Some weeks just feel like a 3 ring circus

This has been one of those weeks where we think last Sunday felt like a month ago. Monday & Tuesday for me, were consumed with getting things ready for the Relief Society Birthday Dinner. (I'm on the relief society activity "enrichment" committee). The theme for our evening revolved around a painting by Minerva Teichert that showed a pioneer woman carrying a bright, bold bag with her across the plains, and turned that into what do we carry in our own bag or purse today? We had prizes for the heaviest purse, lightest purse, newest purse. There were adorable paper purse handouts, purse cakes, and a yummy dinner. I created this little cake, which I'm quite proud of & helped with the decorations. It was a fun evening, but I think most of us who planned it were glad when it was over!

I've had a couple of different shopping trips this week. On Monday, I hit up Rite Aid in the morning to score some free makeup & candy. I had 4 coupons for BOGO free covergirl makeup. There was a BOGO free sale this week so I just paid tax for 8 things of makeup :)
There was also a BOGO free sale on Mars candy, including skittles and starbursts. You can become a fan of both on facebook and get a coupon for BOGO free packs of skittles, and starbursts. I was able to print both coupons twice, giving me 8 things of free candy.

This is a "keeping it real" story. I apologize if its TMI for ya, but consider yourself warned.
I made the mistake of going grocery shopping right after going to Rite Aid. My kids are pretty well behaved when I take them out with me, as long as we go to one store, and I'm prepared so we don't have to spend as much time in the store, digging for coupons, finding the right items, etc. I went to Winco which is one of the better grocery stores in the area for produce and bulk items, which I needed the most. Right as we show up, I realize my period had struck heavier than expected. I'm not one for going home after all the work it takes me just to get to a store. So I drag all 3 kids into the public restroom, take the baby into the stall with me, not quite knowing what to do with her. She proceeds to crawl out under the door, but I managed to grab her foot on her way out the stall door and drag her back in with me. The twins are running around being crazy & I'm faced with a stain that I hope nobody notices. I get out and notice my boys are in the stall next to me with the door wide open, pants around the ankles and bare bums to the world. ARGH!! I should have just stopped when things started going downhill, but when else was I going to get back out?
WIC gives us "cash" vouchers for produce, the boys each get $6 a month, and I get $10 (because I'm a nursing mother) It takes time to weigh your produce, calculate how much its going to cost, etc. Then I had to go over with the bulk items and pick out candy for the cakes I was decorating. I wanted to grab milk and eggs and the rest of the things that are on our WIC vouchers, but I am not familiar enough with the way Winco is laid out, so I found myself criss crossing the store a couple of times trying to find the right items. Kids are melting down at this point, baby is crying/yelling from the backpack, boys are running off down the aisles, it just took way too long. I go to checkout and heaven forbid, I had picked up the generic brand of rice crispies instead of rice crispies, and the cashier told me it wasn't WIC approved (???) She sent someone to go grab the right box, but it meant delaying the order a bit. The boys started fighting and yelling about who was going to push the button at the end of the conveyor belt, I told them both to just sit down next to me and Bryce proceeds to start crying and screaming about how he doesn't want to sit down. Then, the cashier tells me one of my vouchers was expired. For some reason, one check had printed wrong as expiring on 3/4, not 3/14 like all the rest of the checks. All the work I had gone to just to get the stupid items in my cart was completely USELESS! At least we got our produce & candy for the cakes, but I was frustrated, beat down, embarrassed by my children and the stain on my pants. I should have just listened to mother nature in the first place!