Tote!

Rebecca Sky eats approximately six meals a day. She will sign "all done" and quietly, methodically climb down from her chair into her brother's chair to eat his food. Her brother has inevitably left the majority of his breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack on his plate. I have to stop her and scold her each time.

So this morning, she already had eaten a healthy portion of oatmeal, which has raisins, a whole egg, and flaxseed in it. It is a filling meal. Jackson won't eat oatmeal, so I made him toast about 30 minutes after Rebecca and I had the oatmeal. He plopped down to eat it and immediately, Rebecca started crying. She was running around, yelling, "tote! tote!" I didn't realize what she was saying until she dragged her little chair over to the toaster oven and pointed, saying, "tote!".

Oh.
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I surely do not believe in karma, but I do know that the Lord uses opportunities to prompt us toward righteousness and sanctification.

Yesterday, I was doing some final Christmas shopping at Kohls with my extra 15% off coupon. I was able to purchase everything for under $80 and walked out feeling pretty smug. This smugness vanished when I put the last bag in my car and pulled out...a pair of black gloves that I did not pay for! It was raining, the kids were already buckled in (and had both taken shoes and socks off!), and I was late to pick up my mother. I figured I would go back and pay after I had gotten my groceries. Maybe my mom would sit in the car with the kids while I paid the $15.00.

So we went to Albertsons and and I scoured the clearance bin for cool things that I would not normally buy unless they were heavily discounted. I found a Hawaiian-printed plastic ice bucket for $3, and a Horton Hears a Who bottle of shampoo for $1.00. I bought my whole Christmas feast and did not check my receipt until- we were at the car, it was raining, the kids were already buckled in with no footgear on, and I was late dropping my mother back off. That darn Albertsons had not given me the clearance discount! I had overpaid by... $15.00. Yup. The exact amount that I still owed at Kohls. Hmm.

So I dropped off my mother at her house and drove to the other Albertsons, closer to my house. I attempted to get my money back, but they would not give me money for items purchased at the other store in the clearance bin. It was still raining, so I did not go to Kohls.

Thankfully, my sweet friend Carolyn and her sister, Abby, were able to come sit for an hour that afternoon while I assuaged my conscience. I first went and paid for the pesky gloves and then I was able to feel better about going to ask for my money back at Albertsons. Sheesh. At least I could sleep peacefully last night.Ok, we are going to the park!