Let's talk shoes!

So with  spring here and summer quickly  approaching I knew I needed to figure out the girls' shoe situation. Now in the past I've done minimal shoes for the girls, even for a "normal" person's standards. Maybe 3 pairs total...mainly because my girls' feet have always been  super annoying to fit. They  have "tall" feet and many shoes don't even go on their feet.

However  this year things have changed---suddenly their feet are fitting into shoes...even sandals! Yay :-) We still can't  do any sort of flop flop or sandal where something goes between their toes, but  we're getting better.

My philosophy  on shoes is to go as cheap. as. possible. My girls tend to trash shoes. They don't really have any resale value when we are done and I am not a "shoe person" who appreciates name brand shoes. So this year our stash has been Payless and Target. Payless is amazing for kid's shoes. They hold up great and are cheap! I'd much rather get multiple cheap pairs of shoes to match many outfits, as opposed to one or two expensive pairs. Maybe if I had a boy I'd just do one nice pair...

So here's  what  I have right now...tags and receipts still on because I  might change my mind.

These are from Target. If I was only  buying one pair of shoes I would  pick these. I love a great basic white  sandal for summer---not the hard plasticy "church" white sandal, but a soft leather/faux leather. These have padded straps for comfort. Great shoe! And the colorful dots in the center of the flowers mean they will match basically  everything.

These I'm debating if we "need"...the white ones would probably be fine, but we have quite a bit  of gray/yellow combo in oru wardrobe and these silver ones would be cute. Plus they are maybe a little dressier---but still the soft/padded style and really comfy. Only $9 from payless! One of their everyday deals this spring.

These are  also $9 shoes  from Payless. They didn't have either style in both sizes I needed, so I got the girls different ones. Kinda works because Brielle is younger and has more pastel and blue in her wardrobe  than Raya does.

Raya picked these are Target---LOVE. They didn't have  Brielle's size though! If by chance I stumble across a size 6 at another  Target I might get them.

And lastly, these beauties...

Here  is what I posted on Facebook  yesterday about the above  shoes:

"Oops, my genius plan has backfired! Brielle is OBSESSED with Dora and many times has tried to get my to buy Dora shoes at various stores (looking cute and hugging the box, etc. lol). However I knew if I bought some she'd only ever wear those, and frankly I despise the typical tennis shoe with a giant cartoon face on them! So I was thrilled at Target today to discover adorable shoes were Dora was *inside* the shoe haha...Brielle got her Dora shoes and I never have to see Dora's face b/c her foot's covering it. Fast forward though and now for the last hour we've taken off our shoes approx. every 2 seconds to admire Dora's face haha."

I paid $5 extra for the Dora picture  lol...at least I have a very happy girl now! ;-)

So each  girl has *4* pairs of shoes for summer. I really don't t hink  that's too bad, especially since they were all pretty cheap. Then the  pink  shoes they wore for  Easter (up in my blog header)---those  are our "spring shoes" and then once summer hits and we can  wear sandals I will  make those  pink  shoes our "play shoes" for playing outside.

I think the only shoes  we actually still *need* are water shoes for the pool.

So anyways, what  do *you* guys do for shoes? How many pairs do you aim for and do you think I'm missing anything? I know we don't really  have any tennis shoes, but in the summer we don't wear socks, so tennis shoes are pretty much out. My girls can play on the playground in sandals just fine and they don't do any real sports right now where tennis shoes are a must. We do have some tennis shoes packed away in bigger sizes for Raya when she starts doing gym at school, etc.

Happy Thursday everyone! We'll end with a couple quick pics of my cuties today...

They are playing outside at Grandma's today  because it's supposed to get near  60 degrees...so  it's a play clothes day. I find Brielle's shoe choice ironic considering I  just  did a post on spring/summer shoes LOL

These are leftover winter shoes  that will  also be "play" now

And a random pic from yesterday----Raya found a misc. picture  laying around the house  and insisted on posing with it hahaha

Cousin Lovin'

Yesterday was Tuesday which means I had my niece and nephew for  the day.  I just had to take a picture of Harper when she woke up from her nap----she had the best bedhead EVER. Seriously, people  in the 80s spent a lot of time (and hairspray) trying to get that sort of volume LOL.

The girls all played nicely together yesterday morning...no idea what they were doing, but  it  involved this "boat" and various baby items hehe

And since I  often forget to  take  pics of Sawyer after  we get him from preschool I made sure to take a few today

And lastly, on Monday Raya was so funny....I  let her  pick  her own outfit and she was so proud of how well she "matched" LOL

And here is Brielle, forcing Raya to put Dora bandaids on imaginary wounds

Then Raya had to kiss  the fake wound

Driving in their  "cars"!! They  have great imaginations

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today for lunch the girls have requested that we go to "Old McDonalds had a farm"  ....which is Mc Donalds to us ;-) So  we will eating junk food and playing on the germy playland...whatever makes  them happy, right?! haha

Easter Photoshoot! (And double duty as Trendy Tot Tuesday :-)

We had a wonderful Easter--I hope you all did as well! Unfortunately I accidentally forgot my memory card when we went to our family party on Sunday, so I  was unable to take any pictures---bummer! I did however get a little photoshoot done before we left Sunday morning, so these will have to do :-)  (I'm also going to have this post double as my Trendy Tot Tuesday post for the week, since the girls are looking so cute in their matching Crazy 8 outfits. You can link up yourself with Megan, Lindsay, and  Kelly for Trendy Tot Tuesday as well!)

Ok, so here it is, the Easter outfits! Now I do enjoy a good frilly Easter dress, but they just aren't practical for us. We don't attend church so to just buy a frilly dress and then go play at our family party doesn't make much sense--the girls would rather be comfy! So then I was debating getting them some comfy, yet Easter themed outfits...but last year they wore Easter themed shirts from my Etsy shop and I wasn't in the mood to make a new design this year lol. And I couldn't  find any store bought ones where Raya and Brielle could match.

sooooooooooooooooooooo.....

then I decided to be all practical and make due with something we already had. Well it's sad that they have *nothing* to wear lol...so we pulled out these little outfits from Crazy 8 that I had bought awhile back. They looked adorable and matching head-to-toe....success! :-)   (Crazy 8 has this strawberry line on sale currently---if you like it go check it out!)  Shoes are from Target.

She did the silly chipmunk tooth smile lol...goofball

One  of the greatest things  about Gymboree and Crazy 8 is the matching hair accessories!

Apparently the  chipmunk tooth smile is genetic :-P

And then Lee found a religious Easter cartoon online for Raya to watch (He tried to find a church recently that he could start taking the girls too...long story short he wanted a Wednesday night service and "Sunday" school option because he doesn't  want to go on the weekend...he thought he found one online so he went to check it out this Wednesday night and he instead ended up in a 1.5 hour bible study class LOL. He said he felt bad leaving so he stayed, but there were people I guess who kept shouting out Amen! and stuff and he couldn't even hear the preacher haha....the visual had me cracking up. So needless to say he's back on the hunt for a different church and  Raya is  back  to her  religious training on You Tube :-P 

Brielle watched for  a few minutes, but unless Dora has a bible video out it's probably a lost cause for now!

Check out that cheesy pose she busted out!

So while Raya continued watching her video (she was really into it actually!) Miss Brielle went to play Littlest Pet Shop in the playroom. I wish I took more pictures of the girls *just playing* because  they are so cute when they are in their own little worlds playing with their  toys. I love some of these shots I captured of Brielle :-)

I love  this shot!

I was trying to get her to look at me by saying her name...she finally turned around and said "What?!"  haha



She loves putting on this lipstick  from the Easter bunny. And notice the tattoos as well ;-)

And then we attempted some pictures with Mama

We decided the lighting indoors wasn't  working!

So then we went outside...



But  when I handed the camera to Lee  I forgot to change the settings first! The pictures all were blown lol. After some editing I salvaged them as best as I could---we were just solid white before! I sort of like the finished  product, strangely enough

And then take 3---I fixed the camera settings and we went into the backyard. Unfortunately the fact that I was still taking photos with toddlers made the shoot difficulat regardless :-P

Don't I  look strangely tall standing next to a 3 year old? lol

I picked my top up at Target---I thought it was kind of Easter egg-ish :-)

 

 

And then I took  a couple of Daddy with his  girls

Excuse his weird  face---it  was cold and I believe  this is his "hurry up and take the damn picture" smile :-)

What did you all  choose for  Easter outfits this year? Are you a frilly/fancy outfit family or a casual outfit  family?

(Also, if you missed  our Easter egg hunt/basket pics post from yesterday check  it out :-)