Weekend Rewind, Part I (Of Scoring Shopping Deals and a Little Ring)

It's been awhile since I posted a Weekend Rewind--I haven't been blogging period, and the idea of rehashing a weekend just exhausted me--but now I'm getting a second wind, so here goes nothing! I mean, here goes Part I. Did you really think I'd be able to thwart my diarrhea-of-the-keyboard tendencies?

Friday we headed down to Sioux Falls for our bi-monthly shopping trips. We've been realizing that these will be coming to an end in the near future, what with two active little boys and another pooker on the way, so we try to relish our family time together. It was cold this weekend, fiftyish and windy, so we missed the nice weather from the prior week. But our trip to Toys 'R Us to start out sure made our day! We went to buy a double umbrella stroller that I had an in-store coupon for, and come to find out they were out of stock. Bummer! But the awesome manager A. was super helpful--she helped us order it online through her to get free shipping, AND we got to use the coupon, AND the original price was also $15 lower due to a weekend sale. So we not only saved the trunk room for stuff we later got at Menard's, we also pocketed enough dough we'd originally budgeted for the stroller to buy lunch at Subway! Okay, so it's the little things. But that was SWEET! We LOVE deals! (AND exceptional customer service!) Extra-extra bonus points? We found out that the store will be beginning construction soon to be completed before Christmas to add a BABIES 'R US! It won't be a superstore, of course, but it'll be a miles-ahead improvement over the skimpy baby sections of Target and Walmart in SF. I was thrilled. :)

Other perks from the day:

[Disclaimer: If many items on the following list have to do with fundage and/or bargains, please forgive--I get a little excited when we score deals. Dave Ramsey, you rock our faces off!]

• Running into an older gent in the mall food court with an Ohio State cap. Okay, I actually chased him down. Then he and Papa got to talking about sports (bummer about Tressel and the controversy) and the Packers (Papa had his hat on) and the guy said that Wisconsin is the most beautiful state he's ever visited. There's not many other comments that can please Papa so much. :)
• Spending $50 at Hyvee to get fifteen pounds of fresh boneless, skinless chicken breast, four cans of diced tomatoes, three pounds of fresh baby red potatoes (German potato salad, here we come!!), eight ears of sweet corn, Tabasco sauce,three bags of potato chips, two vine-ripe tomatoes, and four quarts of Edy's ice cream. FOUR QUARTS OF EDY'S ICE CREAM! All this stuff was for sale with their "Hot Deals"--I love it!
• Watching people smile at our boys as we passed.
• Shopping for clothes at a second-hand store with S. Oh, wait--these are supposed to be highlights.
• Shopping for clothes at a second-hand store and getting two pairs of shorts, a pair of comfy pants, a cream short-sleeved summer sweater and a black J.Crew sweater for $23. Boo-yah!
• Getting more finish stuff for the basement with rebate dough, and therefore spending none out-of-pocket. 
• Spending time together--always a gift!
• Papa getting yet another venti black coffee (no Pike's Place, of course) courtesy of a Christmas Starbucks gift card from Mom and Dad E (practically the best gift he can get)! It lasted nearly until Memorial Day due mostly to their generosity and partly due to the fact that the only time Papa goes is when we're in Sioux Falls. :)
• Watching our boys sleep in the backseat on the way home. Well, P sleep. 

I was exhausted when we got home around five, so lovely Papa watched the boys, grilled pork chops and fixed supper. He's amazing! Then he gave the boys a bath while I prepped for Saturday. What would I do without him? I crashed early (after prayers with S and reading and prayers with P), thinking a few chapters of Obama's Dreams from My Father would be my last waking memory, but...

We got a much better ending to the day! We received a call from Papa's lovely sister J that she and awesome E are ENGAGED!  Here's a few pics of them when they visited us around Thanksgiving last year. Yes, the boys loved the attention (can you believe S in that pic?! He's still a baby!); yes, they are Packer football fans (ignore the Favre jersey--E was giving Papa a hard time), and YES, they are BIG TIME hunters! We've already scheduled the boys' first trip out west to learn hunting in 2018! Much love and congrats to them!

Check back tomorrow for the next Weekend Rewind parts!