A Lesson in Spending Money

Elley loves Build-A-Bear. Although, we've only actually built a bear once, she loves going into the store and looking at all the outfits, looking at all the bears, and dreaming a little. She asks every time if we could build a bear, but do you know how poor we would be if we built a bear and dressed it every time we went to the mall? A few months ago, after we had made a visit to this store, she once again asked if she could make a bear. Me, thinking I could teach her a little bit about money, told her she could save up her money and when she had enough we would come back. We talked about helping mommy around the house to earn some money. She was so excited!!!

She made it to $3.55.

We had to make a trip to Target (we love that store) and she asked if she could buy some lip gloss. I explained that she would have to use her own money and that would take away from her Build-A-Bear fund. She was okay with this and ran to get her wallet.

When we got to Target, we went right for the makeup. Elley took her sweet little time picking out the perfect color. When she finally found what she wanted I told her that it would take all her money to get this lip gloss. She agreed and we finished our shopping.

When it was time to pay luckily there was no line behind us. I wanted Elley to do this on her own. When the cashier told her the total, I was mortified when Elley whips out her play credit card and tried to hand it to the lady. She put it back after I told her that wouldn't work and I started to help her count out her money. When we counted it all out the cashier started to put it in her drawer. Realizing that the lip gloss required all her money except for a few pennies she replied, "hey, that's all my money." Oh sweet, sweet Elley.....I feel your pain!

It's a hard lesson but one I hope will teach her that we can't have everything we see....even a small tube of lip gloss.

Now that I think of it, saving up for a Build-A-Bear was probably a goal that was unreachable for a 4 year old. We'll just stick to the lip glosses from now on.

Look how much she enjoyed the lip gloss. We finally had to take it away after she spent the majority of the day applying. At least she was sharing with her sister!

What a girl!!! As I've said before, I have no idea where she gets it from!

Target and Evelyn's Missing Purse

A few weeks ago the girls and I took a trip to Target one afternoon. I can't even remember why we were there, probably just getting out of the house. When we walked in, it was cold outside and a little cloudy but nothing that made me think that snow was on it's way. As we walked out, we were covered with the biggest snow flakes I've ever seen. Snow was sticking to the cars, the side walks, and the carts that were in the parking lot. The girls and I ran to the car. As I was getting Elley in the car she said, "mom, the snow is covering your hair."

We pulled out of our spot and I was waiting to turn onto the main drive of the parking lot when Molly says,

"MOM! A PURSE, A PURSE!"

I had no idea what she was talking about as I looked onto the passenger seat and saw mine sitting there all wet and somewhat covered with snow. So I said to her, "mommy has her purse right here Molly."In a big loud voice once again she says,

"NO MOMMY, A PURSE, A PURSE."

So I looked back at her and she is looking out her window at the carts in the cart return. And sure enough, there is a purse sitting in the child seat of a cart, in the cart return, covered with snow.

I could believe that she actually saw that purse. We pulled over, I ran out into the snow, and we rescued that purse. I unzipped it and found a checkbook right on top. I found a phone number on the checks and called. Evelyn was the owner of the purse. I talked to her for a minute, finding out that she had been looking for her purse and was just about to go check her car. I realized from her address that she was on my way home. I told her to meet me at the front of her subdivision.

On the way there, the girls were full of questions.

~where does Evelyn live?

~is Evelyn a mommy?

~how many kids does she have?

~does she have any little girls?

~can I play with them?

~why did she leave her purse at Target?

~why do we have to give it back?

~why does it make us sad when we lose things?

~is she crying?

We talked about all these questions, realizing how sad we would be if we lost some of our toys, books, dress up clothes, and even our own purses.

When we finally met up with Evelyn she was so happy we had found her purse. She even tried to give us some money. The only thing I wanted from her was for her to meet my girls. It was important to me that they saw how happy and thankful Evelyn was to have her purse back. I did tell Evelyn how lucky she was that I had girls, especially girls that LOVE purses. They can spot a purse from miles away.......even when covered in snow.

I was, and still am so thankful for this opportunity to teach my girls a very important lesson in life. As I said my prayers that night I thanked my Heavenly Father for the chance to teach my girls to always be honest, even when no one is looking. I hope they recognize how they felt even being as young as they are. I hope they know how happy their Heavenly Father was for the choice they made to give the missing purse back. I hope they know how much their mom loves them and how proud of them I am. I hope they remember this experience for the rest of their lives. We talked about this experience for days after it happened and even the other night when we pulled into the Target parking lot Elley mentioned that this was the place we found Evelyn's purse.

I don't post this story to boast but to remember and to teach my kids that the most important things in life are not things. To remember who we are at all times, and in all things, and in all places.

Spring Break 2011

Since Elley started preschool this past fall, I guess you could say that this is our first official Spring Break. Saturday of last week I was actually making plans around her school schedule, and then it dawned on me. Then and there I decided to go all out for our vacation. Well, not all out. Daddy had to work and I still had to babysit 2 of the days, but we made the most of it!!!

It all started with fancying up our nails. What's spring break without fresh manicures and pedicures? Besides, we went swimming on Wednesday and we needed our nails to look just right!

Thursday was half price day at the zoo, and it was one of the few warm days of the week. So, we packed a lunch and headed out for a fun day of animals.

Molly sure loves animals! These geese were everywhere. Molly really wanted one of them to be her friend. I took this picture right before this mean goose hissed at Molly, sending her running for dear life wondering why this little goose didn't want to be her friend. I tried to warn her....Canadian Geese can be so mean!

Some pictures of our animal friends

This was pretty neat. Molly and Elley got to feed Gilbert the Giraffe. I really don't know if this is his name or not. The lady told us but we forgot, Gilbert is the name we gave him. I wasn't surprised when Molly walked right up to this large animal and fed it some breakfast. Elley, on the other hand, I was very surprised. I guess she wasn't going to let sister show her up.

Just playing around

We also had a chance to feed the goats. I think one day Molly will be a farmer, or a Vet, or a zoo keeper. She loved these goats and even gave one of them a kiss. We must of fed the goats for a good 30 minutes, I just couldn't get her away.

Here is Gilbert again.

We had such a fun time. We even stopped for ice cream on the way home. The girls picked Pink Bubble Gum ice cream, how gross is that? They gobbled every last bite. The only sad part of the day was daddy couldn't come. Next time we'll take him.

Today we went to the Nature Center with our friends Jill, Carter, and Hailey and Brittney, Hunter, and Wyatt.

Elley, Carter, and Hunter.

Molly Wyatt

Molly, Carter and Wyatt.......who clearly wanted to be done with the whole "put your head in this hole and let us take a picture" thing.

All the cute kids except for Hailey. It's really hard to get 5 kids to look at you for 1 picture!

Molly and Elley

Hailey and Carter

Wyatt and Hunter.....dude, what's up with Wyatt today?!!? :)

My crazy girl!!!

I just can't believe how big these kids are. I think Elley was around one when we started this little play group thing. They are just too cute! We are so lucky to have such GREAT friends!