A Dollar Bill and Five Years

On this day five years ago our precious son Carter took his final breaths on earth and passed on into Heaven. Today is a hard day. A very hard day. It is my least favorite day of the year! I miss my Carter so very much!

I've been thinking about Carter all weekend...

At 11pm on Friday evening I found myself in the garage going through a bin of Carter's old clothes. His bin of 3T/4T clothes. The last size of clothing Carter wore. I hadn't planned on going through this bin of clothes at this time, as I knew it would be emotional, especially so close to the anniversary of his passing. But we were recently given a bunch of hand-me-down clothing for Camden, that I washed and sorted and needed to pack away. And Jeremy was out chaperoning the high school prom. And the kids were in bed. And that's how I ended up in the garage going through Carter's clothes at 11pm on a Friday night!

As I was sorting through Carter's clothes, I picked up a pair of his shorts [my favorite brown cargo ones that Angela Shea took pics of him wearing] and felt a crinkle near the cargo pocket. I opened it up and found a crisp dollar bill, folded in half and stiff from going through the wash. Wow! These shorts had been washed and packed away five years ago. Carter had put this dollar bill in his pocket over five years ago, and I was just finding it now! It was quite an emotional surprise to find something that Carter did so many years ago. We had packed up Carter's bedroom just a few weeks after he passed away [which is much sooner than most grieving parents do], because we needed to get it ready for his sister Claira, who was born just 10 weeks after he died. And we moved out of the house that Carter lived in/died in just 10 months after he passed. So needless to say, I really didn't expect to ever come across something "new" that was left behind by Carter. It was a nice surprise. It made me laugh. And it made me cry. I didn't know what the heck to do with the dollar-- it's not like I was going to spend it, and framing it would just be weird, so I just folded it back up and stuck it back in the pocket of his shorts. I guess I'll find it again when Camden grows into that size.

So that was Friday.

Yesterday I was a complete mess. I was irritable and grumpy as I anticipated facing today [sometimes the anticipation is worse than the day itself]. My poor husband had to put up with my not-so-nice self. He prepared and served the kids all three meals, took the kids outside to play, and even mopped the floors (that embarrassingly hadn't been cleaned in a month!)-- all while I locked myself in our bedroom and grieved. I feel awful for being so grumpy yesterday. I hate that I acted that way! [Jeremy: I am so sorry! Thank you for giving me so much time to myself! I love you and appreciate you giving me that time to grieve.]

So that was yesterday.

Today Jeremy had to go to work, so I've had to pull myself together, take care of the kids and be productive- and that's a good thing. Allowing oneself to burrow down in the pit of grief for too long is not good. Especially when you have so many little ones that depend on you to take care of them! So, after getting the oldest two girls ready and off to school/preschool, I took the youngest three to the cemetery to spend some time at Carter's grave site. It's always interesting taking the twins (who are 3) there. "Where's Carter?" they ask me. "I thought you said we were going to visit Carter? Where is he?" I tell them the truth, that his body is buried under the ground and that his spirit is in Heaven, with a new body. The twins look at the ground of his grave and see the little golf hole we have set up there. "Maybe he's in that hole?" one says as she bends down and peers into the hole, looking for him. "Maybe Carter will come out and play with his toys [a few golf balls, trucks and sea shells that have been left there] after we leave?" another twin says. "I wish we could play with him!" they both say. "Me too girls, me too!" I tell them.

After that I took the kids to the playground and let them play for about an hour. There was nobody else there, and it was nice to have the place to ourselves. Carter had played on that playground. It was newly built just a few months before he passed away. I remember he peeled off one of the warning labels on this playground. What an odd memory.

After that we went to Lowes to pick up a new roll of "fake grass turf" [is that what it's called?] for Carter's grave. Several years ago we set up Carter's grave to look like a mini-putt hole, since he loved golf. And we were having trouble getting grass to grow on his grave, so this fake grass stuff works well. It's funny. And unconventional. And cheesy. And we like it. And Carter would've liked it. So anyways, the fake turf that we had placed down 4 1/2 years ago is quite worn and weathered now, so I bought a fresh roll. Jeremy took the older two girls to the cemetery after school to put the new turf down.

So that was today. 

I'm not sure why I shared all that, but I did. It feels good to share some memories and to share some of my grief. Thanks for reading. And thanks for remembering our Carter.

The BEST $100 I've ever spent!

As a mother of lots of littles, I am always looking for ways to save time and make life easier. Today I'd like to share with you one of my biggest time and sanity savers.

Harris Teeter's online grocery shopping!!!

Last spring I paid $100 to sign up for one year of Harris Teeter's online grocery shopping service. 
It has been the BEST money I've ever spent!

For those unfamiliar with this service, here's how it works:

1. Register online at www.harristeeter.com
2. Select the groceries you want to purchase.
3. Select a pick-up day, time and store location.
4. Select a payment method.
5. Pick up your groceries through their drive through lane!

There are five things that I LOVE about Harris Teeter's online grocery shopping:

1) You can shop from the comfort of your home, sitting on your couch in your pj's! You don't even have to leave the house if your husband picks it up on his way home from work!
2) You can place as MANY grocery orders as you want during the course of the year. There is no limit! There have been times that I have placed 3 orders in a single week. You can place an order every single day if you want/need to! I have even placed 2 orders in the same day, when I forgot a few items!
3) You don't have to get out of your vehicle when picking up your groceries! When you pull up to the pick-up lane, you simply ring a bell, and a clerk will be out within a couple minutes. The clerk will come to your window to swipe your CC for payment, and then they load the groceries into your trunk. Easy peasy!
4) You can use coupons! Harris Teeter will allow you to use coupons on your online orders, and all of the normal store polices for coupons apply (including their super doubles/triples promotions). The only difference is that they will subtract the value of your coupons from your NEXT online order.
5) You can add a note to your order, with specific requests about an item. For example, if you want your bananas green so that they will stay fresh longer, you can request that. Or if you want the biggest turkey they have in stock for your large family gathering, you can request that too.

There are three different payment options to choose from:

1) Pay $4.95 for a one time grocery order.
2) Pay $16.95 for one month of unlimited grocery orders.
3) Pay $99.95 for one YEAR of unlimited grocery orders.

I chose the one year option for $99.95. To find out how much I'm paying per order, let's do some math. Over the past 9 months I have placed 54 online orders. That's an average of 6 orders per month. There are 3 months remaining in my one year pre-paid period. If I continue with my average of 6 orders per month (6x3=18), I will reach 72 orders by the end of the year (54+18=72). That works out to only $1.38 per order!!! ($99.95➗ 72= $1.38) So, paying for the one year fee is obviously a much better deal for my family than paying for the one-time or monthly fees. I'll gladly pay $1.38 to save me the hassle of wrangling 5 young kids through the grocery store!

Harris Teeter will waive the $4.95 fee on your first order so that you can try it for free. They also periodically run promotions where they will waive the $4.95 fee if you place a minimum order of $50 or sometimes $100.) This is a great way to try it again for free. But the awesome thing about when they run these promotions is that they also work for those that have already paid the yearly fee! Harris Teeter will deduct $4.95 from your order if you have already paid the yearly fee and meet the requirements of the promotion. For example, if I place a $50 order during a promotion week, they will automatically subtract $4.95, making my total only $45.05! I have done this several times, and it's a great way to "earn back" some of the money I paid for the yearly fee!

During the past 9 months (and 54 orders!) there have been mistakes with my order twice. The first time several items from my order had been left out. Apparently, the clerk had forgotten to grab a couple of my grocery bags from the holding fridge. To correct the error, a manager drove to my home and delivered the missing groceries! They also brought me a bouquet of beautiful flowers as a token of apology! The second mistake occurred when we received two extra bags of groceries that were not a part of our order (the customer's last name also began with a C). I called the store to inform them of the error so that the other customer would receive the correct items. They appreciated the call, but told us to just keep the extra groceries. That was a nice bonus! (Although we gave the cat food away!) In both cases the customer service was excellent!

I have been so thrilled with Harris Teeter's online shopping! It has made my life so much easier! I don't know how I would manage without it. It has saved our family gas, time, money, and sanity! I have NEVER had to corral all five kiddos in the grocery store thanks to this service!

So what are you waiting for?!? If you live in the south and are a mom with lots of littles, or a working woman too busy to shop, or an elderly lady with health/mobility issues, you need to try this out!

I'm Back!

I'm back! I know it's been forever since I last posted, and I've never posted on this blog with much consistency, but here I am! I have missed writing, and I have missed sharing, so I've decided to get back at it! I have set a goal for myself to write a post once per month. I know that's not a ton, but I like to set goals that are easy to attain. And if I happen to write more often, well that will just be a bonus! As you can see, I've made some updates to my blog- I've changed out the template & colors, and added some recent photos* of the family.

Speaking of family, we are doing well. Jeremy is in his third year at Charlotte Christian School. He is the upper school Spiritual Life Director and freshman Bible teacher. Jeremy really enjoys his students and coworkers, and I really enjoy the excellent work hours! It has been such a blessing to be a part of Charlotte Christian School! Our oldest daughter, Chloe (6) attends Kindergarten at CCS, which she loves! Our daughter, Claira (4) attends preschool at a local United Methodist Church, and is quite the smarty-pants! Our twins, Haven and Harper (3) keep me super busy at home! They are double trouble and double fun! And our youngest child, Camden (1) is such a happy little guy, with the cutest dimples and bright orange hair! We enjoy all of their unique personalities, and are so thankful for each one of them!

I've been working on a post titled "The best $100 I've ever spent!" and I'll be posting it sometime this weekend, so watch out for it!

Thanks for reading. It's good to be back!

~ Wanda

*Photo credits: Family photo and individual children's pics taken by Jennica Reis. Carter's photo taken by Angela Shea. Two incredibly talented photographers! Thank you both!