France Bound!

This little lady is going to France!!  Thanks to tons of love and support from friends and family, she is going to France.  We are all very excited for her and are very grateful for everyone who donated or wished us well or thought about us in anyway over the last few months.  We would not have been able to make it happen with you.

What's my kids wearing today?

Things are slowing down around here.  Most of our after school activities are coming to an end.  All four girls have their spring ballet performance this Friday and Saturday, so they do have rehearsal this week (which gives me two child free hours each day).  It will be nice to not live in the car for four hours each day.  At least for the next few months.  Anyway, on to the outfit...

(yeah, sisters are just as weird as brothers...)

(She was pouting because she asked to play and I told her to go play...yep, she's four.)

brown saddle oxfords - Willits ($2.99 at Goodwill)

blue and white striped shorts - Genuine Kids ($.99 at Goodwill)

purple tank top - Gap ($1 at Salvation Army)

polka dot cardigan - OshKosh ($.99 at Goodwill)

Total Outfit - approx $6

Use what you have.

I am a firm believer in reusing the things that I already have around the house to create the things that we need.  Today, we needed some little girl closet organization.  All of my girls are responsible for putting their own laundry away.  Zion is old enough to put her away, but she's not quite tall enough to reach the bar. Even with the stool, she was just barely tall enough to reach the bottom of the hangers.  She needed a lower bar to hang her clothes.  Because we rent our house, I can't just go around drilling holes into the wall.  So, after wandering from room to room this afternoon trying to come up with a solution, I remembered this discarded piece of furniture in the garage...

I found this on the side of the road ages ago and it used to house bins of toys in the little girls' room, but it didn't work out so well.  It has been living in our garage ever since.  I was going to sell this in my fantasy yard sale that I am planning only in my mind, but it was perfect for Zion's new closet organization!  I removed the sets of bars in the center leaving on the three at the top and three at the bottom (so that it would remain stable) and voila!  Zion can easily hang her shirts when it is time to put her laundry away.  Bijou is tall enough, so her shirts are on top.

We still keep their bottoms on the top shelf.  They would carpet their room in clothes if they had access to all of them.  

What's My Kid Wearing Today?

Although our spring has been sporadic at best, I have stored away all of the heavy winter clothes and we have managed to make a few trips to the playground to enjoy the nice weather when we get it.  So here is what Jena and Zion wore yesterday.  (Bijou was cute too, but she was being a crabby britches, so no good pictures of her to share...eh, well.)

Jena

navy and cream shoes - ana ($6.99 at Goodwill)

skinny jeans - Arizona (previously featured)

scalloped blue eyelet top - Gap ($1.49 at Goodwill) This top is actually a size 6 dress, but Jena loved it so much when she saw it that she had to have it.  It will go straight to Bijou when Jena outgrows it.

Total Outfit (without the jeans) - approx. $8.50  

Zion

grey high top sneakers - Red Ape ($2.99 at Goodwill)

grey leggings - Not sure of the brand ($.99 at Goodwill)

pink ruffled tank - Cherokee ($.99 at Goodwill)

Total Outfit - approx. $5.00

Bringing home the gold...

Ashni has been fencing now for a full year and she is really excelling in the sport.  Her coaches are very impressed with her progress this year.  You may remember last year around this time, she won a bronze medal at her very first tournament.  She has since competed in several tournaments and has qualified for youth summer nationals.  Today, she fenced in a local tournament and swept her division.  She won every single bout (except for one of the preliminary ones that determined their bracket) and won her very first gold medal.  We're pretty proud of this kid.

What's My Kid Wearing

It is beginning to look a lot like....SPRING!  Yay, spring.  I am so over being cold and wet and stuck in the house.  So I am incredibly grateful that we finally saw several days in a row of above average temperatures.  It's so nice to feel sun on my face and ride in the car with my windows down.  My allergies are not big fans of this time of year, but it's almost April darn it, and I need to be warm.  The other good thing about spring is the outfits contain less layers and are, therefore, much cheaper.  The kids got their first trip to the playground in 2013 on Tuesday and this is what they were wearing...

Zion

yellow and white polka dot tank - Crew Cuts ($.99 at Goodwill)

denim leggings (I can not bring myself to refer to them as "jeggings") - Cherokee, I think ($.99 at Goodwill)

And her favorite white oxfords (previously featured)

Total outfit (minus the shoes) - approx. $2

Bijou

grey and white striped tank - Kiddo ($1.49 at Goodwill)

skinny jeans - Children's Place ($1.49 at Goodwill)

sparkly gold shoes - Justice ($1.99 at Goodwill)

Total outfit - approx. $5

Ashni's last big party!

The Janelle Monae dance party is done and so is my birthday party season for now.  Phew!  The kids had a great time.  I'm pretty sure that Just Dance is the absolute best birthday party activity for girls aged 8 to 13!

The birthday girl looked quite dapper in her bow tie and jacket.  She really looked the part (fortunately the hair do is much easier than it looks)

The cardboard boombox was a last minute decorating idea.  For some reason I drew a blank on party decor for this one, so we just had tons of black and white crepe paper and balloons.  So it just felt like we needed something else.  Fortunately, I always have lots of cardboard on hand.  Nothing like free table decor.

This was, by far, the coolest cake topper ever!! Someday I will learn to stage things and have a nice blank background so that things will pop, but right now, I photograph my regular old life.  So you get to see the wall map and green high chair in the background.

A great time was had by all and I am glad it's over for another 8 months or so.  Time to take a party break!