Weekend Shopping

Happy Monday! Today it's back to the grind at The Peapod. We are expecting an ice storm today, and I am sort of happy for this. I need a break, and if the storm comes, we will get a break.

The weekend was filled with little things. Saturday, a jewelry demonstration for the brand Lia Sophia at my mom's friend's house; Sunday, shopping at the mall with Big Girl and my mother. Big Girl has her father-daughter dance in two weeks and she has nothing to wear. She has outgrown any appropriate dressy clothing. Luckily, we stopped at Justice and found something suitable in her size:

With a 40 percent off coupon, the dress was affordable. And cute for a tween, when paired with a white cardigan and black sequin headband bought for her concert a few weeks back. She also picked out hot pink leggings from the clearance rack instead of tights, and we already have black flats to round out the shoe issue. The outfit is also good for Easter, as well as any other dressy occasions between now and fall. And her Grammy footed the cost, which is a blessing to us.

I was starting to stress a little about the outfit situation for this father-daughter dance, since it was creeping up fast and Big Girl is at a difficult age (and size). She is in between the little-girl-fancy-flouncy-cute dresses and the teen-fitted stuff. She is only 10 1/2 years and I want something age-appropriate that she likes. She is not really a fashionista, but she does look to Justice as a trusted "cool" style of clothes.

So our mall outing was painless. She also ended up with an Aeropostale hoodie, courtesy of her grandmother. This is a treat to her. I guess many of her classmates all wear Aeropostale, and my sweet Big Girl never asks for much, but had said recently that she would like one as well. So with a sale in the store, she ended up with a cute turquoise-tie-dye sweatshirt. I have taught her that brands don't matter, and she knows that, but I also know that sometimes you need something "cool" to feel like part of the crowd. Her face lit up when I mentioned wearing it to school on Monday. Oddly, I knew that this happiness means that she appreciates this simple gesture of a sweatshirt, and doesn't just take things for granted. She understands the value of a dollar, and I appreciate this. If a $25 hoodie sweatshirt makes her happy occassionally, then so be it.

Speaking of dollars, I am still feeling the love for Aldi here at The Peapod. We are eating healthy, homecooked meals on a regular basis, and fresh fruit and veggie salads. I'm still cutting coupons, and using them -- mostly at Target -- but at Aldi, we are able to get the stuff we need, like fresh produce and milk, for which we don't often have coupons.

Right now Aldi has an abundance of Super Bowl snack options, so if you are preparing for a Super Bowl party, then head over and get some snacks. They even have the cutest football-shaped ice cream cake, and it's only priced at $7.99 in our local store.

Speaking of ice cream, we love these:

Aldi's waffle bowls are so cute and yummy, and not only with ice cream. How about fruit with some whipped cream? Or yogurt and fruit? The bowls are only 80 calories each, which makes them a healthy option for anyone watching what they eat. We love them. Such a great, affordable treat.

I am still sticking with our menu plan, and we are nearing the end of my three-week plan, which means I need to plan a few more weeks. We still have plenty of food in the freezer. This week I will need to be diligent about home cooking, since we are so busy at night, and our days are filled with toilet training and work!

Toilet training and twins are an odd mix, I'll tell you. Look for more on that in tomorrow's post.

In the meantime, we are still decluttering. I have slowed down, but the kitchen cabinet cleanout has been a blessing and I have been able to keep it all up. I have a few things to put away in the dining room, and the bathroom has been changed a bit to accommodate the potty training. I plan on tackling my jewelry in my bedroom this week, which has gotten very disorganized. I also need to plan a trip to the consignment shop with a bunch of toys. I guess I am not alone in the decluttering, as I have stumbled upon many posts, blogs and articles recently about the subject. Even the twins have gotten in on the act. We sorted through the toys in their room recently, and they helped put their stuff into two new toy shelves my husband bought for them at Christmas. They are very cute and they love them.

I do have to tackle our children's book collection. If I am a hoarder in any aspect, it is definitely children's books. It was the only thing I would never deny Big Girl on a shoppng outing, and as a result, we have a large library of options. I need to weed through them. And the twins need a larger bookcase, or, ideally, a bookcase for each child so we can have books on some shelves and their own precious collectibles at the top. More on this another time.

Enough rambling for today. Welcome to anyone who has wandered here from my article about my husband's photography! I promise more scintillating conversation in the future!