Saturday Shopping and Crafting

We got the house all finished and headed for the beach. The weather's been fairly pleasant--sometimes cloudy, but mostly sunny. Z was able to take the boys to the pool yesterday, while I took the girls shopping.

I am not a shopper. I liked to when I was younger, but now I just want to hurry through it and get on with life. Because I'm not much of a shopper, things kids need pile up, so we ran to Walmart and bought all the necessitites. Nice to have that done, but I think in the future I'll replace things a little at a time to save the budget. I need to re-teach myself to like shopping.

We went to the outlet mall. The guy in the parking lot let us park in R.V. parking. That was great because there was a spot right in front of us, so we didn't have to search.

We found Q a swimsuit at a store I would like to never set foot in again--Justice for Girls. I had never heard of it before but it was so girly it made me want to gag. Sorry, I know there are people who liek that kind of stuff, I'm just not one of them (must be my tom-boy childhood that brings that out in me. I guess I wasn't taught the finer things of girlhood). They had girl's sizes up to 18--most places, it seems, carry up to 16. We found the only one-piece swimming suit and found the only size 18, she tried it on, it fit, and we were off. She seems to be actually really excited about it too. We really felt like we had accomplished something.

Next we went and got our hair cut. I hadn't had it cut for many months and am usually really good and going in about every two months. I love my hairstylist at home. My friend Christy introduced me to her, and I just should have known better than to go to a complete stranger, but I thought anything was better than the mop I was currently sporting. After a night of sleep, I can honestly say this is the worst haircut I've ever had. I may have to go in and get it all cut off to make it right again--after all that patience growing it out. Ah well. Q kept her hair long but got her bangs trimmed and her long layers trimmed up. DJ won the haircut contest, though--hands down. They cut it short. Her natural curl in the back did just what it was supposed to. She looks so darned cute.

We finally made it to Safeway. We brought food to the beach with us, but there are always a few things we are lacking that we have to pick up. Thankfully, I had brought my coupons with me--I had a goal of getting them all cut out and organized this weekend. I got that done yesterday morning. I saved 56% off my final total. I didn't realize, because I don't usually shop at Safeway, that you can use up to four double coupons on a trip. I used three. I figured not bad for being out of town. I usually don't have my coupons with me at the beach, so usually I end up spending full price. It was so nice to spend $30 on $70 worth of food.

We finally made it home to some fairly sunburned boys--not terrible--just enough for some color in their cheeks. I got the nursing cover made. It whipped together really fast. I think it took less than an hour. I love the fabric that I bought for it. If anyone else is interested, here's the pattern that I used (thanks to sometimescrafter.blogspot.com). This is a project I will happily make again--a $40 item created for less than $10. Oooh. I feel so crafty. I also got to work on finishing up the crocheted blanket I've been working on for awhile. It's been sitting in my room just waiting for the last touches. That's what I love about coming to the beach. The kids go off and do their own thing, and I get a chance to sit down and not worry about my house, so I can finish things that otherwise would be made lesser priorities. The blanket's still not completely done, but I still have today and tomorrow, so it should be done by the time we get home. YAY!!!

I have two more projects to do. One is for the girls to do, actually. They are making burp cloths. I bought some silky fabric--super cute. I just need to buy some soft fabric, and I'm going to make one more blanket. This might be the project that doesn't get finished before Lachlan arrives, but there are two vacations with time spent in the car soon after she's born, so one way or another, it will get done.

I will make sure to take photos of all these things, so you can see them.