Spending monies but having fun

Willa has a few magic wands that she plays with and plays with and plays with... In fact, the wands are so loved that they have all bitten the dust. Pieces kept breaking off the last one until finally it was basically just a silver stick. One morning after deciding that I would go bananas if we stayed in the house until naptime, I hurriedly piled the girls in the car and drove off to Dollar Tree.

For those of you familiar with dollar stores, Dollar Tree is the bomb. Everything is really just a dollar. I hate dollar stores where things are any price. What's the point of it being a "dollar store"?!!! Dollar Tree is so awesome. Three years ago I bought an inflatable water ring for Willa to use in the pool for one dollar. It was still in mint condition this summer and lasted us almost the entire season. It has just recently stopped holding air and I think that's due to the rowdy boys we met at a pool playdate who were diving into it. The boys were cracking me up, but also must have "cracked" the ring, har har. I also need to plug the gummy Valentine's hearts at Dollar Tree. They are superior to every other gummy heart.

We also get all of Willa's little puzzles at Dollar Tree and I knew that they would have wands. So, we packed up to go. I hate buying stuff for Willa because her birthday is coming up and also because I don't want her to feel like we can just buy all this fun stuff all the time. But, compared to all the other little girls she plays with - she really doesn't have too much. I'm also realizing that some things are fun to have and she really appreciates them - like sticker books right now! Back to Dollar Tree. In Houston, we lives minutes from one. Here, we are positioned right between two of them and it's a big pain. It just feels ridiculous to drive ten miles or so to go to a dollar store!

Okay, back to the story. We went to Dollar Tree and came home with not one, not two, not three, but FOUR wands. And, fairy wings, a fairy skirt, a puzzles, stickers, and some coloring books. I think the total came out to $13. That's not a big cashload, but thirteen toy items is a little much. Still, she was so excited and she even fell asleep with her wings on during quiet time. I also had a brilliant idea. Willa has been talking about being a fairy for Halloween ever since we saw the $20 fairy costumes at Costco. She was SO thrilled to have her skirt, wings, and wand that I think that will be her costume. I might throw in a few beads and bangles, but why pay $20 for a costume when she will be satisfied with her $3 one? We'll see. She just informed me today that she wants to be Elsa for Halloween. I have it on good authority that she might be getting an Elsa dress for her birthday, though, so I'm not going to sweat that costume either.

Okay, the other part of spending money is that Kim and I went to a big consignment sale this past weekend. It just has baby and kid items and is similar to one in Houston called Baby Daze. It was pretty cool and differed a lot from the Houston one. I went bright and early in Houston trying to snag a Snap n Go while I was pregnant with June, but there were none there and hardly any strollers or carseats. Instead, there were tons and tons of toys at very good prices. At this sale, there were rows and rows of Snap n Gos, strollers, and carseats. It was amazing. The toy options were pretty slim and expensive for being secondhand, though. Still, Kim and I managed to snag a lot more than we were planning to and I took a big gulp at the cash register. Is it my fault that there was a brand new Disney Store Snow White dress with the tags still on?!!! June is going to be Snow White for Halloween and this dress for Willa was so gorgeous that I'm really going to try to talk her into it. As you can see, Halloween plans are changing daily. Kim got a Snap n Go. I overpaid for this little toy for June, but she was so excited to get it. I figured that when your backyard is just concrete and rocks, it's okay to splurge a little on a toy or two. She kept squealing and saying "woof woof" since it's a puppy.