Macy the cow girl

A few months ago Macy saw a cow girl outfit at Barnes and Noble that she wanted me to buy for her. Christmas had come and gone just a few weeks earlier so there was no way I was going to buy it. I told her that she could save up her money and buy it. To my surprise she agreed to save her money. 

In order to save money she had to make money so we started paying her a quarter for each chore she did. Sometimes she did her chores very willingly and was excited to get her quarter. Other times she did her chores but refused her quarter. (She did this out of embarrassment because we were praising her. She doesn't like getting praise.) I still put the quarter in her bag of money. Then other times I would have to bribe her with a quarter and remind her about the cow girl outfit in order for her to get the chores done. Sometimes she would do something completely on her own without me saying anything so I would reward her with a quarter. 

I wanted her to get the outfit before we moved so we counted her money today and it came to be $24! (Granted $10 was from grandparents, but still!) I knew I would have to help pay for the outfit but I only had to pay $5. We had a mommy daughter date at the mall. We bought her outfit then walked to the Apple store. She loves to play on the iPads. Then we walked to pottery barn kids. They had some really cute dolls there she liked. She was anxious to wear her new cow girl outfit so we went home. 

In the car she asked, "can we buy that doll in the store we saw?" I told her she can save her money again for the doll. She protested and did not like that answer. I explained to her that we have to save our money to buy things we really want. I told her how daddy and I had to save our money for a very long time so we could buy our new house. We were always mentioning to her how we were trying to save for a backyard. Then Macy understood and said she would save her money for a doll and a bunk bed for her doll. 

I was so glad I was able to teach her the lesson of the importance of saving money. I'm very grateful I can stay home with my kids so I can be there whenever an opportunity comes up to teach my daughters. 

Funny things from today

Macy has been asking to buy flip flops for a few weeks now. I'm not sure where this flip flop desire is coming from since it's still been winter-like temperatures here. Every day she's been asking to buy flip flops. She has even pretended that her regular shoes are flip flops. I'll ask her if she wants to wear her heart shoes and she'll answer, "Oh yeah, those are my flip flops."

We were at the mall today so I thought we'd pop into Old Navy to check out their flip flops. They were only $3.50 so I bought her a pair. When I told her we could buy some she was thrilled. She got a huge smile on her face and said, "YES!!" She picked out some coral colored flip flops with white hearts on them. She wore them out of the store. She asked me why she couldn't hear the flip flop noise. She really wants to hear that noise. Macy then requested playing on the playground at the mall with her new flip flops. She is so proud of those things.

I couldn't believe she actually wore them because in years past she has hated anything between her toes. Apparently this isn't bothering her anymore. I've never seen her little toes in flip flops so I think they look so adorable. I hope to get a picture soon. I have to help her put them on her left foot because she has a hard time spreading her toes apart. I think it's so cute. She even wanted to wear them to bed tonight because she was pretending they were her slippers. Hopefully we can get some warm weather soon so she can wear them outside.

Now for Anna. Ja is out of town tonight so I put her to bed (usually his job). I was rocking her while singing to her. She had her head resting on my shoulder and every few seconds she would lift it up to give me a kiss. It was the sweetest and cutest thing! Sometimes one kiss wasn't enough, she wanted two or three. She didn't pucker up but I knew she wanted a kiss because I could tell she was looking at my lips. I'm so glad I got to put her to bed tonight! I love kisses from Anna!

Macy the teenager

Macy begged for weeks to have her friends Claire, Izzy, and Valentine over for a play date. I wanted to be sure we did it before moving so fortunately all the girls could come last week. I thought having four little girls might be catastrophic but they did extremely well. There was no fighting over things which is what I expected. Thankfully it was our first warm spring day so we spent some time outside playing too. I loved having Macy's friends over to play. Having so many of them together brought thoughts into my mind of Macy as a teenager having her friends over to our house. Hopefully her friends will be as good as these girls :)

We started off my coloring with the books and crayons Valentine brought over. We turned on the soundtrack to Frozen and they all sang as they colored.

We spent time blowing bubbles and coloring with chalk. Then the girls moved on to the playground and played tag with each other.

 After snack time outside the girls asked if they could watch Frozen. I usually don't like watching movies when friends are over but I figured this was a socializing activity because I knew they would be talking and singing throughout the movie. I'm so glad I let them watch it because it was so funny. I  also made some popcorn for the four little teenagers. They took turns saying, "Shh! No talking." Then that some girl would start copying the movie or singing. Then another girl would say, "No talking! No singing!" It only lasted for the first part of the movie.

Valentine played with Macy's hair during the movie. So cute!

After Valentine went home I raced to get Izzy, Claire, and Macy to ballet. We were only a few minutes late which was a win for me! Macy cried half the ride over to ballet because she wanted to sit in the back with Izzy and Claire. She couldn't because we only have two seats in the back. She told me very adamantly that we need to buy a mini van! I know Macy, I know.

My little helper

Anna loves to help and do whatever I or Macy are doing. This time she watched me packed up our picture frames and wanted to help. She noticed how I put the blue tape on the glass of the frames and asked for some tape. This kept her busy for 20 minutes. She would put the tape on, remove it, place it somewhere else, crumple it up, ask for more, then start the process over. I took so many pictures of her because I loved watching her concentration while doing this task.

 She was determined to get the tape on there herself.

 I just love that sweet little face so much!

Then she found the bubble wrap and spend a few more minutes wrapping the frame a few times. 

Anna was kind enough to put the frame in the box!

 Good job Anna! Thank you!

Anna loves to clean- especially with a rag. If she sees me cleaning with any sort of rag she has to have one of her own. One morning I was cleaning out the microwave so she wanted to help to. She is so adorable when cleaning because she will put her face really close to the object and give it a very concentrated look and meticulous cleaning. I love watching her facial expressions. I'm sure in her mind she is doing a great job. I love having her clean with me.

Before cleaning the microwave she "helped" me by taking out all the kid dishes from the cupboard.

Time

Lately I've been rushing around all day trying to get things in order for our move. I've been cutting play time with the girls short or avoiding it so I can get something done. When I realized what I've been doing I felt bad for the loss of the last few weeks with my girls. Despite the hectic day to day activities I need to spend time just "being" with my girls. Macy and Anna shouldn't just be in the car with me or at the store with me. I should be playing with them more. 

Today I decided to spend more time playing and having fun with them. We went to the library this morning which turned out well. Usually Anna screams or pulls books off the shelves but she didn't today. They both found books then sat down at the table to read them. Macy read aloud to Anna. As we walked out to the car Macy found dandelions and picked a handful while Anna jumped off a tree stump. Macy told me she wants to grow dandelions in her new backyard.

After preschool, I took the girls to Clemyjontri Park (Macy now calls it the colorful park). We played and had a fun time. My favorite part was Macy running around trying to hide from me and I had to find her. When I "found" her (I could usually see her the whole time) I would point and say, "found you!" Then she would laugh and run in another direction. Anna followed around and would call out for Macy.

Fun times on the swing

At home, I normally would have told the girls to play on their own so I can make dinner. Tonight I decided to play with them instead and wait until Ja was done working to cook. We got out the Easter eggs yesterday so Macy and I had an Easter egg hunt. Then she pretended to be a pet chicken and laid some eggs. Then she was a puppy. She has a loud bark! We ate a later dinner than normal but everything still turned out fine.

My day was much more enjoyable today! I'm glad I took the time to enjoy my adorable girls whom I love so much. They won't be this age for long and I want to cherish every minute. Sometimes I have to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the day. I'm always glad when I do.