SURE TO EMBARRASS

Embarrassment. It's an emotion that I'm sure to feel at some point when we all venture out as a family. And I'm not easy to embarrass. Between the boys and Chris, someone will come through you can bet on it! This past weekend was no exception. When Bethany, the boys and I were waiting to meet Tara at our usual spot in Shelby County, I decided to take the few extra minutes we had to clean out some trash in the van. The boys are always antsy to get out of their carseats, so they were out of the van playing in the grassy area beside me. Umby had a migraine coming on so she was resting in the front with her seat reclined. As I take a moment from my car-cleaning to look up and check on the boys, I see Mac in all his glory using their little grassy play area as his own personal restroom. The exit off which we meet is a busy one - quite busy. And the gas station where we meet is usually the busiest place off that exit. As if that weren't enough, while I'm helping Mac cover himself back up and explaining to him that just because it's grass doesn't mean he can use it like he does the woods at our house, I look over to find Reid completely undressed from the waist down: shorts, diaper, all of it. And he's a man's man in that as soon as that diaper comes off, the hand goes to it. He showed no shame in his game that day either. And while I got a "get control of your kids, lady" glare from some random woman, all I could do was laugh. And laugh we did, didn't we, Umby! Boys!

So yesterday we all venture out to do our bulk-buying. We love buying in bulk and like things about both Sam's and Costco so when we need to replenish most of what we buy in bulk, we usually have to make stops to both. That was the case yesterday. We went to Costco first, and the shopping went off without a hitch. They had samples of pizza and Monster energy drinks so we were all good to go for a bit. :) It's off to Sam's we go. By the time we get finished in Sam's, the boys are hungry and tired and they're letting everyone know it. In the parking lot I have Reid on my hip, Mac hanging on to my leg wanting my other hip, and Grant a few steps behind acting as if he's run a marathon and cannot muster enough energy to take a few more steps to the car. Chris is about 10 steps ahead of all of us acting as if he hasn't a clue who the woman with all those screaming kids are. We obviously caught the attention of a dear elderly man who stood by his truck just watching all the commotion. I glanced over at him and saw him smiling, almost laughing, with that, "oh, bless your heart but what were you thinking" look. I smile back and just shake my head. The man looks over at my sweet husband with a look that Chris obviously interpreted as a "didn't you figure out what was causing that" question - to which my loving spouse replied, "WE DIDN'T HAVE A T.V." Dear old man gave a little chuckle, continued watching as we loaded everything and everyone into the van, and moseyed his way on into Sam's.