This Saturday was kind of ugh. My husband worked all day — he’s still working right now, at 10 pm. So it was just me and the kids. I managed to get them all to the kids’ haircut place this morning — they desperately needed trims. After that we dropped my oldest off at his art class. I had hoped to go check out this really large thrift store that’s nearby, but the way the kids were acting, I decided it wasn’t wise.

I think the kids are my biggest protection against spending money because they simply keep me out of the stores!

I hoped we would get back out of the house again but it just didn’t happen. In part because my minivan ended up blocked in by all my husband’s work trucks, but also because the kids were super whiny and crazy all day. They kept themselves amused pretty well, but someone was having a breakdown or a boo boo every five minutes.

I did have them help me try out this recipe for pumpkin gingerbread bars. I won’t bother linking to it because unfortunately, they didn’t turn out too well. The taste wasn’t bad, but they seemed really uncooked in the middle. Too bad because I was craving something pumpkin.

Dinner was a smorgasboard of grilled cheese sandwiches, Spaghettios, and steamed string beans. My greatest victory of the day was that I got my little guy to try both the Spaghettios and the grilled cheese, at the end of a week where he insisted on cereal, yogurt or bananas for every meal.

Now, my oldest and I are watching “The Pursuit of Happyness” and enjoying the peace and quiet that descends on the household once the terrible Irish twins are asleep.

Tomorrow, looking forward to a bowling birthday party for my best friend’s daughter, a trip to that thrift store, and a new episode of “True Detective.” I would love to get rid of 90% of my channels but I need my HBO.

I think I will give myself the week off from couponing.