New Shoes!

Learning how to balance hand me downs is something that is TOTALLY for to me! My sister and I are 16 years apart, hand me downs didn't work for us. But, with two girls only 2 1/2 years apart, hand me downs are a part of the Strader Girls. What exactly do you pass down?

Pajama's, play clothes, dress clothes, shoes? When do you buy them their own and when is the left over in the closet ok?

I have been learning...oddly the girls' seasons are flipped...so what was summer clothes for Natalie couldn't be used as winter clothes for Allison...so Ally got LOTS of new clothes...the basics worked but not the seasonal stuff. Now that Ally is in shoes (attempting to run..too cute!) I am finally getting around to buying her her first pair of NEW shoes just for Ally to run and play...

Sadly, when I went to the store I bought a 4, after all that is the size of the hand me down shoes she was totting around in so it must be the right size. Well, every time I tried to put the new ones on she cried and tugged at her feet. She never actually got to wear the shoes...and I finally made it back to the store (several months later). Had her sized by the nice girl with balloons and she was a size 6...WHAT? A 6? Well no wonder the 4's made her cry...

So now she is happy as a clam in her NEW size 6 shoes..all for Ally! She still loves the old stretched out size 4's from Natalie's hand me down bin. But for when it counts she can strut her stuff in her new ones bought just for her!

Natalie on the other hand is always sporting some new shoes...I think her feet start growing the minute we leave the shoe store. Plus we have the wide foot, Fred Flinstone problem so I can never just buy the cute and cheap shoes. I am the mom at the counter special ordering the extra wide and am only given 2 or 3 choices of styles, woe is me! On this same shoe outing (when Ally got her new size 6's) Natalie left the shoe store sporting a new pair of running shoes, also used for biking, playing , hopping, skipping and all the other umpteen things she is busy doing all day long. I was having a lucky day because they had wide shoes in stock! Yeah for me! And to top it off, her friend Hannah, got the same shoes, even though she isn't a wide foot! What is better then two friends shoe shopping and leaving the store for lunch bouncing about in matching pink running shoes!

Shoes, shoes, shoes - one of the many benefits of having Ben's 3 girls...