I have 5 girls who love to wear dresses. I've never really understood the point of a "slip" under a dress for little girls (unless the dress is see-through or something) because it doesn't help with modesty, or keeping the underwear covered. The trend of wearing leggings under dresses helps, but what about in the summer when it is hot?
I went on the lookout for modesty shorts or biker shorts or anything that wouldn't be bulky under their dresses, but would keep things "private" when little girls are playing and are not as concerned with keeping their dresses down. I scoured the internet and second-hand stores for biker shorts for girls, but the options I found were usually pretty ugly--like orange or black or wild patterns--nothing that would look nice under a pretty dress.
I first heard about Sparkle Farms Bloomers from my sister-in-law, who had a pair for her daughter. They are just what I was looking for, with a little bit of girly "bling", these 3 sparkle stones on the left leg. Cute!
They fit perfectly, not adding any bulk, and do a great job of keeping underwear private while maintaining comfort. We call them modesty shorts, and remind the girls that if people can see their modesty shorts, that means they are not being modest. Therefore it is hard to get an action picture of them with the bloomers actually showing, but here's my best shot--see them peeking out while G got her shoes on? :-)
Currently the Sparkle Farms Bloomers are available in sizes 3-7 in lilac, pink, and white. A set of 3, along with the two tote bags shown, is $25, or you can buy them individually. I asked Sharry if they would be expanding their sizes since my oldest is 8, and she said they are! In the fall she is adding sizes 7/8 and 10/12 in brown, navy, and black, the "private school" colors.
Sharry is offering 20% off your order of $25 or more with the code MOMFORHIM.
WANT TO WIN A PAIR? You have seven chances to enter! The first one is required because I need to be able to contact you if you win. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry, as this will increase your chances of winning. If you are reading this in a reader or in your email, you will have to click here to leave a comment on the post for your entry.
1. Leave a comment with your email. What do you do to encourage modesty? (Feel free to leave your email in a format like myname at gmail dot com to discourage spammers.)
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7. Blog about this giveaway. Post a link to this giveaway on your blog and leave a comment with the address directly to your blog's entry.
This giveaway will close on Wednesday, August 10th at midnight and I will select one winner using Random.org. The winner can pick their choice of size in either pink or lilac and the prize will be shipped by Sparkle Farms.
*I received a complimentary pair of Sparkle Farms Bloomers to facilitate my review. Sparkle Farms is offering the giveaway. All opinions are my own.
M decided this weekend that she wanted to ride a two-wheeler. She was determined, and she took to it faster than we expected! Ted ran after her several times this weekend, Monday night she almost had it, and by Tuesday night she totally took off! Way to go M!
Lest you think I got over my fear of sewing machines, I'll be upfront and tell you I did not make these dresses. With 5 girls who love to wear things that match, sewing clothes would be a great skill to have. Maybe someday, but in the meantime, Great Aunt Nancy to the rescue!
In May she sent a package with some blue purses and some goodies, with a promise of more dresses to come.
J doesn't like posing for pictures, can you tell? But the other girls do, and I got several more good ones! 
Meanwhile, while we were still on vacation, we called from my parents' house to ask if we could drive up to visit them on our long drive home, and she told us there was a package waiting for us at home with some dresses, but not to worry, because she had just finished another set of dresses and we could get them when we came! She also made some little book bags for the girls and let them each pick a book from her "library" to take home. Here is a picture of the dresses we picked up at Aunt Nancy's house. They are sundresses with little watermelons on them. Very cute! 
Thanks so much Aunt Nancy! The girls love their matching dresses! :-)It's been a long time since I've done a family update. There's a lot to tell, so here goes!
The girls and I worked hard to finish school before Memorial Day, even doubling up on lessons most days toward the end. To celebrate our last day, I gave the girls mini mani-pedis! It was a fun way to mark the end of the year and prepare for our vacation, where we'd be wearing a lot of sandals! (More on our vacation in another post. . .)
We also marked the end of our school year with a Mother-Daughter Tea hosted by our homeschool group. H, G, M, Grandma, and I went and enjoyed picking out our own teacup sets (to keep!), making a sewing craft (thankful for Grandma's help!), and enjoying tea, lemonade, and desserts. It was fun for us to dress up and be pampered. :-)
We celebrated 3 birthdays in May! M turned 5, F turned 3, and J turned 1. We celebrated their birthdays at our small group's end of the year picnic and Grandma and Grandpa were here visiting as well. There were 39 people at our house!
J turned 1! She didn't like the cake, frosting, or ice cream that we offered her on her birthday, so we didn't get any good "digging into it" pictures like we did with the other kids. She just kept scrunching up her nose and shaking her head no! She is walking all over the place and seems to have no fear, which makes me fearful sometimes! She loves to play with her sisters and can be quite a ham when they dress her up. She definitely has an opinion and will tell you what she does or doesn't want. She is going to be another strong-willed one, I can tell!
F turned 3 and is officially starting preschool. She considers herself one of the big girls and loves to do whatever they are doing, which includes school, so we actually started doing some school with her earlier this year. She feels so grown-up and is very serious about her homework. :-) She has a wonderful imagination and can make up a story about almost anything. She loves to pretend and play with her sisters.
M turned 5 and finished preschool. She is learning to read and can read some easy readers by herself. She has graduated from speech and can be easily understood by all, which is such an improvement over 2 years ago! She is a sweetheart, very loving and tender. She loves to play with her sisters and ride her bike outside. She is a big helper as well as a peacemaker.
G is 6 and has finished Kindergarten. She is reading very well, and has almost finished "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis. She has been seizure-free since the end of September and we were able to wean her off one of her medications, which has helped with her energy level. She loves to help with baby J and play with her sisters. She has started writing in a journal, and she loves to write poems and songs. Her dream is to be a singer and songwriter someday, and would love to publish a CD with her own songs. One of her new favorite pastimes is answering the telephone, which she does very politely. :-)
H is almost 8 and has finished 2nd grade. She is a voracious reader and can read a whole chapter book in about an hour. She finished the entire Boxcar Children book series this year, about 150 books! She has also enjoyed reading the American Adventure Series books, which are historical fiction from a Christian perspective. She is a big help with her sisters, and is so sweet about including others in her play. She loves art and writing, and hopes to publish a book someday. I can't believe how fast she is growing up!
There's so much more to tell, but the ability to focus on a blog post with 5 children around is not an easy task. Hopefully I'll have time for more frequent updates through the summer.
Last week G asked me if I would french braid her hair. Actually, she didn't know what it was called, so she asked for "a fancier braid, not a regular braid".
Being the mother of 5 girls, you would think I would know how to french braid. I do know the basic mechanics of it, as my mom used to french braid my hair (way back when it was long!). She has tried to teach me many times over the years, but I can never get it quite tight enough. (Funny side note--my french braids are too loose, but 
my crochet stitches are way too tight--hmmm...)
So when G asked me to french braid her hair, I went to youtube to look for a "how to french braid" video. What a found was a bunch of videos with a lot of cute girl hairstyles, so the girls and I had fun all day!
First I practiced french braiding (I admittedly still need practice!), then we ventured into some other fun styles. I'm a work in progress, but here are some of the "do's" we did! G is sporting a flip-braided heart on the right, and M and F have waterfall french braids. What fun! 
Do you have any fun hairstyles or tips you can share with me?
Life gets interesting once babies are mobile! J has been crawling for several weeks now. The girls made up a song to sing for when I put her on the floor, because now that she can get around, she doesn't like to be cooped up!
(sung to "If You're Happy and You Know It")
When the baby's on the crawl we all clean up (clean up!) (shouted)
When the baby's on the crawl we all clean up (clean up!)
When the baby's on the crawl, then we have to clean it all,
When the baby's on the crawl we all clean up (clean up!)
Knowing the song (and even singing the song) don't guarantee a clean floor, but every once in awhile it does motivate them to march around and sing at the same time. Whatever works!
Guess who is potty-trained? F has been keeping her panties dry probably 95% of the time, including naptime and at night! Yay, F!
J is getting around quite well. She does a "toe pushup crawl", where she gets up on her hands and toes, pushes forward, then hits her belly on the floor, only to repeat the motion again and again to get wherever she wants to go! As you can see, she can also stand supported for quite a length of time by herself. It won't be long before she is running around with her sisters! Her spitting up has decreased a little, but she has added massive amounts of drool. Still only 2 teeth, though!
Baby J is almost 8 months old already! 
And a new family picture! This was the only one with baby J smiling. :-)
In a house of 5 girls, playing dress up is a common pastime. Their imaginations are developed as they come up with elaborate stories and creatively turn everyday objects into items in their tales. Baby J is often involved, too, but this time I only caught pictures of H, G, M and F as they were playing "Little House on the Prairie".
H was Ma, G was Mary, M was Laura, and F was baby Carrie. Baby Carrie (F) was mostly enjoying twirling in her dress, but was also seen helping in the garden and being carried around by Ma (H). Mary (G) and Laura (M) were dutifully doing chores, like sweeping and washing laundry on a washboard.
Ma watered the garden while Mary and Carrie helped harvest the bounty of fruits and vegetables for their dinner.
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