Coordinating Clothing

OK, so I brought the children to the dentist last week. . . all four of them. BUT, my husband was with me, so it went rather smoothly. I stayed in the waiting room with Jessica, while hubby went with each boy as they took their turn getting their teeth cleaned.

As I sat in the waiting room, the receptionist kept chatting with me (amazingly, there were no other patients around). I heard the usual, "Wow, you have your hands full" and "Awww, you finally got your girl, huh?" 

When it was time to check out, she looked at the whole gang and was surprised that all the kiddos were wearing some form of orange. Like others before her, she asked, "Do you match them all the time?" The answer is NO, but I do tend to coordinate them more often than not. Part of it is a bit "OCD," but the other reason is purely logical.

Here are the kiddos in orange

Picture this: you are at the park with 3 boys - ages 4, 3, and 2. All are "mobile" and climbing and jumping everywhere. The park is crowded and you hear a blood-curdling scream. You rush over to find your youngest has tripped on his own two feet and whacked his head into the wooden frame. Blood is pouring out - as happens with any good head wound - and you realize you must head to the ER. But where are your other two children? Ahhh, there they are, with the bright orange shirts. You yell to the oldest the get the middle child and head to the car. Everyone is buckled in a matter of minutes, and off you drive. 

Has this particular circumstance happened to me? NO. But, I have often "lost track" of one while watching the other and I'd like to be prepared for the worst. THIS is why my children wear bright colored, coordinating shirts when we go to the park, mall, children's museum, fireworks display, etc.

Two words: semblance and sanity. The children looking similar gives me some sort of "peace."

Anyway, back to the dentist's office.

The receptionist also asked (in relation to the coordinating clothes), "What. . . did you read some sort of parenting book?" LOLOLOLOL! No, I did not. I was not trying to copy the Duggars as I did not even know who they were when I started this. I was just learning from experience, as we all do when we are parenting. 

Another reason for coordinating my children when they are in public, is so they don't look like this:

This is my middle son and a sample of his clothing choices. As you can tell from his facial expression, he is pretty goofy sometimes :) My oldest and youngest boys like things to match, but my middle son just doesn't care.

When we are at home, I don't really care what they wear, as long as they're dressed - lol! But when we are out in public, they are representing our family, so they need to look presentable!

We may not be able (or willing) to buy all name brands or the latest fashions, but I do want my children to look nice when we're out and about. So, if we have an appointment in the morning or even just plan on doing some errands, I lay out their "nice" clothes. I don't let them wear jeans with holes in the knees or shoes that are scuffed and torn. I want them to learn to be proud of how they look without becoming cocky about how they look.

As an adult, doesn't it bother you when other adults are shopping in their pj's and slippers or waltzing around without any undergarments?!? It sure bothers me! I'm not saying that I always wear make-up or that my hair is always done, but I surely don't want people to think I just crawled out of bed!

And speaking of "crawling out of bed". . . if you look closely, you can see Kyle's hair sticking up quite dramatically. It is past the point of needing a haircut, so I would definitely have combed it. . . if we had gone out today!

Thanks a lot, Pinterest! ;)

So, most of my friends know how "addictive" Pinterest can be! I, personally, don't have time to sit at the computer and peruse for hours on end, so I just browse on my phone while I'm feeding the baby.

Apparently, I browse often enough. I have enough ideas for cooking, decorating, and even exercising to last me for the next 10 years! Unfortunately, the time to carry out these ideas, seems impossible to find.

I have done a few things, so I thought I'd share :)

These are photos of my kids mounted on cereal boxes. I covered the boxes with black fabric, then used spray adhesive to add the photos I had printed. Very inexpensive, and pretty easy too!

I saw this idea on Pinterest, except the lady had the letters for "Mr. & Mrs." For some reason, Hobby Lobby is the only place I could find large letters. . . and they were all out of M's! Anyway, I still think it's cute ;)

Our bed, obviously, could use a headboard. When we upgraded to a California King, we did not upgrade our headboard. I'm sure I can find an idea to make my own on Pinterest somewhere!

Jack of All Trades. . .Master of None

My father is truly a "jack of all trades."

I don't remember my parent's ever calling an electrician or plumber. They didn't hire a chimney sweep or a carpet installer. I honestly don't remember my dad ever taking our vehicles to a mechanic! My parents remodeled our kitchen themselves (including staining all the cabinets!). And my dad also built his own garage/barn himself and re-sided our house on his own. He could plant and maintain a garden and also bake a great, wholesome loaf of bread. He laid his own concrete sidewalk and tore down and rebuilt the back porch too!

I think part of the reason he did everything himself is because he did not want to pay someone else to do something he could do on his own, but another reason is because he likes to stay busy with his hands. My dad is definitely a "doer!" And I don't mean that he is NOT a "thinker," but he just likes to stay busy.

Apparently, I have inherited the same behavior. The problem with being a "jane of all trades," is that I truly am a "master of none!"

I can hem or patch some pants, but I couldn't sew a dress. I can bake cookies or brownies, but can't "properly" decorate a cake. I can entertain children, but not throw an elaborate birthday party. And the list goes on. . .

It is nice that I don't need to call anyone when I want to make chicken noodle soup, but it would be nice to excel at something! I see people post pics on Facebook of beautiful hair bows they made or a 5 course meal they created. Sometimes it makes me a bit jealous, but fortunately, my family does not care.

The truth is, I like to stay busy. This means I want to accomplish as much as possible in as little time as possible. So, if that means that nothing I do is absolutely perfect, then I'm okay with that. After all, it is more important that my children are fed 3 times a day than have 1 meal with bunny shaped pancakes with fruit and yogurt on the side ;)

So. . . to all the "jane of all trades" out there - be glad you can do so much! I mean, our goal in life is to raise happy, healthy children. . . not win an award for the prettiest floral arrangement, right?!?