Just another day

As I mentioned, I had to run to Costco and H.E.B. yesterday. But before I left the kids asked to go to Target to spend the gift cards they each had. Why did it have to be at a store that was not on my list? But because they had worked so hard to buy those gift cards (I keep them at home for them to buy with their allowance) and I really didn't have a good reason to say no other than my own laziness, I had to say yes. They were so proud to be able to get a few things and I think it teaches them the value of hard work. We had a good lesson on taxes as well since Elisabeth was furious they said her items were more than what she added up. Join the rest of us Elisabeth! We all hate taxes. 

After Target I actually remembered that I needed to run over to my school to turn in my school ID and my parking permit. Woo Hoo! I wanted to walk right in and say, "I won't be needing THESE anymore!" but I was a little more polite than that, so I said, "I graduated, so I need to give these back to you!" Thankfully the lady at the desk wasn't in a grumpy mood and smiled slightly at my silly enthusiasm. 

Then it was off to Costco. I was dreading going there simply because I love going there and knew I didn't have any extra money to spend. I calculated that I should spend $64 there on the few items I needed. I did see that salmon, which I was going to get at H.E.B., was actually cheaper at Costco so I got that, but other than that I only got what was on my list and I spent $78. We had to then come home so that I could put away everything, nurse Thing 3 and feed the rest of us lunch. 

Within an hour, we were back in the car to finish up the grocery shopping. As I got out of the car there were birds everywhere. I don't mean to sound like nature grinch but seriously I HATE migration times around here! It seems that every year around November we start to get all the butterflies and birds migrating through here on their way to Mexico. And they all drive me nuts! Other than that grocery shopping went surprisingly well; we came home so that I could start on dinner. My goal was to have dinner ready when my sweet hubby walked in the door. I didn't quite have it done when he walked in, but it was shortly thereafter. We had a delicious meal (if I do say so myself) of baked asparagus, salad with olive oil and salt and a baked salmon fillet. The kids didn't even complain!

I have to say that it was a weird feeling to be back into the swing of everything. Dad going to work, mom and the kids being home all day (and running errands) and dad coming home for dinner, eating dinner as a family, getting the kids all ready for bed, etc. We haven't had normalcy like this in over four years. While I've been a college student it seems that there was always some change to the schedule. Many times it was me being gone during the day and coming home to dinner that hubby had made. Or it was me home with the kids and rushing off to class or to study the second hubby walked in the door. Or it was me leaving before the sun rose and coming home after the whole family was in bed. It's been a hectic four years and I loved being a "stay at home" mom again! I enjoy being with my kids and being a wife to my amazing hubby.

Anyway, after the kids went to bed I made two batches of granola. Which made 30 cups, (here is a bowl of one batch). We love granola: it is 17 grams of protein and 10 grams of fat and about 250 calories. It's filling, super cheap to make and pretty healthy.