Clothes Shopping for School

Happy Monday, what's left of it anyway.

What a weekend! I took my granddaughter clothes shopping for school. As her mom lost her job and dad is losing 8 hours a week it didn't look as if they were going to be able to do much for her for starting school this year. So....

I picked up Raven on Sunday and took her to Goody's. With a promise of ice cream after she was really good considering I think I had her try on about 50 outfits just to find 5 that fit right. She's a bit chunky in the middle and wide shoulders so the traditional little girls sizes don't fit her any more. We did find one t-shirt dress that fit her comfortably that she loves. It's pink, of course she loves it, pink is her favorite color. Buying from the teen section for an almost 9 year old is like finding a needle in a hay stack. The sizes are cut to be tight fitting or they plunge to her navel. This year there seemed to be more rounded necklines than in past years so those were the ones we picked the most. My granddaughter has short legs so the capri styles fit her as long pants and the longer legged shorts fit her as capri's. I love playing dress up with her and seeing her face light up with the styles she likes and the horrible grimace she makes with the ones she hates. She definitely prefers solid colors on the bottom and bright pinks and blues on top. She was really into the lace and floral this year. In years past she only seemed to want to try on the t-shirts and didn't much care about the comfort factor. So many of the teen t-shirts had lovely designs with glitter and sequins but fit her skin tight. I hated having to say no. We tried finding some like that in the petite women's dept. but no such luck. Nothing that was suitable for a 9 year old anyway. She was easy to steer to other things though, grab a pink top, hey Raven look. Oh grandma that's the one! Yep, easy to steer her mind in another direction. They had all of the shoes on sale so I was able to get her a pair of nice Sketchers for dressier days and a pair of Nike for PE. Oh, I almost forgot, she says it's called gym in her school. I even found a pair of blue jeans, Ashley Judd, that not only fit her waist but weren't miles too long. She didn't like that they weren't all fancy but she did admit they fit so, in the cart they went.

All in all I think we did pretty good. We bought 2 skirts, 3 pairs slacks, 1 pair jeans, 5 tops and 1 dress. Plus the shoes and I only spent $267.00 and some change. We shopped only from the sales racks and discount racks. Usually we have to hit the boys section because of her body shape but we didn't have to this year. My receipt said I saved $126.00. So, if you have a Goody's Store in your area and haven't done your school clothes shopping yet I would suggest you give them a look see. It was well worth it for us this year. I don't think I've ever managed a weeks clothes from one store before. And never this cheap. Oh and today is her birthday, so she is officially 9 now. I've been hearing "Grandma, did you know I'm almost 9 years old?" for months now. I sure do love that child and I hope she doesn't grow up too fast!

Happy Birthday Raven, grandma loves you!!

My Grandmothers Hands

I've been missing my grandmothers lately. Sadly they are all deceased. But I remember them well. I found a photo on wikimedia by Ilona Eggers that is the way I picture my grandmothers hands; rough, calloused and wrinkled. I altared it a bit to make it fit more into how I wanted it to appear here. (Wikimedia is great for copyright free images.)

I wrote this poem one day while thinking of one of my grandmothers.

***

My Grandmothers Hands

Those hands were often rough and calloused

From digging in her garden.

Those hands were working hands.

They kneaded dough to make us bread,

And snapped many bushels of beans.

Those hands would swat us when we needed,

And serve up candies from her apron when we were good.

Those hands taught us how to fold ours,

In prayer,

And turned the pages of the big hymnal.

Those hands cared for babies,

Hers and others.

They cooked and cleaned and washed daily.

Those hands never ceased to work,

To care for her family.

Those were my grandmothers hands.

copyrighted

July 2008

I wrote a whole article about what I remember most about my grandmothers. Describing the wonderful qualities they had, the things I loved about them. I published the article on AC. I want my daughters to know about them. They only new one of my grandmothers and by the time they came to meet her she had alzheimers. They missed out on knowing a wonderful woman. You may read the article here.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/905657/my_grandmothers_hands.html?page=2&cat=25

Have you told your granmother how much she means to you lately? Have you shared with your children her wonderful qualities if she is no longer here on this earth?

You should.....