Cookie Sales, Birthdays and Disney

I don’t really know how I get into these things, but some time back my best friend Jennifer asked if I would be interested in having Aimee join the Brownies. Jen had taken on the role of Brownie Leader and she thought Aimee would enjoy it. Okay, I say it sounds like a great idea. Aimee and I get to spend some Mommy and Me time together and Aimee will also learn some great social skills. Well, it was all going great until the infamous Girl Scout Cookie Sale arrived. Since we are such a small troop and all the girls are novice Brownies, we decided to aim low in our goal setting. Each girl was given a goal of selling 35 boxes of cookies. Aimee and I took on the challenge and are happy to report that we have broken even our wildest expectations. Thank you to everyone who has supported us, we love you for it. Aimee is extremely proud of her accomplishments and I have to say her confidence has grown so much. As for me, I never want to see a cookie again, selling cookies in Florida is a hot business. I have toured the neighborhood with a wagon, stood for hours outside our local grocery, harassed our friends and family, we even spent one morning outside our Chiropractor office (Thank you Dr Buckley – you are the best). Anyway, if you are reading this and were not ‘shamelessly’ approached to purchase cookies or have just been holding out, please just send money to our home address asap. We still have cookies and would be happy to share. We are just a few boxes off of our record.


Aimee the Brownie

January 26th marked yet another birthday in our home, our little Princess Cadence turned 4. Since Joyce was not home until late on Saturday we decided to celebrate on Sunday when we were all back together. Cadence has grown so much over the past few months not only in maturity, but also in height. She is still our little peanut, but she has definitely had a growth spurt. It is good to see that she is no longer the smallest in her class. I am officially no longer allowed to call her my baby, she gets very mad and insists that she is not a baby…She is a Big Girl! Like I tell all three kids, I don’t care how old they get, or how many kids they have of their own, they will all always be my baby.


Little Cady (sorry Big Girl Cady) turns 4!


Happy girl and her cash

Cadence was spoiled rotten as only a Choi kid can be. She was so happy to have her own special day after having to watch her sister and brother celebrate their birthdays over the past few weeks – I am grateful that the expense is over for another year. As much as I want the kids to grow up, I sure wish I could slow them down a bit. They are all growing up way too fast. I am so lucky to be able to stay home and watch them grow up, but I still feel that I don’t get enough time with them.

January 26th was not such a fun day for Aimee. A couple of weeks ago the whole family took a trip the Disney store where we bought a few items in their sale. Aimee used some of her birthday/Christmas money to buy herself an Aurora sleeping bag that she liked. Unfortunately a couple of days later, I noticed she also had some of the Pirates of the Caribbean fake jewels. Now, I knew I had not bought them, so I told her she had once chance to tell me the truth of how they got into our home. As I suspected, they had ‘somehow’ found their way into her pocket and she had brought them home. To say I was shocked and disappointed is an understatement. Aimee had every opportunity to buy whatever she wanted that day. After a long talk and a lot of tears, she admitted that she had more than the couple I had seen she actually had about 8 in a little drawstring bag. Now I know that the cost was minimal, but the lesson she was about to learn was huge. I informed her that the next time we passed the Disney store she would be returning the stolen ‘jewels’ and apologizing to the Manager, not to mention if I ever discovered she had stolen anything again, I would take her direct to the Police Station myself.


Okay, so I just wanted to include a picture of Johnny Depp

Aimee knows I do not make promises that I am not willing to keep, so after selling GS cookies on Saturday morning we headed to the Disney store. I felt like the worst Mom in the world as we walked hand in hand to the store. She was so afraid, but I knew we had to follow through. As Aimee looked around the store for a few minutes, I had a quiet word with the Store Managers (for some reason there were 3 on duty) and asked that they assist me in my daughter’s life lesson. I thought my heart would shatter into a thousand pieces as I watched Aimee put on her bravest face as she stepped up to face her jury. She was filled with remorse and was desperately trying to hold back her tears. The Managers were awesome and thanked her for being so honest and brave. They told her not to be afraid of coming in the store, but if she ever wanted something again and she didn't have any money, she should ask Mommy to buy it or let them know and they would hold it for her until she had enough money. She promised that she would never, ever steal anything again and said sorry. I was so proud of my little girl and we both had tears as we hugged. It was a long walk into the store, but a quick step out. Thankfully, Aimee has learned her lesson and I hope I never have to face that situation again. It broke my heart to stand and watch her, but I knew I had no choice. Sometimes being a Mom is a tough job.