Birthday!

The kids and I made Rob a pumpkin pie for his Birthday yesterday. We also took him to Corvallis to get a new OSU jacket (which he wore to the OSU football game today), and to dinner at Applebees.

It's crazy to think about the fact that I've known Rob for almost 10 years now. How time flies!

Next up, Titus! He turns five in just over a month. Seriously?

Don't blink. I'm tellin' ya, don't blink!

Blessings Abound!

Leeann got her DSi on a Monday. She had $18 left over after her purchase, which wasn't quite enough to buy a game. Besides, she needed to buy more cups and lids for her upcoming coffee shop... which ended up costing $17 and some change.

Her coffee shop was that weekend, and it was wonderful! But we ended up planning for more people than were able to make it and she ended up leaving the coffee shop with only the $18 she originally had in her envelope. Granted, she does have plenty of cups, lids and straws on hand, so that will make for more profitable future coffee shops. This would have been disappointing to her, but she is only 7 and she doesn't fully understand the cost vs. profit ratio. All she knows is that she worked hard, served lots of friends and made some money. She didn't seem to connect the fact that she finished the day with the same amount she started with.

The reason she didn't connect this fact is because the item that she was saving for was a DSi game. By the time she left the shop she had 5, and one promised to her!

The day before coffee shop started a friend of mine from college who has been following Leeann's adventures told me that she and her husband both own a copy of Animal Crossing, and they wanted to send one of their games to Leeann to support her work efforts. She was so excited to be getting a game... and one she really, really wanted!

Then, at the coffee shop, one of her most faithful fans (my former Youth Pastor's family), stopped by. They came with 5 games that they wanted to share with Leeann. These were games that they had either played so much that they were no longer enamored by them, or games they'd already beat. Or, perhaps, games they just wanted to share! It was such a HUGE blessing!

(This is one of the spider cookies Leeann made all by herself)

Then, I got a call from my secretary early the next week that Leeann's packages had arrived. "Packages? I didn't order anything," I told her. So, out of curiosity I had her peek in the packages. Lo and behold, there was a much needed DSi case, to protect her investment, and a Tinkerbell game!

These were from her Great Grandma in Texas, and were a huge surprise!

Leeann took pictures of her patrons this time. The family on the bottom left were the ones who so graciously shared their DSi games with Leeann. They've been faithful coffee shop fans :0)

The whole process has been such a neat learning opportunity. She's learning that there's value in hard work, value in patiently saving for the things you want, and value in serving others. She's also learning that God blesses, sometimes beyond measure, way above and beyond what she would have even thought to ask for! And as we've seen in our own lives time and time again, He often multiplies our money and makes it stretch farther than we could imagine!

Thank you again, for all of you who have supported Leeann, and who have helped us teach her some really, really awesome life lessons!

DSi

 Today there was a sweet deal that came through my facebook stream. There were DSi XL's on sale at Fred Meyer for $55 off. $55!

So I squealed and had Rob go check Leeann's envelope to see how much she had in her spend category.

The answer? Enough to take advantage of this SWEET deal!

So we picked her up from school and headed to Fred Meyer where she picked out her very own DSi that she had worked very hard for! She was able to get it far sooner than any of us were thinking she'd be able to. I was really hopeful that she'd get it by Christmas!

She counted her money out to the cashier. I was super impressed that she was able to count it out, and accurately even! This is one of the many skills she's learned from running her coffee shop!

I am so proud of this girly for working so incredibly hard to earn her DSi. Not only did she work for every penny (though admittedly she had some very generous tippers!), but she saved every penny until she met her goal. I can promise you, she will cherish this item for a really long time!

 



In case you can't read this she wrote, "This is my DSi" on her little writing pad.

Unfortunately she didn't have quite enough money to buy Animal Crossing, Hello Kitty, Hannah Montana or Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure, which are the four games she's had her eye on. Thankfully however, the DSi came pre-loaded with a couple of basic games that are enough to keep her excited until she can purchase one of her games. Plus, she's opening up Leeann's Coffee Shop & Bakery this weekend, so she'll have another opportunity to earn a little bit of money.

I want to say thank you, very much, to all of Leeann's patrons who have participated in helping her learn some really awesome lessons about money and stuff! She has enjoyed serving each of you and I can attest to the fact that she has learned so much from these adventures.

If you are interested in enjoying some tasty seasonal treats and drinks at Leeann's Coffee Shop & Bakery, she'll be set up at a local In-Home Holiday Fair on Saturday from 2-6. Email me, or leave a comment with your email address and I"ll give you directions if you are interested in coming.

She's teaming up with a few other ladies that own local in-home businesses that will have their products on display and available for purchase just in time to satisfy your holiday shopping needs.

There will be consultants from Discovery Toys and Pampered Chef, as well as the owner of Eroica Bierly Photography who will be available to make an appointment for your Christmas portraits.

Yes, this is my shameless plug. I am totally open to making shameless plugs for my adorably cute and sweet, hard working 7 year old! After all, there are only so many ways a 7 year old can earn a living... and she's only capable of mustering up so many customers on her own, considering her peers cannot yet drive!

(End of shameless plug!)

Happy DSi Day, Leeann. I'm so proud of you!

Little Mr. Know It All

Titus is at this really funny stage where he knows EVERYTHING before it happens.

"I already knew you were going to do that mommy."

"I already knew that's what she was going to say."

"I already knew so-and-so would be here."

"I already knew that's what were going to have for dinner."

"I already knew, I already knew, I already knew..."

Funny kid, he has no idea how little he knows!