what? throwing kitty litter?

So...instead of bowling yesterday, we decided to take a shopping expedition to return the Christmas dress I bought for Sonja, because she didn't end up wearing it to the wedding. It still had the tags on, wasn't worn, and I had paid $19.99 for it, ouch. I really had the sense that Sonja needed some attention from her mama, too, so off we went....Aaron and Mali, Margaret and Evelyn, Suzanne and Sonja, and I. We had the minivan, which made for a nice cozy trip....our first stop: Dunkin Donuts. I only had four dollars and some change, so I bought a coffee for me and some kind of latte for Evelyn. Margaret had a $5 gift card, so she got one for Suzanne and herself. Aaron covered Sonja, and Mali didn't want one....

Then to Target. Sonja found a dress, a pair of jeggings, a tunic shirt, and a pair of shoes for less than I had paid for the returned dress. I found a sweater for myself for 75% off, and Evelyn found a nice sweater too. The deal of the day: Keebler Christmas packaged cookies and crackers were half off, then there was a coupon for $1.50 off a gallon of milk when two packages of cookies were purchased, which I was purchasing anyway...so I got milk for fifty cents.

Then on to the grocery store for just a few things, which means about a hundred bucks. We got milk and eggs and bread and juice and lettuce and peppers and tomatoes and a one dollar pumpkin pie and a one dollar apple pie, and some reduced Snicker minitures, and chips for New Years, and a few frozen pizzas that were marked down.....

Well....here's the fun part.....we asked Mirielle what she was making for dinner at home, and she answered via text, "I am cooking up a punishment for the babies" I asked what they had done, and she said, "you have tons of laundry to do".....

I had to wait to get home to see what they had done, because she wouldn't tell. Apparently, they had the bright idea to slide down the stairs, and wanted a soft landing. So they gathered bedding. Lots of it. But it still wasn't soft enough, so they gathered clothes. Lots of them. Clean clothes from drawers. They made a nice comfy pile. But that just wasn't fun enough! I am not sure who had the bright idea to get the box of used kitty litter, yes, full of kitty tootsie rolls, and dump it all over the soft landing pile. So......the whole pile had to be shaken and moved to the laundry pile, or should I say MOUNTAIN. rrr. Now, these kids WERE being watched, the babysitters say....and I believe them. They are being good, and being good, and being good, and all of the sudden, fifteen minutes or so go by unaccounted for, and WOW. (just for the record, Mirielle has been putting the stuff through the washer and dryer...she is a nice girl)

If I ever felt like giving a good spanking, it was last evening when I came in with all the groceries and saw that mountain.....but I didn't. They say they are never going to do it again.....they say they knew it was bad when they were throwing the kitty litter and the cat food, but it was fun....

They are lucky I can somehow remember getting that spirit of foolishness when I was little....

Anyway, never a dull moment. I haven't decided whether to take them bowling today or not. The middle sized kids really want to go, but the older ones don't. It is nice here today, 22 degrees and sunny, and it is supposed to actually get up to over freezing today, and warmer still tomorrow, in the forties.

Our Christmas tree is getting dryer, the needles are piling up on the pile of presents underneath. I dread taking it down, it has made our living room so cozy. Plus, I hate having to put everything away, and hate losing the Throw-It-Under-The-Tree option when cleaning up the living room. We are thinking that instead of putting the furniture back like it was, just leaving the tree corner empty for a while for them to play in. Our house is so full, they like nothing better than an empty space to set up in.....

I love love love vacation. We stay up too late at night, and this morning I slept until 9:11. I did feel bad for Paul, who stayed up with us, and still had to get up for work this morning. The teenagers are mostly still in bed, I won't see some of them until noon. The boys were supposed to wash the pans after dinner last night, but they are still sitting there. I started to wash them earlier, but decided not to. They need to do it. Anyways, I love having the kids here, having no schedule, letting them play and set up their toys and play Wii and lounge around. It gives us a chance to work on things, too, like getting along better....