How Sweet Is He?!?!

I wanted to share a quick, sweet lil story from Saturday that really just touched me. =)

We have always been on a single income with no child support so our budget has been tight. Unfortunately this year I am having to spend a little more than $300 more a month on his new preschool compared to his home daycare from last year, so our budget is even tighter than it was. Occasionally, (not often at all) Brayden will ask me to buy things for him...not necessarily "big" items, sometimes it is something as simple as a slushie from Sonic. So I usually have to respond with a "no, sorry we can't get that its too expensive." He is always so sweet about it and "says ok" then he usually offers me the money from his piggy bank cause he has "lots of money in it." I always tell him thanks, I appreciate the offer but I need paper money not just coins.

Well on Thursday I had pulled his piggy bank down and put it on his desk. I didn't want it to be in the way when they installed the new cable box in his room. I completley forgot about it, and hadn't put it back up yet. So on Saturday when I thought he was just playing in his room, he actually was getting into his piggy bank. He opened the bottom, to get some of his money out and then he decided to put in one of his lil trucks that opened up.



He was so excited!! He brought it to me and said "Here's some money mommy. We can leave it in the car and now I can help you buy things." Of course my heart absolutely melted and a few tears were shed.

* I LOVE how he is willing to sacrifice his own piggy bank money to pitch in and help.
* I LOVE how he is always okay with the fact mommy can't buy him everything.
* I LOVE how when I say no to something his rebuttal is "because it cost too much money??" Yes, because it cost too much money. Then he replies "ok."
* I LOVE when I accidently leave a light on in a room, he will tell me I am wasting electricity AND money.
* I LOVE how he gets soo excited and a sense of pride knowing we used his money to buy his slushie. (BTW, he now INSISTS on keeping his truck of money in the cupholder of my car.)

I'm not for sure if it is necessarily the right thing to do....having money discussions with a 4 yr old, but it works for us. He get its, he accepts it, and bless his lil heart he wants to help. =)

Wordless Wednesday: Lookin forward to Friday

First Monday Canton Trade Days

Friend Makin Monday

This week's topic for Friend Makin Monday hosted by Amber is "Favorite Things". List a few favorite things that you can't live without.

Aside from my family and the obvious (my car, laptop, iPhone, DVR, washer/dryer, disherwasher, airconditioning, tv, etc..), here are just a few extra "things" that I CAN'T live without:











At the end of summer, I also created a Top 10 List of my Favorite Summer things if you want to check out that post.

What about you? What are your favorite things you can't live without? You can join the fun by creating your own post and then linking back to Amber's blog.

Happy Friend Makin' Monday!

New Button

Thanks to a GREAT and super EASY tutorial over at Shabby Blogs, I now have my very own button. =) You can find it over on the right hand side with the HTML code to grab and add to your own blog. Thanks!

Gettin Honest Again...

I was recently honored again with the Honest Scrap Award...this time Six in One Hand Madness in the Other passed it on to me. =)She has some really great decorating and DIY tutorials, if you get a chance check out her great blog.

Here are the rules that must be followed upon receiving this award:
1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.
2) Share "10 Honest Things" about myself.
3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.
4) Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving.

So, without further adieu.....

1) I would LOVE to be an official party planner and/or giftwrapper. I LOVE creating themed events/gifts.

2) I am so excited that I only have 3 more classes (or 3 more midterms, 3 finals and 15 assignments) to go before I can officially say I have a Masters of Education in Teacher Leadership.

3) According to Brayden I'm getting married!....to him. =) He drew a cute picture of us holding hands and said it was a picture of us getting married. He even pulled out a ring for each of us to have a "married ring" from his pirate treasures. (Isn't he so precious!)

4) This last week at school, on one particular day and within an hour of each other, I was exposed to both headlice (with eggs) and the H1N1 virus....Oh, the joys of being a teacher. On the bright side, I'm helping keep Lysol in business. =)

5) This week alone I have gotten corrected by Brayden TWO times. He asked me what a particular work truck was next to us at a stoplight. So I gave the girly answer "a cement truck." He instantly replied with attitude, "No, mommy it's not a cement truck...cause it's not spinning!" (Of course, he was right.) Then one night we were playing outside I told him to look up at an airplane. He replied, "No mommy it's not an airplane...it's a jet." Again, he was right and I apparently need to brush up on my skills of distinguishing transportation vehicles.

6) I just switched cable/internet companies from Time Warner Cable to ATT Uverse and I LOVE it!!! I highly recommend it if you have it available in your area.

7) I need/hope to begin an exercise program soon but usually find any and every excuse possible to do the total opposite.

8) I LOVE to cook but HATE to do dishes...so sadly this leads to a lot of frozen meals at our house.

9) As I type this I am watching the movie Prom Night that I recorded from Starz. If your into teenager/scary/jumpy kind of movies...it's been pretty good, especially for FREE.

10) Last but not least and to show how completely I honest I am with these I thought I would share an embarrassing story with you guys. A couple of weeks ago Brayden was studying patriotism at school. One of the things they learned was the Pledge of Allegiance. So on our way home one evening I asked him if he could say it for me. He got as far as "I Pledge Allegiance under God and indivisible." So I tried to help him out--only I realized I was completely confused myself and couldn't say it! I know, I probably shouldn't have admitted to that but I feel I have a valid reason for my short brain amnesia. See in Texas we also have to daily recite a Texas pledge (we're only 1 out of 2 states that have their own pledge)...The words are: "Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible." So do you see how I could get a little tongue tied/confused? I was getting the two mixed up/combined with each other. It made me feel better when I called my mom to help us but she kept getting confused too. (Sorry mom) I instantly thought we were one of those people that Jay Leno always seems to find who can't answer the most obvious questions. Just to set the record straight, I did just fully recite the pledge in my head with no problems and no outside help. =)

If you enjoyed my honesties...here is a link to my original list.

I'd like to pass the award on to a few blogs I recently started following to hopefully get to know them a little better:

The Love Shack

Just Shy of a Y

Getting All My Ducks in a Row

New Day New Seasons

Roots and Wings, Co.

Amber Fielkins

Casa Camacho

I LOVE Lowe's!!

I just want to say how much I LOVE our local Lowe's in McKinney! This morning I took Brayden to his first lil Grow and Build Workshop at one of our local Lowes to build his very own firetruck. To be honest, I was a lil nervous because it was recommended for ages 5-12 so I was so afraid once we got there we would hear a "I'm sorry he's not 5 yet, please wait and come back next year." Thankfully we didn't have to hear those words and I was comforted to see many of the other participants were around his same age if not younger. If you have not checked out one of these FREE lil workshops, I highly recommend it! You do have to pre-register and I suggest registering in advance because they only have an alotted amount of kits. Here is the link to register. The next two workshops are a Ball Toss on Oct 10th and on Oct 24th "A Frankenstein Magic Trick". Both of which Brayden is very excited about and for the price I am VERY excited about it too. =)



Back to why I LOVE our local Lowes so much...They went above and beyond for this project! Not only did he get to make his own cute lil firetruck, receive his own lil Lowe's apron....they also had both the local Fire Dept and Police come out so the kids could tour the real firetruck and visit with the officers and fireman. The police dept also provided a super cute backpack bag with their name and phone number, coloring books/crayons, stickers, and a lil policecar that he has enjoyed playing with. After we left we went to another local Lowes (I had to return something) and quickly recognized they didnt have all the "lil extras" of the real firemen and policemen with their Grow and Build workshop that we got to experience. So a special thanks to Lowes SW McKinney for making our Saturday morning extra special.

Here is our final product:

He was able to do this.....
and this.....All on his own with no hurt fingers. =)
Deep concentration as he builds:




Outside by the Police SUV
Outside by the firetruck:

The fireman got this special tool out so Brayden could hold it for the picture. They use it to help open doors and windows.

The firman also gave out hats.
A fireman offered Brayden to put on his firecoat for a picture but unfortunately Brayden declined saying..."it's too big." Instead he rang the bell on the front of the truck...4x because "4's my favorite number! (why is 4 your favorite number?) Cause I'm 4!"

Despite both of us being a lil under the weather today, we had the best time and can't wait to go to another Grow and Build workshop.

P.S. I know Home Depot has children's workshops as well. They offer their workshop the first Saturday of each month at 9am or 12. Here is the link for their upcoming projects. From what I read, it doesn't look like you have to preregister for Home Depot.

Halloween Costume Ideas?

Sadly the last couple of months I have had a lil stress on the back of my mind and as the days creep closer to October 31st, my stress is increasing and INCREASING. I am trying to decide what in the world Brayden should be for Halloween. Luckily at his age I still have a huge influence on his costume. I usually try to go for something a lil unique/original. Here is a trip down memory lane to see his previous costumes:

His Baby Halloween Costume: An OSU (Oklahoma State) Fan...You can't tell but his shirt and shoes were OSU along with carrying an orange pompon.

First Halloween: Scarecrow-Homemade Style

Second Halloween: "Lil Stinker" / Skunk

SideView:

This was also the year it literally turned out to be 98+ degrees heat index outside. No Joke! So we definitely had to shed the top portion of his costume before it was even over with. (The previous year he was in double layers and still cold.)

Third Halloween: Woody (Apparently this would have been perfect for this year with the new Toy Story/Toy Story2 3D version coming out to promote Toy Story3.)

So do you have any cute/creative/unique ideas for a boy costume? We're not really into anything scary. His birthday party was a pirate theme so that has crossed my mind (but not really unique enough for me). I also thought about a rockstar because he LOVES to play his guitar. Luckily my mom is a pretty good sewer, so sewing can be involved if necessary. =)

UPDATE: Well after giving him MANY suggestions, the one costume idea he kept coming back to was this one:

So it's official! We ordered it from the Disney store today and hope to get it in 5-7days. It's really more money than I would have liked to have spent on a costume, but I think we will get a lot of use out of it...especially when we have another blacklight party. =)

Wordless Wednesday: School Day Pickup (from iPhone)

Hello Fall, Goodbye "Second" Home

Well today is the first official day of Fall, so I thought it would only be appropriate with the season changing to say a farewell to our second home. Over the summer we have acquired a "second" home. The best part about it, we only have to walk about 50yds to get there. The worst part, we can't enjoy it all 12 months of the year.....It's our Neighborhood Pool. Brayden has definitely found a new love of swimming this summer that lead us over to the pool at least every other day. His lil swimming confidence and skills have really improved over the summer. It's so fun to watch him get so excited as he tries new tricks and proud of himself when he succeeds. You might remember this post or this post where he showed off some of his skills. It can also be a lil frustrating for me when I know he can do something, but for some reason on THAT particular day he left his confidence/bravery back at our real house. Hopefully next summer he won't forget everything he has learned and accomplished this summer. =)

Getting out all by himself on the side, to jump in again...
Fish out of water:

Relaxin....
"Precious" as he likes to say...
As we say goodbye to summer, we look forward to the adventures fall will bring us. =)