What I Wore Mother's Day Sunday

Happy Mother's Day!

What I wore today: peacock dress from Zulily

I am blessed to have each of these unique people and precious souls under my care.
It is my joy to be their mama.

The other mothers I got to spend my day with: Charlie's mom and grandmother!

 

 

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How does a normal son or daughter treat his mother?  In different ways, of course, but always affectionately and confidently, never coldly.  In an intimate way, through small, commonplace customs.  And a mother feels hurt if we omit them: a kiss or an embrace when leaving or coming home, a little extra attention, a few warm words.  In our relationship with our mother in heaven, we should act in just the same way  Many Catholics have the custom of wearing the scapular; or they have acquired the habit of greeting those pictures - a glance is enough - which are found in every catholic home an in many public places; or they recall the central events in Christ's life by saying the Rosary, never getting tired of repeating its words, just like people in love; or they mark out a day of the week for her, Saturday...doing some special little thing for her and thinking particularly about her motherhood. - St. Josemaria Escriva 

Please visit Fine Linen and Purple for What I Wore Sunday!

My Five Favorites (Late!)

I'm a little late, but here are my five favorites this week!

~One~
Love, Music, and Memories
I graduated from high school in 2001, so I totally love my 90's station on my Spotify, and those early 2000's tunes too, but just recently I was listening to my all time most favorite ever ever ever album, which I discovered when I was a sophomore in high school.
Here's one of the songs, This Time the Dream's On Me:

To me, this song and the whole album, the soundtrack from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (which I've never even seen, btw) just elicit memories of Shakespeare in the Park, and summertime, and a passion for music, and falling in love. It makes my heart feel like it might just explode!

~Two~
Snail Mail!
My sweet friend from Wyoming (well, actually she doesn't live there anymore) visited the Vatican recently with her husband and was so sweet to think of me!  While there, she got to pray inside Our Lady of Peace, where my favorite Saint's (and dear intercessor) remains reside.  She sent me a holy card from Rome, as well as a beautiful card of Pope Francis with the announcement of his election on the back.  Very exciting!

~Three~
Clean

Lavender wash from Jason is my current favorite luxury in the shower (though I did get it half off at HEB!  Yay!).  I pretty much adore anything lavender scented, and so I'm surprised it took me so long to find this.  It's nice and sudsy but not laden with a ton of scary chemicals.  Plus, I love the pump. 

For Joe, I use the Weleda Baby Calendula Shampoo and Body Wash.  A few of my little ones (including Joe) have been very sensitive just run-of-the-mill baby washes, and I don't really like putting those things on their skin anyway, so I was glad to find this one.  I love the smell of the calendula and I appreciate that it's both shampoo and body wash because giving children baths kind of makes me want to poke my eyes out sometimes.  He always smells so good!  I've never tried their lotions, but they're supposed to be great as well.  I just use coconut oil.

~Four~
Speaking of Clean
Ok, if you use cloth diapers, you have got to check out Bac-Out from Biokleen.  I put it in the initial rinse cycle when I wash, and the diapers always come out so much cleaner and never smell (which, they can even when they're clean!).

Apparently, it has lots of other amazing uses too, but it's like a little miracle in a bottle when it comes to cloth diapering. 

~Five~
Coffee Break
I would be remiss to have a 5 Favorites without some lovely food item.  My current obsession is afternoon coffee with Trader Joe's Lemon Curd (which I've mentioned before) and a British crumpet.  Oh my word, the whole thing is really perfection on a plate.
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture, because they're about to be gone.  :-)
Just trust me on this one!

I can't wait to go see what every one else's favorites are this week!  I just wish I hadn't been so late to post!  Oh well, I was probably busy tickling toddler tummies and making snacks!

Perfect Every Time

Now that my children are running around smelling like a combination of insect repellent and fresh dirt, and the sun is warm, and I (gasp) wore shorts out of the house two days in a row (to the gym), I think it's time to accept that summer is fast approaching.  Fall is hands down my most favorite season, but it is quickly followed by summer.  Even when summer is 100 degrees and 100% humidity, there's something about the perceived freedom that still lingers from 13 years of public school. 

Really, I can't wait to spend all summer in bathing suits and living on a near-constant diet of Bluebell No Sugar Added Bullets (green are my fave).  I can't wait to grill all the time and make s'mores and go on adventures that there isn't time for during the school year.

But, one of my most favorite and treasured parts of summer is the fruit.

I think if I had to give up all but one food group (ok, I know "food groups" have gone the way of Pluto), I would save fruit.  I love it all.  I've never met one I don't enjoy, although I have to admit that mangoes feel like proof of God's love for humanity.  What a wonderful creation.

When all of the delicious things come into season in the summer, it's like a little slice of paradise for me!  I started thinking about this when Bobbi posted this excellent tutorial on how to choose certain fruits and included a tip I didn't know about how to cut kiwi.  (I tried out the kiwi a few days ago and have enjoyed it several times this week now!)

When I was newly married, I had ZERO cooking or housekeeping skills. I mean zero. As in, I had only swept a floor like….two years before….for the first time. As in, my new husband had to teach me how and when to flip pancakes (from a box mix of course) because the only thing I knew how to make was toast and mac & cheese from a box. No joke.
Anyway, since we had babies so quickly and I was lonely a lot in the early years, I used to watch a lot of food network where I learned tons of skills. My favorite are knife skills in general, but most specifically fruit-cutting skills because now that I have 5 kids, I am constantly cutting fruit.
All summer long, it seems like I'm cutting watermelons.  And cantaloupe!

I thought about making my own photo tutorial to show my favorite ways to cut melons and pineapple, but then I realized that I didn't feel up to doing a manicure and I'm not that great of a photographer.
Oh, and also we have Pinterest for things like this, y'all.  There is no excuse for butchering your summer fruit!

So, in the name of the impending glorious summer coming up, I share with you two perfect links for how to cut your melons and how to dice a perfect pineapple:

Bon Appetite on how to "Butcher a Pineapple Like a Rockstar"

*After quartering the skinned pineapple, I prefer to cut at a diagonal into each big piece to remove the core*

Super Healthy Kids shows you How to Cut a Watermelon.

*After my melon is skinned, I cut it vertically into half-moons instead of into big circles, then dice, mostly out of habit because that is my favorite way to cut cantaloupe and honey dew melons as well.  It still makes big, awesome cubes!*

Marriage Advice

It's been nearly 10 years since Charlie and I got married.  In fact, just last night while I was looking at old photos on my computer, I found some from this time of year ten years ago, when we were having wedding showers and engagement pictures taken. 

April wedding shower...Ack, I would never wear that top now...ah well, it's all part of the process.

As I recall, I didn't get a ton of unsolicited marriage advice leading up to the wedding.  Maybe it's because I have a really mean stink-eye.  Maybe it's because I didn't have ears to hear.  Maybe it was just that not that many people gave me advice. 

My dear, sweet mother-in-law's advice was the burn the first shirt he asked me to iron, so that I would get a get-out-of-ironing free pass.  She was joking of course, but that all worked out because my ironing bites anyway and Charlie prefers to do it himself.  Although, he did ask me if that was what I was up to yesterday when I was supposed to be buying him beer and the cashier wouldn't sell it to me!

One of my favorite engagement photos

The one key piece of advice I remember getting from my mom, and this is something that she talked about the whole time I was growing up, not just when I was engaged to be married was:

Be friends with women who speak well of their husbands.

And, speak well of him in general.  And what I've learned specifically from Charlie, who is the master at this, is assume the best.

It's all too easy to fall into negative-talk about other people, but my observation is that women can really go too far with this and husbands.  We are their soft place to fall, their most important relationship, the ones with which they share a Sacrament.  It's so important to make the progression from speaking well of our husbands to friends and in general, to an internal dialogue that is positive as well. 

We know one anothers' faults and intimately.  It still amazes me sometimes that Charlie likes me.  I know that he loves me, but knowing my own sinfulness and quirks and annoying habits, sometimes it surprises me that he still likes me!  I know these things about him too, but I have made a point in the course of our marriage not to allow myself to either discuss these things with others or even allow myself to dwell on them.

As in all things, of course there are cases where this isn't applicable due to some extenuating circumstance.  And neither do I think it's inappropriate to have a close and dear friendship where one could safely discuss issues, without crossing the line into over-sharing, that directs you back and supports the marriage.  As long as I've been married, I've only had one such friendship.  It's a blessing and a treasure.

Controlling my thoughts and wild imagination (read: constant worrying) isn't my greatest gift.  I think that sometimes we forget that controlling our interior is just as important as controlling our behavior.  Charlie has taught me how to assume the best about others, and that has crossed over into our marriage, after a few (I hope we have many, many, many, many more) years of experience together.

Really, my mama's advice just comes down to a manifestation of the Golden Rule.  That applies in marriage too!

What I Wore Sunday and Coming Home Empty-Handed

I hate it when Sunday ends.

Today was just perfection, here are the highlights:

~ Charlie made me breakfast and copious amounts of coffee.  There was bacon involved.  For the win.

~ We walked to Mass because it was such a GORGEOUS morning.  Usually it's a tropical "paradise" by this time of year down here.

~ We got to the church early.  Well, I thought it was early, but as it turns out my watch actually died and now I need a new one.  But the girls enjoyed the flowers and the spring air.

• 

  I didn't grow up with sisters (even though I have 4, they are all 15-23 years younger than me), so I always marvel at the way that they seem to have best friends and playmates wherever we go.  We tend to attract little girls on their own who need a group to play with.

  
  

  • ~ While we waited for Mass to start, I was reading today's meditations from In Conversation with God (have I mentioned how much I love these books?!  hahaha  I know...I'm obnoxious.  But they're life changing books...well worth the investment) and found this quote that just lifted my heart:

    The thought of that final meeting of love to which we are called will help us to be on our guard in big things and in little things, giving them the finishing touch, as if each one were to be the last before going to meet our Heavenly Father.

    All for love of you, Jesus.

~ Here's what I wore to mass today:

White cardi with a t-shirt that Charlie got me one of his business travel adventures.  It quotes Pope Benedict XVI.  My skirt is not one of my favorites, a-lines aren't particularly flattering on me, but I needed something I could pair with my Chacos since we were walking.  It's from Sundance, which I actually do like a lot.

These are some of my favorite earrings, from GroopDealz.  They're huge, but really light and come in all different colors.

 ~ As we were walking home, Gabrielle gathered up a perfect bouquet of wild flowers for me.  I love that it occurs to my children to give mama flowers.  Maybe it's because I gush.  Flowers are one of my favorite of God's creations.

~ Also, as we were out and about, the weather was so sunny yet cool, that I found myself missing Colorado.  While I was happy to leave Wyoming behind, I did like living in Colorado for 3 years and something about the way that everything was emerald and breezy today made my heart yearn for a little rendezvous in Estes Park.

This picture is 5 years old, but this is my favorite section in Estes Park.  I miss those mountains!

~ The Insperity golf tournament was in town over the weekend, and Charlie is a very talented golfer, so naturally he wanted to go watch for a while.  I wasn't sure if I'd need to take a pillow, but as it turns out, watching live is much more exciting.  And the weather was just...heavenly.

Hole 17, I missed the soothing music that they play on tv.

My two favorite guys.

~ Before dinner, Charlie was going to run to the store and grab some beers for the evening.  Usually any sort of beer run is left to him, I hate doing it for some reason.  Well.  Tonight, I thought I might be nice and go so that he could relax.
Ahem.
I came home empty-handed.
When I got to the check out with my six-pack of Fat Tire and a Mother's Day card for my mama, the guy asked for my ID.  I handed him my drivers license, and he handed it back to me and said he couldn't sell me the beer.  Why?  Because they "don't take out of state id's."  Now, I admit, I still have my Wyoming ID, but that's because I kept waiting for a permanent address in Texas, which hasn't happened yet.  But, really!?
I called later and talked with a manager because I just couldn't believe that was the rule.  Apparently it's a "rule" with lots of slack (aka, a manager can override it), but I couldn't believe that he didn't want to chance my being under 21 with a fake ID.
My emotions were a mix of utter annoyance and being quite flattered.  Ugh.  NEVER going out for beer again.
(And besides, don't dumb kids with fake ID's buy gross stuff like Keystone?!  hahaha)

 ~ To really end the day off right and make up for the lack of calories from the missing Fat Tire, I enjoyed a scoop of ice cream with my girls before bed.  Bluebell Ice Cream, of course.  Reason 23,390 to move home to Texas.

My bags are packed and I'm ready to tackle Monday morning at the gym, knock out another week of school, and get back to the grind.  These simple and beautiful weekends are the best.

Linking up with Mandi for What I Wore Sunday.

Quick Takes: School, Camp, Birthdays, Destruction and More

One -
Homeschool 2012-13
Upon looking at the calendar today, I realized that we only have four more weeks remaining of our school year at home!  I am very ready for a break, even though we will still be learning over the summer (lots and lots of reading, and Felicity needs to learn to write in cursive this summer, and I have a goal for Colette to be a decently fluid reader by Fall, which I think will happen).
It's been a crazy year, and a lot of chaos has gone on in our lives over the last 6 months that I probably won't write about on the blog any time soon ever.  We moved cities again (which has turned out to be a great, wonderful, amazing blessing AND we're still in my beloved homeland of Texas) and all sorts of upheaval happened, but we stayed the course with our main subjects.  Other than reading, writing, and math (well, and spelling), I've taken a pretty hands off approach and I'm actually amazed at how much the girls have learned this year.  I attribute it mostly to their reading constantly and sitting around discussing together.  Which is fine by me, and everyone will be more than ready for next year.  (Next year we are joining up with another hybrid academy where they'll attend 2x a week and be at home the rest of the week.  We're also taking science classes at the downtown museum that I am very excited about.)

Two -
Summer!
To kick off the summer, my two oldest girls will spend the first week of June at summer camp.  It's hard to think of right now as we have unseasonably cold weather (in the 30's tonight?!  At least I'm not in WY anymore where they got several FEET of snow the other day.  Everybody around me would hate me with all the whining that would provoke.), but it's about time to start getting ready.  We wrangled the camp trunks and brought them upstairs the other day in preparation of packing, and there is so much to do.  I think my least favorite is labeling every little item with their names.  haha  But they are very excited and counting down.

Here they are last year, I can't believe how much they've grown since then.

Here they are the other day on Felicity's birthday.  It's crazy that next year Colette will be old enough to go!

Three -
Felicity's Birthday
I posted on Felicity's birthday, but I never posted any birthday party pictures. 

We had reserved a lovely pavilion at a local park for her party, but, as April is prone, we were hit that day with giant thunderstorms that threatened to ruin all the fun.

We improvised and brought the party indoors, and while it didn't live up to what *I* had hoped, the birthday girl was none-the-wiser, and felt totally loved and enjoyed her special day.

Which is really what matters...

Her sweet friends were there, as well as much of our extended family, and her dear, dear godparents, it was a lovely day for her!

Four -
Reading
I just discovered Goodreads, if you're on there, friend me!  I have been keeping an on-going wish list on Amazon for probably seven or eight years and periodically look up my books to see if my library has them, but I might switch to keeping my "hope to read" list on Goodreads instead.
Anyway, I just finished reading The Secret Keeper yesterday, which I enjoyed.  I think I found the recommendation on another blog, which I always appreciate because when it comes to more current fiction I don't appreciate being accosted by unanticipated scenes of inappropriateness (which makes me think of Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, whose stories were interesting but I hated encountering explicit scenes that weren't necessary and I had to skip).

Anyway, historical fiction is my favorite, so The Secret Keeper was a nice quick read for me. 

With the girls, we have two read alouds going at at time, one for afternoon snack time, and one for before bed with Charlie.  At night, we're working through the Chronicles of Narnia and right now we're reading A Horse and His Boy.  But we finished our snack time book yesterday, which was The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy.  The girls liked the book, and even I found it quite humorous.  I'm glad it was our read aloud though, because there was a whole section in a later chapter about a 12 year-old dreaming of kissing her teenage crush that was wholly inappropriate for my young crowd that I skipped.  Also one of the more feisty sisters tends to call people "stupid," "idiot," and "jerk" quite a bit, but I always gave my "mom eyes" to show that I disapproved and we all talked about how that's an unkind way to treat others.  It doesn't seem like my girls have picked that up, and mostly they loved the adventures and friendships.  And the dog antics.

Our next afternoon book will be Peter Pan after we go to the library on Monday.

Five -
This quote:
I found this beautiful quote on Elizabeth Foss' blog today (the post was lovely, though I can't relate because my life is not quite there yet, but I still enjoyed her thoughts), and it matched up beautifully with some of the things I've been thinking about when it come to raising children and what is most important.

Productivity is not a virtue --which isn't to say that it can't be virtuous but sanctity doesn't consist in the works we do but in how we respond to God's invitations in our soul. We have a duty to God and to our families and justice demands that we fulfill that duty, but LOVE must hold primacy of place and productivity can only be at the service of love. - In God's Time

I actually want to do a whole blog post about this, maybe next week?  But the point I've been thinking about when it comes to the children is that I want them to be helpful, around the house, toward their family members, in times of need.  However, "helpfulness" is NOT the highest virtue.  Sometimes "helping" can become the most important thing, and then we miss the more vital components of this life together.  "Productivity can only be at the service of love."  Indeed.  Sometimes it's ok to let the little things go so that we can sit around and enjoy one another, and build the real relationships that God has placed in our lives.

Six -
The Boy
Ok, so when Joe was first born, people all asked me "is having a boy different than all those girls?!"  For a long time, the answer was no. 
But oh my. 
Not anymore.

Joe's first haircut last weekend.

He cracks me up.  He's so wonderfully affectionate and adorable and sweet.  He gives the best hugs and has the best laugh and is adored by his sisters.

The girls made him a nest and were pushing him around the house while he "rested" and enjoyed his favorite book.

But really.  Here's what Joe does over the course of 24 hours:
a) sleep
b) eat
c) hit stuff
d) eat
e) sleep
f) destroy things
g) eat
h) sleep

Yup.  As he approaches two, I find he comes with a bit of a learning curve for me.  But boy he is cute, so I just...I don't know.  It doesn't bother me, like it may have when I was a newer mama.  God knew what He was doing on birth order in my family, I tell you what.

Yesterday was the perfect Joe moment when he was hugging one of my legs and hitting my other leg with a hanger. 
So yes, having a boy is different.
And wonderful.

Seven -
A Favorite
I missed Hallie's Five Favorites link up because I've been a blogging slacker.  However, I just wanted to share a couple of my favorites because I am really hoping to make a Trader Joe's run first thing tomorrow morning.
I love Trader Joe's, and there are MANY products there that I don't know if I can live without anymore (Rosemary Raisin Crisps? Grassfed Cheddar & Gruyere?  Mandarin Orange Chicken?  Cheddar Rockets? Lemon Curd?  Uhhh...yeah.)
Anyway there are two that I simply can not wait another 24 hours to get in my mouth.
First, is Lemongrass Chicken Stix.

Yeah....I don't really like to share these.  I do, but I don't like it.  I like them with Siracha.  Ahhhhh.
Also, have you seen all their tiny frozen desserts?  Y'all, I have been losing weight lately, but that does not diminish my crazy sweet tooth.  I like these because they are small, and I can control things and keep it to two or three:

 

I'm not a huge ice cream or frozen treat fan, so I forget about them in the freezer and then when I rediscover them it's so exciting!
And with that....really, what can I say that can top frozen chocolate covered banana? 

Check out more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary!

You Made Us a Family

Well, it's been a week since I've made it back here.  There's been a good reason.

 Somebody had a birthday that I needed to plan.

My dad always tells me, the oldest, on my birthday that I "made them a family."  I always think of that on Felicity's birthday.  Quite true!  She came 9 months and 2 days after we got married, and I can't even imagine married life without being parents together!

 She had a lovely party last night and we celebrated nine years with our sweet Felicity today on her birthday!  Here's what the two of us wore to mass today:

This is her Easter dress, a Jessica Simpson frock that we found at Marshall's.  Her glitter sandals are from Children's Place, and adorable hair clips were a fun gift from her sweet friend for her birthday!  My top is H&M, belt from Target, khaki wrap skirt was picked out by Charlie, and my current favorite wedges from NY&C.  I wish there was a better visual on my earrings, they are super cute green cameo earrings that I almost never wear but really like nonetheless.

This lady and I have been winging it for 9 years now, she being the beautiful little girl that made me a mama and set a whole new world into motion for me.

I'm so proud of the virtuous young lady that Felicity is becoming, and I am honored that our Lord chose me, quite unworthy, to be her mama. 

Happy Sunday, friends!

What I Wore Sunday