day sixteen...

Tuesdays are usually pretty lazy days around here, since we don't have to be anywhere until we pick up Ava from school. We usually end up lying around in our pajamas for most of the morning, maybe catch up on last night's episode of Gossip Girl, eventually venture out to the Target for a latte. This morning started off like any other Tuesday, until I realized that we had absolutely no food in our house. Declan ate animal crackers for breakfast. So, I had to take Emerson, Declan, and Finlay to the grocery store... in the rain. I was prepared for disaster. I decided to put Finlay in the Baby Bjorn so that I could actually put food in the cart, and Emerson and Declan got in the front of the car cart. We weren't even inside yet, when the bickering started over whose yellow plastic steering wheel was whose. I stop at the Starbucks to grab my daily Peppermint Mocha, when I spot the giant frosted polar bear shaped cookies that you can only get during the holidays. I ask for two and fork over $3 a piece. Best six dollars I've ever spent. Ever. An hour and a half and $184 later, I had bought enough food to sustain my family of six for at least a week, plus grabbed some Thanksgiving essentials that come next week will be scarce. All without a single peep from the front of the cart.
The rest of the day seemed to go just as smoothly. I was on time to pick up Ava from school. I took all four kids in the haircut place after school so Ava could get her hair cut. Between losing one of her top front teeth last week and her scraggly hair, she was starting to look like one of those kids from that 20/20 special on Appalachia. So now she has a cute little bob! Emerson got her bangs trimmed too and Declan, he got a lollipop! (I refuse to cut his hair!) Then since everyone was looking so presentable, we headed next door to the Kinko's for passport photos. Finlay's picture is sweet, Emerson's is funny, and Ava's looks like a mug shot. So their pictures pretty accurately reflect their personalities!
We came home and much to the surprise of my husband, I fixed lemon roasted chicken with olives and capers, lemon orzo, and a yummy salad. And it was actually good! We packed lunches, laid out clothes, and read books. I even got to take a bath. All because of the good people at Starbucks and their polar bear cookies!