Little kid arm candy...

I've never shopped at nordstroms. I've never had the fundage or even a real desire to shop there. I'm not really a shopper. Kind of a Tom boy still I guess.

The only time I've ever even been in a Nordstroms is walking through it in college cuz the parking on that side of the mall was less full.  Oh and to use their bathrooms.  They have BOMB bathrooms.  I've always been too poor to really shop there.  Plus I'm not really a shopper...  it's not my thing.

So Dan bought me a pair of Toms from Nordstroms for Christmas. But they were the wrong size. So I had to exchange them. In the store.

So I take my 3 little girls with me and we go to the mall.  We walk in and find the Toms section and I start the painful process of having to make a decision. (I HATE making decisions)  I was on the fence on the white pair my husband got since I'm horrible at keeping shoes clean.  So I was looking at the different pairs and trying to pick one because I want them to be ones I really like.  So I'm asking the nice sales guy about how the different fabrics hold up and if you can clean them.  I tell him I need to think about it for a second. And while we're doing this my girls decide to show their true colors.  The baby starts fussing so I have to hold her.  The 5 year old is strolling around looking at the bedazzled cowboy boots and asking loudly if she can try them all on.  The 2 year old is laying on the ground pushing herself in circles on her side on the carpet.  The "nice" helper guy kinda looks at me in disgust and tells me to let me know if I need anymore help.  And wanders off to help this super fancy looking lady with some 5 inch sneaker heels.  No joke.  Laces and everything.

Anyways- I finally make my choice and then have to wait until someone can help us again to go get my size so we can leave.  As we're waiting there the girls are being little girls.  Giggling and playing tag but really being pretty good and pretty quiet and staying within a few feet of me.  But I was catching ALL sorts of disgusted glances from these super yuppy looking ladies.  And I look down at us and realize that the total cost of all the items of clothing and shoes from head to foot on all 4 of us probably cost less then most of these women's purses.  Or necklaces.  And I was so ok with that.

At least 4 people told me "My!  You sure have your hands full."  To which I just smile and nod and say "I sure do."  All the while thinking, "This is them on good behavior- you should see them when they are really bad."  When my kids are bad people just try to give us a wide birth and don't make "cute" little comments to me about my over-productive loins.  

It's funny in Utah if I only had 3 kids at the store people didn't even look twice.  There were at least 5 other moms in the store with 5-7 kids in tow.  But in Vegas they look at me like I'm crazy town.  To the few I confide that I actually have 5 their eyes get super wide and go a little pale and you can see their minds saying "Holy ****"  Sometimes that's kinda fun.  You can always tell the ones it'll shock.  :)

Someday maybe I'll be at a point where I don't have baby spit on my shoulder and gorgeous little girl arm candy in tow and I can go and shop in peace and really enjoy a nice store like Nordstroms but at the moment that's not where we are.  :)  And I'm so ok with that.  Target is more our speed and that is just fine.  While kids are awesome- they are "So Not Fancy."  :)

Here goes nothin. ;)

So I wanted to create a new blog to jot down all the crazy misadventures of trying to raise 5 kids, have a happy marriage, try to be more healthy and active, and remain relatively sane and content myself.

A bit about me, I've been married to my hunk a burning love since 2002.
I have 5 kids.
A 9 year old boy who gets his stubborn streak from me and his desire to make people laugh from his dad.
A 7 year old boy with an old soul but a hippie attitude and an extremely quirky sense of humor.
A 5 year old daughter who is everything glitter and drama.
A 2 year old daughter who is quirky and stern and a goober all at the same time.
A 4 month old who demands to be held all day long.  But has luscious lips and lashes and a smile that makes me melt.

These 6 people have given me many many gray hairs.  They have given me stress knots in my shoulders that won't quit.  They have given me a 'fluffy' body and a goal weight that's 30 pounds away from my current weight.

They also give me stomach aches from all the belly laughing we do.  They give me sore cheeks from smiling so much when I watch old home movies.  They make me who I am today and I love them for it!

While everyday may be oh so far from a picnic, it's all part of the gig and we keep swimming and loving and laughing and treasuring those quiet moments that make it all magical!