A day of relief

Yesterday was a FABULOUS day (it took me three times to get that spelled correctly).

My kids don't get to watch much television. There just isn't time for it and well, we have super basic cable so they don't get to watch the stuff on Disney or Nick anyway. I figured if I got a babysitter and gave them full permission to veg out in front of the television they might just be good.

I had a babysitter come over before 8 so I could go shop super Target toy day. There was really heavy fog on the way and it slowed me down just a bit but I managed to get there in time. There was one bit of bad news. Usually most of the Targets markdown their toys on the same day. This wasn't the case this year and my Target did it a day earlier (and I missed it). That meant that there were a bunch of people that went to my Target the previous day that showed up to the other Target. Grrrrr... but I can't blame some of them. Maybe they were hoping to get some special item. It's not those people that bug me. It's the ebayers. They try to snag all of the big ticket items and hoard them all. Unless you are going to run and humiliate yourself there is no chance of getting Legos or Playmobile in my state.

My friend Amy was there with her cutie pie little girl and we set off. I didn't get any of the things that were high on my list. But it was fun and I did get some good things to use as my filler gifts for the kids. It wasn't the same as getting that perfect gift for chump change but it was still really fun. Amy scored on birthday gifts for people and her sister came and found some things she could use as well.

I drove home and found everyone was well and happy. I cleaned house until.... this deserves a drum roll.... I got out of the house again. The same sitter came. Two friends and I went to Jason's Deli for lunch. They even served my side of apples on a cute little bed of lettuce instead of in a cup. How dang nice is that! (My chicken wasn't so cute and still had it's home in a cup.) We had fun chit chatting and well, I have to admit I almost coveted my friend's baked potato. I'm a potato type of girl and I would almost kill for one right now. And hers was about the size of a football (or so it seemed). I couldn't complain though because heck, my apples were on lettuce and well, I was glad because I ate that too :)

Then we went to a total chick flick movie. I'm not usually a movie person. I abhor going into the movies when it is light outside and coming out when it is dark. That pretty much takes out all evening movies for over half of the year. But these friends know I am funny about that and so we either go when it's light and will stay that way or when it is dark. Quite frankly, we could have just sat in a warm car and I would have been thrilled. I got to talk to two adults with no kiddo interruptions.

We stopped at Old Navy on the way back home and they price adjusted my receipt almost 90 buckaroos. Now I can put all of the things I bought on Thursday away for next year. I am going to have to hide T's though as he will start trying to sneak his new clothes and they are just so darn big. I look at them and wonder how he can wear a 10/12 when school starts as it looks like a small man's size. But well, when you are tall and have a super tall husband you tend to have a distorted view of height.

Then it was home. It was the best 36 bucks I have ever paid to have the kids babysat. They were still watching television (are you sensing a theme for the day here) and that was okay with me as no one was hurting another. (It's hard to believe the older ones would watch PBS all day but they will.)

I started making some chicken for dinner when DH called. He was on his way home from the sand dunes and asked if we wanted to go play games. He got home and I dumped my chicken into the crock pot and we got everyone in jammies to head out. The kids were thrilled because instead of healthy chicken, they got chicken somethingrathers from Burger King. We picked up M from her pointe class and went over to play games. The kids were happy campers once again. Not only did they get to watch TWO more movies, but they also got popcorn. What a day! (They usually never get extra food after dinner unless it's desserts on Sunday.) T played the Wii for a while but then the tv drew him in to.

And we had fun playing Carcasonne again. It was enough fun that we even stayed up past our bedtime for an extra round. :) The kids were all asleep quickly on the way home and we put them straight to bed.

What a fun day. For most people that wouldn't seem like anything super extraordinary but for me it was a huge break from regular life. I feel more ready to day to handle whatever may come my way. And maybe the kids need a big break like that too. So far we haven't had any huge tantrums today.

Actually we'll see if the tantrums are going to start. S is in an area where she can't be without supervision.

And now 3 minutes later they have started. She's doesn't throw much of a fit as long as she is getting her way. But she didn't want to come upstairs and play and just started ignoring me. Hmm... that's too bad for her. I thought she might want to have a better day.

But I don't feel like it's going to kill me to deal with her. Some days are like that. After a break I am ready for it.

That was the best 36 dollars!