(First a little Jaidenism, then on to my regular nonsense. I call this little ditty Four-Year-Old Logic.)

While we were at the Casey Jones House and Railroad Museum I didn’t get much into the history behind everything because, well, they’re little and I don’t even know everything about it. (I tried to read little things, but then the kids started fighting over Thomas while playing at the wooden train table, so there went that.) I know a few basic things, so I tried to explain those to Jaiden later on. I told her that Casey Jones was the engineer, or driver, of the train, there was a wreck, and Casey Jones died trying to save people.

“Like Jesus?” she asks.

“Um, well .. not really like Jesus ..” I said, laughing.

“But he died to save people, like Jesus ..” she tells me. “That’s what we learn in church ..”

Um, yeah, well she has me there! But really, I am impressed with this. Maybe she does actually listen and absorb these things. (Something to tell the ladies down at Wrinkle City, Grannie!)

(And now back to my regularly scheduled stuff, which is a little boring, I’ll admit.)

Casey Jones was fun! I wouldn’t say it’s better than .. oh, Busch Gardens or a children’s museum or something, but my kids liked it. Jaylen enjoys trains and Jaiden does as well, just because Jaylen does. They had a lot of fun, especially playing with the wooden train table (which is Thomas, of course) and watching the model trains go around. They were a bit scared on the engine; Jaylen got the courage to stand up on the engineer’s ‘seat’ (it’s a wooden box) and just as he did some car came by and honked really loudly, which scared him and he fell off of the box and cried. We looked around in the house where Casey Jones and family once lived – I always love looking at old houses. (When I was younger I was also so intrigued by the short beds at Arbor Manor in Nebraska City, NE.) The home also had a telegraph office and other areas that looked like a railroad depot. The kids were not as fascinated with this stuff as I was. At one point, Jaiden pointed to the GM&O (Railroad) sign on the wall and said, “This house is dangerous, Mommy! See?!” lol!

(And next I will share with you how you have to get creative when you have more children than brain cells available hands.)

We chose to eat at The Old Country Store, which is right across the parking lot. We went in and made a beeline for the bathroom so I could change Jenna Grace. The older two used the bathroom, or pretended to, and wanted to wash their hands. They were a little too short to reach the sink, soap, and paper towels, so I had to pull them up by the back of their britches in order for them to wash and dry those little hands (I was holding Jenna Grace in my other arm). The Old Country store has several different areas – some take-out area that is buffet-like (didn’t want to try a buffet with three kids, it was hard enough with two!), the general store, ice cream parlor, and dine-in area. When we were being seated in the dine-in area, we walked past a buffet! OUCH. I was relieved when I saw menus, but the waiter made it seem like we were putting them out if we ordered entrees and we’d save money with the buffet, so I got a little crazy and decided to go for it. Three kids, one available arm .. eh, we’d work out the logistics after our drinks arrived. I always loved going to CiCi’s Pizza in Columbia and it sucked a little bit because I had two wee little ones; I’d sit close to the buffet, but I hated getting up and even going a few feet away (I always had them by myself, of course). The buffet here was in another section, though, so that was not feasible. I was sure I’d come back them fighting, drinks spilled, and Jenna choking on the lemon from my tea or something. lol. You know how kids are! The waiters were curious about how I was going to work it out, too. I ended up holding Jenna Grace on the left, holding my own plate with my right, and scooting the other kids’ plates down the counter thing (so HAPPY they had that!). When I was done they actually carried their plates to the table, and did it without spilling anything. YES! It worked!

The kids were very well-behaved to this point. I was very, very proud of them! I had two comments from strangers – one was even an older man! – regarding how well they behaved and how well I had them under control. It’s always nice to hear compliments! When we were done eating we did another round of fun in the bathroom, then looked at the items in the general store. Jaiden mentioned wanting this little Ty plush in a little bag, and I said no, then we left. When we get outside I asked the big kids to hold hands in the parking lot, but Jaiden refuses. I see the little plush. YES! SHE STOLE IT! OMG! I marched her little butt right back in the store and made her put it back – no one even noticed – then I got the other two kids in the car and she and I had a little ‘discussion’. See, I had never thought about how I would approach this kind of thing, so I was trying to decide whether or not I should spank her, if I should make her tell the store clerks she stole it, or what. No one was around, oddly, so that was out (I wanted out of there!). I asked her if she knew what stealing was, and she said no. We’ve never discussed it, so is this now my fault? Did she really not know better?! I put on my best stern Mommy voice (not quite my usual yell, but definitely, definitely, definitely got my point across) and told her what she did wrong, that we have to pay for things, Mommy always pays for things (she nods yes), and that God tells us we should not steal or lie. She sobbed hysterically for about 20 minutes. I hope I did a good job without damaging her self-esteem. She seems fine. Will she remember this day like I remember the first time I ever stole something? (I took a handful of nuts from H.E.B. when I was a teeny bit older than she is. I don’t remember getting into trouble, but my mom found out because I couldn’t crack the pecans open myself. lol.) I don’t know.

On the way out of Jackson I spotted Best Buy and decided to drop in to check on something they didn’t end up having. I did get a chance to drool over the XTi, though. My God is that thing gorgeous!

We had an hour drive home, then another hour out of our way so we could pay the sitter for this week. She actually is open, but my two youngest babes have goopy eyes, so they will not be going in case it really is pink eye.

And speaking of that, I had quite the run-around today with freakin’ Walgreens. I dropped off Jaylen’s prescription last night and was told I could pick it up in the morning (on our way to Jackson). At 11 am I get a call saying that it cannot be done. Huh? So I call and sulfacetamide is out of stock. Lovely. Apparently they are expecting it on their big shipment, which will arrive later in the day. I call again when we are leaving Jackson, and the shipment has not arrived. I call again around 5pm and the shipment has finally arrived, but they have yet to physically put their hands on what we needed. The guy I’ve been dealing with says he will do it personally, and asked me to call back in an hour. I called back at 6:30pm, after dinner (we ate out and were a block away), and they had it but there were problems. One, they are not sure if he was prescribed eye drops or what. Two, they think the dosage is wrong. Three, Tricare said our policy was not active and so we’d have to pay for the script out-of-pocket (which was only $15; we have a $3 co-pay with insurance). By this point I was FURIOUS! The pharmacist said she’d get everything straightened out and would call me back. In the meantime, when we got back home, I called Bryan to ask about the insurance. Now look, we should still have insurance until the end of February, but maybe something happened or there was something he was not telling me. I called to ask and when he finally answered/called back he said he wasn’t sure if we still had insurance or not. Now, tell me: how are you responsible for insurance for three kids and two adults and you do not have a clue whether or not you actually still have insurance you are entitled to?! OMG! I called Tricare and after five minutes of them not being able to get my first name right (I am Echo, not Raquel and not Ethel!), the automated system hung up on me because our zipcode does not match the sponsor’s zipcode. (I was not having such a fun time at this point.) In the end, everything’s fine and I got it for the price I should, but goodness gracious. “I was fit to be tied,” as my mom often says.

At bedtime tonight I picked the book Skippyjon Jones, one of the many books we got at the book fair in November that I had not yet read (Mom’s read it to them). I LOVE THIS BOOK! Oh my goodness! This little Siamese cat pretends to be a chihuahua and has an adventure (don’t want to spoil the book!) – and they speak in ‘spanglish’ (spanish and english combined) and rhyme! It’s too cute!

Jenna Grace is ten months old today!

Jaiden goes back to school in the morning!

I am watching my caloric intake and OMG – I am SO FREAKIN’ HUNGRY RIGHT NOW! I want some Cheddr Peppers from Sonic! And some apple pie! And some sugar cookies from Subway! I’ve eaten a little more than I should have today, what with two buffets (but I ate healthier at Chinese, I swear). Oh and my mom .. my feisty little mom with the big mouth was talking smack about people hoarding all of the lo mein and buttered shrimp at Chinese tonight. I swear she has a death wish sometimes. lol.

And this was my day! See, I told you it was pretty boring!

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