Catch up for the week, including an under $30 Thursday on a weekend.

I know I've been MIA this week, and I just want to say my motto this week is:

We had a last minute park adventure where Evan decided playing with the girls was way better than playing with the boys, a trip to the ice-cream factory with our adopted family (neither family has family nearby, and Evan prefers being with them to us, so why not?), a visit to Dad at work (on our way home from Ikea), a messy house to prove it all, and NO GUILT whatsoever! It felt REALLY good to just leave the mess and go enjoy life! I love love LOVE hearing my kids laugh, and they do it a whole lot more at the playground than they do in front of the tv. (Although, they do find humor on tv and Evan has the cutest belly laugh while Sophie does the sarcastic Simpson's "ha-ha.") Anyway, it was a FABULOUS week, and the house managed to get cleaned up pretty quick, which was all kinds of amazing. So now it's time to shop!

1. Here's the dress I was talking about last time on my first under $30 Thursday, which was on a Tuesday, and now it's on a Saturday. I seriously need to reconsider the Thursday part of that weekly feature. Anyway, when I first saw it, it was on sale for $20. I didn't get it but couldn't stop thinking about it, and the Mr. even said "Wow! That's a nice dress!" So I decided to buy it while he was gone and wore it to the airport to pick him up. I got it in black and white (of course I did) but I'm really liking the blue and green one too. Maybe if it drops down to $20 again. Oh wait there's a sale on. Buy one get one 50% off. I should have waited! ANYWAY. Now you can get the black and white AND the green and blue.


2. Or you could get this fun striped one.

3. I just discovered the J.Crew Outlet site (thanks to thebigmamablog.com) and think it may have rekindled my love for J.Crew. I'm always on the lookout for cardis in every color. Well, look no further. 20 bucks. I know you're surprised that it's in hot pink, but no, I'm not buying a hot pink one that would clash with my red hair, but you know ever since Sophie was born I've been becoming soft. I'm not buying it. Just not hating the color anymore. Ok, kinda liking it. Still not buying it.


4. I've decided it's time to wear capris. Not shorts yet, I'm contemplating a spray tan before the shorts, but it's Houston, and it's gorgeous weather, and my jeans are just not going to cut it for this weather. I've always thought Loft pants fit kinda funny, but then Quinette (my gorgeous sister) bought a couple pairs in fun colors and they were so flattering! So I'm contemplating getting them in this color, but I'm also liking the Amore Red. Lots of colors to choose from and 40% off with code TREAT


5. I was SO CLOSE to buying these and still SUPER TEMPTED because they're 40% off of $12.88 but I have NO IDEA what size I am!? If you can figure it out, please let me know. I want these. Shoot. For that price I might just buy some and if they're the wrong size, I'll give them away. I'm so torn right now.

Sibling Rivalry

What do these 6 ladies have in common? Well, parents for one thing, 4 brothers for another. Yep, we're sisters (with 1 missing from the photo). Crazy huh? Sometimes we wonder how in the world such different people came to one family. We are each so different, but we're bound by that funny thing called family. Yes, we are all smiling in this picture, but don't think it's always that way. We ARE very different, and have our share of "disagreements", and we all have our battle wounds from the growing up years, some physical, some (probably more) emotional. But man oh man do we have some fun stories and memories!

I was pondering on the subject of sibling rivalry the other day. I was teaching siblings, and one started criticizing the other, mostly joking, but still... so I told him it was my rule that for every mean thing you say about someone you have to say 3 nice things about them. You know what? He did it and I saw an immediate change in BOTH siblings. After thinking about it for a bit, I added the rule that you have to start with one nice thing about yourself. I think a lot of teenagers (or kids in general, but especially that awkward pre-teen/teen stage) criticize others because they aren't feeling good about themselves. Maybe they feel that if they put someone else down they'll feel like they themselves aren't so bad? Problem is, putting someone down NEVER makes you feel better about yourself. If we can replace the negative with positive (and then some) I wonder if we can prevent broken relationships? And not just prevent broken relationships, but build positive ones?

I'm definitely going to apply my 3 compliment rule to my own kids, but even more than that, I'm going to make an effort to compliment them all the time. I don't want the compliments to come only after something negative, and there's no better way of teaching than by example. So let's all start sincerely complimenting every one we come into contact with! Remember what our mothers said, "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

What else do you do to "fix" sibling rivalry?