25 Things I Want My 4 Girls To Learn:

1. Keep up with your finances.  Don’t let things get away from you financially.  (We use computer software, but find what works for you!)
2. With your money: spend, save, and give.  Don’t forget to give.  Find a church AND a charity you are passionate about and give.
3. When you get married, you never have “my money” and “his money”.  You have “our money”, unless mutually agreed upon.
4. You are beautiful.  Just. the. way. you. are.  Your straight hair is beautiful.  Your curly hair is beautiful.  Your blue eyes are beautiful.  Your brown eyes are beautiful.  Your long legs are beautiful.  Your short legs are beautiful.  Just the way you are is beautiful.  But, yes, you do have upkeep.  Cut your nails, cut your hair.
5. Wear a smile.  It’s the best accessory.
6. Your skin is your largest organ.  Take care of it.  Avoid parabans and sulfates.  It’s worth the extra money.
7. Wear sunscreen.  (nonchemical ones, but in a bind, chemical ones are better than nothing)
8. Eat your fruits and vegetables.  Every day.
9. Drink lots of water.
10. Sodas, while tasty, are loaded with calories, carbs, sugars, caffeine, and chemicals. 
11. Be kind.
12. Don’t just buy sneakers because they are cute.  Use them.  Exercise.  Find a way of exercise you love and do it.  Dance.  Tumbling.  Karate.  Soccer.  Basketball.  Running.  Walking.  Ellipetical.  Weight lifting.  Cycling.  Try to do a variety.
13. A pedicure can make you feel girly when you aren’t feeling so girly.
14. Give of yourself.  Give your time and your talents.  But, don’t spread yourself too thin.
15. Sing.  Even, if out of tune.
16. Laugh.  Laugh loud.
17. Dance.
18. Your heart will get broken.  By a friend.  By a boyfriend.  Spend some time crying about it.  It’s okay.  But, don’t let it consume you and don’t cry too long.  You will get over it.
19. Be a good friend.  Don’t abandon your friends for a boyfriend.  Find a way to incorporate both.
20. I will always be your mother.  Call me-when you need help, and when you don’t.
21. I will always love you.  No. matter. what.
22. You will make some bad choices.  These things do NOT define you.  What floods your heart is what defines you.  Not some fleeting moment.
23. Birth control is always available!!!!!
24. You should learn to cook, at least a few meals, especially ones that are healthy, tasty, and don’t require too much time.
25. Always do your best.  Yes, do your best in school, even if your best isn’t an “A”.  Take pride in your work.

Gone shopping…

I purchased these for the kids for back to school:

All of the above items and images from http://www.matildajane.com, accessed via Safari on 8/12/13.  (I spent a little over $320)

I also went to a consignment sale and got two winter jackets, two skirts, two tops to match said skirts, two big girl dresses, and five little girl dresses.  (I think I spent $86)

Then… I gave my sister the go ahead to purchase these (each big girl gets both sets) and I will pay her back:

Above images from http://www.disneystore.com, accessed via Safari on 8/12/13.  (I owe her $123.15)

I think I have a problem…  I still need to get all four kids a pair of church shoes and a pair of school shoes too!  Seriously, though, I did tell my husband that I can’t help it when I can’t decide between items because it just feels good that I can put my kids in new clothes.  I always buy jackets on consignment though because we very rarely use the here, but when you need them it is nice to have.  But back to the new clothes issue, I very rarely got new clothes growing up.  I always got my boy cousin’s hand me downs, I got one pair of shoes per school year, and the beginning of the school year, my mom would buy us one pair of jeans and one pair of shorts and three shirts (if we were lucky).  That pair of jeans, pair of short, and three shirts had to last until Christmas, at which point we were gifted on Christmas eve with a dress to wear to church.  And the next time we got something new was on Easter, we got a new dress to wear to church.  I used to save up my lunch money (instead of eating lunch, I would skip lunch and save the $1) so I could get another pair of jeans when I was in middle school.  It took basically the entire school year of saving to get jeans.

I probably need some therapy, that doesn’t include shopping 😉

Happy Peachy Dancy 4th of July

Today, my husband, mom and dad, myself, and our neighbors took our 8 kids between us all to the Gilbert Peach Festival.  it was a good time.  We got there early enough for the parade, then walked into the festival.  It was a lot larger than what I expected.  We got peach sweet tea, peach ice cream, and the kids got hot dogs for lunch.  We let the kids ride the slide.  Then, they got their face painted.  Got popsicles.  Watched some dance troops dance.  Got their face painted.  Rode one ride (my kids picked the swings, the other kids picked the bounce houses), then we left.  We didn’t get to check out any of the vendors.  One of our other neighbors was vendor number 58.  She makes the cutest custom outfits.  Considering the number of kids we had with us, we got to do a lot!

Since we left the house at 8:30, I didn’t get to the gym today.  But I did wear my watch that clocks distance, and we walked 3.58 miles at the festival.  Can I count that as exercise????  Hubby says no, but my mom says yes!

Then, we hit up our neighborhood pool after naps and dinner, and our neighborhood puts on a great firework display.  Hubby had to go to work at 6 PM, so he missed all that.

It was a good day.  Oh, it was so cute when we were walking out of one of the areas and the girls (the only boy was an 8 week old baby) saw some dance troops and Isabel pointed and shouted, “I want to watch them!”  We let them watch 3 dances.  We literally had to pry her out of the bench and bribe her with face painting.  I am so glad that she found something she loves to do, and is obviously interested in it as a whole, but I don’t want it to get too serious where it’s no longer fun either.  I just don’t know how much to foster this interest since I only danced for one year and I was ten years old.  She goes to a Little Gym dance class once a week.  And we take her to the ballet at least once a year.  This year was the Snow White ballet, last year was Ballet Stars of NY.  Any ideas?