Sophia asleep in her dinner plate, night before last
Once again, yesterday Jack's first soccer game was canceled due to the fields being underwater. At this rate, they'll have all practice and no play! Oh, well, back to sleep we all went.
I overslept for, and Rob forgot about, our Gift of Caring delivery for the Brownies. Oopsie. We raced around getting dressed and ready to go. Once on base, we had no idea where to go, and it's a huge post. We drove 'round and 'round, and finally happened to drive right smack past the USO office by accident. It didn't matter that we were late, though, because no other Brownies were with us, and there were no Sailors there in uniform to accept them! The USO lady posed with Chloë, who sold 43 of the troop's 45 Gift of Caring boxes. Way to go, Chlo!
Afterward, we drove down to the Farmer's Market to pay a visit to Uncle Chuck. I've been living on various crabcakes lately, on a mission to find the best ones, but nothing comes close to Uncle Chuck's. His are the clear winners, and they are worth every penny. I bought two bags (four per pag), to keep me in crabcakes for at least, well, a week! Rob bought a bowl of shrimp and crab gumbo, and I asked UC to show me the crab legs. They looked beautious, so I asked for half a pound. He took two large pieces and said, "Here's half a pound for you, on me." Sweet! Chloë wanted a fresh tomato to eat "for dessert" (girl is crazy; I hate raw tomatoes), so we added that to our tally. UC put everything on ice for me, so we could keep shopping around the Market.
Don't those crab legs look delish??
The kids asked to go to the candy store next, and we agreed. They immediately picked out three large lollipops, and then Rob took his sweet time selecting his treat from the bakery section. He finally settled on half a dozen pumpkin cookies; I had a nibble off one, and it was quite yummous. The kids had to wait 'til we got home for their candy, but knowing that didn't stop them from continuously asking for them anyway!
At the next two stands, we scored this bounty. See those less-than-pencil-thin asparagus? Guess who got up on the table and ate more than half the bundle? The dog!! Just to make sure I'd seen what I'd seen, I broke off another 'gus tip and fed it to her, and she wolfed it right down. We were looking forward to them, too.
I was in a mood for some new tastes, so I purchased pear butter, strawberry preserves, strawberry butter, pumpkin butter, and blueberry preserves. Doesn't that all sound SO good?! Gosh, I can't wait to dig in. Only, I don't know what I'll put it on; maybe a slice of my protein bread, toasted. Rob chose the pickled beets, and Sophia and Chloë tried them when we got home. Blech! My sentiments exactly. We also bought cartons of fresh strawberries, which looked so delectable we couldn't pass them up, and mushrooms for Rob.
We managed to pass by Yoder's Dairy, the Butchery, and the garden store without spending more money, but it wasn't a cheap trip to the market, that's for sure. That's okay, it's all good, fresh, local food, and you can't beat that.
We had one last stop before home, at A.C. Moore's. I accidentally received two of this week's ad, so I had two 50% off coupons to use! These small things make a girl so excited. The main purpose for our visit was for Sophia to pick out the cake pan she wanted. She chose this Wilton pan, to my dismay:
It's utterly simplistic to decorate, compared to Jack's Cars cake, and I like a bit of a challenge. We tried to steer her toward several more complicated cakes, but this is the one she wanted. And that's what she shall have, but I'll have to try and find a way to dress it up a little bit! (She insists she wants it just like the picture, with pink petals and a yellow center, so I can't stray too far from the model.)
We picked up some cute candles for her (another small excitement for me: they came four to a pack! And she'll be four! Oh, joy), a train candy mold for when we make lollipops during break, and a few little Easter crafts for the kids. Oh, and I found giant sticker packs for a buck! They can go crazy with some stickers, especially Soap.
Home again, home again, jiggity jog.
As soon as we got home, the kids wanted to sit outside and eat their lollipops. It's hard to take a picture of the girls sucking on theirs without them looking a bit lascivious, though...
Look at this boy! He's trying to break his teeth, I swear. I keep telling him to suck, not bite (shut up, you pervs), but he insists on doing the latter. The dentist would be thrilled.
They actually ate very little of their lollis before wrapping them up for the day. I can see those things lasting the kids a month!
Would you like a taste?
Once inside, Chloë did eat a bit of her tomato, just like an apple!
Rob made himself a big an' tasty mushroom-and-tomato omelette for a late lunch. He was pretty peeved about me taking this picture, because "it didn't turn out nice," but I'm a stubborn bitch and took it anyway.
The girls wanted to attack the strawberries next, but Daddy requested that we have shortcake. I let them have a few - and I may have snuck a couple myself - but mostly I sliced them up and sugared them for our dessert later.
The plan was to go to church, but suddenly Jack was crying and feeling miserable, and he had a fever. Oh, Lord, this thing just won't go away. Rob dosed him with some kid Tylenol, and he fell asleep on the couch.
So, I took the girls with me to the grocery store to get the Bisquick for the shortcakes (I love that recipe), some heavy cream to whip, and some sugar. Oh, and a dozen bottles of Powerade Zero that I got for free! I redeemed a bunch of our Coke Rewards points for them. I love the Powerade Zero - they're big 32 oz bottles and have no carbs, no nothing. And they taste decent, too. Two of those, and I've fulfilled my fluid intake for the day.
At home, I whipped up the biscuits and then asked for Rob's help with the cream. Our mixer doesn't spin anymore, and I wasn't sure how long to whip it our how much sugar to add. So we did it together, and it came out perfectly. How did it taste? To die!
I assembled the strawberry shortcakes, and the four of us (Jack passed) dined on them eagerly. Even I indulged in some, having decided that I could afford to do so after only taking in 200-500 calories a day for the past two weeks that I've been sick. I knew I would have some Dumping Syndrome, and I did, but it was mild - and very worth it! I won't eat it again anytime soon, but I just had to have some this time. So delicious.
Yep, she may be almost four, but apparently we need to work on table manners with this one some more!
Sophie donned these boxes and came to me, saying, "Look, Mommy, I'm an astronaut!" I don't quite see it, but I love the imagination!
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Today is just a sit around and do nothing day, really. Jack's still feeling crappy, and he's having a nap. The girls cleaned up the office and living room, and I'm going to do some vacuuming and bathroom ceaning after this, woohoo. I did run to Walgreens and get all the stuff for their Easter baskets, which I assembled when I came home. Fun stuff! And I saved $38 in Walgreens coupons and deals from the ad, yay.
Off to clean!
Fin.
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