wordless wednesday: son's first beach trip

Aldi - my experience.

Rita, I love Aldi.

Husband says he's told me about Aldi before I told him. I don't think he's a liar. I just don't remember. Our closest Aldi is in our closest "shopping city" Where our Sam's Club, Publix and Target (our major grocery stores) all are. We pass it a lot and I've been interested, but skeptical. cheap groceries rarely equal good groceries.

Susan started talking about it. She's a smart girl. I trust her. I decided we're going. and I loved it!

I decided to wait a few days after our trip to blog about it so we could actually eat some of the things we bought. to see if our cheap groceries equal good groceries.

according to our receipt, we bought 100 items. exactly. we spent $127. not exactly, rounded up. (keep in mind we bought a lot of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste for spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce)

Things we bought that we've eaten:
string cheese
salomi
provolone
veggie stir fry
whole milk
green bell peppers
fresh garlic
graham crackers
table salt
chardonnay
diced tomatoes
tomato sauce
tomato paste

I am so pleased with everything we've tried. above and beyond what we expected. before we walked in the store I told Husband, "I guess this will prove if we've been buying quality or just buying a brand name." we've been buying a brand name for too long.

we also got:
ground beef
cat litter
Riesling
frozen shrimp
frozen salmon
bacon
red and yellow bell peppers
chicken broth
fresh zucchini
fresh squash
onion soup mix
all purpose flour
10lb bag of potatoes

Before we left the house I had Husband go to Sam's website and write down price per unit/ounce for the things we routinely buy at Sam's because we've already determined it to be the cheapest choice. Aldi beat Sam's on cat liter, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, ground beef, wine, fresh vegetables, salomi and provolone (actually, salomi and provolone is Husband's favorite sandwich and it got so expensive he had to switch to peanut butter for workday lunch - we can afford it at Aldi). The only thing Sam's won on was all purpose flour.

When we've used all our Starbucks Sumatran coffee, we'll be trying Aldi's Sumatran coffee. I also wish they had canned artichokes and cous couse. those are both things we buy a lot of that they didn't have. I think we'll try their sandwich bread next time too.

I didn't price their sodas because we don't buy soda. I didn't price their toilet paper. I really have no idea if we're buying the most cost effective toilet paper.

Things to know about Aldi before you go:

• bring a quarter if you want a shopping cart.
• they don't take coupons (bc most of their items are their brand, I assume)
• they don't take credit cards (bad when my Discover Card offers double cash back on groceries during certain months)
• bring your own bags or buy bags there or like Sam's Club - don't use bags.
• check out is warp speed FAST. and you are the sacker. it's almost intimidatingly fast. they actually have a counter at the front of the store to move your sacking to after checkout.

It's nice to make your dollar go farther AND it be quality.

Daughter's newest adventure

Daughter is an amazing climber. her latest climbing conquest is Son's crib. unfortunately, she's only interested in climbing in the crib when Son is in there. She either stays on the opposite end of the crib and plays footsie with him, or she cuddles up to him for a shared nap. He'd rather sleep alone.

"mummy, will you please get her out of my bed."

"I love being with Brother."

footsie.

the hug/cuddle.

the continuing adventures of daughter ...

... the barf-a-matic strikes again.

My sister and brother-in-law got Daughter a pretty fantastic jumperoo for her first Christmas when she was a mere 3 months old. some days she loved it and would play and jump until she fell asleep in it, other days she was less interested.

We left it up for an entire year. until Christmas 2008. When I was getting out all of the Christmas stuff and putting away stuff to make room for Christmas stuff, I made the decision to retire the jumperoo. Daughter hadn't been in it in weeks and was more interested in running around than jumping at the time.

In April, I was cleaning and getting rid of things to make room for Son and I found the jumperoo. I decided to hang it up again and see if Daughter still had love for the jumperoo. she lovedLOVEDloved it.

She spun.

She jumped.

She spun.

She laughed.

She spun.

She threw her head back and closed her eyes with glee.

She spun.

and she threw up.

so out she went to clean her and the jumperoo out. Daughter was not happy. She didn't think a little barf was enough reason to stop playing in the jumperoo. After the jumperoo was laundered, I let her back in it, thinking the throw up was a fluke and surely she wouldn't do it again.

WRONG.

She played until she got sick. and again was mad when she had to get out. That night, jumperoo was hidden again and quickly forgotten. That was April.

I got it out two days ago while Daughter was taking a nap, to see if Son liked it. not so much yet. I, with my perpetual thoughtlessness, forgot to put the jumperoo back in the closet after we were finished. That night, Daughter discovers the jumperoo, which we now call the barf-o-matic.

What the hey. it's been 4 months. let's let her play in the barf-o-matic. she loves jumping and spinning. and apparently barfing. I hate that her favorite toy makes her lose her lunch/dinner/snack/breakfast.

What would you do if something you loved to do made you throw up all the time?

Son, not really enjoying jumperoo

fun. fun. fun. all these pictures were pre-barf, of course.

wordless wednesday: the love continues

Spirits Sunday brought to you by Aldi

I love Aldi but that's not for this post. next time. next time, you'll read all about my new found love for Aldi. The only thing Adli has to do with this post is that it is where I purchased this:

Cost: $2.99. yes. two dollars and ninety-nine cents.

I hear you. you're asking if I seriously picked out a bottle of wine (based totally on the cuteness of the label) that cost $2.99 and expected it to taste good. yes. yes, I did.

and you know what?

yes. yes, it does.

Winking Owl Chardonnay is a light semi-sweet wine. the bottle says I should be able to taste "subtle flavors of ripe apple, pear, toasted oak and a hint of spice." but mostly I just taste a little pear maybe a little pineapple-ish sweetness and some spice.

We drank it chilled and while it'd be best served with a light meal, grilled fish or chicken, we ate it with bread and a New York Strip Husband found on sale.

Seriously, it's good wine. yes. three dollar good wine. It's possible. We'll definitely be buying this and other wines at the above mentioned Aldi in the future.

It actually just started raining and we enjoyed the remains of the bottle on the porch in our rocking chairs. Just like drunk little old ladies. sots. :-)

I can find no vintage year on the bottle, but Husband in his infinite wine wisdom (insert eye roll) guesses 2007. It's an artificial cork (don't let this detract you - you wine snob) and it's 12% alcohol.

Bottled by Winking Owl Vineyards in Modesto, California. (no website, but there is a toll free number. 877-994-4616 if you'd like to call and harass them about not having a website).

uncork and enjoy.

EvaBank 5k results

it bothers me slightly that the sign reads "Midnight" instead of "11:59" because midnight is actually Saturday.

the results are posted online for the EvaBank midnight 5k that Husband ran in Friday. Out of 691 total runners, Husband finished 311 with a time of 28:30. YaY. The winner was a 22 year old guy who finished in 15:34. one more time, !!15:34!! That's some kind of running for sure.

The kids slept in the car, but neither one slept the entire time we were out of the car. silly kids. I also saw a college friend that I knew was going to be there, but was surprised she actually found me with so many people there.

The runners had glow sticks and Husband said it looked really cool in the pitch black turning a corner and seeing all the glow sticks in front of him and hearing the footsteps pounding the pavement.

It was a lot of fun and Husband enjoyed a couple of slices of pizza before we took it to the house.

I actually didn't even see him cross the finish line because I didn't want my double stroller to be too much in the way. I hung back a little and was going to only move up to the front at the 29 minute mark, because I figured he'd finish closer to 30 minutes. GEEZ. I was so mad at myself when at 29 minutes I'm standing on the line watching the runners, waiting, telling Daughter to get ready because we're going to cheer and clap for Daddy. and he taps me on the shoulder! UGH. I missed it.

He did great. I was so proud.

before the race. numbered and ready to go. in his official no prize t-shirt from Talk of the Nation Political Junkie on npr

after the start. it's hard to tell in the dark but that's almost 700 running.

Son. wide awake. only interested in constant motion.

Daughter was more interested in the Chik-fil-a cow. mooooooo moooooo mooooooo

giving me the pirate nod and forgiving me for missing him cross the finish line.

pizza. the best prize ever.

Food Day Friday

Yum.

There's not much more to say except pineapple preserves are best served on hot fresh homemade biscuits.