A Date With TWO of the Sweetest Fella's!

AJ's mom arrived last night, and I welcomed her today by "stealing" away two of her grandboys (actually I had to bribe one of them with getting out of his chore duty), for a date!

At first I planned to take the baby and get some errands done - errands I knew the children would prefer to avoid and guessed rightly that they would rather play at home with Grams... I would be faster in my mission thus unencumbered and get home in time for (my) nap.

But then I had this wonderful idea: "Hey! I could take my easy-breezy-sunny-smiley-happens-to-be-falling-through-the-cracks-right-now-son Clayton Praise and make it a special occasion!"

While he didn't want to miss out on Gramsie's first day with us, I might have been exaggerating about the bribery;-)
He was thrilled to put his seat up front in the van and captivate all my attention to his hearts content.

And mine:-)

First we stopped at Starbucks where I got him a bottled juice and breakfast roll (because I couldn't bring myself to totally destroy his immune system in the wake of all the seasonal bugs), and me a venti Java Chip Frappucino double blended (because #1. Mrs' Smith taught me that Java Chip Frappucino's are way better "double blended"; #2. I NEEDED the caffeine; and #3. venti because everything chocolate is better BIG - that's just common sense.)

Next we hit Hobby Lobby. I have Mrs. Smith to thank for introducing me to this perfectly scrumptious store. I am in LOVE!
Followed by Savers (T H E thrift store!) Again... Mrs. Smith. Do I see a pattern here?) Apparently I didn't LIVE before I met Mrs. Smith;-)

Hamburgers, Ross, World Market, and Michaels.

How can you top a list like that?!! We were at complete leisure and without time constraints. Bryce slept through EVERYTHING only nursing twice; and Clayton kept me smiling all day long with his chatter and antics (and the help of that venti JCF).

Clayton: "You can tell the difference between Toys R Us and Ross because Toys R Us is Toys R Us, and Ross... is Ross."
(imagine sparkling sky-blue eyes and a grin from ear to ear, then a chuckling mom and giggling little boy)

He gets that humor from his dad... and I like it ;-D

Clayton is the perfect shopping companion. He is good company, he is good natured, he is patient when I drag him down the same isle of Hobby Lobby for the fifth time! He has good taste and was actually quite helpful when I was trying on clothes in Savers:

"Mom, I'm didn't think you should get that one - it was a little too stylin' for you"

The only thing that really worried me today was that Clayton wore his cowboy boots.

He can't just walk like a normal person when he wears those.
He likes to balance on his heels - while walking.
When I tell him not to, he likes to slide those slick soled shoes along in a sort of shuffle. Not so bad really, not noisy to speak of and definitely a boyish thing to do, so what's the big deal?

My amazingly talented climber, the one who climbs trees like he was born in one and perches on branches like a graceful bird; the child who would fall off the monkey bars and somehow reach out one arm to catch a bar before the ground caught HIM...
THAT child - the same Clayton I was previously expounding upon - can hardly remain in an upright position when walking on FLAT ground!

Every time I reminded him: "Clayton honey, please stay a leeeeetle farther away form those shelves full of GLASS THINGS; and please sweetheart, don't walk on your heels!!!"

He would look at me quite innocently and say: "Why Mom?"

To which I would answer: "Because you've fallen twice and done the splits once already son... I would prefer if you didn't grab hold of that pyramid of pottery or that shelf full of picture frames to break your fall when you go down."

"...Does that make sense my Love?..."

We had to finish up with a grocery store too, but other than that and this tiny hair-raising and hilarious diversion in my otherwise perfect shopping-trip date...

We got home seven hours later and I can't say that I missed my nap.
Not one little BIT!

:-)

How could I - really?!!