Nothing Magical About August

Turning 3 will not cure the terrible 2s, and August 1st didn't hold any magic as far as getting rid of this stomach bug. I was attacked again yesterday.

I had a To Do list about a mile long, and since yesterday was the beginning of Tax Free Weekend here, I decided to knock out the whole list in one day. We had lunch with my husband, then set out on our adventure.

Our first stop was the local gift shop where we buy our Webkinz. I'll admit that I'm a hopeless addict.

How could you resist faces like this?





I never got excited by the whole Beanie Baby craze (I owned a select few), but these Webkinz are like cuddly crack. I bought the cocoa dinosaur for myself (her name is Matilda, in case you're curious... I thought about going with Puff, because she looks like a dragon, but that is so cliched.) The yellow critter is a Wacky Zingoz, and he's my favorite. He has the cutest little voice. I am going to keep him on my desk so I can squeeze him every now and then. He doesn't mind. ; )

The goldfish belongs to one of the children. I bought each of them their own fish. The fishes' names are Cheeto, Cleo, Splash and Whirlpool. They arrived in stores just yesterday, and they are the first Webkinz pets to get underwater rooms. It's WAY cool. Can you believe it? Can you believe that I'm this STOKED about stuffed animals imported from China?!? Yeah, me either, but it is what it is.

After we bought our Webkinz, we went to AC Moore to pick up a few things. That's when I started feeling icky. I kept going, though, stopping in at Old Navy for dressy shorts for Quinn and then to Shoe Carnival to buy back-to-school sneakers for the 3 youngest kids. At least that went quickly, because I felt like I was going to pass out. It didn't help that the stores were jam packed because of the tax free weekend on top of it being near 100 degrees. Stupid, stupid me.

I had one more stop before I could get home: Target. That's not a place I like to take the kids on days I feel 100%, but I gathered up my courage and forged ahead. The list was short, and I promised the children rewards if they'd behave in Target like they had all day long. They were amazingly well behaved given all the shopping, walking and sweating we'd been doing all day. They acted exactly as I had requested, so Lillian chose a Barbie, the boys chose a Lego set (to share! Yes! I offered them one BIG Lego set to share vs. getting one tiny set each, and they chose to SHARE! Score!) Camryn chose a bead curtain to hang in her bedroom doorway. We were done, and just in time.

When I got home, things just went from bad to worse. I feel much better today, but last night was not fun. To put a positive spin on it, I can say that I'm so thankful that it all happened during the day so I could go to bed on time. I'd be a zombie if I'd had to get up in the middle of the night. Be grateful for the little things, I guess. Today is a new day. I just hope it doesn't come back.... again. That is one visitor that is NOT welcome in my home. EVER.