Money is a hot topic around our house. Especially after Christmas with gift money to spend (immediately!!!). I now understand the concept of money 'burning a hole in your pocket' in a new way as I watch my kids wanting to buy stuff.
We've decided to begin allowance for the first time, mainly to give the kids a chance to learn to make wise decisions with money. Eric has been doing a number of family 'seminars' on how to think about money. Some of the topics have been whose money is this? what are lies money tells? how do you know when you love money more than God? It's been good and they've come up with lots of good questions (when can I get a loan, Dad?).
I saw some cute banks with three compartments for save/spend/give and thought using them would be a good way to help them steward their money. Unfortunately they were $25 each so buying four of them didn't sound like a good way to steward
my money!
Instead we used some of the plastic icing containers I've been saving for... okay I've saved them for years (that's why we had 10 of them... we didn't binge on frosting this week). We cut holes in the lids and each kid decorated one in red (for save), blue (for give) and green (for spend). Not so beautiful, but we'll see if they do the job.
We were impressed with the view and how quiet the ride was. What a fun ride (and it was free!)
Money is a hot topic around our house. Especially after Christmas with gift money to spend (immediately!!!). I now understand the concept of money 'burning a hole in your pocket' in a new way as I watch my kids wanting to buy stuff. 
Carson and Henry were part of a Junior First Lego League team this fall. They joined brothers Jordan and Elan (who are also homeschooled) to make up "Red Radioactive Lightning". We spent Saturday at Legoland in Carlsbad where the boys presented their model at the JrFLL Expo.
The theme for this year's challenge was 'Smart Moves'- the boys had to come up with an item and research how it is transported. After much lively discussion, the boys chose to learn about land mines. Their model consisted of a field of land mines and a vehicle which can lay down or remove the mines. They also had larger scale mine models and a few causalities as only lego people can have. (I must say it was one of the most 'boy' projects at the expo- as opposed to the transportation of things like soccer balls or pencils.)
Henry turned 7 years old Wednesday Jan 27th. We went out to Denny's for his grand slam breakfast, had cake with some neighborhood friends, and pizza (with rootbeer!) for dinner. He was very disappointed to have to do school on his birthday (he was quick to remember that we didn't for any of the other kids last year), but he survived and was excited to open presents.
His favorite gift this year was his very own baby Taylor guitar. He is already writing his own songs and playing by himself in his bedroom. We look forward to seeing how he progresses with a few lessons from Dad!
Henry makes us happy! He is easy going and fun to be around. He can be very creative and gets wrapped up in imaginative play or building tree forts. He likes to play nerf gun battles and tag with the older kids, but he usually takes on the role of a spy and can be found sneaking around the edges of a room- especially in his night vision googles. We love you Henry!
It's much easier taking photos of the kids now that they are older, but as you can see Peter couldn't quite make it to the end.
Okay, it wasn't much rain in Irvine (unlike San Diego or the snow in the mountains) but it was enough for Natalie to get out her new umbrella and boots and dance around outside. She was in paradise!
