What I wore Sunday vol 9

So just doing a quick What I Wore Sunday post.  Today has been a crazy day with a sick husband,   kiddo and an ill napping baby.  The kiddo woke up with the most terrible rash with a fever, and he's still on antibiotics from the ear infection he had just a bit ago. Grr! The rash spread all over his body but the since he's breathing fine, the doctor on call said to just bring him in tomorrow but a mom still worries about her kiddo when he looks like this:

But on to wiws.

Here's the outfit:

I know I wore white in the middle of winter, but eh, social graces aren't something at which I've ever done well.

Cardigan: my mama gave it to me, not sure where she got it

Shirt: Walmart (broke the target streak)

Dress: my neighbor gave it to me thinking it would fit my style, I think she was right

Belt: I don't remember, but I bought a few years ago for Halloween to be some video game character that my husband insisted on me being. 

Tights: Reebok outlet (does Reebok even exist anymore?)

Leg Warmers: MIL gift

I hope you all are in better health than my little family is.  If you can send some prayers up for us that we can be healthy once again sometime soon, that would be so appreciated.  Love ya'll.  

Check out some more outfits at the linkup hosted by Fine Linen and Purple!

Reflections in the face of tragedy...

Tragedy has hit.  We pray for the victims, and the families involved in the Sandy Hook shootings that they will find healing in their unfathomable loss. I don't pretend to know what it feels like to lose a child, and honestly I pray I don't have to because I'm not sure if I could handle it.  I don't deal well with death in general, so maybe this is why I choose to focus not on the grief but on what can be changed so that this doesn't happen again.  For myself, I think I learned to not be so harsh to my children even if babyland is hard and toddlers so inane things.  One of my primary goals in life is to get my family to heaven, this doesn't negate Jesus death at all, but simply means that I along with my husband are the primary teachers to our children.  We want our children to love God and remain on the path of seeking him.  So this tragedy, while made me question why? and still does.  It also made me want to hug my babies more and try harder to teach them to be faithful, good little people who want to seek Jesus.  People who would rather value and save life than take it. People who stand up for the weak and downtrodden.  People who help where needed etc.

“What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”

-Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

I guess my other question that stems from this tragedy is not about gun control, but simply how have we as a society failed young men that they think they have to come to such monstrosities to make their point?  I am left to wonder this, because I am raising two boys currently. While they are a long way off from being young men, I still wonder how we or at least I can prevent this for my boys.  Part of it may be in what I wrote in the latter part of the last paragraph, but I think there is more.  What that is I don't know, what are your thoughts here?  How can we make history not repeat itself?

This image below puts a whole other spin on a Christmas tree, and it feels appropriate at a time of tragedy.  It gives me hope, comfort and most of all love.

What I wore Sunday, the sick kid edition (Vol.8)

It's time again for:

This week, I went to church alone, the rest of the family was sick at home.  Such a weird feeling not to be wrangling children in mass, but it was good to be able to focus, slow down and reflect, especially during the season of advent.  

And since my children missed me for the whole 2 hours I was gone, I apparently had to include them in the photos because they needed lots of mama hugs. So here goes, What I Wore Sunday, the sick kid edition.

 

Necklace: Made my by aunt who owns a jewelry shop in the Poconos. 

Undershirt: American Apparel

Dress: Clothing Swap

Belt: Super old and have had it forever and its falling apart, though you can't tell here!

Tights: Present from my MIL, not sure where she got them, but she's a fan of Macy's so probably there

Boots: my standard Airwalks from many other posts,

Sick Child in PJs: Benjamin

Here is some of the detail on the dress that I thought was fun.

And here is the necklace, simple, but it does the trick. 

And last, some out takes with the sick kiddos who needed lots of mama hugs post mass.

Check out more outfits at the linkup happening at Fine Linen and Purple

Gingerbread, Gingerbread

We had a gingerbread house decorating party.  Here were the results.

It basically took 2 days to put this all together, but it was really fun seeing our friends, adults and kids decorate the houses.  

Have a blessed week!

What I wore sunday, vol. 7

Last week I was sick, but this week I am not, thank-you Jesus for feeling better!  Here's the outfit:

Scarf: from an alpaca fair, not sure which one, my husband likes llamas a lot so we tend to go to these things or get things from them.

Shirt: Clothing Swap

Skirt: Target

Boots: Payless

So I tried out the scarf deal that you all were rocking in previous posts.  I think it worked, though maybe a chunky necklace would have been better. Overall since we were putting together 12 gingerbread houses for guests today, this outfit was kind of thrown together in like 5 minutes, but it hopefully worked right?

Check out some more outfits at Fine Linen and Purple! 

Awesome blog post by Rebecca Frech.

Shoved to Them: The Secret Society of St Nick

Not Perfect...

Today was a rough day.  It just seemed there was a lot of acting up and tantrums and not sleeping going on.  I had to discipline, I probably lost my cool way more than I should have.  I probably should have prayed more to Mary to ask Jesus to be a more gentle and patient parent.  There was a world full of should haves.

But the thing is the day happened and amongst the bad there was good too, there was really. :)

The thing that stuck out to me most though was despite me not being the best parent I want to be, my kids love me anyway.  I could put the 2.5yo in timeout a million times and he would still want me to read him another story or sing another song with him.  He still wants me to sit near him and comfort him until he falls asleep at night, not perfect me.  The 1yo still wants to be rocked when he wakes up or picked up when he feels uncertain by again not perfect me.

And this is a good realization I think, because sometimes I see a hard day like today as a day that was just full of messes and tantrums and cries and time outs.  But love was there.  Love from me, imperfect as it may be and love from them in their childlike trust.

Thus, from this I guess as hard as a day can be, as hard as parenting can get sometimes. I do it in love, and to quote the Rocket Summer, "Nothing matters but what we offer in love."

Controversy or Understanding

There was a conversation that happened on the twitters that stuck with me. It presented the argument that "a marriage could survive off of 1.5 careers not 2."  So what does this mean exactly?

I posted this in the CathSorority feed to see what people thought of it, without any context.  It caused some heads to turn because it made one feel like one should be on the defensive about life choices.  But I don't think that was the original intension of the statement.  Here's what I think they meant... (note: you can totally disagree, I just wanted to share my thoughts and experiences here.)

When this statement was made, perhaps the author was saying that there only one person can have a full time job and pursue their goals, but I don't think that's true.  I do think however, that they were trying to say that their needs to be a balance.  A balance between work and family life.  Maybe the numbers should be 0.75 and 0.75 to make it equal and non-sexist.

When its equally 0.75 this probably means that both people have full time jobs, whatever that may be, earning money or not.  However, they also have a devotion to family and to responsibilities outside of work, things like faith and love and helping each other to dream.  This is what I think the statement author was getting at, the understanding of their being something outside of career or work.  That both people in a marriage cannot be totally set on it being about me, me, me.   Coincidentally, I think this applies to a SAHM too, because there is definitely a lot of work that goes into raising one's children. There's love too, but a lot of work nonetheless.

So, does this statement say that you can't pursue your goals, IMO I think not.  I think it actually wants you to dream even more, just together and not separate so much.  Because really, when we get married (at least as Catholics) we take on the responsibility of helping each other get to Heaven.  If we can't dream to do good things, if we can't build something worth living for, how is that helpful?

Ultimately, people come from all different places and careers and financial brackets, and there is no one solution that fits all.  Maybe there is some outliner example that fits a 2 career mold, but I think if I had to do this, I would be missing out on a lot.  I would miss that interaction to dream, to be a family, to love and to sacrifice for each other.  And that is what I think the author is meaning here. But feel free to disagree, as life wouldn't be full of variety if we all thought the same thing after all.  :)

Small Success Thursday

It's Thursday, almost Friday! And what happened this week.  Well, here are some good things, some small successes.

1. I managed to blog more than once this week.  I think this may be due to a lot of time alone at night, but really its nice to get some thoughts out of my head and into words. Still have many more which would be nice to get out.  If only we had infinite time on our hands.

2. I managed to get my children an extra hat and glove set and a new pair of shoes each all for $7.50 total.  Children's resale shops for the win!

Who could resist these?

3. I feel like I've actually kept up with laundry this week and while I definitely have loads still running. I have kept up with the folding and putting the clothes away in their appropriate places.

4. Bonus success: I actually have appropriate colored Advent candles in my possession. This definitely didn't happen last year.


I think Catholic Mom has a linkup now with this, but for some reason I failed to be able to post with them, so here is my own unlinked post.  Peace ya'll.

Christmastime is here...time for hope and cheer...Or is it yet.

I have a confession to make, today I played Christmas music.  And I enjoyed it.  I mean for most of the world this would mean nothing.  It's after Thanksgiving, so the Christmas season can begin.  But its not even Advent yet and I try so hard to not play Christmas music till at least after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th.  While I'm not going to decorate until the 8th, I kind of have been letting myself get a little into the Christmas spirit already.  I think its a good thing too, because a lot of times I'm too hard on myself keeping to my ideals and not straying from them except for rare occasions.

However, the best bit of all this letting the early Christmas culture infiltrate me is that I can teach my almost 3 year old about Jesus more.  I can explain to him that the lights on the houses are to celebrate Jesus being born.  I can tell him simply that Christmas is Jesus' birthday.  I can really start to get into the faith aspect of Christmas this year with him because he just grasps things a lot better than he did before.

Christmastime holds a lot of traditions, a lot of which I think our little family is still figuring out.  There are things that I grew up with that I loved, like gingerbread house making and St. Nicholas Day.  I didn't grow up Catholic, so in a lot of other things I feel like I am trailblazing, like the emphasis on Epiphany and such.  Other things I have had to come to terms with that I can't just cut out like I would like to, Santa will not be going away, but we can learn who Santa really was and understand more about what it is to be a Saint.

I have learned to pray two things for my boys (and hopefully future children). 1.) that they learn to love God, growing strong in him and 2.) that they know that they always have each other.  I think this Christmas spirit thing, while a little early on the calendar still being in November yet, is helping me to see those lifelong prayers carried out, and for that I am thankful.

What I wore sunday vol. 6

I feel like this week what

30 Days of Thanks

I decided to try this link-up because I should be able to think of at least 30 things to be Thankful for.  So here goes. 

1. God and his love.  I feel like just now I am starting to get more of a glimpse of the perfection of his love and the imperfection in my love, I blame this on my stubbornness.

2. For my children, my boys while they try all kinds of crazy stunts daily, can also give the best hugs and smiles.  And they can laugh, which makes me smile and it just makes my day better.

3. For my husband, he's with me to the end and I am thankful that he knows that and loves me despite my imperfections.

4. For confession, its an amazing grace that God gives us and every time I partake in it I start anew and feel like I can really make it and stay on the path to Heaven following Jesus.

5. For the tangible community in my neighborhood.  I love that I can go over to a neighbor's house and know that I will be welcomed even though I didn't give notice of coming. I also love that we help each other out in crisis with meals or if one person heads out for an errand we ask another if they need anything. It makes for a great place to live.

6. For my Catholic faith, it came with much strife, but I can't imagine being anything but Catholic anymore.  I finally feel at home.

7. For having the privilege to be able to have the career I want to have, which is a SAHM.  It's what's best suited for me, and I am thankful that my husband's job allows me do so.

8. Netflix, man I love my non-commercial on demand TV and movies. I love that I have a ton of shows that I can choose from and also can help me with nap time.

9. My good friends that have stuck by me through the ups and downs of life. It's sometimes hard to find these people but when you do, you want them to stick around and you will do anything for them.

10. For my family, as crazy and as stubborn as we are, I still am thankful for them.  They make life lively and if someone is in need they rise to the occasion.

11. Living in the city, I love being able to be 20 minutes or less from almost anything. Everyday is an adventure.

12. Being healthy. It allows me to be able to keep up with my high energy boys and I am so thankful that I can keep up with them.

13. Blogging as an outlet to get out the words that I can't sometimes say in an articulate manner.

14. Twitter, as it helps me to know things, to connect with some of the coolest people, some of which I hope to meet someday, and it helps me to realize that social media can be used for the good of helping others.

15. #CathSorority  I love these women in this group.  I am not a sorority kind of girl, but these ladies are my people.

16. Amazon Prime, it makes my life so much easier.

17. Music, I love singing and dancing with my husband and boys.  Such joy!

18. Soccer, its my favorite sport ever.  I am thankful for the connection it gives me to people all over the globe and I am thankful that I can play it too.

19. Running, I met some of my best friends running and I am thankful that I can still do it and sometimes take my boys with me.

20. Walks outside. It gets us fresh air, lets us get exercise and regroup to go back in and play or get things done.

21. For having a fenced in yard. Because I feel safer in the city knowing that my kids are penned in from crazy drivers and such.

22. For Holidays first because I get to see my husband. I tell him if he was around me all the time I wouldn't get sick of him, he doesn't believe me.  I love having him around, especially on holidays. Second because it makes us slow down and appreciate things that matter like God and family.

23. For the ability to nurse and sustain a human being.  I know it doesn't work out sometimes for moms and I am so thankful that God gave me this ability.

24. For the freedom God gives me in my will.  I hope I choose right, but I am thankful to know that it isn't forced on me.

25. For clothes. I especially am loving the What I Wore Sunday linkups. So much fun fashion and all for Jesus!

26. The internet, so much knowledge, and so many connections to people.

27. My phone, my first real smart phone, and I will be sad to see it go. I love though that I can talk to people all around the world on it wherever I am.

28. Puzzles, relaxing and yet strengthening of the mind.

29. Biking. I love the feeling of the wind in my face and I love to race as fast and I can without hurting myself.

30. The Zoo.  I love just seeing the animals, being outside, learning something new. Hanging out with friends and my family there and just being able to get away from our house and the city while still being in the city for just a little while.

And there you have it. I thought of 30.  I struggled in the middle, but now can think of a lot more.  Check out the linkup at It's Just Called Spicy.

What I Wore Sunday...Vol 5

It's that time of week again.  Sunday, mass time, and time for another What I Wore Sunday linkup.  So here goes. The Outfit: 

Baby: The newly 13mo Ephraim

Necklace: Target

Shirt: My mom gave it to me, she may have gotten it at the Bon Ton, as this is one of her favorite 

clothing stores. (I'm one of those weirdo people who likes turtlenecks because I have a long neck myself)

Pants: Clothing Swap, originally from Target

Socks: From my MIL, who no matter what holiday or gift giving occasion always gives me funky socks. (I realize that you can barely see them here, but they are argyle and knee length with fall colors in them.

Shoes: Dillards, from back in the day when I had to be a professional and present my science. (Here's a close up of them)

And here is the out take, as Benjamin wanted to get in on the picture taking action too.  Love my boys!

Check out some more excellent Sunday outfits at the linkup host by Fine Linen and Purple. 

Until we meet again. Cheers!

7 quick takes

1. The nap strike has ended, well maybe not today.  But there were 4 glorious days of naps for Ben, and the first 2 days the boys actually took simultaneous naps, which...hasn't...happened...in...forever. So except for today, since I can hear Mr. B up in his room playing trains, naps are back on the schedule.

2. Ephraim decided to be an overachiever on teething again and is currently getting 3 of 4 baby molars. This has led me to break down and finally get an amber teething necklace from the Inspired by Finn folks.  I'm a skeptic when it comes to these things but I don't like a constantly unhappy baby so I figured its worth a shot.  In the mean time ice cubes in the fruit mesh feeder things seem to be helping by like 50%.

3. We had our last Bible Study this week, or rather Spiritual Book Study meeting this week.  The study was on the book Style, Sex and Substance that Hallie Lord edited. This was my second time reading the book and I recommend it whole heartedly.  The second time through I picked up more gems of wisdom that I didn't with the first read, so it seems to be one of those books that gets better with more reads, or at least is applicable in different seasons of life.

4. I finally sent out Thank-you cards for Ephraim's 1st birthday, and actually feel good about that since they were done within the month of the actual occasion.  Since life is overwhelming much at this point, to actually do something with social grace feels really good.

5. I'm liking this piece on Hospitality vs. Entertaining by Elizabeth Foss right now. Pride is a hard thing to kick out the door, especially when you know your house is always a mess from the little beings that inhabit it.  However, I'm trying more and more to see the needs of others and want to help them if they are in need, like bringing a hot meal to neighbor in need etc.  Anyway, I have a long way to go here, but I like was Mrs. Foss has to say here.

6. I feel like I haven't been in the best of moods lately, so I just wanted to have a shout to husband and say that I love you, Keith (since I know you read my blog).

7. And speaking of the non-napping child.  Apparently I am needed, so off I must go. Uggh.  After cleaning up  said child covered in his own poop again.  Never say that I nap strike is over, because apparently it will start again.

Enjoy more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary

Wordless Wednesday

Manning the Cash Register, Snacking, and staying cool in Dora Shades

More Wordless Wednesday Posts can be found at 5minutesformom.com

How to Have a Clothing Swap Party

Since a few readers asked last post about clothing swaps.  I thought I would tell you how one generally goes about having one.

1: Invite all your friends, big, little, short, tall, pregnant or not.  Because somehow size doesn't matter at these things.  Everyone goes home with something new and exciting for them to add to their wardrobe.

2: Clean out your closet and bring anything that doesn't fit you or you are sick of or just haven't worn in like 3 years and bring it to the swap.  Something along the lines of one man's trash is another man's treasure would apply here.

3: Arrange clothing at least by type.  Pants go with pants, blouses with blouses, etc. If you have a lot of participants/guests then maybe size piles as well would work well.  A large table works well for displaying/piling on all the clothes.

4: Feeding your guests, while optional, is encouraged. Probably non greasy food is best because its a clothing swap after all and you want to not mess up the clothes and also you don't want to be all bloated trying new things on.

5: Have at least one full length mirror so that guests can see how they look in the clothes.

6: Encourage guests to try on things you wouldn't normally wear because you never know what is going to actually look good on you.

7: Though, my house doesn't allow for this, probably having some changing stalls or a downstairs bathroom for ladies that want to try things on that have inhibitions of changing in front of other ladies.

8: After its all said and done, have someone be in charge of donating all the unclaimed clothes.

And there you have a clothing swap party!  If there are things that you still have questions about leave a comment or send me an email. I would love to hear about your clothing swap experiences too if and when you have them.

What I Wore Sunday...Vol 4

So.  My super kind husband is letting me have 10 minutes to blog post this while he plays tent with the kiddos.  So here goes. 

Today we went to early mass at our parish.  If we had gone to the later mass, I may have ditched the tights since it was 65 out today.  In Cleveland, in November it is a rarity.  Last year today, it snowed.

Necklace: the same cross from before from Catholic Heart Work Camp

Sweater: I don't know where it came from but its been one 

of my essential winter pieces for a while now. 

Dress: Kohl's but I acquired through the clothing swap I had last night 

(I like this dress so I consider the swap party a success!)

Tights: Target

Shoes: Sanita

Baby: Ephraim

 I look forward to checking out some of your awesome Sunday outfits too.  You all have inspired me  to care more about what I wear and also I love seeing everyone else's styles.  

Check out some more great outfits at the linkup at Fine Linen and Purple. Peace.

Halloween rescheduled

As Hurricane Sandy made its impact even in Ohio, trick-or-treat has been rescheduled to Saturday. We carved pumpkins and didn't even put them out because it was raining so much.  Anyway, here are a few pictures from trick-or-treat and Halloween. Enjoy.

Percy at our neighborhood bash

Train friends

Thomas

Last minute costume change to Batman

Batman on the loose

The neighborhood kids from the bash

Our Jack-o-laterns that were barely used.

What I Wore Sunday...Vol. 3

So I intended to do two other posts this week, but somehow the business of this week got the best of me.  Or the hurricane, we can blame it on the hurricane.  Somehow the hurricane made us all sick by the end of it and yeah, I think I'm the only one in our house that is remotely healthy, well I think Ben is on the mend though too. If only we could get him to think that eating what is in his nose is a gross!

So back to the actual intent of this post. What I Wore Sunday...

So the hour time change allowed me to get up in time for early mass and well we still managed to be 5 minutes late, but that's another issue to tackle.  So what did I wear.  Well here it is: 

Necklace: Cross from CHWC (I need to get more jewelry that I like)

Sweater: Old Navy (from a clothing swap I had last spring)

Skirt: St. John's Bay(I have had this thing forever, and we have a love hate relationship, love the color and style but not so crazy about the fit always.)

Tights: Target

Boots: Airwalk, oddly enough these cheaper shoes actually do better than Uggs or Emu with my feet (are you starting to figure out that I am a comfort shoe girl?)

So there you go. I probably should say that for most of mass, I had my coat on because our church is old and therefore chilly even when fully heated. But my 2 year old decided that the buttons needed to be ripped off during mass and yeah, its not so pretty anymore.

Check out some more great outfits at Fine Linen and Purple.