Christmas Shopping at its BEST!!

The other day, Kinlee told me that she really wanted to buy gifts for some of her friends. She proceeded to tell me that she wanted to use her own money (all $3.60 of it!). Well, her list (very limited list) began, and she had plans. Well, after she got a 2 day advance on her next allowance and received $5 in the mail from her grandparents, she was excited to realize that her list could grow - to 11 friends!!! Do the math....that's 11 friends, and $12.20 available to spend. So, off we went today to shop. We had the best time and it was so nice to see her sacrificing her limited funds to buy for others. With blue wallet and list in hand, we headed to Wal-Mart (because, you know...miracles can happen at Wal-Mart)!!:) She had fun picking out the right gift, writing it on her list, and moving on to the next name. By the way, may I add that Wal-Mart's collection of $1 earrings and $1 Christmas ornaments ROCK!!! Mission accomplished.....11 presents bought and .50 left to spare. (Okay, I spotted her the 88 cent box of candy canes). It was really neat to see her shop for others. What was even neater, though, was that right after we shopped at Wal-Mart and went to eat lunch, we headed to one more store to pick up a few things. It was an awesome lesson learned when we got up to the register, received our total of $8.07, only to have the man in line in front of us hand the cashier a $20 bill and say, "...here, just take it out of this..." The look on Kinlee's face (and probably mine, too) was priceless. A great lesson in "give and ye shall receive".... Definitely a day to remember...!!!:)

A trip to the Pink Palace

This past Saturday, I was able to go on a field trip with Kinlee to the Pink Palace in Memphis. Before arriving at the palace, the kids went to LeBonheur Children's Hospital and delivered some baby rattles that they had been collecting for the past several weeks. Although we did not get to go and see any of the kids there, I think it was good for the kids we took to be able to see that facility and realize how lucky they are to be up and walking around while so many kids are sick in bed.
A good stop, for sure...After leaving the hospital, we traveled to the palace. We got to see Santa vs. the Snowman at the IMAX theater, walk through the Enchanted Forest, view the museum (very interesting), and shop at the Museum Gift Shop. Kinlee and her friend, Raine, hung out most of the day. They had a great time, but they sure were worn out on the way home! I had a good time, too, but was quickly reminded that I do NOT like school bus rides! I definitely got my fill for quite some time. :)

Student of the Month

Each month, the teachers at the kids' school pick 2 kids out of their classroom to be Student of the Month. A couple of months ago, Kinlee received the honor in her class (can't remember if I posted about that one or not - oops!), and this month, Parker received the same. It is nice to be able to send your kids to school and not have to worry about if they are going to behave or not. With the exception of talking out of turn here and there (wonder where they get that from), we are very fortunate that we do not have to deal with any major behavior problems. We are very grateful for that and very proud of both of our kiddos! Way to go!!!

All Things Gingerbread....

Last year when we were doing our "After Christmas Bargain Shopping", Kinlee decided that she wanted to have a Gingerbread Man party when she turned 8 - almost a WHOLE year later. After the speech of "you can't change your mind if we buy stuff now", she agreed, and we were able to rack up on some great bargains. She dabbled here and there throughout the year on other ideas, but with much reminding and prompting, she stuck with her plan. Her party was this past Saturday, and she told me she thought is was the best one yet!! (I love hearing that!!). She invited 15 girls, and I think all but 2 were able to make it. They had a blast!!! We have found in the past with that many girls, it is easier to divide them into groups and rotate them around to different activities - girls like that sort of thing. The boys just want a football and a yard, but the girls want "crafts"! So, we decorated G.bread man purses, painted G.bread man ornaments, decorated cookies, and played a "build your own g.bread man" game:
I was able to scrounge around and find more Gingerbread man stuff around here than I thought I had. A day or so before her party, Kinlee said, "I sure wish I had a Gingerbread man shirt to wear to my party." Well, that's all it took. Not having enough time to run to Wal-Mart and there is NOTHING around here in the craft-y store department, again, I scrounged. So, with an already purchased black shirt, a tan pillowcase, some buttons, scrap material, and zebra print ribbon, the following shirt was created. I surprised her with it when she came home from school. Much to my relief....She LOVED it!!! Mission accomplished. It even gave me an idea of how to decorate the gingerbread man on her cake:
I have probably mentioned this in past birthday posts, but we have a tradition that also helps to get rid of all those balloons....at the end of the party, each child grabs a balloon, and outside we go. On the count of three, we all shout "Happy Birthday, ______________" and release the balloons. The kids have begun to look forward to it and love to watch the balloons fly away and see how many will get stuck in the trees - I think we only had 1 casualty this year!!!

It was a great day, and much fun was had by all. My job is finished....

Fun with Friends at the Coffee Shop

As mentioned before, the kids won a costume contest at the local Coffee Shop on Halloween night. Along with some of their friends who also placed, they received gift certificates for free

drinks. So several weeks later, we rounded them all up one Friday after school and headed downtown to redeem their certificates. It ended up being a beautiful fall day, so the walk was perfect! They all had a great time "chatting" and playing - and I don't think Parker minded ONE BIT being the only boy. What do you think?:

Girl Scout Ceremony

The same night as our flag football party, Kinlee had a Girl Scout ceremony. The girls received their next round of pins and patches, and "dedicated" themselves to another year of Girl Scouts. She is really enjoying Brownies, and now that our sports are over for a while, we can make it to more of the meetings. Girl Scout cookie sales are just around the corner, too - can't wait for that one!!!!

Going WAY back....

Okay, so I don't think I have even blogged about our end of season sporting parties. We have survived a soccer and a flag football party. First was our soccer party. With 2 teams and about 30 kids total, we decided to combine the party and have both teams over to the house at the same time. So, representatives of "The Tornadoes" and "The Crush" came over to enjoy cake and ice-cream. You can see from the bottom picture that we had quite the crew:A few weeks later, flag football ended, and we had "The Colts" over for a similar get-together. I accidentally double-booked us and forgot that Kinlee's Girl Scout ceremony was the same night!!! SO, I headed to Girl Scouts with Kinlee, and Mark held down the fort here, with the help of some of the moms (thanks, gals!!). Because of this mishap, though, I failed to get very many pictures of that night. I did manage to take some of Parker (with his cool "Colts" tatoo on his head) and the cake before I left. It was cold that night, so I came home to a football game being played IN my house!! Very loud, but they had a great time. I guess that's what I get for leaving "the guys" in charge!!!! Fun times...