wiws-A New Dress!

What's that, you say? A new dress isn't headline-worthy? Well, then your life is much more exciting than mine!

But really...if I can't come up with a post involving a new dress then my credibility as an amateur blogger is mute.

So here's what I wore to Mass yesterday. (We only have a Saturday night vigil Mass at our parish...which is convenient in the fact that after going to Mass with my children I always need a stiff drink.)

The dress is from Ruche and I bought it on a bit of a whim because it was on mega-sale and its from Tulle which I've found to be a really well made line. Thankfully it fit! Its all wonderful cotton, and has buttons for all that pesky nursing baby stuff. It has a great collar that I wanted to pop a la Joanne Woodward, but then I'm pretty sure my husband wouldn't go out in public with me. 

And the dress has pockets! Pockets in dresses is one of life's greatest joys.

Weird hand motions. Crazy faces. I was born for the camera. 

Also; pardon my hair. I didn't wear it to Mass like this. This hair is "been to Mass, ate pizza, drank a beer, put 4 kids to bed, one kid is still awake" hair. It was getting a little dark out for this pictures even.

And we finally got little Miss Serious to laugh for the camera a bit. I don't think she's crazy about being my prop.

Go check out the more fashionable church-goers at Fine Linen and Purple! 

Seven Quick Takes vol 55.

Quick Taking with the best of them with Jen!

{one}

Thanks for your sweet words and prayers for my Granny! 

She was 95 and led a relatively healthy life and did remarkably well for her age up until a couple months ago. (She drank tons of coffee...which I will always attribute to a well spent and long life!) But 95 years...she was born in 1918, the last year of the Great War. She was in her twenties while the Second World War raged. She was born in British Columbia when it was really just a little more developed than the days of pioneers. She saw amazing change and lived in an incredible time in history. Its amazing to think about. She was also a great Grandma who loved us immensely!

{two}

I hope everyone's read Jen's post about Breaking Bad and have fully caught up on all 5 seasons by now. I was going to mention last week how excited I was that it was starting up again, this last season is going to blow me away. The episode on Sunday was great I thought. It was a perfect example of how carefully and subtly the show creates such tension. I'm so curious as to the show will resolve since Walt's ego/pride is so big he doesn't even blink knowing he's been caught.

Breaking Bad is really the greatest show on tv. Its so worth watching for the acting and writing. I don't think any other modern story-telling has done a moral play so well. I initially was hesitant to begin watching it because I thought I'd find content matter upsetting but its so compellingly portrayed. I love Mad Men of course, but its morality is far more ambiguous and we'll need to see the show in its completion to understand its moral view I think. Anyway-go watch Breaking Bad now.

{three}

I've decided there is no such thing as having too much toddler underwear. I swear we must have 50 pairs between boys and girls, but its never enough. They're always running out. Sure, it may be because I get around to laundry once a week, but lets not point fingers. I bought more for everyone yesterday...again...and I don't regret it at all! 

{four}

Max just woke up from his nap and handed me an empty hotel-size bottle of lotion. 

I can't find any gooey mess in any of his blankets or crib. 

There's lotion all over his face.

Apparently lotion tastes pretty good.

He won't die right??

{five}

I got out of the house yesterday and did a whirlwind couple hours shopping while my mother in law had the bambinos. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I got done! (Thanks to Nora switching over to eating every 4 hours compared with every 3-I'm an ace at time management!) 

I had everyone out and loaded in the car by 10 which has to be some kind of world record. The hour and half car ride passed pleasantly minus a screaming Max, I forgot his soother and for some reason don't yet have a glove box full of soothers. 

I heard Dom talking on his phone while we drove in with the following conversation, "Hi, this is Dominic, I'd like 2 lattes." I was laughing too hard to ask him who the second latte was for. I may take him through the Starbucks drive-thru too much.

{six}

Is it weird to admit that one of the best parts of having five kids is shopping for clothes for them? Ok, its not even on the top 25 list but I do like shopping, having 5 more reasons to do so is a pleasant bonus! Yesterday I bought up a bunch of summer clothes that were on sale, enough for the boys next summer. Obviously having three boys conveniently within three years of each other makes the hand-me-down situation pretty stellar. I now buy nicer clothes for Dominic than I usually would knowing that they'll be going through three boys. Of course by the time they reach Max they might be relegated to just play clothes, but then I'll usually only have to buy a few nicer items for Max each season to stave off the ragamuffin look in public. 

{seven}

I was so breathtakingly efficient with the kid clothes and grocery shopping that I had time to hit a thrift store. And I came back with a haul of books! 

A Grimm's Fairy Tales from, I believe 1948 because it has a sweet inscription inside the cover in pencil!

A collection of Russian short stories, I couldn't resist.

A great edition of The House at Pooh Corner.

And Adventure Stories for Girls - because I'm really curious!

Nancy Drew #47 - Because its one of my life goals to have the whole Nancy Drew collection from the 50's.

Under the Lilacs by Louisa May Alcott, I can't remember if I've read this one but the pretty pink binding is worth it in of itself!

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Swiss Family Robinson in really great hardcover edition. I can't resist classics! 

4 volumes of My Book House which I've been looking for since reading about how Sarah and others are incorporating them within read-alouds for homeschooling. I was looking at buying the whole set off ebay this week for around $150 bucks with shipping this week and I think I screamed a little when I saw them on the shelf yesterday for $4.00 each. Of course now I just need the other eight and I'll be set!

And this. Because I'm the biggest sucker for vintage pictures of mothers and babies. I hope I can find a good place for it!

Thanks for checking in on my sanity and book neediness - Happy Weekend!

Summer Doldrums...

Ever have a bad day and immediately begin to rethink all your major life decisions?

Why does that always happen? 

I feel like I've had a couple bad weeks with this sickness going through our house and all that entails. The lack of sleep, the cancelling of plans, the never leaving the house, and the backload of laundry and cleaning it all produces. 

I'm starting to regret that we didn't plan any kind of vacation this summer. Of course, its mainly because Nora's so small and any hope of sleeping together as a family in a hotel-like situation would never happen. Max is also at the oh-so-fun stage of hating to ride in the car for more than twenty minutes. Couple that with his apparent inability to go out in public and not scream at the top of his lungs every 3 minutes and we're not the best tourists. 

Since both our families live close to us we have no real reason to travel. And, more importantly, it makes for much fewer willing participants open to take in a family with 5 kids under 7 for a fun sleepover. It just feels like logistics, like gravity, are simply working against us. 

I don't want to this to become a huge moan-fest over what a drag a lot of kids can be, but it feels really tough right now just getting out of the house let alone going anywhere on a trip! I feel like I must be doing this wrong. Am I not adventurous enough? Am I just lazy? How does everyone else go on such happy trips?

I mean, in theory things will be different soon. Really, I know this year is the hardest because its just really difficult to do things with three small kids, then an out of control toddler, then a small infant. Its just a wide range of time consuming, constant supervision requiring, diaper wearing, breastfeeding children! 

I also know that I'm just in need of a change of scene. I'm getting a little newborn-baby-burnt-out. I know this, I've been there four times before. I also know there isn't really a quick fix for this. I want to breastfeed Nora for at least a while longer since she's doing well. But when you live 2 hours from civilization, or even a decent restaurant to go to for a dinner out with your husband, everything requires days of planning, multiple babysitters, and practically a whole day of travel! It makes me want to rethink where I live. 

Maybe I do just need to go through all the hoops for one dinner out. I guess I'm just tired of everything requiring so much work and organization. I'm not too sure why I'm not used to this yet, things have required organization and work for a while now. The reality of being tied down has come to a head this week though as my grandmother passed away on the weekend, and now my inability to travel over 7 hours to get to the funeral has me irked. 

Anyway! I'm trying to talk myself out of making dramatic, life-changing decisions right now as I know I'm in that awful headspace of self-pity. Even though I want to jump to making decisions because it drives me crazy when people just wallow instead of looking for solutions. 

I'm fairly certain I should just calm down a little and pray a little more. And resist my urge to just watch British drama all day while letting the kids scavenge for their own cereal. 

Seven Quick Takes vol 54 and My Ten Cents on Everything!

Joining Jen with the seven what-whats.

{one}

Lets get my health griping out of the way first. 

The kids are all better!! Hurray! Hallelujah!

But I'm still sick. Damnation! 

I took about five steps backwards on Wednesday night when I couldn't sleep. At all. I was exhausted and couldn't sleep - the worst! I think it was because my body was so used to responding to sick kids every five minutes every night for over a week that the first time everyone slept peacefully my body couldn't handle it. I was wasted yesterday. 

And of course most of life around here is dependent on me functioning fully at 110% capacity so there is nothing in the fridge, the laundry is reproducing at alarming rates in every room, things have been cancelled, all progress made in organization over the past century in this house has been totally destroyed, etc etc etc. And the crazy part is I don't even mind that much.

{two}

So this whole blogging issue that's surfaced this week...here's my ten cents because you've all been waiting, I know. 

I thought Simcha's main point was - us girls place a little too much importance on how we feel about blogs and should instead just accept our own personalities and focus on blogs that suit us instead of obsessing over blogs that aren't really our cup of tea i.e. pity-party/obsessing over the perfect mom. And I love this point! I would preach this point about most everything everyday if I could! Know your own personality, dammit!! I get so tired of women moaning about some blog - just don't read it! 

I think Simcha's intention was not to bombard pretty blogs, or say that every blog that writes about their happy children and not their grumpy children is wrong. I think her point was if you find yourself envying other blogs, or rethinking your life/kids/happiness because of an individual blog then own it and move on. Don't waste so much time wondering why your life doesn't seem so pretty, or being mad that someone's life is perfect. Or defending the way you blog for that matter! These are such easy emotional pitfalls for us but if we just accept that suchandsuch blog is too "something" for us, just don't read it because there are so many blogs out there that will speak to you, that will inspire you, that you will relate to. Spend your time on those!

{three}

I think everyone's read blogs at a point in their lives where they think that a blog writer is perfect and their life must be perfect and thus our life is just crap on a plate. Some blogs really do share a lifestyle that is unattainable and unrealistic. Some blogs are way too pretty. And I think most of those blogs are professional blogs, and not really mom blogs, and I don't think I've ever read a Catholic mom blog that has ever put itself out there as such. I think if you're only reading professional style/fashion/mom blogs then you really can tend in the direction of feeling inadequate. 

I've been reading blogs a long time now. I was so happy to discover blogs because here were women who shared similar interests to me at a time where I was around moms in certain mom groups who seemed to have no interests that were remotely similar to mine. And I'm so happy I did because I feel inspired, happier, and not so lonely in reading these blogs! 

That being said I've read blogs that I consistently read but wasn't getting any enjoyment from. I didn't feel any connection, and mostly had bad feelings about from them, and disagreed with their attitudes more often than not. And then finally I said to myself - who cares if this blog is popular, I don't like it! And I stopped reading it. And I had more time to read blogs I did love, and there are many! It was a question of what suited me. Losing what didn't suit me took nothing away from me except all those opportunities to compare. 

{four}

That all being said I love a variety of blogs. I love the blogs where the authors find beauty everywhere, I love blogs where women are real, I love blogs that are literary, I love blogs that are mainly photographic, I love blogs by people who aren't Catholic, I love blogs. 

The beauty of blogging is that anyone can write what they want about what interests them. This is why it's impossible not to find something to love. Also it should be on the reader to not judge a blog author solely on their blog. Because a blog isn't someone's life, even if you're The Pioneer Woman. There still might be things about The Pioneer Woman we don't know about! Crazy, I know! 

{five}

I finally did some personality tests this week! (Mainly because Jenny asked, and Kendra, Modern Mrs. Darcy, and Olivia wrote about them so well!) 

And I'm a....wait for it....ENTJ!

Except that my extrovert over introvert ratio was 1%. I thought I was fairly balanced in that department but 1%?!? That's ridiculous. I feel like I can't be a cool introvert or a confident extrovert. I'm a boring balance. I read both descriptions for ENTJ and INTJ and feel fairly close to both so who knows. My Intuition over Sensing as well as Thinking over Feeling ratios were both 12% according to this test. But all tests point to the fact that I'm a big ol' judger. And I guess judgers goin to judge.

{six}

I haven't done a Meyers-Briggs test since college and I'm sure that I scored a much higher degree of extroversion then than now. I think that this can be attributed to maturity to a degree, and marriage, and motherhood.

I married an big introvert and I think that's rubbed off on me. I know my extroversion has rubbed off on him as he is much more extroverted now than when we married. I wonder if of studies have been done to compare how marriage effects personality, because it does.

And I think motherhood has made me more introverted. Mostly because I had so many babies so quickly that when I get a moment to myself I want it to be a quiet one. I feel drained by the time I can get a second and usually don't even have the energy to call a friend on the phone. Some days I'm just dying for my kids to stop asking me questions and talking to me. So. Much. Talking. If anything, I need to make myself go out more these days. But I also think that being an introvert can be a bit more suitable to being a stay at home mom. It makes finding your own interests in the home easier I think. This is a big topic I could go on about for a while I think.

{seven}

And with all the lovely talk about G.K.'s possible canonization I thought I'd post this prayer card for anyone so inclined. I hope it works miracles soon! 

Ok, I'm off to nap and ignore laundry. I hope this is the last weekend where I feel sick for a while!

"Postcards from The Edge of Sick-Land"...or "Love In The Time of Ear Infections"?

As a warning this may seem slightly in-cohesive and babbly, whiney and dramatic. I hold lack of sleep, cold medication, and my own craziness responsible. Read at your own risk. And there are no pictures because I'm hoping that my memory will completely erase how sucky the past couple days have been. Mmmthanks.

What day is it? Still 2013?...are you sure...because it feels like we've been sick for YEARS! Unfortunately the last two weeks have been a big blur of caring for sick children or being sick myself that there no real difference between day or night, Sunday or Wednesday. Its all grey people...its all...grey.

Remember I whined last week that my kids had been sick for over a week? Well, when the first kid made a recovery back to normal after a small eternity of 5 days, I thought we'd just tough it out and we'd all get better. But around and around the sickness carousel we continued to go. And with five kids its a hellova long ride.

Luke's coughing. Now he's better. Gemma's got a fever. Dom's coughing. Luke's absolutely miserable. Dom's better. Gemma's coughing. Gemma's better. Nora's sick. Cue holding a sick and grumpy infant all day and night. Everyone's coughing. Up all night. Everyone's got a fever. Everyone's sorta better?

Friday the husband comes home early sick, fevery, aching. But the kids seem better? Oh wait colossal Luke meltdown again.

Then I got all crazy and decided to go to the local small town parade with the three oldest on Saturday morning, my first time out of the house in a week!

I got home and had a total relapse of the plague I thought I was done with a week before! Perfect. I couldn't even get out of bed to go to Mass.

Sunday-we must be improving right?? Gemma can barely talk. Dom is better? Luke has a fever still. By the end of the day I can hardly stand upright and Gemma's eyes are swollen and oozing something green.

That's it. I give up. Everyone to the doctor!

Usually I'm that woman who is totally anti-antibiotics. You know, tough it out kid have a vitamin C. And honestly I think only one of my kids has ever been on antibiotics before - once. I'm not really sure what to credit this to...but I think its mostly due to never leaving the house and having few friends.

But Monday morning I JUST WANTED ALL THE DRUGS!! Seriously, I'd bathe my children in antibiotics at this point. The communal misery is too great! I can't remember what sleep is!

Taking care of a sick infant AND sick toddlers is almost impossible. Taking care of a sick infant is a 24 job that requires all your attention. Taking care of sick toddlers requires all your patience, kindness, compassion, empathy, saintly-ness, supernatural graces, alcohol, you have. But doing both? Not cool. Even when I had my mom and husband to help. I was crying almost on an hourly basis. This is no deadly disease, I know. Its nothing compared to what really sick children and their parents go through, but I was a weepy mess lost in the pits of despair with no hope of recovery.

Did I mention Monday was a stat holiday?

I hate being one of those people who suck up public health care dollars aplenty by utilizing the emergency room unnecessarily, but I was literally at the end of my rope. So yes emergency room nurse, it was an emergency. You try taking care of 5 sick kids for days on end with no sleep and then we'll talk about what qualifies as an emergency shall we?! 12 hours shifts....puh-leeezze. Also; do you know how much work it is to pack up kids to take them to the doctor? Or how convenient it was that my husband was home to help me take them? So yes, every one of my kids was going to see the doctor that trip, and myself, and my husband. Yes, nurse who did the paperwork...we must be the biggest family you've ever seen...really?? I only have 5! And do I always sorta laugh when they ask me if I gave birth to all of them?...sorta...I mean some days I don't believe it either. And no, no twins...but in retrospect that 2 for 1 pregnancy idea would have been super handy.

As an aside our super small town hospital emergency room is hardly ever busy, so we didn't have to way, and there was no one with a broken limb stuck in line behind us or anything. We were practically giving them something to do on their holiday shift!

So everyone happily got diagnosed with some sort of infection. Luke, a really bad ear infection. Dom, a slight ear infection. Max, an eye infection. Gemma, chest infection. I, with strep throat! Nora checked out fine which made me feel better because I was worried she'd go downhill like the kids did on the weekend, she's got a small cough, runny nose, but the fever is gone even though she still is acting pretty sick. She never leaves my arms or the swing and the humidifier.

I was relieved everyone was sick enough to warrant prescriptions so the nurse and her looks at me as though I was being a crazy, hypochondriacal, tax-dollar-wasting, helicopter, mom were not justified. I was happy that something could cure us and possibly end the years of suffering. Its Wednesday now. The kids are mostly better, last night no one woke up in a coughing fit! Nora only woke up twice! I went to bed at 9, have been taking giant doses of penicillin and am almost starting to feel better. At this rate normal life might happen within a week or two!

Seven Quick Takes vol 53

Coming at ya from the land of eucalyptus oil and Vick's rub, but you needed a break from all the cool blogs with their vacations and their glamour right??

Joining Jen, my Ikea hero, for quick takes!

{one}

Seriously. This week. Not cool. 

We've all been sick now, forever. Oh, its only been a week and a half?!?! How can that be?!? I swear its been a good year or two. We don't usually get colds this bad but for some reason this one just hangs on with its fever-y grip and brings more and more coughing and less and less sleep at night. I was hoping Nora would avoid it with her breastfed super-immunity but no, she's been feverish for a day or so and that scares me the most, little babies and fevers aren't good. But I think its going down this morning, so upswing??

{two}

Why is there not a rule, like the law of gravity, that once you have more than two children all children have to be sick all at once and for the same period of time?? The first kid got sick over a week and a half ago, the last kid two days ago. I need more coordination. If everyone was sick at the same time I'd just not have slept for a couple days instead of a whole week!

{three}

I'm the worst mom of sick children. I just want to whine and whine and whine about it. I just want it to be over. I just want normalcy/peak efficiency back. 

I hate seeing my kids sick, and I always worry about little colds as if they've caught the plague, but all the extra whines and needs times 5 and I'm exhausted and spent and exhausted again!

{four}

Thank goodness my mom was able to take the big kids yesterday when all Nora wanted was to be held! I had not much sleep the night before and snuck in a quick nap, then planned on surviving until the husband got home from work once the kids got home so he could feed everyone dinner, but he had to work late. He never works late. So the digging was deep and the regrets of not living within delivery distance from anywhere were great! 

{five}

Sitting around doing nothing but hold a sick baby yesterday afforded the bygone experience of watching a movie in the afternoon! How had I never seen Fever Pitch? It turned out to be so much cuter than I expected and I liked it a lot. Maybe in part because I'm Jimmy Fallon's biggest fan, even though he's much better at late night tv than acting, and holy 2003 had some really dark make-up, poor Drew Barrymore. 

{six}

To top of the horribleness of the week-of-sickness-that-would-never-end I had to cancel on my dear friend and her family coming up for a visit this weekend. Killing me I tell you! So sad because I never see her and live way too far away. Everyone cross your fingers that we'll be able to get together before the summer's out!!

{seven}

Best news of the crummy week - G.K.'S PROPOSED CAUSE FOR CANONIZATION! 

Such a happy idea! I can only imagine what miracles Gilbert would preform...helping someone finish a book? Defending the faith in the public square? Helping the less attentive find the correct train?? Or maybe interceding for an couple struggling with infertility? I just like thinking about the possibilities! 

Ok, I've tortured you long enough. I wish you a germ-free, sleep-filled weekend...actually I wish that for myself...

What I Wore Sunday to Miss Mass

Joining the great ladies of Fine Linen and Purple with fashion documentation in What I Wore Sunday.

You know how this link-up is supposed to show what you wore to Mass? Well, this is what I would have worn to Mass had there been Mass at the Church we drove 45 minutes to get to.

Oh yes, it was one of those mornings.

Because we were in the city yesterday and had a party with the husband's family we missed our regular Mass in our town. We only have one Mass and its a 5 pm vigil Mass on Saturdays. So we planned on attending a 12:30 Sunday morning Mass at a small parish that our priest also serves about 45 minutes away.

I woke up still feeling sick, all the kids are varying degrees of snotty/coughing/miserable/not-pleasant/really tired from a day of playing with a the cousins and getting to bed way too late. But we got everyone dressed up anyway. I threw something on and we left in time to make it on time!

Only to drive into an empty parking lot.

For some reason our weird rural parishes don't have any forms of communication, or websites, social media, or word of mouth. So we were totally out of the know as to there being no Mass at this parish today. But when you put all your eggs in a 12:30 pm Mass, you've no chance of another Mass within two hours of driving. No Sunday Mass for us.

So we took the kids to a park in an abandoned school. It was a pretty great park and they were pumped.  The overgrown playground and ghost town surrounding us gave me the sense of impending zombie attack.

 

From these pictures you can tell it was a cold, wet, summer day.

I think I wear light sweaters more than anything, thanks a lot Canada. These pictures, as usual, leave a lot to be desired. The navy skirt is eyelet and I love that it goes with everything. And the mint green is always easy to wear!

My usual snarky response to critiques from the photographer.

We're now having an indoor "popcorn party" instead of the campfire/smores that we've been promising all weekend. One day it'll be hot right?!

Thanks for putting up with me for 7 days straight. I'm not sure if I've learned anything. I'm fully aware that my blogging would be better if I had more time to write more coherent thoughts. I don't feel as if I don't have anything to say, but I do question whether or not its remotely interesting on a daily basis! I'm also more than aware I have no time to spare these days, so I'm thankful I have you dear readers. And I'm a little amazed I made the whole 7!