School Shopping

photo from wikimedia.com

Don't ask me why I did it. I'm not so sure myself. But last weekend I took all of kids back-to-school shopping. At the same time. Yes, you read that right. All 9 of them.

The truth of the matter is that aside from it being completely exhausting and mind-numbing, it was actually kind of entertaining.

I paired most of the older kids off and sent them in search of clothes while I helped the younger ones with their selections. It turned out that Coolister didn't think he needed any new clothes with his recent bounty of birthday clothing so he took the two youngest non-school goers to peruse the toy and book sections of the store. Thank you, Coolister!

All of the kids had fun finding various articles of clothing that they tried on and narrowed down to "the ones", and I enjoyed helping them with their selections, but my favorite was Hubba. Let me first mention that I have never taken him shopping for clothing before - it has always just magically appeared in his dresser drawers.

When Hubba and I approached the dressing rooms to try on his pile of jeans, shorts and shirts he immediately informed me, "I don't need to go to the bafthroom!" I explained that these were not bathrooms but places to try on clothes to see if they fit. He cautiously opened a door, peeked inside and turned to me with a huge smile on his face, yelling loud enough for all to hear, "THERE'S NO TOILETS IN THESE FUNNY LITTLE BAFTHROOMS!" and let out a long giggle. I had to laugh as well. They did look like bathroom stalls.

I handed him a pair of jeans and told him to go in one of the little rooms, try them on, and then come out and show them to me. (Let me add here that I would normally just go in with him but I had to be available to see what my other kids were trying on in their own dressing rooms as well.)

Hubba thought this was a lot of fun and would come out each time, strutting and jumping to show me all angles of his clothing, and each time proclaim, "It fits! Let's keep it." Even when the pants came up past his ankles or the shirts showed his bellybutton. In his opinion, every item was a keeper. He also became aware that there were other parents waiting for their kids to try things on so despite my attempts to get him to stop, he often talked to them whenever I was preoccupied with another of my kids' clothing.

"Hey, lady. Did you see these great pants I got on? They're for school. P-cause I'm going to kinnergarden!"

"Excuse me, man. Did you see my cool shirt? Do you wanna see the back, too?"

"Hi there, guy. Like my shorts? They fit, doncha think? Hey, mom, that guy says my shorts are good. Let's buy 'em!"

It was more like a comedy show than a shopping spree. If I didn't have to stand the entire time (when did they stop putting chairs near the dressing rooms?) I think the whole experience would have even been enjoyable.

It's pretty amazing how something I dreaded was changed when my 5-year-old let me see things from his perspective.

Boys vs. Girls

(Cowgirl and Princess rode the escalator numerous times on their shopping trip)

Well, friends, the summer is almost at a close (sad, sad, sad!) and that means it's my favorite (lie, lie, lie!) time of year - time for back-to-school shopping! I take the kids in groups of 2 for my own sanity. And here is the difference I noticed between back-to-school shopping with boys and back-to-school shopping with girls (using my 4 oldest as examples):

BOYS (aka Coolister, age 16 and All-a-Boy, age 10)

Me: Hey, guys, what do you need to get before school starts?

Coolister: A pair of pants.

All-a-Boy: I don't think I need anything.

Me: You're kidding me, All-a-Boy. You don't even own a pair of pants without holes.

All-a-Boy: I can just wear shorts in the winter.

Me: No.

All-a-Boy: (rolling his eyes) Ok, a pair of pants. But I hate shopping.

(Actual shopping trip includes my choosing pants, shirts and shoes for them to try on & purchase from only 2 stores. If you don't include the time we spent perusing books (love, love, love!), we were finished in less than 2 hours.)

GIRLS (aka ElemenoB, age 14 and Thumbelina, age 13)

Me: Okay, ladies, what do you need to get before school starts?

ElemenoB: At least 2 pair of jeans, some shirts that aren't t-shirts and a belt.

Thumbelina: I need some collared shirts, some tennis shoes for P.E., some cute shoes for school and some church shoes.

ElemenoB: Yeah, if I could find some more cute shoes, that would be nice, too.

Thumbelina: Oh, and some dresses.

Me: You're going to wear church shoes and dresses to school?

Thumbelina: If they're casual and cute, yes.

ElemenoB: I also need some new mascara and some running shorts.

Thumbelina: Yeah, I need P.E. clothes, too.

(Actual shopping trip consists of their choosing items to try on - including numerous t-shirts for ElemenoB (???) - and roughly 3 items each being purchased from a total of 6 stores. Total time invested thus far is 5 hours... and we're not finished yet.)

The difference?

Boys are no-nonsense, practical and deliberate.

Girls are... not.

But I love having both. (Love, love, love!)

Smokin' Deals!

I am the queen.

The queen of bargain shopping. Pinching pennies. Purchasing items at hot, smoking steals of deals... whether I need them or not.

Take yesterday for instance.

I had an hour to kill between a doctor's appointment and the time for Princess' kindergarten to start so I decided to pick up a few things at the grocery store.

After finding the items I needed, I went in search of the things I could not live without - simply because their price would be too good to pass up.

My first find was the Little Smokies. Did I need them? Of course not. Does anyone ever really need Little Smokies? But when they are marked at 2/$3.00 and have a coupon for '$1 off the purchase of 2' attached... and I find I have 2 other coupons for 40 cents off each package... 60 cents each? Get in the cart.

The next steal I found was fruit snacks. A whole wall of them! I held back and only purchased 6 boxes at 50 cents apiece since they expire at the end of the month. But who can resist putting Barbie fruit snacks in their 15-year-old son's lunchbag? (Not me.)

My most amazing deal of the day was the Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls (with cream cheese frosting!). As a do-it-from-scratcher I tend to avoid these. But I couldn't say no to NINETEEN CENTS per tube! They expire on Saturday, but we could TOTALLY eat these by then! I bought the remaining 6 packages.

As I headed to the front of the store to pay (next to nothing!) for my cart full of groceries (that I didn't need) I was elated as I calculated my savings in my mind.

I happened to be in the drink aisle and spotted my guilty pleasure... at $1.29 a bottle.

Not such a bargain.

But with all the cash I'd saved (on things I didn't need) I decided a celebration was in order.

Here's to bargain shopping!

Goin' Back To Cali: Thrift Stores!

(Imagine a picture of all my thrift store treasures here)

One of my absolute favorite things about coming to California for a visit is the chance to shop at the local thrift stores. Here on the high desert I have my favorite spots to shop - and I am never disappointed.

This year was no exception.

My 2 oldest girls have been indoctrinated in the fine art of bargain shopping and they were excited to join grandma and I in a shopping adventure. First, we figure out the best day to go. That was Tuesday, when early bird shoppers (9:00 am to 1:00 pm) got half off on all clothing items. Half off at a thrift store = suh-wheat deals!

I have been shopping for hardback books to stock our library-in-progress and found some good ones! Letters To Emily and Watership Down were my 2 favorite finds this trip.

I won't get into too much detail on our amazing purchases - but I'll tell you this: ElemenoB now has fun Christmas gifts for all of her friends as well as a load of new clothes for herself. Thumbelina found a few treasures as well. And me?

Let's just say it's a good thing we brought our trailer.

There Are Two Seasons in Washington...Winter and August

I have returned from my Washington trip, and I must say, it's always a great time at the Larson's! How can a trip go wrong when you are met at the airport with your very own 6-pack of waxy chocolate mini-donuts?? Rebecca and I shared in many adventures, including a shop-til-you-drop day of perusing through people's yard sale treasures in the misty rain, plenty of game-playing fun (always a must with Rebecca, even if she does always win),

Cute little Hannah's repeated asking, "What's your name again?"

A little karaoke with the Larson girls,

Good food galore, especially when prepared by Rebecca herself (I DID like the Thai food, too!),

And a drive-by of a creek which shares the name of a music group I enjoy!


To be honest, I can't do the trip justice after reading Rebecca's version...maybe you should just read it, too: Good Times With Gerb

Thanks for a fun weekend Rebecca, Doug & girls! Let's do it again sometime.