Budgeting

It’s funny how Facebook cuts into my blogging. I hardly ever post here anymore, because everything gets posted there. I need to download all my status and post the appropriate ones here. But I digress….

Today’s post will be way to long for a Facebook status, which is why I’m writing here. It’s about going to the store with David, to do some Christmas shopping. You see, this morning, I came up with a great idea for him and Leah: first, I’d go to the bank and withdraw $40 in singles. Then I’d take them each to the store (separately, of course), hand them each twenty $1 bills, and allow them to pick out Christmas presents for each of the other four members of our nuclear family. Since Anna was already taking Leah shopping for birthday-party stuff, the opportunity was perfect for David to go first. (Naomi came, too, but she obviously didn’t know what was going on.)

When we first walked into the store, I asked David who he wanted to shop for, first. His response: “Naomi.” I then asked which part of the store he wanted to shop in, for Naomi. His response: “where the baby stuff is.” I figured the toy department would be a better bet, but he was in charge, so off we went. Turns out my son knew better than I.

As we entered the baby section, David’s eyes immediately caught a large baby toy on the top shelf. He was sold: “get that!” I informed him that that toy was $17, that if he bought that for Naomi, he’d only have $3 left for the entire rest of the family. He still wanted it, though, so I placed it in the cart, then counted aloud as I took $17 of his $20, one bill at a time. As he stood there with only $3 in his hand, the reality seemed to sink in a little. “Are you sure,” I asked him again, “that you want to get that big toy for Naomi, or would you like to look for something smaller, so you have more money for everyone else?”

He understood, replying, “something smaller.” I placed the large item back on the shelf, returned his $17, and guided him to some smaller toys. He first chose a $10 item, but when I asked if he was sure, moved down to an $8 item. I repeated the earlier exercise, placing the $8 toy in the cart and counting eight of his dollars aloud, as I took them. I again asked if he was sure and pointed out a $4 toy. He loved the idea, exchanged the $8 toy for the $4 toy, and I returned four of the dollars I’d taken. He was elated and announced that next he wanted to shop for Leah. I asked him where; “the toy department” was his response. Smart kid.

As we walked down the aisles of the toy department, it was obvious that the lesson had sunken in. Each time he saw a toy that interested him for her, he’d ask how much it was. He smartly turned down the first toy, which was $55, but also turned down $25 and even $12 and $10 toys. I was incredibly proud of how well he understood the concept. He’s an amazing four-year-old! We finally settled on a $5 toy that we both thought Leah would like. That left him with $11 for Mom and Dad.

I won’t go into what he got for Anna, since she’ll probably read this entry, but suffice to say he found something quickly: the first thing he picked was within his budget, and I was rather impressed with his selection. I, though, was a bit harder to shop for: his first choice was a two-pack of 9-volt batteries, which I informed him was very nice, but probably not a good Christmas present. He persisted, though, at which  I  informed him that they were $7. So much for that idea! I also suggested that he might want to save his remaining bills and shop for me, with Mommy, some other time. He blatantly refused that idea, though, so I know exactly what I’m getting from him. ;-)

As we approached the register to pay, I realized that I hadn’t taught him about sales tax—nor need to, at this point. Thanks to the government, he actually wound up being 7¢ over budget. Oh, well. (Please don’t tell him; I snuck another dollar bill onto the counter, to cover it.) Regardless, he did a great job, and I just had to share the results. Good night, David, and I love you!

Independence Day 2011

Sleepyheads

This evening, we went to the Barboursville fireworks display. As far as we can tell, it’s obviously world-renowned, as the license plates we saw indicate that people come from such exotic locations as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and even—gasp!—West Virginia, to see them. As we approached what Tom Tom assured us was the location of the fireworks, we paused to ask a nice man who was directing traffic if we were going the right way. He responded that yes, we were: that “back down at the bottom of the hill, you’ll have a good view by the baseball field.” Since baseball fields are famous for their proximity to awesome pyrotechnic displays, we continued on, assured that all was well.

As we continued down the hill, we could see hundreds upon hundreds of cars at the bottom. We expect that, in addition to the aforementioned tourists from around the world (or at least the northeastern quadrant of the United States), all 3,183 citizens of Barboursville were in attendance (including, of course, the Barboursville Fire Department). As we approached the bottom, we discovered that, inexplicably, there was considerable parking available near the amphitheater, where a very nice rock group was covering classic Americana such as God Bless the U.S.A. and Bad, Bad Leroy Brown. We couldn’t hear them very well, from behind the amphitheater, but it sounded like what they lacked in talent, they made up for in enthusiasm. B+ for effort.

As we walked to the lawn with our beach chairs, a couple sitting on lawn chairs in the back of a pickup truck informed us that the fireworks would be in the direction they were facing. We thanked them and set up our chairs facing that direction, only to turn them around just in time to see the show start. So much for that idea. Additionally, Leah had a minor reflux episode after too much junk food at Old Mawmaw’s house, so we spent about half an hour giving her gum, water, and finally animal crackers to help her get rid of the taste. Poor kid.

Finally, 10:00 rolled around. The fireworks began, with many single explosions in a row. (Apparently in Barboursville, they don’t like to set off multiple fireworks at a time.) This went on for a good 30 minutes or so, by which point a good number of adults were loudly mocking the show, a good number of older kids were loudly proclaiming their boredom while chasing each other around the field, a good number of vehicles were making their way back up the hill, and our little Drakelings were fast asleep in their chairs, completely oblivious to the booming explosions in the sky.

To be fair, the grand finale was really cool: they finally decided to do a bunch of fireworks at once, and did so four or five times. I then carried both of our sleeping kids back to the van, one on each shoulder, and made a second trip back for the remaining chairs that Anna wasn’t able to carry. We then made our way through the surprisingly not-too-bad traffic and got back to the hotel, with the results shown in the photo above. :-)

As for our vacation, it finally ends tomorrow. Happy Independence Day, everyone!

A Special Treat

This evening, due to a variety of interesting circumstances, I got to have one-on-one dinner with my daughter. Frankly, it was a real treat. Here are some of the highlights:

• Leah brought a sandwich bag full of coins to the table and used a toy spoon to scoop them into a Cabbage Patch Kid’s shoe. “This is my favorite ice cream,” she explained: “Penny Supreme!” She then offered me some, which I agreed was very good. She then continued: “It’s my favorite, so I looked up the recipe on xibirtz.com¹ and I made it.”

• Imagine a five-year old doing the following, all in the course of about fifteen seconds:
a) announced that she does not like black olives
b) stated that she might possibly try a black olive
c) ate a black olive
d) announced that since now she’s a big girl, she likes black olives

• Several minutes into the meal, Leah started laughing quite hard at something. I still have no idea what, but she just kept going, finally calming down enough to say, “I am not fake laughing, Daddy. Believe me!”

Sadly, I am blanking on some of the other things she said and did, but suffice to say it was a great dinner.

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1. There is no such thing as xibirtz.com. Perhaps that could be the new name for my company?

Scripture Study

A few weeks ago, we decided to start doing our family scripture study from the actual scriptures instead of the children’s storybooks. Of course, since our children are preschool age, we limit our family reading to one verse per person; and since the children cannot yet read, Anna or I whisper the words into one child’s ear, a few at a time, inviting him or her to repeat them aloud. The children absolutely love feeling like they’re reading, and we love that they’re learning to love the word of God.

This evening, we were reading in the First Book of Nephi, chapter 8. It was David’s turn to “read,” and I was whispering verse 10 in his ear. The following conversation ensued:

Jeff (whispering): “ ‘And it came to pass…’ ”

David: (giggles and whispers something incoherent—a common problem).

Jeff: “Come on, David; say it loudly: ‘And it came to pass…’.”

David: (says something slightly less incoherent).

Anna: “David, please say it nicely.”

David: “And it came to pass!”

Jeff (whispering): “ ‘…that I beheld…’ ”

David: “That I befald.”

Jeff (whispering): “ ‘…a tree…’ ”

David: “A tree.”

Jeff (whispering): “ ‘…whose fruit…’ ”

David: “Fruit.”

Jeff (whispering): “ ‘…whose fruit…’ ”

David: “I dunno.”

Jeff (trying hard not to laugh): “No, David; ‘…whose fruit…’.”

David: “I dunno!!!”

By this point, Anna and I were laughing so hard, we had to pause our reading. ^_^

Calling

For a while now, I’ve received the occasional phone call at the office, where I pick up and find Leah or David on the other end. The calls are usually brief and include a request to bring such-and-such down to them, to play such-and-such game after work, etc.. Over the last week or so, though, the calls have become a lot more frequent. So yesterday, when I came downstairs to fulfill Leah’s request for a Band-Aid^®, I asked Anna, “Are you calling me on her behalf, or does she know how to call me, herself?”

Anna: “She knows how to do it, by herself. They both do.”

Me: “Really?”

David: “Yeah, Daddy. Watch. DAAAAADDDDDDYYYYY!!!!”

Ask a stupid question. ^_^

Eyes Wide Shut

A few minutes ago, I walked into David’s room. As I did, I heard his tiny voice: “Hi, Daddy.”

“Hey, David,” I replied.

“What’s up?” he asked. I couldn’t believe it. So simple. So like me. He’s definitely my son.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” I told him.

He smiled so big. I leaned down and kissed him, told him to get some good rest, and quietly left the room.

I never saw his eyes open. :-)

Video Girl

Okay, so this is a truly weird post, and about six weeks too late, but I still figured it was worth mentioning. Better late than never, right?

For Leah’s birthday, she received what is perhaps the oddest doll I have ever seen: it’s called “Video Girl Barbie.” Feel free to follow the link at left, but first, read on.

Here’s the gimmick: Barbie has a built-in video camera. If you look at the pictures, you’ll see that she’s wearing a necklace with a rather large charm, for the simple reason that the charm is actually the camera’s lens. That sounds kind of cool—at least they camouflaged it a bit—but here’s where it gets odd: if you open the back of her shirt (of course it Velcros in the back!), her back consists of a preview screen and various controls. It’s a Robot Barbie! (I suppose her friends—who you still have to buy—call her “Robarbie,” but I digress.)

Of course, no video camera would be complete without a way to get the video out, so pulling up the front of her shirt reveals a USB belly button. Just attach the included umbilical cord—I mean, USB cable—and upload Barbie’s optical perceptions into your computer.

Is it just me, or does this toy fill a need that really doesn’t exist?