Peyton's quest for Disneyland - part 3

Well I just sent my baby off to Disneyland with her Nana. We figured since we pretty much paid for Peyton's tickets through her earnings it would not be economical for me to buy another ticket for myself so Peyton is having some one on one time with Nana today. (The two people on this planet that couldn't love Disneyland more!) I pray this time is special for the both of them.

I guess I got a little ahead of myself...my last update Peyton only had $20 something so let me fill you in on the last $40 earned.

We arrived in LA on thursday night with piggy bank in hand. Peyton was excited to show Nana and Papa her piggy bank and tell them all about how hard she has been working. She was super excited that first night so Nana bribed her by telling her if she went to bed without crying and sleept through the night she would get $5. (Its alot easier to get money at Nana's house) So she went right to bed and sleept through the night. The next day was my Dad's Hillbilly birthday party so we were busy most of the day decorating and setting up. Peyton stayed home with Papa. I heard she earned a few dollars picking up her toys and eating her lunch. That evening we had a band at my Dad's party called the Saggy Bottom Boys lead by my brother on a wash board. When we arrived the band was rehearsing. Peyton ran up on stage with them and asked with she coud join them. They of course thought she was adorable and handed her a shaker and she stood on stage and danced and played her shaker through out the whole rehersal. When they were through one of the guys bent down to Peyton and said "well, I think you are hired" and as a joke handed her a one dollar bill. Well that was no joke to Peyton. Her face lit up and she came running to me waving her dollar bill saying "this is for my piggy bank!" The guys face was pricless...I am sure he was thinking...what three year old gets that excited about a dollar bill?

So she worked to earn money Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday morning Papa sat her down and dumped out her piggy bank to count all her money. The grand total $42 and some change. "Thats alot of money!" Peyton said. Papa and I agreed. So I took her to a coin star and cashed in her change (That little piggy bank held $23 in change alone) and than went to the bank and got out a $20 to make a grand total of $62, enough to buy a ticket. I put her money in a ziplock baggie and told her she had enough to go to Disneyland and she jumped up and down in the middle of the store for a good minute. The rest of the day was spend trying to explain to her the meaning of tomorrow since she didn't understand why she couldn't go that very moment to buy her ticket. Last night Nana put her to bed early. I was sceptical that she would go to sleep that early but Nana explained to her that she needed a good nights sleep for Disneyland and when she woke up it would be time to go. She went right to sleep!

So all in all I think some great lessons were leanred. I think I will keep up the piggy bank earning money thing so that the next time she wants something that cost money I can say "well how much money do you have?" Nana is going to have Peyton give her money in her ziplock bag to the cashier at Disneyland herself. I can't wait to here that story and all about her well earned day at Disneyland!

Peyton's Quest for Disneyland - Part 2

Well the other night we dumped out the piggy bank to count all the money that Peyton had made over the last couple of weeks. She has been working very hard, never letting a day go by without asking if she can make some money. She tells everyone that will listen about her little project too (like her gymnastics coach, Sunday school teacher and the bag boy at Safeway, to name a few) and along the way she has cheated just a little by being so cute and charming while telling her story that people have donated to the cause! lol. oh well, I figure a little charming never hurt anyone. But back to the money count...when we poured out the money from the bank onto the table Peyton said "wow! That is A LOT of Money!" We began to count, Peyton helped by counting the dollar bills (which by the way through this little project she has learned what a dollar, a quarter and a penny are and calls them by name) and daddy put the coins in piles amounting to a dollar so she could count those too. When we were all finished counting the grand total came to $26 and some change. When we told her the amount she put her face in her hands and said "Oh man!" I asked if she had enough to buy a ticket yet and she sadly said "no". So as you can see she is taking this seriously, which I think is amazing that a barely three year old can even grasp this concept. With a little more than a week left before Disneyland day she still has a lot of work to do (or a lot of charming to do). But apparently Nana has some projects waiting for her when she gets there so we will see what those are. I think she will make it *wink*wink.*In other news...Amber has all of the sudden in the last few days decided to make her voice known in this family...literally! She is starting to talk a lot more! Instead of crying when she wakes up from a nap she yells from her crib "Mommy? Daddy?" Today after hitting Peyton over the head with a toy and than screaming at her I scolded her and than told her to say she was sorry (not expecting her to actually say it) and this little baby looked right up at Peyton and with a quivering lip and every thing said "sory." She also knows several animal sounds and can count! no joke! I held up two pacifiers the other day and without us even asking her to she said "two." She's a genius! :) I was telling Brandon last night that it is a good thing she is so cute and smart because her strong-will makes me want to strangle her most days. As cute as she is, she is doubly as stubborn and I don't say this lightly, she has me scared to death of what the future has in store for me as far as parenting this little one. I just try to keep reminding myself that if I can successfully channel this behavior for good, she may just be able to change this world for the better. I am convinced that the great leaders of our country started out as stubborn and strong willed children, so I feel privileged to be given this challenge but a "challenge" I am sure it will be.