Cute outfit?  Check.

Monogrammed lunch box?  Check.

New, non-sandal PINK! shoes?  Check.

Crash-course for Dad in “little girl hair-fixin’”?  Check.

Here’s our refined little lady on her first day:

Fortunately for her teachers, she’s doing much better AT school.

Or maybe that’s just me.

I had envisioned something along the lines of this.  But instead I asked Bug (a child who rarely listens to my words), “What kind of cake do you want?”

Her answer, “PINK!”

(It was also the answer to, “How old will you be at your party?” and, “What kind of present do you want?”)

So, may I present PINK! Party 2010:

This cute shirt was made by my good friend, Courtney.  (May I suggest you make friends with creative people?  Ones with children too old and/or too cool to wear their mama’s creations, if you can find one of these jewels.  Friends like this are also most likely to respond to a “help! I need bubble-gum pink nail polish” DM by dropping off a baggie of four polishes from which you get to choose.)

An unused dining room makes a great place for a party set up.  With all the work I put into planning the perfect tablescape and making sure the various shades of pink tulle were hung just so, do you know what the hit of the party was?  Those balloons in the floor.  Seriously, blow up balloons and leave them in the floor.  Even the teenagers couldn’t keep from enjoying them.

Mini “candy bar” (I don’t suggest going the whole “candy bar” route if you’re trying to be frugal.  You see those pink M&M’s? Those cost me twelve big ones.  Plus tax, people!  I still might keel over from the unfrugalness of it all.)  You see that empty bowl right there?  Don’t think that wasn’t filled with homemade ranch-type dip that I dyed pink. Yep, I went there.  I even had to whip up another batch before the party was over.  Because I am awesome had a good recipe.

My mom made the cake.  I didn’t get a picture, but the layers were tinted pink, too.

My mom also sewed this gorgeous banner.

Is it even a birthday party without the sibling gifts from the grandparents?  I think not. (Although I don’t remember getting these as a kid.  Did you?)

I think it’s fair to say that she enjoyed herself.

Bug and I… well we feel a little lost.  Even as I (almost ecstatically) unloaded only one kid for a quick run into the grocery store, Bug kept pointing to the seat beside her in the helicopter buggy to let me and any passer-by know that was her brother’s seat.  And as I sit here trying to type, my little independent player is sitting right under me.

We’ll find our stride soon enough.  I’ve promised her adventures–just the two of us.  (Which if you know either of us, that’s a pretty big and scary deal.)  But for now, we feel kind of lost.

But this one — he’s on top of the world.

I’m late getting this posted, so I’ll keep it brief.

My new thing:

A tan.

Well, an orange-y glow.

I bought the Neutrogena Build-A-Tan at the recommendation of a coworker.

My thoughts:
* Orange-y
*  Faint self-tanning smell
*  Great if you need to control your color (which I do– I tend to look like I need a good scrubbin’ if I get too tan)
*  Lasts a long time
*  Not paraben-free (big bummer)
*  No “shimmer” (Yay!  I have a strict “no-sparkle” policy.)

Bottom line:  I prefer slightly streaky orange to pale.  Maybe those who have seen me out and about lately would disagree.  I’ll probably buy it again though, unless I find a “greener” (yet affordable) option.

Updated to add a picture.  Because Moriah heckled me.

The site is painful, I know.

Kelly (aka @kellymerrill) is the photographer behind Spindle Photography.  She is one of my Twitter buds and I had fallen in love with so many of her pictures.  These were my fave and were the ones that kind of sealed it for me.  I was so excited when she agreed to shoot the kids (that’s funny, shoot the kids) even though she’s not a “children’s photographer”.

Kelly has posted the pics of my kids on her blog and I am so excited to get to show off these gorgeous images of “Wog” & “Bug” (which most folks know are not their real names). So click on over to Kelly’s blog & soak up all the super-duperness of it all.

I apologize for the amount of time you’re going to  spend pouring through all of her posts and photos.

I woke up on Monday morning still feeling an empty spot.  I have been blessed with an amazing family, a comfortable home, good health.  What could I be missing that other “grown-ups” had?

Then it occurred to me:

Ok, so that was a bit dramatic. My life was pretty complete without the Costco card, but it just so happened that at VBS last week, there was a whole lot of talk about Costco.  After voicing that I really didn’t see the need in paying to shop anywhere, I was quickly informed that with Executive Membership (ooh la la), one earned cash back and no one I spoke had actually had to pay for a yearly membership renewal due to all the cash back they’d earned.  Well, of course, my ears perked up at the sound of cash back, but there is also the fact that the ages, demands, and general contrary personalities of my kids right now have me at a place where I don’t really have the time to put into couponing and price-matching.  So, we’ll see if I can save some dough by bulk-buying for a while (now that I actually have a place to put eighty-seven rolls of toilet paper.) 

Now, I know that warehouse stores don’t always offer the best deals.  For example, Costco’s price on the baby wipes I use is almost double what I usually pay for them.  But they did offer a ginormous bag of avocados and with the daily avocado habit I’ve acquired– well, that sold me on the membership.  That, and the double buggy.  You know the regular buggys that can seat two kids in the front.  I cannot even begin to tell you the buggy struggles I have.  Most “kid” buggys are impossible to maneuver (especially for the uncoordinated).  If I get a regular buggy, Bug pitches a fit because whe wants to sit in the back with Wog.  Now that I think about it, she pitches a fit anyway when we shop, so I guess that’s irrelevant.  Still, a Wog in the back of the buggy doesn’t leave room for many groceries.  Now, I do love the easy-to-maneuver, but ever-elusive Publix helicopter buggy, but in the area of town I live in, a soccer mom will cut you in the bat of an over mascara’d eyelash if you try to take the last of the elusive helicopter buggy and smashed by Suburban isn’t exactly what I want listed on my death certificate.

So, um, yeah, I joined Costco.

What new did you do?

The color: No Room for the Blues (And, yes, I do need some practice staying inside the lines.)

I found this color to be quite hideous on my toes after I bought it last summer.  I was about to give it to my niece, but it matched my VBS shirt, so I threw a couple of coats on my fingernails.

I kinda like it.

I really really like having my nails painted.  It makes me feel pretty.  And these days… well, I’ll go to some lengths to feel pretty.  Did you see the amount of beauty products on my 52 New Things Catch Up post?!

I have to give a shout out to Angie, who’s nails looked so good the other night when we went to see Eclipse, that I found myself coveting them (you know, between my pining away for fictional vampires & shirtless werewolves.)

So what new did you do?

I realize I didn’t get my new thing posted on Thursday, as I had every intention of doing.  Then I realized that I forgot to do the new thing I’d planned.

Intention: out the window.

Fortunately, Thursday night did bring a new thing.  We took Wog to his first movie theater.  Any guess what movie?

He’s been looking forward to Toy Story 3 since I showed him the preview on YouTube over a year ago.  Those  three year-olds, they don’t forget so easily.  It probably didn’t help that I incorporated my new form of discipline (bribery) into the Toy Story 3 equation.  Wog had to earn the money for his ticket via good behavior (i.e. NOT hitting me and NOT yelling at HH and me – we’ve been having some issues lately).  So, let’s just say there was a smidge of hype involved.

The movie did not disappoint.  Wog was enthralled and well-behaved.   

SIDEBAR:  I wish I could say the same for the group of girls ages 13-15 that were sitting a few rows behind us.  No need to talk to Buzz Lightyear, ladies.  He. Can’t. Hear. You. 

As far as the movie goes, it did not disappoint.  The plot was the most sinister of the three.  Unlike Sid in Toy Story, who was a mischevious kid (and who makes an appearance in 3 if you know where to look for him– or his shirt) and Al from Toy Story 2 who was greedy, Lotso had real evil in his heart.  Most kids, I think, won’t even catch on to this.  It’s still bright and funny and silly and all the stuff that the first two movies.

Oh, and if you’re the least bit sappy about your kids growing up and leaving you, then you might want to take a tissue.  Or twenty. 

So, that’s my 25th new thing!  What new did you do?

I resolved to wear lipstick, everywhere, everyday.  I haven’t, but I’m doing a lot better.  Unfortunately, I only have so many hands and so many pockets and it’s all I can do to get out the door with a diaper in one hand and a sippy cup in the other. 

I resolved to send birthday cards… which I’ve bombed big time.  I’ve even had postage stamps aplenty (since the Christmas cards never got sent), unfortunately, my address book has been in storage for eight months.  Maybe next year.

Finally I resolved to do one new thing each week, for a total of 52 new things.  I even documented it here for the first fourteen weeks.  I haven’t been as intentional as I wanted to be here.  Instead of scheduling a new thing for each week, I’d sit down at my computer each Thursday and try to think of something new I’d done that week.  I think I was missing the spirit of the excercise.  Regardless, I’ve still been trying new things.  I’m even up to 24, which puts me right in line with where I should be.

15 -  New Facial Cleanser (Murad Time-Release Anti-Acne Cleanser) **good**
16 – New Facial Toner (100% Pure, Organic Peppermint Green Tea) **good**
17 – Another New Facial Cleanser (AAA Shea Butter Black Soap Bar) **love**
18 – New Shampoo/Conditioner (Matrix-Biolage Delicate Care Shampoo & Conditioner) **not a fan of the conditioner**
19 -  New Makeup (La Bella Donna)  **love** I need to write a whole post on this foundation.
20 – Buying avocados **love**  Now, I’m addicted.
21 – Chipotle  **love**  Go there. Now.
22 – Hired a Professional Photographer (Spindle Photography) **Love** I’ll probably never go to a “studio” again.  More on this later. 
23 – New Computer (Jasper.  Yes, named after the Jasper.) **Big Love**
And finally,
24 – WE BOUGHT OUR FIRST HOUSE.  **AND IT’S AWESOME**

I’ll resume posting my more intentional New Things on Thursday (complete with MckLinky.)

Me!

It’s been 68 days since my last blog post.  Sixty. Eight.

 This was not an intentional “break”.  I had been mulling over the mediocrity that had become Will Blog for Shoes for some time.  I struggled with my direction.  My “brand”.  I had a lot of things inside that I wanted to write about.  Really write.  But I worried about the hodge podge-ness of it all.  Too much kids?  Too much God?  Too much lotion?

I know. The fact that I worried about “too much God” in my blog — well, I cannot even put into words how that makes me feel.  If you need me, I’ll be cowering in the corner, waiting for the locusts to arrive.

In the midst of all the things swirling in my brain to put on “paper”, there was this tugging in my heart:

“Shut up and listen!”

So I did.

I cleared out the space in my head that was constantly running on “this would make a great post” and I cleared out my Google reader.  I’m reading real books.  And my Bible.  And story books.  Oh, I’m still reading a few blogs here and there.  But with only four blog feeds in my reader and another two that I subscribe to by email, there is no looming mound of blog-chat that’s hanging over my head that I have to read.  (Yes, it’s silly to think that you have to read blogs, but if you’ve ever let your reader accumulate over 1,000 unread posts, then you know the kind heaviness it can add to your to-do list.)  Struggling to crank out a whole lot of meh while reading a whole lot of wow is makes one very weary. 

So, as I’ve shut my yapper [keyboard], I’ve opened my heart and mind to a lot.  There’s been a lot of navel-gazing.  The good kind.  The kind that begets self-improvement.

 (Pardon the use of the hokey term self-improvement, but it is what it is.)

I’m feeling a little wrecked by the whole process, but I like what’s happening.

So, why all these words on the computer screen if not blogging has been all that?

Because the clarity I’ve been afforded in these sixty-eight days has allowed to me to realize what this blog is and what it isn’t.  I am not a gifted writer.  I am not a snazzy marketer.  I started blogging because I thought I was a good mix of both.  I’m not.  But I have a heart.  And I started putting it here.  And no matter how much I became distracted by the razzle dazzle of big-time blogging and lost my way, some folks kept coming back and reading.  And commenting. 

Connections.

With my own thoughts.

With other people.

Me likey.

Me missey.