What is the secret to raising appreciative, non-spoiled kids? Who knows? In an attempt to accomplish this...in our house the kids get toys on Birthday's, Christmas, occasionally from Grandparents and very very rarely from us. Peter(mostly his idea) and I want them to appreciate the things they get...so it's one way we are trying to get that point across.

Well today I had to bring them with me to a Dr's appointment...so they got "THE TALK".... I expected them to be on their BEST behavior(yes, I also threw a bribe in)! They were so good... the ultrasound tech and doctor even commented on how well behaved and what good manners they had... Zach of course had a million questions while they did my ultrasound, but would always start his question with"scusss me mommy...why...". Zach talks from the moment he wakes up until the the moment he falls asleep...seriously...somedays it's exhausting......he is full of questions...and many times I fall short of a good answer for him...I should write a book..."Mommies guide to answers at...the park..., zoo, grocery store, about repair men, garbage men, homeless people,...........WHY...WHY...WHY!!!

So after the appt...we went to Starbucks...yummy breakfast! That was mostly my treat!!

Then yes to the toy store...(part of the bribe)...Zach made his choice in less than 1 min...a firetruck...surprise surprise!! Then we waited for Miss Mady...and waited and waited! One hour later...YES..one hour!!!! She finally made her choice...

After returning home and playing with the new toys for a while...fun, fun, fun...we were off to do some errands...

I was trying to be quick...surely they wanted to be home with their new toys...

As I turned around to make sure my little ones were walking closely behind me this is what I saw ...

yes that is cat litter...scoopable cat litter..who knew you could buy it by the lb...can I tell you how much fun they had in that bin...lots! Then it was onto watching a gerbil run around, and around, and around... They also loved the dog treat snack bar...oh the choices dogs have...! The kids wanted to buy Tana...my best friends dog in Atlanta some treats...they keep saying "Tana would love these...she really would, can we please buy her some" After spending almost an hour in the pet store I was ready to leave! But not them...they loved that store! We will be back...

See...who needs toys when you can play with cat litter!!!