the store.

::twitch::

ok, here's the thing - i love LOVE going to the grocery store with the girls.

90% of the time.

the other 10%, i think "wow, this facebook group has never been so true!!"

let's start out with GETTING to the store. i have 3 kids in carseats. none of them can FULLY put their straps on.

1. start the car from inside. bc its f'in hot here right now.
2. get stella (the "i may chew things up" JRT) in her cage. which is funny in itself and usually consists of aidan and sawyer chasing her yelling "IN YOUR CAGE, STELLA!!" lol
3. then aidan orders sawyer to "pick up the toys cobalt would eat" and they go in the toy thing that we have downstairs.
4. make sure all have shoes. well, just aidan really. lol sawyer sits in the cart so if i can't find them - eh...
5. get reese in her bucket seat.
6. head to the garage. all of us. i set reese's seat down in the garage. open up the car door for A and S and send A to the "trunk" lol (aka the third row where her seat is) and then lock S in her seat. aidan is capable of clipping her chest clip - so she does that.
7. go get reese, clip her in the base, then reach OVER her seat into the back and clip the rest of aidan's seat.
8. ::breathe:: get into my own seat.
9. put on rockin' music. ;) or "hey soul sister" aka the hey hey song according to the girls by Train. and then get to driving.
10. sing a lot.

ok so. the rest with 3 isn't so bad. as long as ive gone when they are in good moods. aka like 930-10am. ish. and try not to go past an hour. snacks, drinks, stickers, etc are a must. the bucket seat goes into the cart, sawyer sits up top, and aidan walks. and by "walks" i mean "putzes" but whatever. i would wear reese in a wrap, but the problem is that if sawyer then wants me to carry her - then id be in trouble and have no place to put reese etc etc... so anyway, i pile shiz in the cart around the bucket and then underneath. (this is if i go alone. a lot of the time, my mom meets me, we have to 2 carts and its easy breezy - usually lol) or we get the BIG carts - i'll explain that in a min.

anyway, today was one of those "10%" days. ::twitch again:: (EJ was at home with the cable guy. and hey, its father's day. he can have some quiet time, right? lol) we go in. (which requires me to carry sawyer AND the bucket. and aidan holds the bucket or my purse haha. because, i didnt care about the shoe situation when we left. oops)

aidan wants the BIG cart with the seat belts. she told me that in the car. well, its sunday - family shop day - and there are none where we enter. but we go searching for them. we grab a diet coke from the target food place and then head looking - finally find one. i strap sawyer into the seat and aidan hops in too.

reese is now hungry. oh really? now?!?! so she is crying. i pick her up and think "ok, i can hold, feed, and push this cart, right?" perfect.

i had put my diet coke on the cart thing that A and S were sitting on. annnnnnnd SPLASH. my diet coke flings to the ground. as if to mock me. and say "amanda, nice try. but this day is going to continue to be a FAIL." we *happen* to still be at the front of the store and there are paper towels right there. so i try to clean it up as best as i can while holding reese, explain to aidan its not her fault bc she keeps saying "sorry mama", and get going moving.

my mom texts me: hey we're on our way.

YES. SAVED!

sparing you the details of the rest of the time, i'll get to the other good stuff. sawyer no longer wants to sit in the cart and accidentally flings goldfish on the floor, and then she walks around barefoot. and tries to try on clothes while we shop for a new bathing suit for aidan and some summer stuff for reese. reese just wants to be held the entire time (first time ever she's been AWAKE at the store), and aidan walks around with my dad like she usually does until she wants a hot dog. sigh.

i swear to you, this stuff only happens on the wkends. during the week, its smooth sailing. its the other 90%. we have fun. we laugh. we talk about colors, food, animals, etc. i love it. it really makes me happy to have fun with them.

today, i am thanking my lucky stars for naptime :) and thats okay i think. at least im going to tell myself it is.