I threw my red purse over my shoulder (love that red purse), found my car keys and headed out the front door.
It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon but I had to go out to the stores, fight the crowds to buy a few items for art projects at Michaels.
Alexis heard the news: Mom's Going To The Store!
She ran out the front door waving her arms and screaming, "Can I go? Can I go? MOM - CAN I GO?"
I let her go.
She was excited.
She was in a good mood.
She sang in the van all the way to Michaels.
We entered the store - passing the plastic pumpkins in the large wire bins by the front door.
We passed the candle aisle, the aisle with tons of different beads, the t-shirts and frames and artificial flowers.
I located the oil paints and picked out the colors; burnt amber, white, blue and sienna, and threw the tubes to the bottom of my basket.
I found the paint brushes - spending way too much time admiring the huge selection and deciding on the size and brand the girls would prefer.
I threw the brushes into my basket.
I found the poster board.
I looked at the Halloween and Christmas decorations.
I wandered over to the basket aisle - all the while Alexis following behind me.
Her excited face was becoming less and less enthusiastic.
Her energy level was deteriorating.
Her smile had turned downward.
"What's the matter?" I finally asked her.
"This is not a good way to spend my day," she complained.
"I didn't make you come. Why did you want to come?" I asked.
Her eyes brightened.
She came over and stood next to me.
She said ...
"I's hopin' I'd be able to buy one of those Halloween things that Victoria got," she smiled real big. "Where's the fl-oam ... anyways? It's probably on the fl-oam aisle. It's a haunted house made of fl-oam."
Okay ...
I guess f-o-a-m isn't one of those words you necessarily hear everyday.
I guess this is why she hasn't yet realized that the word f-o-a-m ... has no l in it.
I guess if you are 7 years old ... putting an l in the word f-o-a-m ... isn't that big a deal.
I just looked at her and tried not to laugh.
"Where is it?" she asked louder. "Where's the F-L-O-A-M aisle?"
Then ...
I laughed.
Then ...
We found the F-L-O-A-M aisle.
We didn't find the fl-oam haunted house set, but we did find this darling fl-oam haunted cemetary. Alexis went straight home and put it together all by herself.
On the upside ... For the record ... F-O-A-M is not a word that should have an l in it. Say it a couple of times. The innocent word that previously describes a product used to make Halloween crafts or chair cushions ... suddenly becomes a word that possibly now describes ... stinky fluids that secrete from the orifices of slimy creatures that might live under rocks or fallen trees in the forest. Or worse ... the description of the oozing of fluids secreting from various orifices of ... ugly people in ... poorly scripted pornographic movies.