Sparkles make it all better

While thrift shopping with a good friend of mine recently I ran across these amazing little girls shoes, in my little Girl's exact size. They have sparkles on them. A pair of Converse in very good condition that have sparkles? Only $2.00? Sold.

Every day after school she asks me if I went anywhere and brought home anything, specifically anything for her. She doesn't much like to go shopping with me, but if I bring her home something she's always excited. I don't bring her home something every time, but a lot of time I do find something fun for her. I stashed the shoes away thinking I would save them for her, but she's like a bloodhound when it comes to shoes and she found them. She was thrilled. "Oh, Mama. These are the most perfect shoes that sparkle. They match my black and pink skirt PERFECTLY. The only problem is that they have laces. I don't know how to tie my shoes yet." (She said that all in one long breath without much of a pause as she cradled the shoes to her.)

So this morning she put on her black and pink skirt outfit, dug out some socks and put on her new shoes. After messing with the laces for a while she asked me to tie them and then set an appointment with me after school to teach her how to tie her own shoes. Then we snapped a couple of cute pictures in her new sparkly feet. She couldn't be any cuter. You can't help but have a good day if your feet are dressed up, right?

P.S. Annalia- I found something pretty amazing that I HAD to get for you too. It should be on it's way by the end of the week. Miss you.

Nexus 7

Our Big kid really wanted a tablet. He did his best to persuade us to get one for him. An Ipad, like Grandma. No go. Then he came up with a plan. And a PowerPoint presentation. It made us laugh and finally concur. We all came up with a way both big kiddos could participate in getting a tablet computer. They did chores, saved money, used up all of the Christmas a birthday savings and even talked Uncle Marcos out of $10. Mom and dad chipped in a little bit, but they did the majority of the earnings. The snail genocide in our yard was a bonus. It's easy to be motivated when each snail equals a nickle. Big Kid also did research. Tons of it. He was on the computer every day doing comparisons. He made charts and asked for family discussions. It was a big deal to him.

Finally we ordered it. We were supposed to order it from a store that had site to store shipping where we could pick it up the same day, but that fell through, and the charge didn't come off of my credit card for over a week. Bad call there. Finally we found a great price online and ordered, and waited, and waited and waited. 8 days later it finally came. Big Kid was so thrilled he couldn't stand himself.

 

He likes the feel of the back of it. He doesn't like to use the cover.

 

One of the things I love about it is the Zoodles app. We don't have the premium service, although that would be fun. The one we do have is free and allows the kids to send and receive 1 minute or less videos from certain family members who sign up and connect with us through Zoodles.com. So Much Fun. We have been getting daily videos from Grandma Cleo and weekly videos from Grandma Cozette. It's better than the post office.

Big Kid likes Khan Academy, Ted Talks, and of course Zombies. I like the free scrabble app I found and Dad likes the calculus calculator. Awesomeness in a small package.

On the move

This video was taken recently and shows our Littlest Guy on the move. He's gotten more brave since this was taken and is moving all of those arms and legs. It tires him out though, so he still doesn't go far. It won't be long before I will need to make a real effort to find some baby gates.

1st Day of School

Up until a little over a year ago when I thought of this day, I thought of peace and quiet and a trip to the bathroom by myself. I looked forward to not having to share my drink and having the living room stay clean for more than 3 minutes. That all changed with the wonderful surprise that is our 3rd child. I wouldn't trade him for anything, even if potty time on my own is still a few years away.

Big Kid started 6th grade today in a STEM school a few miles away from home. It was a little chaotic today, but hopefully things will settle in soon and he will find his stride. He's going places and I hope this is a great year for him to build a great foundation on. He was less than thrilled with me for making him stand still for a few photos, even asking how old he had to be to not participate any more. My answer was that I would still want first day of school pictures when he was in grad school. Mom is always going to be Mom.

Meg was so excited she couldn't hold still. She loves her backpack, her lunchbox, taking a snack and hanging out with friends from pre-school, and planning her fashion statement for the next day. She was worried at first about a teacher who spoke English and Spanish, but decided it would be ok as long as she didn't get in trouble for not understanding instructions. Her first day of school must not have gone exactly as she hoped either though because when I asked how her day was, she told me "That was not as fun as I had planned." Ever the planner. Like her mother. Now that she has adjusted her expectations, she will probably be fine.

Baby Brother was a little lost today. He's never been on his own for the whole day without a brother or sister to entertain him. He was thrilled when we picked up Meg and reached for her. Too bad he's 1/2 her body weight now and she can't really tote him around anymore. Both the big kids were pretty self entertaining. Hopefully this one will settle down that way too, but I am not counting on it. Everything about him is different.

Here's to a great school year full of adventures and learning!