The Monster Inside...

Have any of you seen that show? It is on some science channel we receive with our satellite of cruddy channels package. It is literally called "Monster Inside" and they tell stories about people who have disgusting parasites living in them... I think we as a swine-flu fearing, plastic PBA chemical freaking out, and hand sanitizer obsessed nation, do not really need this show. Not.At.All.

But, already, I digress, because of the title.

I have a monster inside me. Not the parasite type, no. This monster, it is my love of shoes and hats and accessories. It is my sisters fault. Do you remember the last post? I tried on those wonderful, now duly named, "Delicious Shoes". I decided they were too much for a SAHM like me. I would not wear them enough, they were too pricey, etc. I have a little list of excuses I use to talk myself out of these very purchases.

But remember, my sister, whom I should note has no fear of her monster inside, she bought them for me! What was I to do??? But then it all started... There were the hats... I put away any thoughts of actually paying the $20 for the Calvin Klein hat I fell in love with. I felt rewarded though when I snagged an equally cool hat, on sale at the Gap for a mere $10. That was when it hit me...
I had awakened a long dead evil that lurks inside me. It is lover of shoes, hats, purses, and jewelery... If you know me you are going, "Wait a minute, this girl wears black 99% of the time and is the most boring dresser ever." (no one need even mention the tie dye.) Tis true, tis true... it is because I have an illness... overaccessorizeitis. It is fatal to budgets and closet space. Husbands are very fearful of this disease in any form. Symptoms include the browsing of Lucky magazine, extra stroll time in the Target jewelry department, and unembarrassed and audible ooooohing or ahhhing over shoes. There is no cure, and I fear my strain is resistant to treatment at this point.

Heaven help me, it all started with the Delicious Shoes...


And now... the Monster is feeding.

Tuesday it hit the addicts high of all time -

SHOE CLEARANCE!!

I was going to the shoe department to look for some more shoes for Lincoln. Apparently, kids feet keep growing, so they have an excuse for getting new shoes often. Lucky.

I enter the shoe department, Alden chattering away in the stroller... On my way to the kid's department I happened to pass the womens shoes. Hello friends... Oh, how I have missed you!!

I see some ADORABLE animal prints - LOOK AWAY I tell myself!! I see the exact style of boots I have been looking for - NO! Don't do it!! I warn. But then, then my friends, this is where I hit the jackpot. As I breeze by the clearance aisle, I see them... Delicious Shoes!! In the Clearance section??? Can it be? I grab them - THEY ARE MY SIZE!!!!!!!!! This never happens. It is always those people with their stinking dainty size 5 feet that get the best deals. Well, ok, them and the size 11-12 gals. We mid range sizers always get the raw end of the deal in clearance. It is a fact. I put on the shoes... perfect fit. Totally impractical. Priced at $16.99. No, I will not do this thing, not even for that price. Then I hear it...

A wee small voice saying... "Look here. Over here...."

I look, and there with a light shining on them like a beacon, I hear the shoe angels singing...

THESE were waiting for me...

How much you say? Well, originally, $70. For my shoe jonesing little self... $4 !!!!!!!!!!

YES.

FOUR DOLLARS!

one, two, three, four.

F-O-U-R

1,2,3,4

are you getting the idea?

This is where the story gets almost unbelievable...

I found two more pairs of delicious shoes for the same price, and all in my size.

Here is proof, see them.



So, yes, $210 dollars worth of delicious shoes for only $12. My head was spinning with the fake leather delight of it all.

I should also mention that I snagged my boys some shoes too... not as great a deal, but still... shoes are shoes... ;)

Now what would be a post without some scraptivity? Plus, you should know...

Memorable Seasons is having a THINK PINK On-line Crop this Friday and Saturday.

You come.

You scrap.

Jill donates $$$ to breast cancer research.

It is a good thing.

Plus, there will be lots of goodies on sale, and prizes, and other fun things...

If you are not a scrapper, too bad... you are missing out and no one will remember what you did and when you did it. Just Kidding! I however, am off to make a scrapbook page about the delicious shoes and their new friends... but first...

A couple of pages about Hadji's Birthday... :) That boy was beyond thrilled to take his friends to Putt-Putt, and be the birthday boy. He is a great kid, despite all his stubborn ways... and I have NO IDEA where he gets them from... ;)

Mickey, school and all that jazz...

So, where have we been...

well I will tell you.

We have been places.

Lots of places.

Here is proof.

(Thanks to a new cybershot pocketsize camera, I am getting photos of all those places now.

I admit it, I longed to snap photos at girls night out dinners, in the store, or at the playground, but let's be honest, hauling out the mac daddy camera is a bit paparazzi like... and it is ANOTHER bag to carry. I already look like a pack mule between a purse, a diaper bag and whatever item I am currently returning at any given time. (yes, i have become that person. the one who says, "well, I'll just buy this maxi dress and see how I like it at home." Guess what? If you think it makes you look fat in the dressing room, chances are you won't lose 10lbs on the way home and like it anymore when you get there.)

But, I digress... back to the where we have been chatter...

We went to Florida to visit my sister, her husband and her two kids. Another sister and her husband and son were also there. In case you have lost count that is 3 females and 9 males in one home. Team Estrogen was severely outnumbered. The fourth sister, she is wiser and steered clear of all that testosterone.

This is Micah and my nephew, Franklin. Franklin is not always a big fan of cuddle time. Yet, Micah broke out the mac and he was in his lap pretty quick. (I am trying to use that as reason number 4,568 that I too should have a mac laptop.)

This is Alden and my nephew Truman. Poor Truman. Alden loved him. Alot. That means he followed Truman everywhere trying to hug and play with him at every second.

This is my nephew Will and my boys, after building lego men. Aunt Sharon is a tad obsessed with giving my children all the toys their cruel parents won't buy them. Suffice to say, she is a popular gal round here...

This is Alden sleeping. It is just cute. That is all.

We did Disney.

Here is proof.

Here are the boys on some ride, I was scared Emerson would fall out. Lincoln assured me he had things under control. Ok.

Thunder Mountain or Road. I don't know, Thunder something. I was kind of hoping Emerson was too short so I could keep him with me and we could go get ice cream, or some other less puke inducing activity. No such luck, dang healthy growing kids...

This is me and Em in the world's slowest moving line.
We were stuck inside the cattle like turn styles of Thunder Mountain. The false advertisement of a mere 50 minute wait lured us in... we are such suckers. Now, normally, Disney runs like a well oiled machine from the parking lot to the food service. This day however, some teenager, whom I am sure was wearing skinny jeans, was in charge of dispersing the herded masses of sweaty parents and their offspring into the ride. Junior Skinny Pants, he let the fast pass line go without letting any of us commoners through... FOR OVER A HALF HOUR! The situation was finally remedied by a sweet girl. Yes, I am making note of her gender for specific and demeaning purposes. All in all we waited an hour and forty minutes for a ride that lasted less than two minutes. I am questioning my entertainment return on the investment.

We got to swim in my sister's pool.

Here is proof.

Alden decided he wanted to be thrown like his brothers. I was not so sure of about this.

Baby being thrown.

Thrown high.

... over a large concrete pool of water.

Apparently my fears were pointless, he loved it.

We shopped, my sister and I.

Here is proof.

I am fearful though, that I have awakened a sleeping giant... that giant would be my love of shoes and hats. There will be more on this later. For now, all you need know is that these are the Delicious Shoes. I walked into Banana Republic, and placed them on my feet before noting their price or impracticality. That is when my sister swooped in and proved... once the baby of the family, always the baby. "Aren't they delicious??" I said. "Yes, very" she agreed, donning a pair herself. "Let's get them!"

"Nooooo... I am a SAHM, I have very few places to wear them, I, I, I..." I stumbled around, trying to convince myself I did not in fact, want the Delicious Shoes. That is when big sister proclaimed, "We are BOTH getting them!!" and promptly bought them for me.

What was I to do? I could not steal her joy.

But now, the giant, the giant is awake... seriously, I have already typed up a post about this illness I have. A month (or more) will not pass before you hear about it... cross my bangle loving heart...

We sent Hadji off to school.

Here is proof.

There will be more on this topic later too... I believe anytime a child talks about someone named Duke, it needs its now blog post. For now, know this, he loves it. I should be happy, but I admit it, I wanted him to miss me a bit... just a little bit.

So, that is it. Where we have been... and why I have once again, not been posting. There were other things mixed in there too... parties, engagements (not mine! LOL), goal planning, answers to prayer, hurts, and of course... insomnia! (nobody need note that I could have, in fact been posting whilst up in the wee hours of the night, but don't. )