Our weekend in 10

1. I spent five hours Friday night prepping the GARAGE for what was supposed to be a YARD sale. Unfortunately, the forecast called for about 90 percent rain, so we prepared for the worst.

2. It rained four hours and 52 minutes out of our five-hour garage sale. We made a couple hundred dollars, but the Real Win of the weekend was just that we got rid of ALL THAT STUFF. Not one speck of it came back in our house. A local charity picked up everything we had left over on Saturday afternoon, which made me oh-so-very happy.

3. After Jake's nap on Saturday, we all piled in the minivan and went to My SuperTarget! It was our family's maiden voyage to the mothership. The boys had about $40 between them to spend (allowance, birthday money, etc.), and they bought a bunch of Bakugans. (I have never understood the attraction, and I probably never will.) Better their money than mine. We ran into two friends there with their kids, Heather and Angel. Everyone was all smiles, UNDERSTANDABLY. I mean, it's SUPERTARGET, people.

4. After our successful SuperTarget trip, our babysitter arrived and Grayson and I ate a yummy super at Zoe's and then saw One of My Favorite Actors, Matt Damon, in The Informant! (The exclamation point is part of the film's actual title. Having seen it, I certainly would not use an exclamation point in any reference to it.) Although it was humorous in parts, overall (spoiler alert!) it was a pretty tragic story. There was mental illness involved and it was all just sad to me, in the end.

5. ON A HAPPIER NOTE, on the way home from The Informant Exclamation Point, Grayson and I went back to SuperTarget! (THAT exclamation point is ALL MINE! SuperTarget with no kids in tow!) Please allow me to say that in addition to being Everything that a SuperTarget is Supposed to Be, it ALSO has a full-service Starbucks with seating. So basically we can buy Bakugans, complete our fridge and pantry, have our vision checked, drink cherry Slushies, fill our prescriptions, and get coffee and dessert, AMEN. It is very possible that My SuperTarget may become our sole official date-night destination.

6. Sunday was pretty laid-back. Grayson, Nathaniel and Nick went on a Cub Scout hike in The Preserve, and they had a great time. Jake and I stayed behind so he could take his nap, and that was ALSO a great time. After Jake woke up, I took him on a run, and as usual, he was the Model of Great Toddler Behavior for the first 30 minutes, and the Toddler Who Makes Onlookers Swear Off Children Forever for the last 30 minutes. Once that child gets bored in the stroller, all bets are off. GEEZ LOUISE.

7. Monday, being a federal holiday, found me at home with the boys. Public schools and our daycare were both closed, and I'd hoped to take a picnic to a park and enjoy a nice, sunny day outside. BUT THEN GOD SMITED ME, and I had to make alternate plans. (The rain, uh muh guh, the RAIN.) We began our morning with a "quick" trip to My SuperTarget to pick up one thing. I was the cuh-RAZY lady with the wet umbrella and three kids who chose to forgo a shopping cart and "just wing it." NEVER AGAIN. We were a spectacle, what with Jake picking up two items from every aisle in his chubby little fists, carrying them all over creation, only to have me run around replacing them as we left. I broke out in a sweat. I AM NOT EVEN LYING TO YOU.

8. After My SuperTarget, we headed out to get haircuts for all three boys, wherein they blew right past cute and came out the other side of adorable. Hopefully the cuts will still be cute in three weeks, when we have our Christmas card pictures taken. That's the dream. Next up was a 20-minute drive downtown to go to the McWane Center, but as we motored down the street, within one block I saw six school buses. We turned the corner that leads to the parking deck, and I saw three more. I was skeptical, but I entered the parking deck. We got up to Level D without finding a single empty space ... I apologized to the boys but told them we had to leave. That we'd never get to play on anything they wanted to play on because of the sheer number of people that must have been in there. There were lots of disappointed-type noises, but when we exited the parking deck and Nathaniel spied SEVEN MORE SCHOOL BUSES, I knew that we had made the right decision.

9. In an effort to soften the blow a little bit, I took them to Chick-fil-A for lunch. And we ALL know how crowded Chick-fil-A is on a rainy school holiday, BUT I AM NOT EVEN GOING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT IT. As far as I'm concerned, we'd dodged a bullet downtown; everything else was gravy. After a very nice lunch at CFA, we went across the street to Lowe's and bought one thing, then headed home for Jake's nap. Busy day. And as I always say after I spend a day (sort of) at home with my boys, I tip my hat to all of the stay-at-home moms out there. You are my heroes.

10. And lest that last sentence make you question whether I love being with my boys, let me just say that there are no people on this Earth I love more than those three. They are the reason I get up every day, the reason I work to help provide for our family, and the reason that my heart feels like it's going to explode with happiness most all the time. Like last night, when I overheard Nicholas excitedly issue to Nathaniel a post-supper invitation: "HEY, NATHANIEL. Let's go to the den and FIGHT TO THE DEATH." What more can a mom really ask for?