Surprisingly Great Weekend

After the kind of day we had Friday, I wasn't expecting for this weekend to turn out as nicely as it has. I am happy to report that the amount of back and forth toddler harassing between Reiss and Milla has been about equal the last two days. Given most families' circumstances, any amount of harassing behavior between children would most likely not be cause for celebration. However, considering our family's circumstances and the fact that Reiss seems to consider pestering Milla a favorite pastime, it's nice to see when she gets in a pinch or a shove every once in awhile.

Friday evening I told James I was planning to go redeem my Gymbucks on Saturday morning. He wasn't thrilled with the prospect of having to watch Milla at a time when she is usually looking forward to her morning nap. The weather had other plans for me though. Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day and the mall was no place to be on a day that was such a rare treat for the month of April in Indiana. James had to do some work-related stuff and I was glad I had RSVP'ed for a birthday party for a little boy in Reiss's class that we wouldn't be able to make it because - well, we wouldn't have made it on time if we had tried.

Later on, there was a ton of stuff to do and yard-work to do. Reiss helped Daddy "work." I did some things that were getting behind in the house - a.k.a. laundry, dishes, bills, etc. - and then went outside to play with Reiss and Milla. We played on the swingsets...we threw sand everywhere in the sandbox and in the grass...we walked a little way into the woods to look for mushrooms. Well, not really. They played and I walked a little way into the woods but only far enough where I could still see them playing. Didn't find any mushrooms but really didn't expect to either. We have lived here six years and have not found any mushrooms since the first Spring of being here.

We came in for dinner and then decided to go burn up some gas driving around. Okay, not really. We weren't just driving around aimlessly. The plan was to go to the health food store before it closed so that I could replenish some supplements and get Reiss some Enjoy Life candy bars as a special reward for when he makes big strides in potty-training. And yes, I'm aware you're never supposed to use food as a reward but when you have a child with autism and sensory issues and other kinds of things going on, you do what you can and so far, chocolate is the only motivating factor for Reiss to produce "results" in the potty.

So we went and got the candy bars and then Reiss wanted to drive by his "work," which is just what we calls the school where he attends developmental preschool. Since it was kinda on the way to our next stop and not terribly off-track to getting there, I didn't argue against it. We went to the school, did a drive around the parking lot, and then it was on to Chick-Fil-A to get a "Daddy Pop" - what Reiss calls Sprite - and play in the play area. We do not keep soft drinks in our house, so Sprite is a special treat. By not keeping it around, it ensures that we - Reiss and Milla, to be specific - aren't drinking it all the time. We got to Chick-Fil-A and played for quite awhile and things were winding down and not a minute too soon because some creepy man came into the play area. I really do think he was the grandfather of one of the children in there and not just some pervert hanging out but he gave me the willies, nonetheless, so I got Milla and James wrapped things up with Reiss and we left.

Today turned out to be a perfect day for the mall because the skies have been gray all day. I'm always excited whenever Gymboree has Gymbucks earning and redemption times because I am able to stock up on clothes for super-cheap.

Most people think of Gymboree and think their clothes are so expensive - and they are right. But most people don't shop at Gymboree like I do either. I have several rules set for the way I shop there, including but not limited to only shopping the sales and clearance racks and ONLY shopping during Gymbucks earning and redemption periods. There's a lot more to my method than that but I won't bore anyone with the details of my strategies for bargain-hunting there or the gratification I get out of doing so. Suffice it to say that by sticking to my "rules" of shopping, I pay less for brand-new clothes from Gymboree for my children than my mother-in-law pays for second-hand, sometimes not-in-such-great-shape clothes for them from Goodwill. And no, I have nothing against second-hand clothing but when it has seen much better days and I know I can pay less for new clothes at Gymboree, why bother with the hassle of having to sort through literally thousands of things at Goodwill just to find a few things worth taking home?

My Gymboree extravaganza this afternoon was quite satisfying and much to James's surprise, very quick. This was a good thing because he was in charge of "entertaining" Reiss and Milla there at the mall while I shopped. They went and rode a few of the horrendously priced ($0.75 and $1.00 each) little toddler rides. That may not sound like a lot to pay but it's a far cry from the penny rides Meijer used to have in their stores. Yes, used to have. They took them all out and I don't know how true it was but I heard it was because some kid got hurt. Poor kid...I really do feel for him if that is what happened but, at the same time, I'd bet my left arm it was a child whose parents gave him the penny and sent him on his way rather than stand right there to help and keep him safe. I saw that kind of thing all the time when they had those rides in there.

Anyway, getting off-track here...what's new. So they rode the rides a few times and then stood outside Johnny Rockets and listened and watched as the employees sang and danced around and then by the time that was all over with, I was done! Amazing! I bet I wasn't in Gymboree longer than twenty minutes and that's pretty impressive since - even with being only four days into Gymbucks redemption - everything was pretty picked over and I was having to do some serious bargain-hunting. I came away with some really good stuff and one shirt even rang up for a dollar-something. Now who says Gymboree is too expensive???

After Gymboree, we headed back to Sears, where we came in. Reiss played on the tractors and Milla ran around the lawn furniture. I chased her for a little while and she just thought that was loads of fun and giggled the whole way. I then plopped down into one of the chairs and my goodness, was it ever comfy!

We left Sears and the next stop on the agenda was to go to Gander Mtn. This morning I had this brilliant idea to go to an "outdoors" kind of store like Gander Mtn. or Dick's Sporting Goods and let Reiss and Milla play in the tents. Well, it seemed like a brilliant idea until we got there and there was only one tent set up. The rest of the floor models were displayed up high on the walls. Oh well. We also went and looked at the live bait, as in, minnows. Reiss really likes fish so this was pretty neat for him. My other reason for going there was to hunt down a stainless steel tiffin set for Reiss to take snacks to preschool and lunch to Parent's Day Out. That was a bust and I figured it would be so back to shopping online for that.

After all that, it was home for a nap for Milla and that brings us up to now....Off to make dinner: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Gotta get in some comfort food before I have to be good again and continue eating low-carb starting tomorrow. I cheat on weekends and although I still stick to GFCF and all my other rules, I eat considerably more carbs on the weekends. As long as I am good during the week and naughty on the weekends and the weight keeps falling off...why be good? >:)