where i should be...

**this is a long post tying in two thoughts, hang in there, keep reading and you should get a good word in by the end! **

today, i definitely most certainly will not be grocery shopping with all four kids. remember i told you to mark my words the other day that i will not ever take all four kids with me shopping. i had a few encouraging comments left about that post, i so appreciate that! also online grocery shopping was mentioned & suggested. the funny thing is, that when jaelyn was born and really ever since i have used that. most recently, thinking i was saving a lot by going shopping at certain stores, i gave it a go. the money i saved was certainly not worth the sanity i lost! i will resume to my online shopping, try to use more coupons and stock up at costco.

last night i sat down with my receipt from super walmart and did the online shopping at harris teeter for the same items. i found out that shopping at walmart saved twenty dollars. but, i bought things and brands at walmart that i wouldn't normally buy at harris teeter. so if i continue to shop the specials, use coupons and keep my paper products stocked from costco. i think we can make harris teeter online shopping fit into our budget! plus buying online and reviewing the order before it is placed has always saved me a surprise amount at the long check out lines, saves me from having to say no to the kids for the extras and saves my sanity!

so how about you, how do you balance shopping with kids? what's your trick, please share!

ok, onto where i should be today...

today, i should have had my super cute vera bradley overnight bag packed, a beach bag in hand, and a beach chair too. i should have met up with ten of my favorite ladies in our church parking lot and we should have been on the road to carolina beach for a girlfriend's beach getaway.

but i am not. i am so bummed. our trip that we planned months and months ago, gradually fell apart. one by one, until it was down to just a handfull going. and when it was down to three we had to make the same decision as the others before us whether to go or not to go. each made a responsible decision to not go because it was best for their family for whatever personal reason they held.

it was my turn to look at the decision on where i should be? from the outside and without emotion, i had to decide what is best for my family. after talking with my friend teri, thinking it through and talking with jamil, i decided to make a big girl choice and say no to the trip i longed for and so much desired and needed.

making a sound choice for financial reasons, mostly was oh so hard. i really, truly wanted to just go anyway, even though it may not have been the best decision. because after all i need to get away, relax and enjoy the company of some great girlfriends. who doesn't need that? but in reality, it was not the best choice.
unfortunately, there will be no one enjoying a girlfriend's beach getaway. we all made the choice to stay home this weekend. fortunately, we can just fondly revisit last year's trip with sweet memories and a few pictures.

in the end, we all made the choice independently of each other, to stay home and to put our family's needs first, whatever they were for each of us.

knowing, we all are where we should be this weekend is comforting.

isn't that the kinds of choices a mom sacrifially makes most often? where we should be.

and what a blessing it is to have that choice.

have you been faced with choices like this in your life? are your resentful or joyful & what is the choice you made?