Yes, I'm Crazy: An Adventure in Hobby Lobby

I love me some Hobby Lobby. I often refer to it as Herby Lerby and Simon calls it Hobby Wobby. Sometimes I think I'd like to work there a few hours a week, but then I'd just blow my earnings on all the pretty things there and clutter up our house with crafts I intend to do. My BFF Keli sent me a Hobby Lobby gift card for my birthday and I still had some birthday money to spend, so the other day I ventured out to one of my favorite stores, which is full of breakable things, with all 3 kids.

Yes, alone in the Land of Breakable Things in Small Aisles with a 3-year-old, an almost-2-year-old and a 2-month-old. Brave or crazy? Either way, I was quite the spectacle. I had Jonas (almost 2) strapped down in the front seat of the double stroller, Simon (3) in the back seat and Baby Charlotte strapped to me in the Moby wrap. The shopping carts there are just too small to do me any good while trying to contain more than one small child.

Oh, I got looks... lots & lots of looks. Most were endearing looks from middle-aged women. Some ladies seemed to pity me but a lot seemed happy to see my 3 adorable kids when they were not yet fussing. I'm sure it was also pretty amusing to watch me swerve the stroller every time Jonas leaned over as far as he could to grab something off a low shelf. Also, Simon had a big "treasure chest" on his lap that he kept putting his Mr. Smee toy in (Jonas had Capt. Hook). But then Jonas decided to head-butt the chest with the back of his head causing the chest to bump Simon who then started getting a bit disgruntled (can anyone ever actually be gruntled?).

So I then let Simon walk and dumped my loot in his seat. Simon walking caused Jonas to become disgruntled because Jonas desperately wanted to get down and walk knock every breakable off the shelves. This led to more Jonas leaning & stroller swerving, but at least Simon could now retrieve Capt. Hook every time he wound up on the floor. Since the boys were pretty good weren't awful and I'd gotten most of my intended items, we went to look at the decorative pumpkins.

Jonas had been exclaiming, "PUNKIN! A PUNKIN!" whenever we passed the fall decor display, so as a treat we went for a closer look. But Jonas was not content with looking. He started screeching, "Hold it? I hooollld it!?!" When he gets excited about something, his voice gets louder & higher. It would be quite annoying if he weren't so cute. Then he got mad that I wouldn't let him hold a pumpkin, so we checked out.

My two wall decor items were 50% off (hooray!) and I had a 40% off coupon from their web site that I used for the treasure chest. The checkout lady asked if the boys were twins (a common question lately) and when I said they weren't she said other than their hair color, they looked "identical" (they don't). Then we loaded back up in the van (which takes almost as long as the shopping part sometimes), dished out snacks & headed home.

As crazy as it sounds, sometimes I just need to load the kids up & go out to stay sane. It's not about being brave or showing the world I can handle it; going out with them is mostly about accomplishing some task and giving them (and me) a change of scenery. Many times it's a spur-of-the-moment decision (working out well with naps, meals & feeding Baby Girl). It's been way too hot lately to go outside, so shopping seemed like the best option!

Now, wanna see my loot?

Jonas with my wall art: an old French train station painted in wood planks. I liked this piece and thought it was interesting. Plus, it was priced just right on sale!

A caped Simon & the wall art

The metal "A" over Charlotte's dresser/changing station. I've been wanting to find an interesting monogram and this one was pretty, a great size, one sale & the last "A" in stock in this style.

The treasure chest! Simon has a smaller toy treasure chest from a pirate set. He insisted the small chest be in this picture. Simon picked this chest out.

The treasure inside: toys/clutter! This chest replaces a clutter-hiding wicker basket the boys destroyed. It's a lot sturdier and a million times cooler!