several other playgrounds and the shelters where the birthday party was being held. The kids and I headed straight to the playground to run around a little before the cake and present activities began.

Alivia and Marlin ran onto the equipment and Molly and I headed to a slide so I could let her do some sliding and giggling. When I looked up I found Alivia but I couldn't find Marlin. I looked around and still couldn't find him. Alivia started searching with me. We looked down from the top of the hill at all the other little playgrounds. Had he wondered down to one of them? Had he gone back to the shelter? The little voice in my head started saying "Stay calm, fix the problem, stay calm and fix the problem" I asked several adults if they had seen a little boy in blue plaid shorts and a blue shirt. No one had seen him. The voices in my head began to argue "OH MY GOD HE IS MISSING!"
"Stay calm, you will find him!"
"How could I have lost him!"
"Stay calm, he can't have gone to far"
"I don't even know what direction he went!"
"stay calm, he is probably back at the shelter."

I had a friends husband watch Alivia at the playground so I could go check the shelter. I went down the hill and started to cross the big grassy area when I looked to my left and saw a lady holding Marlin's hand and walking toward me. She was waving and pointing at Marlin.

With Molly on my hip I ran over and hugged my little missing man. He was sobbing. The sweet lady said that he had described me to a tee and she even knew my name was Angie. Thank GOD for kind hearted people who watch over children when they are lost.

After the panic settled and the tears from the reunion were gone the self abuse started.
How could I have been so careless. How do you lose a 3 year old? Don't you know you have to watch him? What kind of parent are you? Oh the guilt. Its bad enough to lose a child for 5 minutes there is really no reason for the abuse afterward but I can't avoid it. The mom guilt hits whether you believe it or not.

That was one of the longest 5 to 10 minutes of my life, my heart goes out to people who truly lose their children and do not get them back. I can't even imagine...

childrens museum

See that wagon full of ANGELS? This is from the day we went to the children's museum this summer. They are eating cookies that I bought them on our way out of the museum because they were soooo good all day. We were supposed to go to the zoo but the lightening on our way to the big city changed our minds. We have been there before. We play and look at things until someone melts down and then we go home. I kept waiting for the meltdown.

We were with a huge group of friends and family. Brad and Lauren and Audrey were among the crowd. We checked out the dinosaurs, dug for bones, tried on dinosaur costumes. We drew pictures of dragons. We explored an Egyptian tomb and when we came out of the tomb Alivia saw a map of Africa and said "look it it is the Continent Africa!" (go preschool!)

We touched and played in every room at the museum. I kept waiting for the meltdown but they just kept being awesome little explorers.

There was an incident in the Egypt room where we lost Marlin for about 5 minutes. I blocked off the exit and systematically found him but it was a terrible experience and I was seconds away from a complete meltdown when I finally found him.

Molly fell asleep sitting upright in the wagon drinking a bottle. If my Internet connection wasn't so slow I would post more pics.

I kept pulling the wagon up and down the ramps. Going from room to room. I was soooo tired, and still waiting for that meltdown where I could blame our exit on their tiredness. It never happened. Every room they played until they looked at me and said "lets find another room."

I was so proud of my little angels today. We stayed longer than everyone else and we had a great day. It sure is fun when it works out like that.

Shopping with three

Before Molly was born I still took Alivia and Marlin almost everywhere I went. They were good at the grocery store and if they weren't I could put one in the seat of the cart and one in the back and race through the store getting just what I needed.

Now that I have three children I have sworn many times that I am NEVER taking them all to the grocery store again. Every time I have said it I have meant it from the bottom of my soul. At least for a year I do not plan to take all three kids to the store.

Unfortunately I keep forgetting the details of why exactly it is so hard to take all the kids to the store so yesterday when I needed diapers and Matt was at Mike and Cortney's helping cut down some trees, so I took the kids to Kroger. Big mistake.

I should have known when I was picking Alivia up at the babysitter and she had to have a time out before we could go that it was not a good day for shopping. (but I had one diaper for molly left) Despite the warnings, we went anyway.

While unloading the children from the car into the 3 degree winter air Alivia was saying, I don't like shopping, I don't want to go shopping. I grabbed Marlin's hand and Molly's car seat and said "come on lets run" and we all ran into the store. The big kids thought that was fun for 30 seconds. Then we hit the carts. Alivia wanted the huge cart with the big plastic attachment that two kids can sit in and ride together. The problem is that they can reach each other and they like to climb in and out of it constantly while bickering and bothering each other so I said no, put molly's car seat in the front of a normal cart and we headed into the store.

I will admit that it is nice to have them begging for fruit. Alivia ran to the cut up watermelon and started screaming, "buy me this mama, I'm starving." We have been working on how to ask nicely (for four years) so the watermelon was not an option. Now we had an unhappy Alivia, (more unhappy than the winy one that I dragged out of the car) to get the rest of the way through the grocery store. Luckily I only needed diapers. We headed for the diaper isle, on the way Marlin and Alivia asked for everything that was on a shelf and lower than 3 feet. We finally got the diapers and Alivia announce that she needed to go to the bathroom. Instead of rushing I went to the self check and paid for the groceries that I was buying. Somehow only getting diapers turned into 50 dollars worth of groceries...of course.

By the time I had paid for the groceries she had to go and the bathrooms were right there. I opened the door and told her to go in and I would wait right here with marlin, molly and the cart of groceries. She wanted me to go with her. I tried to explain that she had gone in that bathroom by herself before, there was no one in there, and that I couldn't fit the cart in there so we would wait out here. She refused to go and we headed home. Then she started screaming, "I have to peee really bad!" A lady came over and informed me that Alivia needed to use the potty. Grrr no kidding lady back off you have no idea what you are jumping into here.
I took Alivia back to the bathroom and she went in. I waited about 20 seconds with the little kids then I pushed the door open to check on her. She was standing there in a puddle of pee. So we left the store and headed into the 5 degree winter air with wet pants and all. I love all three children with all my heart BUT I am never taking them all to the store again.