Dollar Store

The last few years we have done a trip to the dollar store.  We go because it is fun and is a day out of the house(45 minutes-an hour at the store and at least the rest of the day playing with the purchases).  We also go so the kids can have experience spending money on a budget.  They are able to pick anything out that they want, but can only pick 2 things.  

We have done this trip at several different times of year.  Typically we go in the winter to escape cabin fever.  I have also taken the kids before Andy's birthday and had them pick out a gift for him.  This was an interesting lesson in picking something out that someone else would like and not something for themselves.  We never made it this winter and Caleb was on spring break so we did it now.  

We go through the entire store.  As we walk down each aisle more and more things get put into the cart and the decision gets harder and harder.  Phrases like "I wish we could get 3 things" or "I wish we owned everything in the store" were uttered many times.  Some decisions were easier than others, but after about 45 minutes of walking up and down the aisles we came home with some awesome things.

The Sweetest Birthday Card

Yesterday Caleb was at a birthday party for a girl in his class.  As he went through the goody bag on the way home he showed me everything he got.  When he can came across a pack of girl stickers he seemed only slightly disappointed and instantly said he would give them to Lucy. He is a great kid and brother like that.   (After his Valentines day party at school he came home, took one piece of candy, let everyone else pick any one they wanted, including Mom and Dad, which took nearly the entire stash.)  After a while he took them back and decided he had a project to do with them.  This caused Lucy to have a HUGE tantrum.  It only took me a few seconds to think that he wanted to make me a birthday card (even though it is a month away), because what else would he want girl stickers for.  Asking Caleb to tell Lucy what he wanted them for was even one of my techniques for getting Lucy to calm down.  He didn't share at first, because he didn't want me to know, but he eventually  shared it privately and she calmed down. 
My suspisions were confirmed this morning when they decided to start making it.  Lucy snuck and got the supplies and they closed themselves off in her room.  I never saw it but they came out several times to confirm the spelling of the word birthday. 
The cuteness continued with a discussion of when to give it to me.  Lucy couldn't wait and said it was okay to do it early, but Caleb won the argument with it being necessary to hide it until the very big day.  I hope they remember it  because I can't wait to see it! I don't even know where they put it so I can' t take a peak or a picture. 

FIVE

I cannot believe that Lucy is five.  I mean a whole hand.  How can this be.  She can be feisty sometimes, but I cannot imagine life without her.  It is going to be hard to see her off to school this fall!

She is such a little helper.  She enjoys washing the kitchen table and when she hears the dryer, she leaps up and asks if she can go get the laundry and bring it upstairs.  I always answer yes.  She is fluent in "mother-ease" and wants to be Nellie's babysitter and is asked not to move/pick her up constantly. She picks out Nellie's clothes and one day even got her shirt and socks on when I had to help Toby and left her just in a diaper.  She is learning to read and loves the BOB books.  She is looking forward to warmer weather so she can be out on her bike, roller blades or scooter all the time.  She is such a tomboy and girly-girl rolled into one.

5 is such a fun birthday as they look forward to it for so long.  When I asked her what she wanted she said, "I want a surprise not a told."  Well that did not help too much as I was looking for ideas.  We ended up getting her a set of girl Legos.  She started building them as soon as she opened the pack.  She did pretty well following the directions herself, I only helped her a little.  Caleb had gotten one of these bins for Christmas a few years back.  I love the storage and the bins are only half full so extra sets fit too.

We did a princess cake again this year.  T
his is the third year in a row and I think I finally made a nice dress shape.

Three Years (Cinderella in her pink dress - she has some wide hips)

 Four Years (Belle - she is a little short, Lucy pointed that out to me)

Five Years (Belle again- I think this dress is the best yet)

Today we got her pictures taken at JC Pennys and put rollers in for the first time.  She was in heaven.  We need to work on her camera shyness.  I guess she gets that from her mother.

Organized!

I almost never go shopping (besides to the grocery story) anymore.  Online shopping and free shipping are my friends.  A month or so ago I met my sister at Ikea.  She was looking for a bistro set.  I was looking for nightstands.  The largest positive to online shopping is that you can usually checkout without lots of random things you may or may not need in your cart.  Stores like Ikea and Target can be especially dangerous.  Needless to say I found a few things that were not on my list.  I saw these wall organization baskets and thought they would help with out counter clutter.  

Our kitchen has only 6 feet of counter space (one 4 1/2 ft section and one 1 1/2 foot section.  With a knife block, paper towel holder, and...clutter...there is never any room to work.  We put them up a few weeks ago, but I had never gotten the counter all cleared off until TODAY.

The right basket has coupons, stamps, paperwork to complete, and other small things we need on hand quickly.  We also fount it to be a great place to store our IPad.  The right bin has a cup of pens and pencils, scissors and can hold our wallets and cell phones. The bucket has our chargers in it.  We off centered the bar slightly so that the outlet would sit right next to the two baskets for easy access.  I hope to keep this counter clear of clutter...and am glad to have this post to help keep me motivated.

Swimsuit Ready

All the stores are filled with bright colored clothing...shorts..short-sleeves...and...swimsuits.  

I cannot say that I am ready to hop into a swimsuit myself, but I am swimsuit ready.  

That is ready to see this little one in a swimsuit.  

 As reluctant as I am to show my own thighs, I cannot wait to see these all day every day. 

 Her curves are to die for. 

Mine...well, I'd be willing to pass some of them along.

Glass Half Full

I am a pessimist by nature.  I am a huge worrier.  I stress easily.  I usually think about how bad things could be long before I see how well it is working out.  

Hindsight is 20/20 and I am able to see the positives in the past easily.  Each night I ask the kids what their favorite part of their day was.  As I am falling asleep I think about what each member of the family did that day that made me happy.  It helps me end my day on a high note.

During the day, when I am actually living the situation, I often have to stop and redirect myself in order to see the glass half full.

For example, the kids were fighting this morning and it was getting on my nerves.  When I thought about why they were fighting, I had to smile.  It is the same fight nearly every morning. Each of the older three want to have Nellie's full attention.  Toby was upset that he could not squeeze into the one inch between Nellie and me in the bed (Lucy was already on the other side of Nellie).  Lucy was upset that when Caleb climbed in, Nellie looked at him and away from her.  Caleb was upset that he was going to leave for school and needed to get in his time before he had to leave. They resolved it on their own when Lucy, the instigator of most of these fights over Nellie, came up with the plan that Caleb gets her in the mornings since he goes to school.

We will see how long the truce lasts...see it is hard to get rid of the negative thinking, but I try to make an effort to do so every day.