I'm in love

I'm in love with my kids.  They just melt my heart sometimes.

Today they let me sleep in, which was great.  I had promised Delaney that we would go buy some Legos with her birthday money - she's been enjoying playing with the boys Legos, but she doesn't have any of her own, so when they place limits and boundaries on their Legos or try to give her ultimatums and use Legos as leverage, she gets upset.  I told her that she could get some, but I didn't tell her when we would go.

I told everyone to get dressed and brush their teeth.  Then I told the boys to each get $10 out of their piggy banks.  So, we got in the car and we drove to Menards.  No one knew what we were doing there.  But I found it right away.  There were boys' 20" bikes on sale for $19.97 after a $30 mail-in-rebate.  They had a limit of 2 per household. I had both boys get on the bikes and try them out, and they were excited and asked if we could get them.  I explained to them that I was asking them to each pay half of their bikes, because I felt they would take better care of them if they had to contribute some of the money towards it.  Ryan's old bike had bent the tire and although we could have shopped around to see if we could get a good deal to get it repaired, it wouldn't have been much of a difference than $20 for a brand new bike.  They were so excited!  I mentioned to them that they were going to cost more than $20, but that we'd be getting money back.  Zane asked if when the money came back if I could give them some.  LOL!  He just doesn't get it.  I'm trying to explain it him, but it's not clicking yet.

After Menards we went to Target.  Delaney picked out her Lego sets.  She got two of them.  She was so excited.  It cost a little more than the $25 that she had, so I gave her the $2.12 that it went over - but that was mostly for  tax.  

Then we went to Aldi's to do some food shopping.  Right behind us was one of the ladies that works in the childcare at the gym.  She was on the phone, but then she noticed us when she got off and the kids were saying, "Hey, she's one of the teachers at the gym!"  And she said, "Hey, you guys look familiar!"  She talked to us for a minute and then we each went on our way.  The kids were extremely good in Aldi.  After I had everything loaded on the conveyer belt, Zane asked if he could spend his dollar on some candy.  (He had asked if he could bring any money with him, and I told him yes, and since the kids were so good I said he could spend it).  So, he was looking at the different candy, and some of it was 45¢ and some was 55¢, but he saw some Take 5 bars that were 29¢ each.  He noticed that he was getting a better deal with that, so he asked if he could get them.  Of course I told him yes!  I was proud of him for finding a good deal.

Lastly we went to Woodman's and the kids were extremely good about being with me and not running around the store.  I haven't had to shop with the kids very often since being able to shop when they are in school, and I was truly dreading shopping with them, but I had a very pleasant experience with them today.

Then when we got home, Delaney let the boys help her put her Lego sets together, and they were complimenting her over and over.  They were saying how awesome she was at putting the Legos together, and they would give her pieces and show her where they go and let her put them together.  Then when she got tired of doing it, she was very willing to let them help her.  It just melted my heart to hear them playing together so nicely.

Now I'm going to go get my pizza crust going in the breadmaker for dinner tonight and start putting the boys' bikes together!  I'm hoping this won't be a huge chore.