Ah, 4-Year Olds

Four-year olds are adorable in so many ways. Especially the way they think about the world. Because they haven’t had enough “life” experiences, yet, their understanding of things is limited. Take for example, the four-year old granddaughter of a friend. Her six-year old sister’s piggy bank fell and broke. All the coins and bills scattered [...]

Spend to Make? But, of course!

I hung out in a second grade classroom last week to talk about saving money and then have the students make their own Money Jar.  It was a fun lesson and the Money Jars turned out unbelievable.  Kids and their creativity never ceases to amaze me. While we were discussing money issues, I asked the students [...]

Girls = $

We were driving home from Nathan and Ryan’s basketball game yesterday when I asked Nathan what he planned on giving his girlfriend, Shea, for Valentine’s Day.  “I bought her a rose,”  he said.  “My math teacher did an equation in class the other day where he proved girls were evil,”  said Ryan. Ryan often throws [...]

The Rubber Trees

Nathan and Ryan had a “job” over the holidays watching the neighbor Tom’s two cats and taking care of the plants.  They’ve done this job before, apparently well enough to get asked back.  Actually, they take the job seriously.  I know, because the rubber tree plants gave them quite a scare. About two weeks into the [...]

Splurge. It’s Okay.

Nathan was headed out to Kragen’s the other day to buy some items for his car.  He loves his car and spends a lot of time…and money…on it.  I don’t know where this kid came from.  The rest of us look at cars as a tool to get us from point A to point B. I [...]

Enjoy the Ride

I had the pleasure of sitting in the passenger seat while Nathan drove me and Ryan into Sacramento.   We were headed for a tour of the Capitol as something to do while John’s parents were visiting.  Since we sold the Suburban last year, taking two cars has come up a number of times. I noticed [...]

Inside Out

So I’ve noticed the last several times I’ve done a load of laundry, that Nathan’s shirts are always turned inside out.  I have this thing about reversing clothes and socks.  I don’t do it.  If either the boys or John take off their socks inside out, they get washed inside out and folded inside out. [...]

Divots and Entrepreneurs

“How much do you think I could get for this on eBay?”  Ryan was holding up a  chunk of sod and grass that, in golfers lingo, is called a divot.  It’s what’s left after a golfer takes a hard shot at a ball lying on the grass. We were at the President’s Cup in San Francisco [...]

5-Year Olds DO Get It

I had the pleasure of a phone conversation with my 5-year old niece, Olivia, the other night.  We were chatting about her first weeks in Kindergarten.  Apparently, Ian had brought in a pretty nifty coin collection because she talked about it for about a minute, which, if you know anything about five-year-olds, is a pretty long time [...]

Bumper Sticker: I Break for Lemonade Stands

Okay, this one’s too cute.  John walked in from work this afternoon holding two teeny paper cups.  And I mean teeny.  The ones really young kids use after they’ve brushed their teeth.  The ones that hold maybe two ounces of liquid.  He held them up to me and said, “I stopped for orange juice.” We [...]