The trip to Kohl's

Two items in a bag with a receipt. I needed to walk into the store, take a left and then a right to reach the customer service area. No biggie.

I had a list of items for Sam's Club and the grocery store. Oh, and I had my two boys. Naughty and VERY NAUGHTY.

I tried to put Jared in the stroller/cart Kohl's has available. He was not pleased with this and began screaming his "Help! I'm being murdered scream." I shove him in there and start pushing, sort of.

Jacob, despite having a front-row seat to Jared's meltdown, wants to push the stroller. I tell him I just want to get it going so Jared will stop screaming. Grudgingly he moves aside at a snail's pace.

Meantime, Jared gets even more cranked up. I am pushing quickly as I am getting lots of looks. There is no line, so I decide to just deal with it, but I am still holding out hope that the screaming will stop.

I pride myself on how my children generally behave in the store. Every now and again, we have a small problem. We've been in line too long or it's getting late or they are hungry.

It's wrong to negotiate with terrorists, but I decided to try. I take my little terrorist out of the stroller contraption. He bolts away (still screaming, incidentally)

The girl behind the counter has to take a phone call, and I have to take the screamer around the corner so the poor girl can hear!

Jacob is no longer interested in pushing the stroller, and why I think it necessary to lug it back to the front of the store is beyond me. I think it's rude to just abandon your cart in the wrong place, but maybe I had a good reason today. Still, I head for the front carrying the hysterical child and pushing the cart while telling Jacob repeatedly he isn't getting another stuffed animal. And, it's only a quick trip to the front. Surely he will stop screaming, I think.

People are really looking me know. I am losing my cool. I want to beat him. I spank his diapered butt, but he only screams louder.

We get out of the store as quickly as possible, and I again spank the terrorist who is doing his best to kick, bite and pinch me in between screams.

I wish I could have had Harry Potter's magic wand to force my child into his carseat. I think I got a scratch on my face. He was pretty livid by now.

Once the car started, he calmed down rather quickly. I wondered if I should chance Sam's. Some may have considered throwing in the towel at this point, but not me. I drove across the parking lot and geared up for round two --- mom vs. Jared.

I let him walk up to Sam's to butter him up a bit. He wasn't pleased that I held his hand, but he relaxed when Jacob took his other one. Laughing, I scoped him up and deposited him into the cart. He looked at me, and I looked at him. "Go ahead and make my day, child."

He smiled and threw his little head back and laughed. I watched as my little screamer turned into the resident greeter, waving and calling "hi!" to all we encountered.

With a successful trip to the grocery story following, I tally the score. Mom wins, 2-1.

Harry Potter

I've read the final book. That's all I can say except it was a good read. 749 pages, and I accomplished it in less than 24-hours. Yeah, I know. I rock. (ha ha)

I also managed in that same 24-hour period to sleep a little (got the book at Wally world at midnight), attend a P-Chef party, fix family dinner, give fellas a bath and get them ready for bed. Yeah, that's about it.

The book was 749 pages!

Who else has read it? No spoilers though!

My baby

My baby is crying and my 4-year-old is out of bed. OK, so my "baby" is 2 years old and apparently not too keen on going to bed. Neither is Jacob, who has been out at least five million times in this moment alone.

I arrived at preschool to pick up Jacob only to learn that he had appointed himself chief bully today. Hitting, pushing, taking things away from others, refusing to listen, yelling, saying "no" to his teachers. Yep. That's a pretty good summary.

Then I went to pick up Jared, who had just turned himself into a weapon by hurtling himself from the chair to the couch, landing on the poor little girl who likely weighs a mere 40 pounds to Jared's 26.

I blame myself because I let them stay up too late b/c it's summer, and they were having fun.

And, I was naughty also. I stayed up until 2:30 a.m. reading a book. Now I am very tired and my eyes are burning.

Oh, to once again enjoy the truly lazy days of summer. I remember telling my sisters that I did not care if the pool opened at 1 p.m. I was going to watch One Life to Live before we went. As far as they were concerned, the pool was open to them at 2 p.m. daily. And that was if they could pry the book out of my hands to make me take them.

Only a few days remain until the world knows what happens to our little Harry Potter. Yeah, I'm a book nut.

No Place to Hide

The thing about God is that He's an all or nothing sort of deal. The last few sermons, though diverse topics, have all pointed me to the same place. In other words, until I do this one little thing, I am going to hear nothing new under the sun.

Today our pastor talked about witnessing to those around us, a "task" most of us dread. But if we have a solid relationship with God, then we won't be able to help ourselves. Thus, it no longer becomes a task. OK, so that's the Cliff notes version, but if you can follow me normally, you will be OK.

Anyway, the relationship is what I am struggling with as of late, and oh how it affects everything else.

For example, I need to live much more fiscally responsibly. Instead of me and my Bible sitting about to discuss this with God, I think myself in circles of all of the things "I" can do: don't eat out, don't go to Wal-Mart unsupervised, don't buy books, don't shop online, no credit cards, etc. And, how is that working with God, you ask? Well, if you can figure it out, please let me know.

Do you know the KISS rule? Keep it simple, stupid? Can the answer really be that simple?

Regina: Pick up my book. Read it. Talk to me. Is this really so difficult?

If ya know and love the one and only savior, pray for me!

Abundance

So, I'm sitting here in the lobby of our hotel wondering exactly what I'll blog about today.

The mystery was revealed when a woman stopped to ask me if she could give me something.

I'm suspicious, but friendly, so I agree. I am presented with a nickel and a wish for abundance from Victoria. The coin says in God we trust, she says, and I am wished abundance in whatever I believe in.

This is it. I'm left wondering if she's a Christian or another religious follower or just a nice person. Pity that I did not think to ask her.

I thanked her and she introduced herself and walked away.

Hmm.

Here's a prayer for Ms. Victoria. Father, God, you know all about this woman. I pray that if she does not have a friendship and relationship with your son, Jesus, that you will reveal the truth of his sacrifice to her. Help her see that we are all eternal beings. We can chose to spend eternity with you in heaven or apart from you forever. Amen.