My favorite commercial

It doesn't always pay to be green (or a moron)

Today was starting off to be a great day. Ainsley slept through the whole night last night, and I woke up at 7:00 am feeling refreshed. Devin left around 7:45 to participate in Serve Day here in KC, and I got the girls up and fed. I decided to tackle the grocery stores this morning, so I combed through my recipe books and looked at the ads and planned out meals (I am bound and determined to stay within our grocery budget this week). I decided to try for three stores with the girls. I was in a Mission/Roeland Park kind of mood today instead of a Shawnee mood (I'm weird...I know...) so I went to the Hy-vee over there instead. First store went great. I was out of there in record time and only spent $15. Next stop was Price Chopper. I got the girls out and into the racecar cart and then realized I left my reusable bags in the trunk. When I opened my trunk, I saw that my bag from Hy-vee had spilled out everywhere so I quickly put everything back in the bag, shut the trunk and was on my way. Immediately after I shut the trunk I realized I had left my keys in there.

I'm typically someone who can figure out a way out of most situations, so I don't usually panic about things, but I realized then and there that there was no easy solution to this one. My mom was in Arizona, Devin was doing carpentry work in KC, and my dad was at the zoo with a bunch of people from Nepal (isn't that a fun mental image?). I rolled the girls inside and went over to the manager and told him what I did and asked if they had one of those carjack thingies (my exact words). :) No such luck, but he did track down the number to a locksmith nearby who could be there in 10 minutes. I went ahead with my shopping and decided to call the locksmith when I was almost done. I waited and waited and waited with the girls for about 30 minutes (various people stopped to see if I was ok. I love Kansas!) and no sign of the locksmith, so I called my next door neighbor, Stacy, (in tears at that point)to see if she would be willing to bring the extra car key. She wasn't even at home, but was willing to drive up from down south to help me out. She came and we were rescued. Thankfully Addison was really well behaved. Give the girl something to drink and a bag of graham crackers and she's good to go. We even made up a song called "Hurry up Stacy." Ainsley was really good too, smiling and coo-ing at every old lady that walked by. I was thankful for my sweet little girls, who made a crappy situation less crappy.

Even though we were at Price Chopper for over two hours, the food was still cold in the trunk so I'm going to use it and hope that my whole family doesn't get food poisoning. Anyway, leave it to me to turn an everyday grocery shopping trip into a crazy mess.

Just another day in the Riley household!

P.S. Wanna know what we're having? Ok!
-Hamburgers, pasta salad and corn on the cob
-Slow cooker BBQ burritos (we'll see how this tastes) w/ fruit salad
-Italian Casserole (some kind of noodle-y ground beef concoction out of Southern Living) w/ salad
-lasagna (made by my mom) w/ salad and bread
-Pot Roast w/ sweet potatoes/carrots
-Shrimp and spinach pasta w/ salad
-Roasted Chicken and potatoes (I'm going to try to cook the whole chicken in my slow cooker with rosemary and lemon. Have any of you done this before? Should I skin it or leave the skin on?)

Another laugh, courtesy of Eric

Marie's Comment: A shack! And it's falling!
Eric's comment: Hope those falling timbers didn't kill Jesus, God the fat black lady, and the Japanese holy spirit.

Eric, what would I do without you? I'd have very little to laugh at.

Cute pic of the day

You should see how tightly she crammed this cabbage patch doll in that little sink.

I'm mad at you Mommy!

Yep. She said it! It was the first time. I came downstairs from trying to soothe Ainsley back to sleep (after a very short lived nap) to a poopy smelling room. When I asked Addison why she pooped in her pants she said "I was mad at you." Wait. Maybe I misheard that. Huh? I asked her again and sure enough, "I was mad at you because you were upstairs." I explained to her that it is ok to be mad at mommy, but it is not ok to poop in your pants to reflect this emotion! Argh. I was kind of wondering if she got that whole "I'm mad at you thing" from yours truly. Everytime she has an accident I get pretty irritated and tell her. Now if she does go on the potty she says "Now I don't make you mad Mom!" I sort of use this firstborn desire to please to my advantage and say "Nope, now Mom is soooo happy!"

All this talk over the bathroom. Good grief. I apologize for those of you who don't have toddlers that you had to read that.

Anyway, I just read a great book. In Praise of Stay at Home Moms by none other than Dr. Laura. I absolutely loved this book. My mom got it for me for Mother's Day and she is so encouraging and uplifting. This book made me feel so motivated and energized to enjoy the girls and not worry so much if everything else is getting done. I've been playing more games and reading more books to Addison instead of sitting on the couch feeling sorry for myself because I'm overwhelmed with stuff to get done. I really do love being a mom. It is quite wonderful.

Tonight was really fun. I have been in a bible study for almost 4 years with some wonderful girls and tonight was a little send-off party for a very amazing girl who is preparing to spend two years teaching school in Mexico. We ate dinner at, you guessed it, Cheesecake Factory! I was a little nervous because I only had $16 to spend there, but wouldn't you know my favorite item on the menu is also one of the cheapest. A mojito would have been really good, but I did get a mojito-lime flavored seasoning packet for free at Hen House the other night. Maybe that will satisfy my craving. Doubtful. One topic on the agenda was Lady Ga Ga. Is a disco stick what I think it is?

ANYWAY, I always love getting together with these girls and tonight was no exception. I honestly don't know what I'd do without all these terrific friends that God has blessed me with.

Speaking of blessings, my mom found us a bumbo seat with a tray for $15 and my dad found us a lawnmower for $50! We were really in need of our own lawnmower, but the Bumbo seat is something I never realized I needed til now. To think I raised Addison for nearly 3 years without it! Ainsley looks so cute sitting in this thing. She only lasts about 5-10 minutes, but those are some productive 5-10 minutes. I tried using it in the tub, but probably wouldn't recommend that idea to anyone and I'm sorry to my poor baby for using her as a test dummy. Let's just say the chair tends to float a bit. Please don't call SRS. I doubt I'm the first parent to not read the writing on the chair that says not to use it in water. :)
















Have a great Friday everyone!

Need a laugh?

Priceless....

Boogie Body

This is for Mom and Aunt Shel

One of my favorite blogs

Ragamuffin Soul. Such a sweet story.

THE PAINTER OF LIGHT!

Doubting Thomas Kinkade














Another good one courtesy of my slighty more cynical, but far funnier brother. Check out his blog.
He said this was on his church bulletin. That is just awesome, even though I will admit it is a secret fantasy of mine to live in a Thomas Kinkade cabin. They're so cozy and cute!

Good Day

Devin texted me today (we're texters) saying he was going to leave early and wondering if I wanted to bring the girls downtown to hang out for awhile.

The sky was gray (the kind of gray that means the floodgates will be opening any second), but I'm the kind of girl who likes to be out of the house as much as possible (especially when Devin and I can be together), so I pretended not to notice and we drove down there anyway. We made it about 5 minutes in the car and Addison said

"Mommy my tummy hurts. That means I have to go poop right mommy?"

Ok quick stop at Walgreens. Bring both girls inside. Walk back to the bathroom. False alarm.


We really had a wonderful time (not in the bathroom at Walgreens; being with Devin). First we drove through the Power and Light District, and I was secretly wishing I didn't have two small children because how fun would it have been to see a movie in that amazing new AMC? Someday....someday... Then we went to Liberty Memorial to wander around. We spotted a playground (as a parent you can spot playgrounds from miles away) and Devin and Addison had a great time playing together. I fed Ainsley in the car. Don't feel too sorry for me: Devin took Addison to the bathroom in a porta potty. Yeah. A porta potty at a park in KCMO. Thankfully there were no visible crack pipes or needles ::::shudder::::::

Next we went to Crown Center and bummed around and went to Fritz's to eat. It was Addison's first time there and she loved it. For those of you with small babies, who still eat out at really healthy places, enjoy it! Soon you will be like me and will forgo healthy, yummy food for hamburgers and french fries delivered by a train. Why? Because it makes your kid really, really happy. And it makes you really, really happy watching your kid so happily drowning her greasy french fry in a pool of ketchup with a cardboard train engineer hat on her head (actually Devin was wearing the hat).

After our fun adventure downtown we headed home so Devin could change and we could go to his final basketball game with the church league. It had really started to pour by then. Water was everywhere. As soon as we got home I realized that our two cats had been outside that whole time. Fewer things are more pitiful than completely soaked cats. They both looked like drowned rats. Anyway, tonight Devin's team won the first game so they had to stay and play a second game immediately after. I was excited that he won, but less excited about sitting in the bleachers for two hours with Addison (and Ainsley). The cool thing about the basketball league is that a lot of the players are people who don't even go to church. They're co-workers, friends, neighbors of people who do. As I was sitting in the bleachers, I found myself irritated by all of the swearing I kept hearing from the people sitting around me in the bleachers. I almost asked them to stop because I have a three year old who repeats everything, but then I thought about how cool it was that they were even there, and that a church basketball league might somehow draw them closer to Jesus, and that Addison would be just fine. Just a thought...

Anyway I should probably go to bed now. More blogging another time.

P.S. I love this video. Sometimes I feel like Rick.

Salmonella anyone?

We were in line at Hy-vee last night and Addison picked up a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and licked them! Gross! She's been licking lots of things lately: the mirror at the store (which used to drive me crazy when I worked at Banana Republic. "What kind of parent lets their kid lick a mirror?" I once muttered), my parents' screen door, and now raw chicken. Blagh.

Anyway, she is acting more like a little girl and less like a toddler these days. We were on our way to the park and she said "I'm, like, so tired!"

Yesterday I was busy putting my sweaters and maternity clothes in plastic bins and getting out my spring and summer clothes. Addison stayed busy by throwing a little tea party for her stuffed animals (in the bathroom). I heard her running up and down the stairs, retrieving everything she needed. When I walked in the room this is what I saw





























So cute!

I have to give a shout out to my friends Julia Golden and Dan Triman, who are now engaged! I've known Dan for almost 10 years and Julia is a wonderful, wonderful person. I love them both dearly and am so excited for them!