New Shoes

This has been a rough week.  The kids have taken turns being sick which has kept us pretty much home bound, Ben's had to work insane hours, and now, I'm sick.  The highlight of the week: shoe shopping.  Who'd guess that shoe shopping with five kids could be a highlight, but in fact it was.  During a brief break, in between fevers, I packed everybody up and went to the mall so the kids could get new school shoes.  My dad was picking up the tab so the kids had a little more freedom in their selection process than they do when Mom's buying.  Watching the kids peruse the JC Penny shoe department gave me a giggle.  Each of their choices gives a bit of insight into their individual stages of development, a snap shot, if you will, of their little personalities at the moment.  There was no crying, whining, fighting or carrying on at the store.  Everyone took turns waiting for me to help them find the right size.  The older ones helped the younger ones shop while they waited, and in less than 45 minutes we were out of there with five new pairs of shoes, and five happy kids...RECORD! 

Meilani:  Now officially has bigger feet than I do.  Size 9.  She opted for some sporty purple/white Nike's which, upon checkout, we learned are a brand new style and weren't supposed to be on the shoe floor yet.  My trendy girl seemed quite pleased with this bit of news.

Eli:  Quite easy to please when it comes to clothes and shoes, he went with the first pair he took off the shelf.  He then pointed out the shoes he's had for the last couple of years.  His memory is incredible.  He's wearing a size 4 and wanted to be sure I thought his shoes would match his first day outfit.

Sariah:  The only one who didn't go with Nike this year.  Our true to form spunky girl was over the moon about her "awesome" twinkle toe light up Sketchers.  When shopping for dress shoes for my sister's wedding a couple months back Sariah left the store in tears when I wouldn't buy her twinkle toes.  I told her then that "maybe when school starts," thinking to myslef that it was unlikely we'd find them again, but hoping she'd forget.  She did not.  Twinkle toes were all I heard about on the shoe front all summer long.  Sigh of relief that Penny's carried them!

Liam:  Wearing the same size shoes as his older sister.  His hands are bigger than hers too.  He surprisingly wasn't drawn to the character light up variety anymore and instead, wanted to be sure his shoes could make him go really fast.  He even demonstrated in the aisle.  Thankfully, I was able to talk him into velcro rather than laces, so he can put them on himself.

Seth:  My dad said to be sure and get Seth shoes too, so I did, and boy it's a good thing too, because I don't think this shopping experience would have been so pleasant if I tried to leave without shoes for our shoe fetish boy.  I attempted to get Seth to try on a cheap pair of little tennis shoes but the little punk kept pushing them away saying "NO!"  He insisted on trying on these black/yellow Nike's and then proceeded to prance around the store in them.  I sent the girl to get me a bigger size and while she was gone again tried to get Seth excited about the less expensive white/blue pair.  He wasn't havin' it!  Alas, the bumble bee variety it is.  Why not?  Papaw's buying.

Thanks Dad!