Spending Their $$$

The kids received a lot of cash for Christmas and Caden's birthday. Half went into their saving's account and we've been storing the rest in the cash jars from Baba lined up on the table. Talk about temptation, but as far as I know the cash hasn't been messed with.

Yesterday, we counted the money, put it in individual envelopes, and took it to Walmart for our first spending expedition. We did this last year and it worked so well. The kids were allowed to buy one toy each. Jaelyn won our contest and got to pick first. She wandered up and down the aisles. First she wanted a little pet shop set, then a small horse. Finally she found what she really wanted. Before Christmas, we had seen big horses in the middle of Walmart for either $39 or 49 - I can't remember. Well, she found one high up on a clearance shelf for $17. She named her black horse Midnight and it sits proudly with Samantha, her Christmas doll, who happens to be the perfect size for rides. Allie got to go next. She pondered several Barbies before spying a Princess and the Frog Polly Pocket set. As if we need more Polly's. Caden was last and I was tired of going up and down the aisles. Caden is usually very indecisive so when he immediately picked up a Buzz Lightyear phaser-dart gun, I said yes. As we made our way to the check-out, I had second thoughts listening to the phaser noises as Caden shot everything in sight. There was no way I was turning back at that point, but I did make Caden promise to only use his gun in the basement. Are you wondering what happened to the Mom who said her kids would not play with toy guns? Yeah, me too!

We spent the gift cards from Uncle Chad, Aunt Karen, Nick and Jared! Thank you!

The best part is we still have enough money for one or two more shopping trips in February and March.