A Saturday at Costco with the Family

I hate going to Costco on a Saturday. It is always so crowded. We got there a little after lunchtime. We thought we would just go in and be out after we got everything on our list. We pulled into the busy parking lot.

"Do you want to use your handicap parking permit?" Bill asked. 

"No," I answered, "It will feel like cheating when I haven't had any problems with walking for about a week now. There are probably old people who actually need the spaces." 

So, he pulled into the very farthest parking spot from the doors. "At least it's in the shade," he said. We walked in, and began the search for the few necessities we were looking for, as we also started filling our cart with all kinds of things we didn't need. Christmas dresses for the girls. Three new books that were part of three different series we had been reading. New jeans without holes for Bill, jeans he knew would fit because he almost always buys his jeans from the tables at Costco, not the Kirkland brand. Those are just weird looking. We had wandered to the area full of toys for Christmas time. They usually bring out all the Christmas stuff and toys in September. 

"Bill, I am getting kind of worn out," I told him. "We might have to hurry with all our shopping if we still want to go to Target and get Preston a birthday present." 

About a minute or two later, he looked at my slow walking and asked, "Do you want me to go get you a wheelchair?"

I looked at him, aghast. "No way. I can walk just fine. I am just a little tired." How dare he insinuate that I need a wheelchair!

"Are you sure? I can just go grab one from the front."

And be in this super crowded store where I always see someone I know while I ride in one of those stupid wheelchairs with the giant orange flags? No thank you! "I'll be fine, just maybe a little slow," I told him, pretty sure that I was convincing him that I was super strong.

About two minutes later, when I realized that my legs had stopped working altogether, I realized that I would have to actually admit to Bill that I wasn't that interested in the hello kitty airplane I had stopped next to and that I needed some help. "Um, Bill? I think I need a wheelchair..."

At least we parked in the shade...

We finished our shopping trip, making a big spectacle of ourselves with four kids, a cart, and a flagged wheelchair. We only saw one family that we know. We paid, and then Bill took three of the kids and the stuff out to the car. Avery and I made our way over to the entrance to return the wheelchair. 

The guy who checks the cards as people come in asked, "Do you need help getting out to your car?" 

Another employee came up at the same time and chimed in, "It really is no problem to take you out to your car." 

I smiled. "My husband will pull the car up and pick me up."

"We can get you right to your car door if you want," guy number two said.

"I will be just fine," I said, as I slowly got up. I turned around and walked away. I realized, when each step only got me an inch or two farther away from them...at an excruciatingly slow pace, how stupid I must have looked in saying that I didn't need help when it was painfully obvious that I was not competent in the art of walking. Eventually, Bill picked us up, and we drove away.

"I forgot! We need to get some things for Carter's Halloween costume. Can we just stop at Joann's?" I asked.

"They don't have wheelchairs there," Bill reminded me.

"Oh, right. Can you just go in there and get the things I need?"

"Hey, Mel, can you grab my wallet?" 

"Sure," I answered. "What do you need me to get?"

"Can you just pull out my man card? I don't think I deserve to have it anymore after shopping in a fabric store..."

One more store later, one Cafe Rio run, and two hours later, we made it home. It was a long time to sit in the car with Preston. I think I deserve some chocolate cake. Bill probably deserves some cheesecake or apple fritters after doing all that shopping. It's kind of weird that he likes apple fritters more than chocolate cake. 

What would you do with a million dollars?

Apparently, I am not teaching my daughter the financial or survival skills that she needs.

Homework question: What would you do with a million dollars?

Avery's answer: I would buy nine lions, seven tigers and three wolfs and a car and a house.

What would you do? Hopefully something not involving big cats, which have been my recurring nightmares since I was about four.

My answer would be boring, like pay off our house, put the rest in savings, except a little for remodeling some of our house to make it more accommodating for when I have health problems and buying a new mattress. I would probably go on a family vacation as well.

Christmas Butter Makes a Comeback

I wish I had been smart enough to get a video of Avery as her sedative started to take effect yesterday at the dentist. She was curled up on a love sac watching "The Little Mermaid" until she was out enough for them to work in her. "Mom, I need you to turn the light on in here. I can't see the colors on the TV. Where did all the colors go? I can't see the colors anymore. They went away." All said with that loopy sounding voice that would have made it a really funny video.

I am used to hearing my kids say I am mean. I am not used to overhearing my kids talk about me. I heard Preston say, "Mama makes the best milkshakes in the whole world!" (He was anticipating the milkshakes I would make since Avery couldn't eat anything hard or crunchy, and he knew he would probably get one as well.)

Yesterday, Sadie surprised me. I said, "One, two, three." She spoke up, "Bour, Bive, Sis, Seben, Eight, Nine." I had no idea she knew how to count at all. She had not even counted to three before.

This morning before her nap, I asked Sadie what song she wanted me to sing to her. She changes her mind all the time, but today she asked for a song I had never sung to her at all. "I want 'Christmas Butter,'" she said. I have no idea how to put a link to an old blog that talks about "Christmas Butter," but it is a song Carter made up when he was almost three. Anyway, I told Carter about it after he got home, and he smiled his sneaky smile. Some of you have seen that smile. Apparently, he had been teaching her that song and trying to get her to sing it for a while. 

Preston did his math homework earlier this evening. I wondered what was taking him so long, but later Bill told me that he was doing each problem at least three different ways because he thought it was fun. What a weirdo.

Bill has a beard. He didn't shave for a week when we went to Tennessee because he forgot a razor. It is equal parts dark brown and gray. I can't believe how full and long it is after maybe ten days now. 

Harry Botter and Monster Cheese

Sadie's favorite thing to say (other than "I don't wike it.") is "do it adain!" She says it any time anyone does anything she likes. It is super cute, even if I get sick of doing things over and over. It might just be so cute because she has about the cutest little kid voice ever. (I probably have thought that about all my kids, and I am probably prejudiced.)

The cutest thing she says is "Here-y Botter." She says it several times in a row every time someone puts on these round yellow glasses. She doesn't know who Harry Potter is, but she heard her cousin said that they were Harry Potter glasses, and she has heard Preston talking about the books lately.

I started to make Sadie a sandwich for lunch today. Keep in mind that she is only twenty-one months old, and you will understand why it was so funny that she asked me for "monster cheese" after I put the turkey on. She remembered that I said I was giving her muenster cheese yesterday when I made her a sandwich. Apparently, she likes it better than the usual colby jack cheese because she actually ate all of it both days instead of her usual two bites.

I overheard Avery talking about bonbons a minute ago. I asked her if she knew what they were. She answered, "Sure I do. They're chocolate balls that you just shove in your mouth all in one bite." I have never actually eaten a bonbon, but I think she's right.

Sadie was my earliest talker. Her first word was at eight months, and she said two word sentences around eleven months. So, I kind of assumed she would be my smartest kid. But she still has no understanding of the concept of colors or letters, other than knowing that there are letters. Carter already knew his uppercase alphabet by the time he was Sadie's age, Preston knew all the letters before his second birthday, and she doesn't even know one letter. I know she is still really young, so I'm not worried or anything, but it is a little surprising that she is so far behind the boys. (Avery was almost three before she knew them.) She does understand one concept way really well. She understands the importance of chocolate. It is usually one of the first things she asks me for every day. And I never thought I would have a kid who didn't like chocolate, but Carter really doesn't like it that much. So maybe she is smarter than he is...

Carter and Preston haven't been funny very much lately, at least not innocently like they used to. They keep trying hard to be funny, but the harder they try to be funny, the less funny they actually are. That is also true with most adults. 

My kids want to have a theme for their Halloween costumes. What can you recommend for two older boys (not that old), a bigger girl, and one toddler girl? Previous themes have been Super Mario Bros, Paranormal Red Riding Hood characters, transformers, typical Halloween monsters, animals, and superheroes. Give me your ideas, if you have any for me.