A Big Spending Day

Well I got the rear window on my van replaced for $200.... that was definitely $200 we could have really used for something else. Things seem to be breaking and going missing around here faster than we can afford to repair or replace them. But it had to be done... you can't drive around with tiny pieces of glass falling off your window.... and I sure didn't want to drive around with plastic trash bags taped to my van either.







After we got the window repaired we stopped into one of our favorite used book stores McKay's... they actually carry way more than just books... they have CD's, DVD's, Video Tapes, Computer Games, Video Games and even the systems to play them on. Some of their stuff can be a lil pricey for used... but we can always find some good bargains there too. Today Steffie got 7 paperback Disney books (Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Lady and the Tramp, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, Snaow White, Aladdin and Ariel and the Secret Grotto - .10 cents each!).... a Sesame Street book (Sesame Street Library from the Elmo's Neighborhood collection... she loves this set! - .60 cents).... Zinnia's Flower Garden and Big Sister Little Sister for .50 cents each.... and 5 Strawberry Shortcake books for .50 cents each ( Strawberry Shortcake is one of her favorites right now). Oh and a Fisher Price Little People video tape for .25 cents. Adrian got 6 cd's for $1 each... and I got a Loreena McKinnett cd for $1. Not a bad haul for $12!


Steffie loves books and has quite lil library of her own going. I've read to her since she was just a few months old so she has developed a great desire for books. I plan to teach her how to read this fall. She learned her alphabet when she was barely 2 and she already knows her phonics as well so learning to read should be a snap for her.


After all of this we did our grocery shopping for the next two weeks. In the middle of it all we had lunch.... a $1 Krystal Kids Meal for Steffie.... and a $5 Little Cesaer's pizza for us with canned drinks from the soda machine.... for a total of less then $8 for the 3 of us!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Monday... Monday....

Remember that song? It rained and stormed all weekend.... so it was just a lazy kinda weekend... not getting much accomplished.... or doing anything fun either. We just kinda hung around the house for the most part. Now it's Monday and there is tons to get done.... mainly cleaning my kitchen floor which has been put off for way too long.

I got the dishes done between playing computer games with Steffie. She loves her games... and at 3 1/2 has recently learned to use the mouse... so now she can play most of the games without any help.... but of course most of the time she insists I sit with her and watch her play them. We started playing computer games with her when she was just barely 1.... at that time she loved Elmo and Sesame Street so we played those games with her. Of course she needed lots of help.... but she loved Key-Board-O-Rama and learned her letters by playing that game.... and of course from the many ABC books that I read to her.

Her next favorite.... when she was 2..... became Dora the Explorer and several other of the Nick Jr shows... like Go Diego Go and Ni Hao Kai-Lan.... of course she still needed lots of help.... but she loved these shows and the games.... and I'm amazed at how much she has learned from both. We also read tons of books and we play board games as well.

She currently loves the Strawberry Shortcake games over on www.agkidzone.com along with one that we bought her. Her favorite shows right now are Strawberry Shortcake and Hi-5.... she loves anything musical.... and if you combine music with kids she's all about it. She loves to sing and has even learned a Strawberry Shortcake song called Strawberry Jammin in German by watching the videos on You Tube! Yes!.... she even surfs You Tube! With supervision of course.... to make sure nothing inappropriate pops up....



So now at this point she is really becoming too advanced for the Sesame Street games to hold her attention.... she still plays them.... but for the most part she has surpassed them and they are just too babyish for her. So I'm continually looking for fun and educational games that are on her level. I would say she is more on a Kindergarten level than a pre-school level at this point. She already knows her letters and numbers... is learning phonics... can count to 100 with a lil help.... has an amazing vocabulary.... and I've begun teaching her to read (we're taking this very slowly).... and we're working on her fine motor skills.... cutting, writing and drawing etc... of course this is all fun and play to her.... we do it through games and art activities and reading... she loves books!

And you know they say that children shouldn't watch alot of TV.... even educational children's shows.... well she has been watching these shows since before she turned one and I am convinced that they really taught her alot. She doesn't sit and watch tv for hours on end... but I do keep the tv on her lil shows all day and she watches for a few minutes when something catches her attention and then she wonders off to play for awhile.... then it's back to the tv for awhile... and so on. I don't think she would be nearly as advanced if it weren't for watching these shows. But I *am* pretty picky about what I let her watch.... nothing that is violent or scary... we try to stay away from shows with nasty villans etc.... and we're careful about we watch ourselves when she is awake.... we save most of our own tv watching for when she is asleep.


Well I *really* need to get to that kitchen floor


~A Lil Enchanted~