Busy, busy, busy

Yesterday was such a busy day, I didn't even feel like blogging when I was finally able to sit down last night. I had planned to get the house cleaned up and run to Kroger for milk, apples, and bananas, but Ashley (aka, the Pen Whore) called late in the morning and said she was going to Sam's Club and asked if I wanted to come along. Of course I went, and despite my prior Sam's experiences of spending way too much money on books, movies, and music, I forked out the $40 for my own membership. I bought: 10 pounds of apples (don't laugh, my kids eat a minimum of *9* apples each day), 6 pounds of tomatoes (for more salsa), bananas, tortilla chips, and little 100 calorie snack packs of chips for the kids. Well, yeah, I also bought a Strawberry Shortcake 2 DVD gift box and a Dinosaur book...these are for the kids for Valentine's Day and are to replace the normal candy they usually get. But I didn't buy anything for myself! Sam's is a place I need to avoid in general. I analyzed the bill last night, comparing it to the prices at the Commissary...and I DID save money. Last week, I paid over $8.00 for 3 pounds of tomatoes! Yesterday at Sam's, I got 6 pounds of tomatoes for $5.00 (give or take a few cents). So, I think if I shop carefully and mindfully while there, I will be ok.

After Sam's we ran over to Wal-Mart. I needed ricotta cheese for last night's dinner (baked spaghetti), cilantro and hot peppers for the salsa. While there I picked up 2 packs of cloth napkins. Auntie Lori sent us some beautiful Waverly cloth napkins for Christmas. At first I thought "I don't know if I'll use these because they don't match anything." But last week, it hit me that I could make the switch from paper napkins to cloth. The kids are finally beginning to eat in a somewhat neat manner and it's killing me that we throw away so much paper. (I'm an environmental, tree-hugger, hippie sort of person) They seemed pretty excited to be able to do what grown-ups do, and I'm thankful the transition went so smoothly. We even marked 3 of the napkin tags with their initials and Delaney loves being the one to put them at each person's plate.

When I was done at Wal-Mart, I was tired and since Starbuck's is just *right there*, I ran in for coffee. Then back home and Ashley came over with her kids and they all played outside for at least an hour while we knitted and chatted.

Phew! So, I was beat last night. I didn't even turn on the tv, just goofed around online after the kids were in bed...then I was in bed by 10:15 and lights out before 11!

Today...I HAVE to get this house tidied. WHAT A MESS. We are starting to look like one of the families on the dirty-house show. Ick. So that's what I'm doing today!