Springtime!! Coupons,Triathalon, and Swap

Springtime...
I love the Spring it is for sure my favorite season especially here in DC where the summers are not so much fun with the humidity and tourist! Not much to say just wanted to share some fun springtime pictures!
April Showers bring May flowers... When it rains and Phil gets home with his umbrella he leaves it out to dry and Madison thinks its the coolest thing ever to get Phil to read to her under it! Its the first thing she asks for when he walks in with the umbrella.

Swap...
We are part of a group of Six families that swap babysitting every Saturday night for four hours. Its a great deal really you watch all the kids one week and then you no kids for 5 Saturdays in a row. When its at full capacity we have 10 kids on the night we host. This week it was our turn to host we had some fun with the kids and built them a fort.
Our neighbor who has no children stopped by to chat for a few minutes in the middle of the chaos and was quickly roped into reading for one of the little girls, it only took about 30 seconds of him reading out loud for him to be surrounded by many eager listeners, he left shortly after a brief rendition of Sleeping beauty. Its a long night but the other 5 nights makes up for it.This is the other baby in the Swap group that we watch they are two weeks apart.

Couponing...
I was recently inspired by my sister in law to take couponing a little more seriously. So I committed to do it for two months and see how I felt after that. Its not really going so hot so far. These are my biggest hang ups with couponing. 1. I'm lazy, yep its true I find no joy in using my spare time to look through the various sites and papers to match up coupons to sales and so on to get good deals I guess I just haven't gotten the fever yet. 2. I feel like most of the time if you just buy off brand at the right store its just as cheap and you don't have to bother with the coupons at all so whats the point. 3. I'm lazy, oh wait I said that already. 4. I have a hard time being consistent, with coupons you have to keep track know what you are going to buy so you can watch for deals and get things you really need. I'm more the type that walks up and down the isle and just sees things I need at the time, not so effective. 5. I am not good at sticking with things especially if they are hard, that's the same as lazy isn't it! :) well I feel couponing is something you have to do over a period of time for it to really start making a difference, not sure I can overcome my laziness long enough to make it count.

I guess I just need to suck it up and remember how much I love to save money and try really hard to be positive about all the time it takes and give it a real shot before I give it up completely.

Triathlon...

Recently a friend of mine told me she was planning on doing a triathlon so I readily volunteered to do it with her so we could train together. I am very excited and so far we have been pretty good at keeping up on the training ill let you know how that goes in a few weeks! The event is in June so we have some time to train the thing I am most worried about is the swimming its a 750 meter swim and I think the most I have ever swam at one time is about 3 laps...um I think I have a ways to go.

Zoo...
I have recently come to the realization that I can NOT do everything and that I have limits to my mental and physical abilities... don't tell my husband! ;)

Friday was a very good example of my new self realization. I thought hey it should be nice out on Friday why not take the kids on the metro to the Zoo, its a free fun activity. Well turns out three kids on the metro is not a great idea. But on top of that neither is trying to haul three kids around under the age of two with only a two seater stroller. Strollers were designed so you can get you tantrum throwing opinionated two year old from point a to point b when you take the stroller away what are you left with... a tantrum throwing opinionated two year old you can't begin to manage.

Not so fun. Finally we got around to eating lunch and I got both the toddlers in the stroller and we managed to make it home in one piece. But I learned the little ones need the stroller to prevent walking journeys from taking a bad turn. Madison is still a little one.

They enjoyed the train ride and for the most part Samantha just slept the whole time which was wonderful, however when you have a baby strapped to your chest is is a little hard to manage much of anything else, including two other kids. Oh and I also learned its good to have extra clothes and a diaper for your potty trained two year old no matter how long they have been potty trained especially when you will be on an hour long metro ride.

This was the little leash backpack I had intended to use for Madison so that I could keep Samantha and Ryan in the stroller she finally decided it was OK to use on the way home but not until then of course.

This was my final attempt to get them all home without having to basically drag Madison by the ankles. Worked out pretty well.

Brian Regan...
No pictures but I wanted to report we had a fabulous time at Brian Regan well worth the money! That was the hardest I have laughed in a very long time. My cheeks actually hurt when it was over. Side note to that evening. My husband is sometimes right! just have to throw that in there for good measure so he knows I can admit it. We had a long discussion before the show, that's where this comes from, in case you were wondering.

Lazy Saturday...
I Love sunny Saturdays...