Good Riddance!

I believe our resident evil beast is dead. It took a can of Raid but I think he might have crossed to the other side. I wasn't the one to carry out the deed, afterall, the spider might have rebelled and jumped on my face. I'll have to wait and see if it haunts us again tomorrow. Stay posted and keep your fingers crossed.

Stop N Shop

The plan was simple, head out to the grocery store and pick up some much needed groceries. The store had the deluxe carts that look like fire trucks and other vehicles, thereby making the experience more toddler friendly. I even found a cart that had two functional seat belts and both steering wheels were still attached firmly in place. (Not so easy to find, usually something is broken.)
It really shouldn't have been too difficult. Afterall, I've seen many mothers bring their toddlers into stores and leave with their sanity in tact and still have bags overflowing with groceries.
The boys were quite excited to see the cart and promptly chose a side and buckled themselves in. (Forget mommy helping and actually speeding up the process. "I do it Mommy!")
I searched my purse for the list I specifically remembering ripping of the pad on the fridge. No luck; darn it! I grabbed the weekly flier and quickly perused the sales. (Some particularly good sales this week. I love sales!) Had a quick recall of most of the things I needed and headed out down the aisles. The boys did well through the produce, Jameson only stood up once (difficult to do since there is a roof on their part of the cart; he ended up leaning out of the windshield) and asked to help. That was a really sweet gesture but, from experience, I know that his help includes touching EVERYTHING and knocking over some of the perfectly piled produce. "No thanks sweetie, not this time." They got a bit antsy so I headed over to the lobster tank where they were quickly enthralled by the creatures waiting out there last time here on earth before being tossed into the pot, unsuspecting of their steamy demise. I had to manoeuvre the cart so that each of them had a chance to be next to the tank. We headed off to complete our list (well, the makeshift list I composed in my head) with promises of coming back if they had good behaviour. Stellan decided that it would be more fun to lean on Jameson than to sit straight. This did not please Jameson so he proceeded to choke Stellan. Stellan fought back and Jameson cried. Lovely. Before there was bloodshed I decided Stellan should move to the regular seat.
I gave them each a box of mac and cheese to shake in order to occupy themselves (so it annoyed some other patrons at the same time, at least they weren't screaming). This worked well until I decided to actually stop the cart and look for yogurt (a really good sale therefore quite a congested area). Stellan decided that shaking the box of mac and cheese wasn't good enough but throwing it on top of the roof of the cart was a lot more fun. Afterall, it does make a much louder noise. The inquisitive child that he is, he decided to test other delectables from the cart and see if they made loud noises when they hit the cart/floor/me/whateveritlandedon as well. I quickly scooped up the wayward food and headed out to finish the shopping, knowing that it was a battle against the clock before they completely lost it.
I was in the last aisle, stopping for just a moment. Jameson decided to hang his head out of the cart, it must have offered a bettter view. Problem is that he smashed his head off a passing cart. It really sounds worse than it was. I don't want to downplay the fact that it was dangerous and painful, but the two carts were barely moving so it truly wasn't as bad as it could have been. Oh the screams that errupted!! I truly believe that the entire Stop N Shop heard us. I also feel they judged us, but that's their problem. I gathered him up and kissed his head. The other cart driver felt badly but I told him not to worry, he shouldn't have been hanging out of the cart. A painful lesson learned, I hope. I now tried to steer the cart with one hand as I carried Jameson in my arms (not an easy task). I continued to smother him in kisses (I think he was more scared and embarrassed than hurt). We made it to the checkout lane where Jameson quickly improved seeing that he was now free of the cart and could touch things. He headed down the lane and proceeded to push all of the buttons on the credit/debit machine. I unloaded the groceries as fast as possible while trying to convince a screaming Stellan that he really didn't want to get out of the cart. He didn't believe me and kept trying to climb and free himself of the seat belt (thank God for seatbelts). The screams of protest continued as I tried to pay and reload my cart with the now bagged groceries. In the meantime, Jameson ventured over to other lanes to see what was going on. I was trying to keep him within reach all the while trying to keep a hysterical Stellan from plunging out of the cart and landing on his head. Everyone in the lanes was now looking at me and my hooligan children. I remained very calm and steered my troop out to the van. We got everything unloaded and headed back home. Some choice words were exchanged while we were driving but we all made it home in one piece.

Lesson learned: Wait to do the grocery shopping when James is home and can watch the boys.

Arachnid Update

Well James is home so I promptly put him on spider detail. We headed out to the back patio/yard ready to annihilate the beast. James opened the screen door and there it was, perched in its spot as if it owned the place. The nerve! Well, truthfully I was glad it was there, that way I didn't have to worry where it might have crawled. James got his sandal ready but then figured he needed something a bit better suited for the task at hand (machete? blow torch? hand grenade?). He looked around and grabbed Jameson's tennis racquet. OK, whatever. He readied himself and then thrust the racquet at the spider. HE MISSED!!! The little devil scurried away into the netherregions of the track. I can't believe he missed! Does that part of the track lead to the house? I start to panic. I ask (well, rather demand) James to run in the house (via the front door of course, just in case) and check to see if it made it into the kitchen. I have visions of opening the box of Honey Nut Cheerios and seeing the beast glaring up at me, chuckling to itself and then running, at lightning speed, up my arm and into my hair. Hey, it could happen. James saunters (not fast enough in my opinion) inside and does a quick check turning up nothing. Oh great! Now where has it gone? How am I going to be able to sleep at night, knowing that it's lurking somewhere near the periphery of my home, possibly coming inside to set up camp?
Now I have to wait and see where it will turn up next. My money's on the fact that I will be the one to find it and it will be when James is at work. Life just isn't fair!

Telemarketers

This is ridiculous! I've had a phone for a week and I'm already getting calls from telemarketers. Give me a break! They were trying to sell a home security system. We already have one but I just said, "I'm not interested". Stellan chose that exact moment to let out an ear piercing scream. (Do the sell muzzles?) Hopefully the lady got the point that I was busy. Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if the company sends someone to break into your house so you call them up and get the system afterall. Cynical, maybe.

Arachnophobia

Anyone who knows me know that I'm a major arachnophobe. Well, today that phobia kicked into high gear yet again.
First off, James left this afternoon for his training in Connecticut. Not a problem, he got off OK (forgot the directions, thank God for cellphones and a wife who is home with Internet access) and the boys seemed to be OK with the fact that daddy had to leave.
After their naps, the boys and I were in the back yard/patio playing basketball. Well, Jameson was playing, Stellan was standing on the table so he was tall enough to tip the ball in and I was cleaning up the garbage from unpacking. Regardless, the boys wanted to go to the actual basketball court at the club house. Stellan needed a diaper change first so we were headed inside to take care of business. For some strange reason I looked up and saw a HUGE spider lurking the the track of the sliding door. Oh man! Now how am I supposed to get in the house? I know that if I run through that the beast will choose that exact moment to fall on my head. (There is a small rational part to my brain that tries to tell me otherwise but I ignore it.) Jameson detects that something is up so he asks me what is wrong. I told him that mommy needed a bit of courage. Well, the courage never came. Instead I had Jameson go in and unlock the front door so I could just go around and completely avoid the spider. Once we were all in I worked up enough courage to close the patio door and instructed the boys to keep it closed until Daddy comes home on Tuesday. Now I keep thinking the house is infested with spiders. I cautiously walk around expecting one to be lurking in every corner. I think the spider is silently laughing at me but I'm fine with that, just as long as it stays outside. Sheesh, what a way to live.
I miss my old neighbours. :( I could have called Ray over to kill my spider.

Cherry Pie

Mmm....warm cherry pie. It was pricey but man was it yummy! My mother in law makes delicious cherry pie but I think this one even beat hers by a slim margin. James ate over half the pie. Sad thing is, he probably lost 2 pounds while eating it. Whoever said life was fair?

Apple Picking

It was our plan to have a lovely family day together enjoying our new area and picking apples at a local orchard. Afterall, James is heading out to Connecticut on Sunday for three days so we thought we ignore the boxes that needed unpacking and the house that needed organizing and spend some quality time together.
We were loaded in the van and on our way, made a quick pit stop at the bank and then headed out on Hwy 27 into Princeton. What a beautiful scenic drive....except for the rain splashing down on the windshield. Hmmm....hadn't anticipated that. Didn't see that when I looked at the forecast this morning. Not quite prepared for rain. Well, what to do? We kept driving and figured we'd see how bad it got. We drove through Princeton and noticed that a lot of people didn't let the rain stop them. Granted, these were people who probably got their forecasts from a more reliable source and therefore were prepared with umbrellas and rubber boots. Regardless, we kept driving and headed North on 206. We kept driving and driving and driving. I expected to see the "Terhune Orchards" sign any time now. We drove a little further and figured it just couldn't be that far. James made a right hand turn down the first road he saw and then did a little turn around in a driveway with the intention of getting back to 206 and heading in the opposite direction. But lo and behold, a no left turn sign. Even in the middle of the county for crying out loud?!?!? Enough is enough. Good thing my husband is a man of character and honesty. He didn't make the left turn (even though there was no traffic in either direction). He obediently turned right and then turned around up the road a bit. Now we were headed back down 206 in the opposite direction. Back through Princeton. (Gee that looked familiar....). Sure enough, we turned the wrong way. (For those of you keeping track, I had made a similar mistake last week when looking for the park on Lover's Lane. From now on, I'm always going on 206 South as a default.)
We passed Lover's Lane as well as many beautiful old homes. Sure enough, we saw the sign for Terhune Orchards. Rather, we saw the sign that read, "Apple Parking". Hmmm....maybe they were expecting large crowds? We eventually got to where we wanted to go. It was still raining but I thought I would still run in and get some seasonal veggies and such. Due to the fact that they were expecting several thousand people coming through the orchard today James was only allowed to drop me off and the gate and then had to drive around and come back to pick me up. I headed through the mud to the small booth where they were selling a few select items. I picked up some lovely apples (I forget what kind but they are quite yummy) some apple cider donuts (still warm, unbelievably yummy) and a cherry pie (James' favourite). It cost me over $20!!!!! Wow, rent isn't the only overpriced thing in Princeton! I got back into the van once James got back to the farm and we headed out on our way back. I immediately gave the boys a donut to share (much to James' dismay, he hates it when they get messy in the van) and then James and I each enjoyed one too. Seeing as they were covered in cinnamon sugar, the boys surely did get messy! Dear Jameson also has quite a sweet tooth so he quickly devoured his portion and promptly asked for more. By the time he was finished his hands were covered in a sticky, sugary goo and his mouth was rimmed with a brown ring. He sure enjoyed every minute of it though. Surprisingly Stellan was much cleaner, how shocking. I then proceeded to eat one of the fresh apples. (It was closing in on lunch time, I was hungry.) Stellan saw me eating it and wanted a bite. OK, you want to eat fruit, no problem, have a bite. He didn't want to share with Jameson so I ended up giving him his own to enjoy. It seemed like a good idea to have them eat their apples, afterall, how messy could they be?
Jameson didn't make a mess at all. He ate most of it and stayed relatively clean. Stellan on the other hand.....he only liked the "idea" of eating an apple; he didnt' really want to eat it. He would take a few small bites, chew them up, then spit them out into his hand. He would then offer that slimey mess to Jameson. When I realized what was going on I would intercept the apple goo and take it and throw it in the garbage. Well, this became quite a game for him. He did this with the entire apple. I ended up putting the garbage pail beside him so he could deposit it directly in there. He thought it was a great game. Yeah, except for the fact that only 75% of the apple makes it into the trash and he was getting saliva everywhere. (Good thing we're still in the rental van. I don't recommend anyone getting at 2007 Montana SV6 from Hertz on Tecumseh. Good chance it's full of Stellan spit.)
We finally made it home where I promptly removed any apple remnants before they attracted fruit flies and made the entire car seat sticky.
What a lovely family day spent together. We drove around for an hour and a half and I was the only one who got to leave the van. We should do this more often.