The Latest Buzz

Yesterday John called me from work to tell me that he heard about a 2 day All-Clad factory sale that he thought we could attend. Since we had plans for Saturday I told him that we could drag everybody there after work and eat dinner at a restaurant on the way home. Sounds easy right?

We drove an hour to the sale and arrived at approximately 4:30pm. It was basically a huge warehouse FULL of All-Clad cookware in every shape and size that you could imagine. There were tables and tables of pots, pans, utensils, cookbooks, and bowls stacked as high as you could imagine all priced at about 60% off retail price.

There were tons and tons of people walking around with loads of stuff to purchase. I very quickly assessed that it was going to be hard to keep an eye on all of the kids with so many displays and people around. John went to check everything out and I stayed in one spot with the kids. We ate snacks and talked and then the kids got bored.

It was literally impossible to watch everyone if they were not holding on to the stroller, so I had to be really stern and force them to stick close. Then we started checking out the tables of merchandise. There were so many people around that somebody could easily snatch one of the boys away and escape unnoticed. I was a little stressed which is why I wasn't really paying attention to John when he talked about getting some new pots.

He said that he was debating between this and that in this color or something else. He said that we need something bigger. I was thinking about keeping the kids together and if anybody was going to need to pee. I was thinking about where we were going to stop for food on the way home and how I was going to nurse Shane. I was thinking about maybe skipping the kids baths and sending them straight to bed since it was getting so late. What I wasn't thinking about was how BIG the pan was that John finally decided to buy!

It is a 16 quart stockpot! Do you have any idea how big that is? This is how big it is. (It was only after taking this picture of Shane that I realized that he had something in his mouth and subsequently realized that it was a piece of felt off the bottom of the kitchen chair legs. Nice!) We are going to need a new stove now and a garage to store this pot in when we are not using it. John told me tonight that after bringing it home, he decided that it is a big pan after all. He can't find a place to store it. I told him that most people hang those kinds of pots from utensil racks in the ceiling so that they don't need to use up all of their cupboard space. He said that if the pot fell it would kill somebody! Death by stockpot. What a way to go!

This morning we took the kids to see Santa. I signed them up for cookies with Santa at the local community center. The kids got to visit with Santa, decorate and eat cookies, and make a couple of crafts. There were only about 25 kids there so it was nice and organized. Wyatt was awestruck by Santa. He told him that he wants a big red car and trailer for Christmas. Sammy repeated Wyatt's exact words to Santa as his wish list and Jonah only answered yes or no questions about what he wanted for Christmas. Shane hated Santa period. He's probably on the naughty list now.

This afternoon I decided to run out and do some shopping while the kids were napping. Right before I left I heard Sam talking in his bed and decided to bring him along. I took him to Toys R Us. He was so thrilled to be out with Mom by himself at the "choo-choo store"! He was honestly the LOUDEST person in the entire store and the store was packed! "Mom, Sponge Bob" "Mom, Diego" "Mommy, we have this at home" "Mom, I want this for my birthday" and on and on and on. He is an enthusiastic little guy! People thought that he was adorable. His excitement is actually very sweet even if everybody in the store hears us coming. You can not be shy if he is your child! I had a good time and I think that Sam had a lot of fun too!

Tonight after the kids were in bed John and I had a cookie making marathon. We each picked out cookies to make and played Christmas carols in the background. We ended up making 5 different kinds of cookies. John made Hanukkah cookies (not sure why he picked those but he hasn't converted or anything) and date roll cookies and I made peanut butter Reese's chip cookies, shortbread cookies, and chocolate covered Oreo cookies. I want to package them up for gifts but John wants to eat them all. Unfortunately I don't think that he will have any room left in his belly for cookies after he cooks tomorrow's dinner in the new stockpot! He's making corn chowder and I have a feeling that we will be eating it for weeks!