Well, it's the middle of the day and I really don't' feel like I've gotten that much accomplished.

I kind of hate that feeling.

I did take Stella to dance this morning. But promised her teacher I wouldn't blog about it! Ha. No but seriously, you might think I'm crazy for putting my 2(almost 3) year old in dance. But I promise you, I'm not. She loves it. And she learns so much from it! And, I think, I know, she is really good at it. At least from a mother's perspective. :)

After dance, my mom graciously offered to watch the girls while Zach and I went to the grocery store! Do you know what it is like to go to the grocery store with kids? How about without kids? Because the difference is like as wide as the Grand Canyon. Not to mention the fact that I got to go with Zach. It was basically date. A productive date. And it was wonderful.

Usually I rush to the store somewhere between mid morning snack and lunch time. Because, trust me, you do not want to take a hungry kid to the grocery store. This usually means I have AJ tagging along as well. This also means that we have to go to Target for groceries so that all of the kids can sit in a cart. If I go to Bakers there are two seats for AJ and Stella, and then Scarlett sits in the basket inside of her car seat. Scarlett is too big by now to drag around inside her car seat and besides that, fully capable of sitting up in the cart. Plus if she is in the basket, where do the groceries go? I know. Dilemma.

Target is not cheap. It's not like Walmart. It's not the lowest price. And I am cheap.

If I let AJ walk along side of the cart, I have to, for all intensive purposes, let Stella walk as well. That is no good. I am then the crazy mom shouting, "Keep up. Focus. Keep up. Don't touch that. Stop touching that. Put that back. Please don't touch that. Keep up. Focus. Please. Right now. Please. I'm going to count to three. Do you want to go home? Please focus! Ok that's it, I am never taking you to the grocery store again. Keep up. Ok that's it, I'm never buying groceries again so you can just think about that!" I know, I sound insane!

To top it off AJ is three days away from 5, Stella is a month away from 3 and Scarlett is a month away from 1. They are too heave to push all three of them, and then a cart full of groceries. Even at Target I am swerving recklessly in and out of aisles, bumping in to displays and shelves of food. Running over small children walking and elderly people that can't get out of the way quick enough. Plus, just try loading and unloading ALL of that in Arctic wind conditions and three feet of slush. That's right slush. Because although the snow is definitely a problem, the slush between my car and the entrance to the grocery story is worse. Much. Much. Worse.

By the way, side note: Is there a way to buckle three kids into car seats without getting covered in wet, dirty, melted snow from their boots? Is there? Because if there is I certainly haven't discovered it.

Ok so if you add all of these difficulties together and months of these kind of weather conditions, I maybe haven't been to the grocery story and really bought groceries for um, let's see, like, how about, um.... 2 months. That's right. Two months.

I don't even know what we've been eating. I'm not sure if anybody does. I will have Zach pick up the necessities on his way home from work. Things like, something for dinner, fruit, bread, milk, juice, beer. Things you know, we can't live without. But like real options for things to eat in this house have been slim to say the least.

I think Zach hit a breaking point this week. He wasn't having it anymore. I can't blame him. Last night for dinner. I made ravioli that I'm pretty sure had freezer burn, with frozen corn and a tomato sauce that I doctored up to taste like a normal pasta sauce. You know, the tomato sauce you buy in a can for like 58 cents. Yea, that stuff.

It might sound creative. Or maybe even fulfilling.... But at most it was interesting. And that's being generous.

So anyways, today of all days, grocery shopping was on the To Do list. I just assumed I would take Stella after dance. But then Zach volunteered to go to, making things easier. And then when my mom volunteered to watch the girls, well I might as well have just won the lottery. It was fantastic.

So out and about we went. We toughed the insanely long lines, and thick crowds and yes, even the madness at Costco. (Seriously, have you been to Costco on Saturday afternoons? It's a madhouse. Like bananas insane. Obviously we were desperate.)

And three hours later, yes it took us three hours. Partly because of how busy everything was, but mostly because when you have that kind of opportunity you don't squander it away on being quick and thorough. Oh no, you take your time, enjoying the cart filled only with groceries and the place where normally you squeeze in two hyper children, empty save for your tiny, minuscule purse (you heard me, purse, not diaper bag, purse.).

Eventually we finished the job. There might not have been a divide-and-conquer game plan, but we came home feeling satisfied.... accomplished.... starving....(there was no time for lunch)..... and even refreshed.

Not to mention the miracle that when we got home, mom had just put the kids down for a nap. Wow.

Now that I think about it, I guess I have gotten a lot done today.

PS. I just want to leave you with this one thought. Have you ever tried to spend less then $100 at Costco? I mean seriously? It's like impossible.