New Year, New Wardrobe...Almost?

With the New Year comes a lot of changes.  I'm starting school for one!! W00H0000!!  Another is that I have some pretty big Resolutions for the year.  

And, in looking at my closet and getting ready for school, I noticed something.  My wardrobe consists of mostly t-shirts.  And, I want to TRY to look a bit more professional for school.  So, I went shopping with the Belk gift card that I won. 

The other day, Mike took me to Belk to try to get me to feel better.  Retail therapy I guess you can say.

I didn't feel like buying much.  But, I did get a shirt for him and two shirts for me.  Here's the 2 shirts I got for myself.

Now, I wasn't paying attention to prices that day and figured I spent about $100.  But, when the total price came up it was only $54.97 with a savings of $99.22!!!  The purple shirt I liked because, well, it's PURPLE!  The white shirt is beautiful and matches a black shirt that I got at the beginning of December.  See, when I find stuff that I like, I usually buy the same thing in different colors.  Here's the two shirts together.

Today, I didn't plan on buying much.  Just some clothes for Monster.  But, when I went into Belk, they had restocked from the holiday shopping and there was a LOT of stuff on clearance.  Yes, I did get some clothes for Monster...that kid is growing so fast.  I got him two pair of jeans (with an adjustable waist) and two shirts.  They're going to look so good on him.

Then, we got a suit for Mike.  With him being in the upper level business classes, and both of us doing more community oriented activities, we needed to get him another suit, because just one won't do it anymore.

I can't wait to see how good he looks in this!!! And with Belk's prices, we paid less than $100 for both pieces.  It pays to keep an eye out for sales and coupons!!!!

Then, I visited the clearance racks in the Women's Department.  They had mostly long sleeve shirts on the regular racks, and I'm not into long sleeves much.  I found a bunch of shirts that I really liked, and the most expensive ones were these three that I got to match with the sweaters.

Each of these three shirts was actually less than $20 each!  That's a great price for them.  They will go with these sweaters and they will match just about all my pants and skirts.

Then I found these shirts, which, if you know me, yell "THE MARCI FACTOR".  They're unique and original.  They will match my other outfits, but that's not why I got these.  I LOVE the colors, and on the third one, the pattern.  

All three of these shirts will go great with the Lilla Rose Flexi of the Month, which is a Peacock.  I'm in love with it and can't wait to wear it. (Shameless plug here)

So, for all of the clothes that I got today, I SAVED more than I spent.  My total was $273.70 and my savings was $385.16!! This is why I love shopping at Belk!  

Happy Birthday Monster and a GIVEAWAY!!!

Sunday was Monster's 4th birthday.  (Where has time gone?)  Instead of one party, we did a couple days of celebrations.  It started on Thursday.  We took Monster to one of our favorite stores for NEW BOOTS!!!

I LOVE walking into a store and seeing a wonderful display like this!!! There's a lot of hard work here!!

Now, on to the BOOTS section!

This is the lovely saleslady that helped us with finding the right size for him...and it was hard because he didn't want to hold still.

Here he is walking down the row to try on the boots.  He was more interested in all the trucks they had over there.

So, now Monster has a new pair of boots, and of course we can't get these off his feet either. 

We also went to the Houston Zoo with him, and he got a BIG BOY BED.  But that will be another post.  So...now for the giveaway!

Baskins has generously offered a pair of Justin Boots to one lucky reader! I'm so excited.   

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I HATE being made to feel like an idiot!!!

Yes, it took me a full day to calm down enough to actually post this.  

Am I happy with Hudson ISD right now? NOPE!

We had Monster's ARD last week, and I felt like I was in front of a firing range...I was totally blindsided by what they had to say and I believe it is because I threw a fit because THE SCHOOL withdrew him from school, after only missing THREE days!

Only one week prior to this ARD, the teacher had assured both DH and I that Monster would be in PPCD half a day and also Pre-K for half a day.  When we went to the ARD, he was suddenly so much better with his speech and behavior that he didn't need PPCD anymore.  DH and I both didn't know what to say at the ARD...we were both floored.  

Then, on Monday I called the Superintendent and was referred to Peggy F.  who is the Special Ed coordinator.  She agreed that it needed further investigation and asked if a meeting on Tuesday would be OK.  DH and I both agreed and we went to the meeting.  It started out with the Principal, his teacher, and Peggy F.  The principal started talking to us like we were idiots and that we needed everything explained to us.  I felt like he was one step away from using sock puppets with me.  Then...the speech therapist, some other lady that works with Special Ed ( I still have NO CLUE why she needed to be there) and another lady that I neither met nor saw before the ARD.  I think they realized that I was pissed because I shut up and accepted whatever they said...AGAIN.  

So, this meeting did NOT GO WELL and I don't know where else to turn, except to hire an attorney.

Am I happy with how well the school has performed with Monster? YES

Am I happy with his improvements? YES

Am I happy with the outcome of the ARD? HELL NO!!!

DH and I both believe that Monster still needs the same amount of speech therapy that he has been getting, but the school thinks differently.  Even compared to a friends daughter, whom the state of Michigan put in speech, Monster is talking nowhere near as well as her.  

So, I rolled over like an idiot and shut up because I don't know where to appeal to or who to appeal to and I certainly DO NOT want to talk to these people again.  I feel that Monster is smart enough to be in Pre-K and has been since he started school, but it's still very, very hard to understand what he is saying.  So, instead of hiring an attorney...I'm doing the next best thing...I'm posting this on the internet.  I'm hoping that someone forwards this to the State of Texas and they actually do something about this!!!

Wordless Wednesday

LOVE Hudson VFD

 

Saturday {SOOC} Straight Out of the Camera Linky

 So, I've been saying that Monster is really smart.  Well, I have a baby gate that has a two step release.  You have to slide the red part over and then lift the other part.  Well, after less than a year of it in our house, Monster has figured it out.  So, now we have to improvise...again! Enjoy.

By the way, this is more Daddy Ingenuity!!