I am a nerd.

Only nerds take pictures of their groceries.

This was my Walgreens trip. Total cost after rebates: $2.69 for 2 packs of diapers, 1 mascara, & 4 bags M&Ms.

This was CVS. I paid nothing for this, plus earned $5 to use on my next trip. 2 pkg pull-ups, 1 wipes, 1 expensive saline solution.

Food City: $13.29 for 5# apples, 1 Jif PB, 7 bags frozen veggies

I also went to Kroger, Walmart, & Sam's Club but didn't take pictures of those trips. In all, I spent $115 for 2 weeks of groceries. Still over my $100 budget, but I stocked up on some good stuff.

12 Random Thoughts at 12:12 a.m.

Popping 'em off as they come to me....not responsible for how bizarre...

1. I just ate 4 hershey kisses.
2. Took some cute pics of the kids today. One of Z fallen asleep in the car with his hand in a bag of cheese cubes.
3. Loving the fall weather & loving that I got to go outside today.
4. Feeling like the old me again is sheer heaven.
5. My daughter is beautiful.
6. I took this really funny ghetto pink Avon purse to shop with tonight. Looked about 14.
7. Wait, no 14 yr old would carry that Avon purse. Maybe 7 yrs old?
8. When I was 7, my little brother was born. My hair was straight and the year was ....
9. 1987.
10. Yup I'm an 80s baby.
11. Hurry before 12:12 runs out
12. Night night

Update: well, you caught me, I started the post at 12:09 but I truly finished at 12:12. Weird how they time it. Off to do some laundry.

A funny story I read online...

(this is not from any member of my family or anyone I know...)

"My dad is a pastor. One Sunday morning as he was guest preaching at another church, he realized that his pants zipper was unzipped. This church had a clear acrylic podium, so he couldn't step behind the podium to zip up his pants. So he kept preaching while looking for a way to subtly zip up his pants. Then he noticed the American flag sitting on one side of the stage. (You know, old school baptist churches with the American Flag on one side and the Christian Flag on the other side) He walked over to the flag, somehow managed to add a little patriotic twist to his sermon, and zipped up his pants. But his zipper got caught in the tassels on the flag. And he was stuck. Zipper 1/2 way down, tangled to the flag. By now, he was sweating, and trying inconspicuously to wrestle with the flag tassels. Realizing there was no way out, he managed to keep the patriotic twist in the rest of his sermon (thank you, Lord, for quick thinking - and strong arm muscles to carry the flag for the rest of the sermon) and then told the congregation that he "thought it would be patriotic to all process out of the church like the kids in VBS do." He finished his sermon, led the entire church in the "procession" out (all while carrying the flag) and untangled his zipper. All without anyone in the congregation being any the wiser."

Links to learn from

I've hit some really good, thought-provoking posts this week. See if any of them minister to you as well.

Relating to parenting my children:

Be a Yes Mom by Blissfully Domestic....this has changed the way I do things this week. I'm definitely having more fun!

A great reminder about teaching First Time Obedience by Keeper of the Home. This is one of my favorite blogs to read. Keeps me on my toes!

My new favorite website: Raising Godly Tomatoes. I'm reading her book (it's on her blog) and oh my goodness where has this resource been the last 3 years? I've started working on some of the principles with Zachary and am already seeing a change.

Training vs. Discipline by The Finer Things in Life. This went along with the previous 2 links, but reminded me even more that I shouldn't just be correcting, I should be training. Definitely a difference in the two.

A great reminder to be praying for our children. I love the way that Angie added Scripture prayers to go along with the routine daily activities to keep us praying for our kiddos!

And the last one (whew), a heart-check: Envy vs. Admiration...When She's Got What You Want by Life as Mom. This is not parenting related, just girl talk.


I know this is a lot more links than usual, but I promise, every one of them is worth your time. I love being able to learn and be sharpened by other Godly women...even women I have never met!

One more thing.

You know how you have those days where you feel like you can conquer the world? Well, today was one of those days. And, apparently, I am conquering the world. Not only did I vacuum the downstairs, but the downstairs is actually fit for company (so come on over), kitchen is completely clean, etc.

What a good feeling.

I am feeling back to my old (pre-pregnancies) normal today, despite the lack of rest. It's such a good feeling... (think Mister Rogers' theme song).

This past weekend, we did accomplish one thing. We own this large, stand-alone freezer that I love. There was no room for it in this house. It's been sitting on the patio, all alone & sad looking. We couldn't use it, because apparently there were no outside plugs anywhere in our townhouse (per the attached-next-door-neighbor who's lived here 8 yrs). Long story short, I discovered last week that there actually IS a plug outside. Needless to stay, the freezer is cleaned out, plugged in, and ready for business. I have already started to fill it with all my wonderful pre-prepped food. What a time saver! And a $$ saver. Now I can stock up on freezable items when they go on sale & not have to reorganize my freezer just to get something out every time. Woo-hoo!

Another time saver.... We had a wireless network system in our last home, along with our laptop. A wonderful invention, to say the least. When we moved here & hooked up with our new ISP, they told me it would take some "doing" to get the router hooked up to their network, etc, etc. I tried it more than once, & chalked it up to "it's an old router trying to hook up to Windows Vista"...could never get it to work.

Tonight I got online, looked up some instructions, thinking I'd try one last time. Wouldn't you know, I'm writing to you from my new wireless network. I don't understand why it was so hard last year...it only took me like 15 minutes to do? What's up with that? Marc sleeps at odd hours of the day, and I don't have any access to the computer in the evenings after Z goes to bed. Which is, of course, when I actually enjoy using the computer. So Yeah! for my new internet surfing abilities in the evening! I'm super super excited. Of course, I'll only be using my new powers for good. Like paying bills online. Definitely not stalking facebook or blogging. :) Well, maybe just a little?

For the first time in over 8 weeks...

I vacuumed.

**lest you think I'm a horrible housekeeper, :) which might not be too far from the truth--I had a c-section so I could not push a vacuum until 2 weeks ago.

But no excuses for the last 2 weeks! Ha.

Whew!

It's weeks like this last one that make me thankful for this:

These are pictures taken at the cabin me, Marc, & Kenna stayed at a few weekends ago. It was the epitome of peace. I was oh so sad to leave!

Most everyone is feeling a bit better today. Kenna has a cold but she's handling it well. Our carpet did not handle Z's illness well...we bought a deep cleaning vacuum yesterday. (nobody ever tells you what to do when your recently potty trained child gets diarrhea...)

In the midst of all the chaos, I still managed to make a pan of brownies, which were awesome, but I'm sure did nothing to help me lose this baby weight! :) Marc jokingly asked if they were laced with vodka...we were all a little stressed out this weekend. 2 cranky kids + 2 sleepy parents = chaos for sure! Pepsi is our "alcoholic" drink of choice...and we had some this weekend!

I'm so thankful for the Word of God, though. What a blessing and comfort in hard times! A good friend gave me this Scripture: "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall." Psalm 55:22 I've been pondering that word "sustain" and just meditating on this Scripture this weekend. Every time I was ready to get so angry at how my weekend was so far from what I'd planned, I remembered that no matter what I was going through, He would sustain me. Not only that, but His Joy would be my strength. It's only His Word and His promises that will get me through these tough young years and not only survive, but raise my children up to know the Lord.

But who can blame me for wanting to escape to that peaceful cabin in the woods? :)