troubled SHLUMPADINKA

So yes, I am a Oprah fan. Every day the DVR goes off at 4 to record the show for the day. New or repeat shows. Today, as I sit here, I'm totally confused. Oprah's topic is about Shlumpadinkas.

Oprahs defination: Being in your sweats yesterday and the day before , big baggy comfy sweatshirts, T-shirts, tennis shoes etc. Wearing the outdated mom clothes looking like a Shlump.

DING DING DING DING DING!!!!!!!! HELLO!!!! That is so totally me. Great, can't wait to watch.

So I watched, and now I am ultimately confused. I've been soooooo out of the fashion world these past 4 years. I swear I still try to fit in that maternity shirt that I once loved. But now, the fashion expert was talking to me and I'm in deep water.

Here are a few fashion things I've just learned:
1. Make sure your shoes do NOT match you outfit
2. Never match a purse to an outfit
3. Complete flats (ballet slippers) are in
4. Always use a scarf to compliment any outfit
5. Purchasing a tiny balck dress to wear with tight jeans????
6. Wearing a short sleeved sweater over a tight fitting white shirt
7. Wearing the colar stright up
8. Hosiery is a necessity with any outfit for the sucking effect
9. White clothing is in all year long
10. Everyone should have a trench coat that has a belt to tie in the middle.

There were many more, but I'm slowly forgetting as I am still stunned about what I've learned. So, basically, when the budget allows, I'll have to start completely over with everything? Oh yes, and, no more matchy match fo fo!

The only thing I got right on was: Black and White is always in and always classy, but this doesn't include my black sweats with my white Wisconsin T-Shirt :(

And yes, normally once a week when I watch Oprah, there is a little tear that forms. Today's tear was a statement by a makeover model: "It's still okay to always take care of your family, but never forget about yourself".

Man, I have a TON of work to do! I think I'm going to stop watching Oprah.

What a great party!!!

We had such a great time at Luke's 3rd Birthday party over this past weekend. Brandi, you really know how to throw a party girl!!!! Thanks for sharing this special day with us Teplins. We had a blast, and so did my children. Check out Sam and his new love for riding a Pony. Remember the post: CLICK HERE

All is well on the Pony this month!

One Year Later

Wow, it ihas been one year since my job moved us from Milwaukee to Jacksonville. Marking this one year accomplishment I accepted a new job leaving my current department and joining a new department geared around the customer's experience with WaMu. I am taking on this new challenge in 4 weeks!! While this is all going on Erin is busy learning more about the photography business which is her passion. Erin and I look back a year ago and think about all the new experiences we have had and how much the boys have grown. Check back often for the second year here in Jacksonville.

Pacifier?

Back to my fireman dress up Sam. Bye Bye Thomas, HELLO Firetrucks. It always amazes me how children love something for a while, and then move onto the next thing. For the past year it has been all about Thomas the Train. We've gone through 2 train tables, over extending out use on each and every table. Sam would play with trains for ever and ever and I had to peel him away from there to leave the house.

Recently, he has put those trains to rest. Our newest train table has bit the bullet and is now resting peacefully out by the trash bins. So, I decided it was time to put all the trains away and bring out at another time and have them be fresh and new! The newest craze around here is trucks, cars, dress up and firefighters. We have a firestation a mile down the road. Everytime we pass I tell Sam we can stop there and drop off all his nene's (pacifiers). The catch is, I will make it on Sam's time. Not mommy time. I keep telling him when he is ready to be a big strong boy, just like a firefighter we'll take all his nene's there and drop them off with the firemen. And we talk over and over about how firefighters don't use nene's. Yes, we get very over dramatic sometimes, but I have the confidence in him. What I've learned about Sam is when he's ready, he'll do it.







So, just a few days ago, as he was dressing himself up in his firefighter getup, I brought up going to the firestation. He got all excited and said, "YES, let's go!" I said okay, go get your nene's and we'll go give them to the firemen. And the conversation went like this:

Sam: "Mommy, I don't have a nene anymore."
Me: "Oh, you don't?"
Sam: "No, I'm all grown up just like the firemen at the firestation"
Me: "Oh, you are? I am so proud of you!!!"
Sam: "Thank you mommy. Now can we go?"
Me: "Well, since you're all grown up, just like the firefighters, let's go get all your nene's and put them in a bag to give to the firemen...."
Sam: "But I don't have a nene anymore!"
Me: "Allright, I'll go get them for you...." Start walking to his room...Sam came running ahead of me.
Sam: "Mommy, these arn't called nene's anymore. They are pacifiers."

Moral of the story, he IS a big boy, just like the firefighters. And, he don't have a nene anymore, instead he renamed it to pacifier just so he could go!!!!

Smart fella. But darn it!
(no worries, I did not take him...but I will when he's ready!)

No, a foreign lanugage

What does the word NO mean?


By defination: A negative used to express dissent, denial or refusal, as in a response to a question or request

By Sam: I'll just keep asking and asking and asking over and over and over and over. If I don't think she hears me, I'll keep asking her over and over and over and over. If I really don't like the answer she is giving me, I'll just ask louder, and maybe throw a few screams in there to really get her attention. If all else fails, I'll just do it anyways to really throw her off.

By Matthew: I'll just run in the corner now until she tells me to come out. If I don't run in the corner, she may tell me no again and instead of face the conquences of dissapointment, I'll just put myself in here to soften the blow. And don't worry, I'll cry....very very hard. But I also will keep one eye open a tad just to see if someone is paying attention to my tantrum. If I hear Sam, I'll stop whimpering a bit, just to see if he got his way through his actions.

Neither one of my children take the word NO tamely. Seriously it is a battle everytime the word falls out of my mouth. Sam is at the age of reason, Matthew at the age of HIDE!

If we find Sam in Matthews room ONE MORE time at 5 a.m. wanting to play with sleeping Matthew, Sam will have a lock on the inside of his room as well. Better yet, I'm going to duct tape Sam to his bed and he'll have to beg to come out. GGGRRRRRRR.......

A new 3 wheeler!

Check out Matthew's new set of wheels! Ah, he's such a little guy. He is so damned and determined to ride his big bike just like Sam. His tiny little feet just can't touch the pedals yet. He loves his bike! Sam on the other hand need to re-learn how to ride his bike. He treats his bike like a bad habbit. Seriously, I'm sometimes embarrassed to take him on bike rides. In his head, bike riding means riding for 10 feet, falling, getting back up, falling. CRASHING into nothing, falling. Riding for another 10 feet, swirving along the side of the grass, falling, CRASHING into nothing, laughing, getting back up, riding for 10 feet, falling etc. Seriously, I'm so thankful he loves his helmet...otherwise I may be concerned.

The only snow we saw this year...

AND IT WAS ON TV!!!!!!!!!!! I know all my northern family members think I'm nuts, however, I MISS the snow. I miss the anticipation the snow brings and all the frazled-ness (yes, I made that word up myself). We did get a glimpse at what the snow looked like from afar. Those who love us know we are not sports fans, however, this year while in Florida, we were valid Packer Fans!

I think my blood is thin. VERY THIN. Last night when I ventured out, I was freezing, and the temperature was only 55 degrees? WHAT. I was so dissapointed with myself. I ultimately ran into the store, shivvering. Come on Erin, 55 is WARM!!! I don't like this. Brad laughed, but agreed with me. 55 in Florida is a different 55 back home.....so we keep telling ourselves...

A real blonde joke worth sharing...

Many months ago, we sold our family room furniture and entertainment system on Craigs list. For a few weeks we sat on the floor, watching our old 5 inch kitchen TV. They boys thought it was great because the TV was little and they were about to adjust the channels to their liking. Within a few weeks time, Brad and I took advantage of a great payment advertisment and purchased new family room furniture, including a new HDTV. Along with the furniture purchase, came our 'extended' childproof warranty for a minimal fee, which we knew we had to purchase because we parent the children of monkeys.

Within a few more weeks the new furniture was delivered, fresh out of the delivery truck. The men who unloaded into our home were kind and nice. They kindly explained to me how the new entertainment center is wired, how to change the light bulbs in the unit and how to clean my new sofa and chairs. Great! Now we were all set, ready to have our family room back....

Within a few hours, Matthew thought it was time to bite the wood on the entertainment center door, leaving his teeth marks engraved in the middle of the unit. Sam thought it was fun to make the new entertainment center a ladder and try to climb up it and a great crashing ground for trucks. However, we knew there was something just not so right....it was the light bulbs.

Within 3 weeks, I had replaced the little lightbulb 4 times, when the light was hardly ever on. So, remembering we purchased the 'extended' childproof warranty, I decided since it had only been a month, it was time to put our well purchased warranty to use....I called to file a claim and to have someone come out and fix my child messed up new piece of furniture.

Within 2 more weeks, the little man in a blue truck pulled up to my house. He was hired by our warranty program, specifically to fix the circuit that was shorting out and help me refurbish the teeth marks resting so peacefully on the unit. The little man in the blue truck rang the bell, the door was answered and the conversation went something like this....

Man: "Hello, I'm Steve, I'm here to fix your light"
Me: "Great, come on it"
Boys: "Yeah, mommy, the man is here!!!!"
Me: "Follow me, the Entertainment center is in the family room"
Man: "My my, you have a lot of toys....wow"
Me: "Follow me, it's in here....right here"
Man: "Oh, I see... okay. Let me get my tools out of the car, and I'll get the light working for you"

.......

The man came back in, asked me if he could borrow the ladder. He climbed up on the ladder on top of the entertainment center, took out the light socket and did other things with it. I had to remove myself from the scene as Matthew had a big stinky poopy that needed to be changed before I lost my breakfast and Sam was standing under the ladder that the man was on, just so fascinated.



A few more minutes go by, the boys under more control.....I step back into the Family room.
.............

Me: "Everything all right in here?"
Man: "Yup, the light now works and I'm just getting ready to place the socket back into the unit."
Me: "Great! That was fast"

...few more minutes go by......

Man: "Looks like I"m all done, can you sign on the dotted line?"
Me: "Sure"

....walking out to the front door.....

Me: "Thanks for all your help and coming out to fix the bulb. I knew something wasn't right when I had replaced the bulb 4 times in one month when the unit is hardly ever on."
Man: "Oh, you've already replaced the bulb?"
Me: "Yes, I've replaced the bulb 4 times since we got it and it's only been a month since we've had it. When I called the customer service lady told me they would send you out to replace the entire socket because it sounded like there was some sort of short in the wiring. So thanks for coming out!"
Man: "One moment, I'll be right back"
.......moments go by.......more moments go by....man comes back...
Man: "I'm sorry, I thought you called me out to replace your bulb".
Me: "Are you serious? Do you think I would call my warranty for a broken light bulb?"
Man: "Yes"
Me: "come one....there are many things I can't do, but I know all to well how to change a light bulb. Is this some sort of joke?"
.........................
Needless to say, the entire socket DID get replaced and I think I did a good job at making the man in the little blue truck feel pretty silly. But come on!!!!!!!!

My darling boys!

Here they are. How sweet they all are. Sam and Matthew just jump for joy when they come in our room in the morning to find Daddy still in bed on a Saturday! All of a sudden, mommy becomes a distant memory. Daddy is on the spot light and now that Matthew has a bed of his own, once he wakes up we hear pounding on the door to let him out!

Dress up and togetherness

It's Firefighter Sam to the rescue!

Who would have thought my little boy would be so into dress up. It is so funny to watch. For the past few days, he will wake up, undress himself and put on his fireman suit from halloween. He then pretends to put out fires as he runs around the house with a pretend hose. After about 20 minutes or so of running around the house, he undresses again to the bare bone, puts back on his clothing attire and jumps into his bed saying, "firefighters need their rest mommy, I'm sleeping". Low and behold, Matthew doesn't quite understand the concept as he is jumping virgously on the bed screaming, "YAM, YAM, YAM, GO".

It is rather commical to watch the two of them together. Matthew follows Yam around the house, jumping and screaming. Sam runs just that much faster to make sure his little brother doesn't catch up to him. I think at I can say with confidence, we are reaching another milestone. A milestone full of togetherness. I can finally say that the boys are becoming friends. Sam's patience level is subsiding while Matthews little quirky baby moves are becoming a thing of the past. No longer does Matthew sit on the ground and drool.....he is now a few steps behind Sam as he climbs up the ladder at the park only to slide down the very big slide.

I'm also noticing less mommy intervention, while more and more laughs and giggles echo in the playroom, as long as I am not on the phone or my computer, it's a great thing! I am so happy and so is my voice :-).

The boys winter attire

but the funny thing is...the grass is sooooo green! It is greener than it is in Summer. This picture was also shot before Matthew biffed and landed smack dab in the middle of the basketball course

on his face. I'm proud to say, this was in daddy's care. Daddy still is convinced he has no idea how Matthew now looks like Rodolph.

It's been a while...

Man oh man...where has all the time gone? We've been busy around here, but I'm not sure with what exactly. The weather has been a little unpredictable, and our days have been a little altered. Some days we have the heat on, others we have the air on. I never knew that I would say it is cold when the temps dropped to 60. I'm doing my best to keep our blood thick down here, but it is hard. It's been cooooollllllddddd these past few weeks. Off and on cold, hot, cold hot, overcast and grey. Some days we have shorts on, other days we have scarfs, hats and mittens. It's just so hard to predict. Needless to say, we're keeping busy. We still brave the elements, whatever they may present. 2 days ago they had hats on, yesterday they had shorts on. Crazy isn't it?

Onto Prince Matthew. Oh yes, he turned 18 months. You know what that means...a well trip to the doctor. My fantastic event that I long for every time we leave that place. This trip, is well worth documenting. Don't look for stats on this appointment, because I have no clue. I'm just happy I didn't come out of the office covered in vomit. Let me begin....first I'll paint a nice picture of little Innocent Matthew....

Isn't he cute? So...the darling Husband met me in the parking lot so he could take Sam and I could run Matthew in for his appointment. Matthew and I walked in. He was dancing and running around the quiet empty waiting room, until the words, "Matthew Teplin" echoed from the scary lady's mouth who just opened up the door to the ever so scary exam room. That empty quiet waiting room wasn't so quiet anymore....Matthew looked at me, screamed like a alligator was chewing his left eyeball. He was terrified I was going to take him in there with that scary lady who said his name. By the time I went to life him up, he had alligator size tears rolling down his little cheeks.

I'm so over this...as I whip him up and away we go. The nurse walked us into the room and the door closed....still screaming bloody murder. After 10 attempts for him to step on the scale (yes, with all his clothes on) the nurse kindly said, never mind. After 5 failed attempts to MEASURE HIS HEAD, the nurse kindly said, "I'll get it later". After 20 attempts to keep his legs still while she got his measurement and not kick her in the stomach, the nurse kindly said, "we'll recheck before you leave". After 2 attempts to get his temperature (not sure why...after all this was a well visit) the nurse said, "I'll get the doctor".

Those 6 minutes we had to wait for the doc to enter seemed like 6 hours. Matthew, kid you not, screamed horrible terrors in that room. Not even a sucker would shut him up. I even opened the window that specifically says in big RED letters, "DO NOT OPEN UP, ONLY IN EMERGENCY". I felt this was an emergency situation and if I could have, I would have crawled out.

The doc came in, looked at me and said, "what is wrong with him". My response, "he doesn't like you". Matthew is now looking at me, clawing my neck and just totally got sucker all over my shirt saying, " MaMa, OUT, OUT, Yam (sam), Car, out, daddy, out, out out yam.". The doctor did her exam, well not really, but did whatever she did and then asked me, "does he talk?". I kindly said, with a rather calm voice, "Ah, yea, are you listening to what he is saying?" Doctor, "does he put 2 words together?". me, "ARE YOU LISTENING?".

We belted out of there with his shot and we RAN towards the door. Poor daddy was so concerned when we met him back in the parking lot. Sam kindly asked Matthew when we got into the car, "what happened to you Matthew?"...my response, "Sam, next time it's daddy's turn to take Matthew in."
Matthew, 18 months. Around 25 pounds, no idea the rest

Onto Prince Sam. Sam is bursting at the seems with energy. We find it very hard to keep him busy. We can't wait for pre-school this year. He talks almost every day about school and how he will miss me and Matthew, but he knows we shouldn't be sad. I guess this conversation stems from our neighbor Jon who is 10 and loves Sam. Jon always tells Sam about school and the bus! Sam has been busy requesting to play with friends, but is quite concerned when we can't go outside because it is raining or just plain out cold. Trains is kind of fading away. He is now head over heals in love with cars and trucks and crashing and making holes in the wall. When people ask him how old he is, his reply, "6, like Jon". His favorite word is, "because" and his favorite movie is, wait, I forgot, he doesn't like watching movies or TV anymore......

Here is our little grown up man at 3 yrs....going on 20.

Sam at his favorite tree house park! Oh how we love the parks!

That's about all I have to report from here today. Sorry for my lack of efforts on posting as I know I've gotten some emails with concerns. We're looking forward to Valentines Day around here because Santa doesn't come every week like little buddy Sam thinks!

Big Boy Bed: part 2

Matthew is loving his new bed. He is doing fantastic in it. The first night he visited us once dancing and singing at 12:00 a.m. I patiently walked him back to his room, while he was laughing at this whole new experience! Last night, perfect. He slept from 7:30 until 6 without needing us once. He did so well. Sam is also in on the new situation. He loves it that he can snuggle in his brothers bed. And it's official...the crib has been sold. No more babies in this house!

Hello Big Boy Bed!

The start of a new adventure for little baby Matthew. Today was the day it was time to take apart the crib and welcome in the new queen size bed! Matthew was sooo excited as Sam gave him a tour of the new device. Sam demonstrated how to suck your nene (pacifier) and hold your blankee. He also demonstrated where the water cup goes! Priceless brothers. We're happy to report that Matthew is snoozing away very peacefully in his new bed! Daddy had a brilliant idea to not purchase side rails and see if we can keep him in there with just the help of a pillow....well, that wasn't going to be an option in my mind, so I send him out to purchase side rails.

Stay tuned....we'll post updates on our night...
He looks so little in this gigantic size bed. Looks like it's onto finding the "perfect" new comforter!

2007....What a year it's been!

Happy New Year to you all. Looking back on 2007 brings tears to our eyes. We can't believe everything that has happened. We kicked off the year with packing our bags and moving south to Orange Park Florida. A few days after moving in and having no idea where the heck this airplane dropped us off, we purchased a beautiful, know it all, GPS. She has provided me (Erin) with pure confidence that she can get me out of any situation! Now I could explore Jacksonville while Brad was at work and find my way home!


A few weeks after unpacking our new home, Brad was packing up his Honda Accord and parking his new VW Jetta in the garage! We visited Friends in Atlanta which challenged us with our first "long" family drive for Easter. A few months later, we traveled back to WI. We were in our 4 wheeled black mini van together for a total of 40 hours, YIKES!

Sam learned how to use the potty, sing the ABC's, chant Feliz Navadid and rides ,with no fault, a big boy bike with training wheels. Matthew took his few few crawls which soon turned into steps. His vocabulary continues to grow and went from "dah" to "Yam, ank u" (translation, Sam, thank you). Along with his persistent ability to be exactly like his brother, his palette also continues to explode. This child will try anything and has a great appetite.


A few more months passed by and Brad decided it was time for Mommy to pack up her old black mini and get a new one! A few days went by, October 31st came and went and in the driveway sat mommy's new Toyota Sienna! I am STILL in love with that purchase.

Brad reasoned with his headaches and decided it was time to get his vision checked. Sure enough, he needed corrective lenses. 45 trips back and forth to the Optometrist , 5 weeks later we "think" his contacts finally fit his precious little eyes. Now he's onto finding the best solution to keep his eyes moist through the day.....

Erin, well, I've just been busy being a mom. At the end of the day, watching my children through their day to day activities is the best gift of all. We have made so many wonderful friends here who treat us like family. Those friends, near and far have made me appreciate being me.

Our house has been full of friends and family this past year. We've had so much fun entertaining all of you and we loved sharing our Florida home with everyone.

We have so much to be thankful for this past year. Our health, happiness and togetherness. Our wish for our boys this coming year is the gift of happiness. May you be happy with everything you do, may your life be filled with fun and excitement and may you please please learn how to sleep past 6 a.m. PLEASE!!!!

Merry Christmas, 2007

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas 2007. We celebrated Christmas this year with family. Erin's parents, along with her great grandma Trudy came down from WI. Brother Darren and wife Ann also flew down from California. We had a great weekend full of fun, laughs and presents. Santa was very very good to us this year! The boys held out and did great. No sickies traveled through our house while we had soooo many guests. I think we can officially say this was the first visit from out of town company where the children were not miserable and sick!!! Yeah for the boys!!!! Sam was in awe of everyone, and Matthew warmed up very nicely to everyone...well except Aunt Ann and Uncle Darren. They tried soooo hard to get a smile from little Matthew and of course, on the last day of their visit, he wanted to go home with them. But isn't that always the case? A huge thank you to ya'll for making the trip down and for making our Christmas so memorable. We miss you all and hope to see you all soon again.

Our Christmas Tree after Santa arrived.

Matthew just couldn't believe how much he loves Santa!!!

....last but not least....the big biG bIG BIG RED Firetruck!!! Sam let out a huge squeel, something I had never heard before. He was soooo excited.
And Matthew now can be just like his brother with his new bike!

Matthew and his papa Tom Mimi and Matthew watching Sam hang up some ornaments on the tree Great Grandma Trudy counting $$ with Sam! Uncle Darren & Aunt Ann

Me, testing out my new Camera!!! Shannon, ignore my subject, but check out my blurry background!!!! No clue what I did :)

it doesn't get much better than this...

riding your bike through the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights that is! How fun and DIFFERENT for the 4 of us. Since the time change the nights have just gotten soooo much longer. We've put these loooooooong nights to good use by taking nightly bike rides around the neighborhood. No scarves, no hats (just a Santa hat), no mittens....nothing but a sweatshirt and pants. We have definitely gotten spoiled this December while still wearing shorts and t-shirts!

Matthew waiting for Santa...

Oh how I just had to post this picture....precious little buns sitting on the chair in front of the Christmas Tree. It was a Kodak moment! For sure a memory!

Sam on Christmas Morning!

Matthew on Christmas Morning!

Gaga, Papa Stan and Sassy

The day finally came where Sam's long awaited visit from Papa Stan, Gaga Judi and Sassy came true! It was a cold weekend here in Jacksonville. The temps topped 60 as the cloudy and wind filled the chilly air. But that didn't stop us from having a great time with all. We took Sassy to the park and went out to eat. It was a great weekend! Where was Gaga when we attempted 50 photos for our holiday card? She comes and look at the precious smiles from everyone!!!!!
Matthew thought he could do the monkey bars...until he realized it would mean being too far away from mommy :)
Sassy loved the park! She performed many stints only a show dog could perform!
Cute Sassy dog!
The boys hanging out at Clarks Fish Camp! Matthew tried calamari for the first time and requested more!

Our Tree, 2007

Our tree arrived home safe and sound! I must say a Christmas Tree purchase experience in Florida was extremely different than a Christmas Tree purchase in Wisconsin. First off, trees are expensive in the south. We purchased a Frasier Fur for $25 last year, and a Frasier Fur for $95 (sticker price) this year. Don't you worry, I used my friendly negotiating skills down 60%, there was just no way I could spend that on something I threw away. Second, there was no snow to contend with while making the decision. The sun was beating down on us and the boys only had a sweatshirt on. The boys really enjoyed the experience. Sam was definitely excited to strap the tree on top of the van and ride home to put the lights on! Now, we wait...patiently for Santa who will be here as soon as his Mimi and Papa arrive!

Finally, the tree is lit! A little crooked, but lit.

Again, I must say, I LOVE PUBLIX!

Again, another post about how much I love Publix. Let me start out by saying, "I STILL love Publix!" This event, hosted by Publix, was to bring in the holidays..What am I going to do if we ever move to a state where I am without a Publix? It was that time of year, again, where Publix did it best to spoil us rotten. The store managers (about 15 of them) supplied a great huge warm welcome to us as we walk through the door. Not only was I three steps into the store before I was offered some Champagne and my children were offered a balloon, next to the 5 piece string cortet, chilling behind the ice sculpture. Of course I indulged in the Bubbly and I figured I could stay there for a few more hours since we walked there :). Next we came across a table. A table that was FULL of the favorites. The melting moments, the strawberry drizzled with brown and white chocolate and the favorite brownie surprise. The baker gave one plate to me, one to Matthew and the other to Sam. We piled up those desserts high and mighty. The baker just adores Matthew and she always gives him Hi-5's! Not to mention that Matthew adores her because she not only supplies his paws with 1 sprinkled cookie, but he gets 2 cookies! And yes, they do know my children by their first name. So we stood there and stuffed our faces with the decants first. Now, onto the produce spread....This is the favorite event of our excursion. Why you ask? Because they have a scale and everything we buy we have to weigh....according to Mr. Sam Man. And tonight, we weighed the fork that we used to eat all the palatable bakery items.
We were done, Matthew was a mess, imagine that, and Sam was just too worried that his fingers were dirty. We continue. Next it was the seafood table. Gorgeous seafood laid out with of course, the mini cocktail wieners! Matthew stood by the butcher until he noticed him and also filled up a plate for us! He said, "Wieners for the children! Does the mother want some?" I passed on that question.....Matthew found himself a comfy seat on the tile floor next to the raw spare ribs that were next to the lamb shank.

After eating our way through the store we noticed that it was getting very very dark out and we still had about a 20 minute walk home. We were having so much fun talking, eating and drinking we lost track of time. Now somehow I was going to have to break the news to my little ones that it was time to go.....let me say it wasn't easy, until we started walking towards the front of the store. There was SANTA! The big ole' man himself was sitting high and mighty on 1,000 cases of coke! Oh man. The tears from the poor little sad children froze and the faces turned into smiles. "Ho Ho Ho Ho" came out of Matthew's mouth. "Can I tell him to bring me a firetruck" came out of my darling 3 year old's mouth. Matthew followed Sam...all the way to the lap, then turned around and got shy. However, check out the smile on Sam's face...He was in heaven!!!! And this Santa was free of charge! Well, he should be seeing how much of my $$ Publix has....

It was time to head back home to wait for daddy! Our bellies were fed and the boys were ready to roll. Sam ate like a champ and Matthew, well he always has an appetite. As we were rolling out of the parking lot, Sam looked at me and said, "Mommy, I think you better walk fast, I have to poop." So we ran home dodging the sprinklers that were spraying in our path :).....I will never leave my house without my camera again!!!! And yes, I did look like a fool taking pictures in a food store, but the funny part was...I wasn't the only one!