Build A Bear Awesomeness

In May, Petey made a new friend. I had been trying to get her together with my friend's little girl because it would work out perfectly---I would have my friend, Petey would have her friend, and Spidey had already made best friends with their dog, Rico (true story).

So school was out and these girlies started playing together. One day, Petey noticed her friend had THE COOLEST My Little Pony stuffed animal and she asked where her friend had gotten it.

The answer?

Build-a-Bear.

Of course, for days, Petey was at my heels, begging me for one, telling me she needed one. She just had to have that MLP Build-a-Bear or she would die!!!

But I had no intentions of paying for the overpriced stuffed animal because 1) I'm cheap and 2) we have SO MANY stuffed animals. So I told Petey she was welcome to do chores to earn money for her Build-a-Bear trip.

And my goodness, was she determined! She earned a quarter a chore and after 6 weeks, she had around $12. It was kind of depressing. She would ask me all of the time if she had earned enough money and I kept having to tell her she hadn't. So I decided when she did bigger chores, she'd earn a little bit more.

During this time, Spidey had decided he wanted in the action so he would do chores every once in a while. But Spidey doesn't like chores as much as Petey so he hardly earned any money. I think he ended up with $7 after that 6 weeks.

Fast forward to two weeks ago, Petey kept asking when she was going to have enough money because it was taking FOREVER. I decided I'd give the kids the option of selling some of their toys to earn the rest of the money. And wow, Spidey started throwing all kinds of toys in his bag and within the week, he had more than earned his money for a Build-a-Bear.

It was great and exciting for him except Petey had been doing so many chores and working hard and now she was the one with less money. The reason being that almost ALL of her toys are things she just got for her bithday and she isn't ready to part with them yet.

But alas, she did sell a few toys and then the kids decided to sell one of their big toys and split the money and all of a sudden, we were there! They had done it!

So today, we headed over to Build-a-Bear!

We walked in the store and Petey already new her heart was set on Pinky Pie. She also had enough money for a simple bear so she chose a white one and got it a cheerleader outfit.

But my favorite part of the trip was when Spidey marched over to the bins and grabbed Rainbow Dash out and exclaimed that he had found his favorite one.

*Cue the giggles and squeals from both kids...seriously, SO MUCH excitement for their hard earned reward*

After stuffing the ponies and Petey's bear, Spidey and I were waiting while Petey picked out her bear's clothing and a little boy walked over and said, "Why are you getting a girl pony? That is just for girls. That's weird." and Spidey looked at him with confidence and said, "Uhh, Rainbow Dash is the fastest and the coolest. She isn't just for girls." He wasn't even phased by the question because he knows for sure that Rainbow Dash rocks. It made me smile.

I like it when my kids are confident. Because what the heck is the difference between my son liking Rainbow Dash and my daughter liking the color blue?

I'm all for teaching my kids about the awesome things about their specific gender. I am not pushing them one way or another. But I'm also ok with my son liking the same things his sister likes or vice versa. I just hope they're always confident and happy with their decisions.

And on that exciting note, enjoy this picture of my adorable children with their hard earned stuffed friends.

THEY ARE SO HAPPY!!!

PS: I guess I should also mention that the little boy's mom handled the situation quite awesomely and Spidey was quickly being apologized to...although he was a bit confused because he just didn't understand why someone was making fun of him for picking out the COOLEST THING IN THE STORE. Seriously, my boy rocks.

The Monday Brags: More Dancing Brags

 We think this Petey girl is something special. She's energetic, silly, helpful, and she dances around the house all day long. She is loving her dance classes and counts down the days until it's another dance day.

She is determined to learn her splits and asks me to help her stretch most days. It's really fun to see her wanting to be so involved in something. She's only 4 so I'm thinking dance probably won't last forever and that she'll want to try something different in the future but I'm glad she is loving it for now.

Of course, most of my dance posts have videos and I have some new ones for you today!

The first video is my favorite one of this post. I took it while she was in line waiting to go across the floor during class. This girl just likes to move and groove.


In the next one, she is once again groovin' while she's in line. It makes me laugh every time I watch it.

And here's the third video. In this one, we were at my parents house and Boss turned on some music. I know she was having a good time and I actually think it's pretty great that she can differentiate between fast and slow music and dance accordingly.

Seriously, this girl is just adorable. I could brag all day long because I feel so lucky to have her in my life. She's one of a kind and I couldn't be happier with the little girly she has grown into so far.

And that's how Suze brags.

The Monday Brags: Hip Hop and Bible Stories

I have not done a 'Monday Brag' in a couple of weeks and after seeing my sister in law posting her brag, I realized I have some of the cutest videos to show you of my smart girly! This first one just amazes me. Yesterday at church, Petey learned the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den. We actually didn't know this until after church in the car, when she proceeded to almost perfectly recite the entire story. Sometimes it just amazes me how much of a sponge she is. If she hears a story once, she can usually retell it. So please enjoy this video of 'Daniel in the Lion's Den', as told by a 4 year old.
Then today, during Petey's hip hop class, I decided to break out the camera to show some of her cute moves.
The first video is just a quick one of her learning how to roll over from her back. I know it's not much but I just love watching how well she does in her class.
This last video is of the whole class practicing the dance they are learning for December's recital. They are just barely learning it and have only had a couple of practices so I'd actually say Petey is doing really well learning it already!
Isn't that the most adorable thing you've ever seen? I was so mad that my camera died in the end because Petey started freestyling and throwing in some of her own adorable dance moves in the end.
 
I hope you've all had a wonderful Monday!

And that's how Suze brags.

The Monday Brags: Back Floats

Oh Mondays, how I love using you for some serious bragging time.

Are you sick of "swimming" brag posts yet?

No?

Ok, then I'll continue.

Petey completed her first session of swim lessons last Thursday.

I have been so proud of how well she's done.

She's been a good listener and has been trying so hard to do everything they've asked.

Last Tuesday, while swimming at my parents house, we were practicing back floats and I let go of Petey's back...and she just kept on floating!

I was so excited for her to show her instructors at swim class and they were pretty proud of her.

I finally got a video on Saturday of her back floats but that will be at the end of this post.

My other "proud" (not-so-proud) moment was from her last day of swim class.

Yeah...that is supposed to be a more modest swimsuit. She had jumped in the water and the whole top came up and those bottoms were already low to begin with but they were A LOT too low and it took me a while to get her attention and tell her to pull them up! Little girl had her whole belly exposed, along with a great deal of bum crack. Oops! Guess we wont be using this swimsuit for lessons anymore.

So here is the video. Have I mentioned how super awesome my child is? Well, I can mention that today because it's bragging day. Also, please excuse my annoying voice. I was counting to see how long she'd stay floating.

And I'll leave you with one more video from that day. She is also doing really well with kicking and swimming her back. I LOVE this girl so much and I'm so proud of how big she is getting.
And that's how Suze brags.

Monday Brags: Swimming {again}

I feel like all of the pictures I've been taking lately have been of my kids swimming.

But I guess that's just summertime in Arizona.

 Last Friday, I took both of the kids swimming by myself. They were super excited, especially Spidey because he wishes he could take swim lessons like his big sister.

 Obviously, Petey is more used to the water and it took Spidey a while to feel comfortable with floaties without me holding on to him. As soon as he learned to kick and get himself around the pool, he didn't need me anymore.

 Petey loves going off the diving board by herself.

 I was so happy that Spidey was loving swimming. Two weeks ago, we took him swimming and he cried if anyone let go of him. You wouldn't have even guessed that by the way he was acting on Friday. He LOVED it!

 He loved using different floaties and he even likes this bird floatie that my sister got him. Last month when we took it out of the package and blew it up, he started crying and saying that the birdie looked scary and that he didn't want it. I had to put it completely out of his sight before he stopped freaking out. :) Thankfully, he likes it now!

 Petey did so well practicing her back floats and kicking, like she does in swim lessons. I actually got Spidey to do some backfloats but because I had to help him with them, I couldn't use the camera at the same time.

 Spidey loved the "sharks" (dolphins) and swam with them a lot.

Here's my Petey, just swimming all around the deep end. She is such a fish and I love how much she loves the water.

Swimming is the one thing I love about Arizona summers. As hot as it is, swimming is so fun for me and for my kids. I'm so glad my parents have a pool we can use anytime.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Proud Mommy Moments: Swimming Lessons

Since I missed my Monday Brags this week, I decided to link up with one of my blogger friends, Emmy Mom for her Proud Mommy Moments.

This week, Petey started swim lessons again.
Do you remember last year? The first week, she cried every lesson and hated getting in the water with her teachers.
So we've been talking about it the past couple of months and she has been beyond excited. But I still wasn't sure how she would do once we got there.
On a side note, in the pool at my parents' house, she can almost swim by herself. Well technically, she can swim by herself but she doesn't remember to breathe when she comes up so we still have work to do. :)
Anyway, Tuesday was the first swim lesson of the summer (she's doing lessons all summer long).

Of course, I had to sneak in a picture of what her brother does while she swims. He colors, or reads, or cheers for her while she swims.

This was the very first day of lessons. As you can see, a little nervousness ensued and Petey wasn't quite ready to get in the water.

But those nerves turned into giggles when she got comfortable with her teachers and soon, she was peeking her head up to grin at me.

It did make me laugh when one of her instructors (who clearly was doing this for the first time) said, "Ok, do you want to get in the water and do back floats with me?" And Petey calmly replied, "No, thanks." and he just walked away, not knowing what to do. ha! I'm sure he'll learn from the other instructor who then went over and said, "Ok, time to do your back floats!" and just put Petey in the water. Our girl didn't even complain. I think she just figured if they were giving her a choice, she was deciding not to float on her back. :)

This last picture is from yesterday. She did SO well! Not only did she willingly lay on her back and practice kicking across the water but she kept telling the instructors, "I can swim by myself! Let go and let me swim to the side." and they did, and she did swim to the side by herself, and they were impressed.

I'm so proud to have such a big, brave girl! I was regretting my decision to sign her up for swim lessons every darn week of the summer because it's hot and some days, I know I just won't want to leave my air conditioned home but after seeing how much she loves her lessons and how much she's learning, it is worth it. :)

And that's how Suze brags about her super awesome children.

The Monday Brags: The Big Bad Wolf

Before bathtime the other night, I taped my son doing is extremely adorable version of the big bad wolf.

Be warned, he had a chocolate shake for dessert and he is a master at getting himself as messy as possible.


I'm pretty proud to call him mine. :)

And that's how Suze sees it.

The Monday Brags: All About Spidey

Since most of this week will be revolving around the two birthdays in our home this month, I thought I'd give our Spidey some face time on the blog for my Monday Brags.

I know I get repetitive when talking about this little guy because he is just a bundle of JOY and DIRT mixed into one happy mini-Boss. (He really does remind me so much of his dad. His blog nickname should be mini-Boss.)

Spidey's favorite things right now are Toy Story and Ninja Turtles. I find it hilarious that both kids love to watch the old Ninja Turtle movies and they aren't even the animated version! I would imagine them to be too scary for my 3 and 2 yr olds but I guess they aren't because neither kid has ever been afraid.

In my post yesterday, I mentioned that Spidey was the perfect child to have as my "baby" when going through secondary infertility. He is the perfect mixture of "big boy independence" and "baby who will cuddle with mommy" and seems to know when it is the appropriate timing for either one of those things.

Right now, my son is watching Toy Story 3 and quoting most of the movie. It. Is. Adorable. And adorable is really the best word to describe my son.

My Spidey isn't perfect, obviously. He likes to pick on his big sister and likes to kick people. He thinks he is too big for naptime but I do not agree. He likes to SCREAM and it gives me headaches...did I mention he screams for fun, not because he is crying or angry?

But his laugh is the best. Seriously. The video below doesn't do it justice but it shows his crazy laugh off a little bit.

I love this video because it shows how busy my little boy is. He can self entertain for hours because he is creative and uses his imagination so well. (I did try to edit the video and turn it around but it looks like it didnt work. If yours is turned the right way, hooray! If not, I'm sorry.)

Well, that's all the bragging time I have for today. I am off to clean my house so we can have company over tonight without being completely embarrassed.

The Monday Brags: Multitasking

Oh. my. son.

My little boy who always has something funny to say or do and who is always making us laugh.

The other day, I walked in the family room to find this...

Whoever said boys can't multitask?

At least he loves brushing his teeth, right?

And practicing his bike riding on the giraffe.

:)

I love you, Spidey.

You remind me so much of your dad and it makes me happy.

And that's how Suze brags. 

The Monday Brags

What's a Monday without a little bragging? I was a bit behind on posting some of our recent events, hence the two posts in one day.

My son has been the picky eater in our family. He didn't like very many baby foods unless they were straight pureed fruits/vegetables.

Then when he started eating real food, he decided he didn't like breads, pastas, or tortillas. What the what?!

No cheese crisps, PB&J's, or macaroni and cheese.

It was hard to figure out things he would eat but I was determined to not give up on my picky boy. I've heard that when you have a picky eater, just keep introducing the foods they won't eat and sometimes, they'll eventually eat it.

So that's what we've done.

AND. IT. WORKED.

 Proof of some macaroni and cheese being devoured this weekend.

 More proof.

And notice his bowl is full again? No, the pictures aren't out of order. He asked for MORE!

Also, while in Carlsbad a couple months ago, my boy learned to love eating PB&J's. And ever since we came home from Carlsbad, he eats bread almost regularly. Don't you love his messy, messy, messy face in that above picture? He really devoured his PB&J and he actually finished off Petey's that day too. :)

And somewhere in between that time, he has even eaten a part of a cheese crisp (which is a quesadilla for those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about). That one is still not his favorite but just the fact that he will eat it if he knows that's what he's getting seems like an accomplishment to me!

It just makes me proud. I feel like I did something right and also that he is growing up and learning to try new things. And mealtime is SO much easier now that he will eat almost everything that the rest of us eat.

And that's how Suze brags.

PS: I swear we don't only eat PB&J's, mac'n'cheese, and cheese crisps. Those are just my go-to foods when I need to make something in a hurry for my kids. And since learning to like those 3 foods mentioned above, he eats many other pastas, tacos, sandwiches, etc. I promise. :)

The Monday Brags

Everybody likes to brag about their children, right?

That isn't just something I do?

Right???

My heart just swells with pride when my children learn something new or accomplish things they've been working to achieve. So why not have a once a week brag day to talk about the two little people that I love most?!

Well, a couple weeks ago, Miss Petey walked over to the computer while I happened to be watching a clip of a little girl doing gymnastics on Youtube. (Yes, I know, random...) She was enthralled and decided she wanted to be just like this girl. And ever since then, she has been determined.

I told our almost 4 year old that she would need to practice at home if she was serious about someday taking gymnastics because it wasn't going to happen right now. So she started working on her splits and trying so so SO hard to do a bridge (all of this with the help of mommy who took gymnastics for a couple years growing up.).

Yesterday, my girl wanted to practice her "gymnastics" and I even let her wear the special pink leotard she has. We take these things seriously around here. :) After realizing that most of Petey's problem with her bridge was that her hands were slipping, I moved her over to the wall so she could practice againt it.

And voila! An almost bridge! She still had work to do because she has a hard time getting her head off the ground and I get worried about her putting all of the pressure on her neck.

Another thing she has been working hard on is having the strength to do a handstand. Her handstand may look anything but perfect but this is the highest I've ever seen her go and I was so proud! She was doing really well!

A bit later, I was in the bathroom doing my hair and Petey yelled for me to come look at her.

And this is what she did! She wasn't even up against the wall! She had practiced all afternoon and my girly was doing a bridge. And though her hair hides it, her head was off the ground the whole time! I may or may not have jumped up and down and screamed for her because I was so proud.

It just makes me proud to have such a determined little girl. Whether she'll get to start gymnastics tomorrow or in ten years, I am proud of her for learning new things on her own at home and working hard to improve them. When that little girl sets her mind to something, she will do it! I love that about her. I just had to throw in this picture of my fashion princess. :) She thought she looked dazzling with 10 clips in her hair. I love how often she makes me smile.

And that's how Suze brags.