Happy Halloween!

I hate to admit it, but I think I might be more excited about Halloween than the kids are. Ok, so that's not such a shocker. They get excited, sure, but they know nothing about Halloween and they're too little to understand costumes and candy.
Mommy, on the other hand, gets to dress up kiddos and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters for the very first time ever. Yep, you read that right. I have never had a kid ring my doorbell and ask for candy. This is partly because we've lived in apartments since we were married and partly because I grew up in a neighborhood with no other kids. This year, though, we live in a house and there are LOTS of kids. So we are prepared. I think we have enough candy to last at least 35 minutes.
We have costumes, too. Well, the girls and I have costumes. Emily is a lion, Erin is an elephant, and I have a milkmaid/Dutch girl costume. I guess it'll have to be the Dutch girl, since I don't have a milk can, but it's still a pretty great costume. It meets my requirements: comfy and warm, since it's pouring here today, and it isn't one of those ridiculous little dresses that no one really feels comfortable wearing. Don't get me started on those!
The girls' costumes are a combination of luck and diligent searching. At our twins' club garage sale last spring, before the girls were even born, I found the lion costume. I figured a 3-month size would fit decently by the end of October (I was 34+ weeks at that point, so we knew the girls were going to be reasonably sized) and so I bought it. Three dollars. Around the middle of September, I realized we only had one costume. We figured we'd look for another jungle animal, since those tend to be snuggly warm suits, but everything I saw was at least ten times what I'd paid for the lion costume. I couldn't see the point in anyone spending that kind of money on something that would be worn for just a few hours at best. We still wanted both girls to have a costume, though, so we kept looking.
One day, my mom called and said she'd found the perfect costume! She asked what size we needed and brought it by our house. It was an elephant suit, with a pink shirt and pink-and-white striped tights for underneath. The shirt and tights are perfect for wearing under a little denim overall dress later on, and they make it a nice warm costume. We haven't managed to get Erin to smile while wearing the costume, but she has only cried once, so we figure she doesn't mind too much.

Emily the lion and Erin the elephant. (Mommy is waving a monkey puppet to get that enthusiastic reaction)

I decided to take advantage of their good-natured morning (they went 8 hours between feedings last night, so they slept pretty well!) and dress them up early for pictures. After all, what's the point of blogging about baby costumes with no pictures?! For some reason, the girls always frown at the sight of me taking a picture with my phone, so I have to distract them into smiling, but we got at least one good shot. After I took this picture, I decided to take Erin in and get her dressed for the day before they took their morning nap. I took the elephant suit off so it wouldn't get anything on it and left it on the blanket with Emily.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

Apparently, Emily decided that her sister's costume looked like a tasty snack. I swear I feed my kids. In fact, they'd just eaten about twenty minutes before I took these pictures! 

I took a picture immediately, though, just to use the above caption.

I don't know if that's a good sign or not.

I think Halloween is really a holiday that parents enjoy more than anyone - it's like the whole Santa and Easter bunny idea (as an accessory to the holiday itself), where you get to make something kind of magical for your kids. You get to dress them up and give them candy. You can make fun, creative holiday food. I kid you not, I've looked forward to this aspect of parenthood for well over a decade. I've said it before, but it really doesn't get any better than this.

 Happy Halloween, everybody!

Make it Count Monday

Ah, Monday. The beginning of the week. A fresh, new start to things. Theoretically, I love this chance to start over and try again. I find myself fantasizing about a week of wonderful meals, a clean house, fun family time, and chores that get completed as needed instead of piling up day after day.

Yeah. I said I was fantasizing. Well, enter the idea of goal-setting. I've written about this a little bit before, but I'm jumping on the bandwagon again. This week, my goal is to quit procrastinating. Oftentimes, I find myself so overwhelmed with things that need to be done - that I just don't do anything. Well, I don't do anything productive. I sit and play with the girls on the floor (when they are happy just playing with each other), or waste a few free minutes on Facebook or Twitter, or watch TV. Ten minutes doesn't seem like much, but over the course of the day, six ten-minute chunks add up to a whole hour.

This is significant because I frequently spend at least an hour getting the house sorted out after the girls are in bed. This is fine, since they usually go to bed around 8, but when I have also worked that day or it's just been a long day, I sometimes don't get to bed until close to midnight. The girls typically wake up once per night, around 4-6 am, and then get up for good around 6-7 am depending on their night feeding. I'm getting a lot more sleep than I was, but I'm still one exhausted momma most of the time! And then there are the nights that I just go to bed and don't do anything for the poor house...yeah. We won't talk about those nights (and the mornings that follow!)

So for this week, I've decided to make use of the 10-minute chunks as they come throughout the day. I've got a list of tasks that can be completed in just a few minutes whenever I've got a small amount of free time:

1. Clean bathroom sink

2. Load dishwasher

3. Load washer

4. Empty washer into dryer

5. Unload dryer

6. Fold basket of laundry

7. Eat a snack (I have trouble remembering to eat!)

8. Swiffer floor

9. Clutter sweep in living room

10. Clean up kitchen counters

11. Make a grocery list

12. Jot down blog post ideas

13. Stretch

14. Refill diaper drawer

15. Start dinner prep

There is a lot of laundry on that list, but since laundry is one of the most overwhelming and time-consuming tasks I have, I like to make use of small chunks of time so I can stay somewhat caught up. By somewhat caught up, I of course mean that I can dress two babies by digging through a pile of clean, folded baby clothes (still in their laundry basket) instead of digging through the dryer while holding a squirming, diaper-clad baby. I don't expect that I'll ever get all of these done in one day, but I think the list will help keep me focused and help me make better use of the time I do have.

I'm pretty excited about the possibilities here. I'll let you know if it works! If it does, I will probably make some sort of picture-frame dry-erase list for myself to make it fun. How do you make use of small chunks of time?

I'm linking up with Megan over at Positively (Im)perfect for Make it Count Mondays! Head on over and check out her goal-setting post for the week, and don't forget to check out all the other posts while you're there!

What I Wore Sunday, Vol. 1

I'm very excited to be linking up with Kendra and Emily over at Fine Linen and Purple for What I Wore Sunday, a new link-up where we can share what we wear to church! This is a really fun idea. I've always loved hearing about how women (and men!) used to dress up in their very best clothes every Sunday. Some people still do that, but I haven't really attempted to up until fairly recently. One reason was simply that I had no idea what people my age wore to church, other than the ones I saw, and most of them didn't dress up or wore inappropriate, trendy clothes. I think this is a great way to share ideas and remember how important it is to show respect by dressing nicely as we worship God.

On the front steps after Mass today.

There are a few significant challenges when it comes to getting dressed for church these days. One, I feel like it's more important to dress attractively, as we tend to get more attention because of the babies. Not that I didn't place a priority on dressing nicely before, but since I don't wear dressy clothes for anything but church, I could never really justify buying a lot of them. As a result, I don't have more than a handful of options (I'm currently working on that!). In addition, I have to wear a top that is nursing-friendly, so that narrows the field further still.

Today, I was able to create an outfit from clothes I already had in the closet: a blue and white striped blouse with a ruffled front, a gray pull-on skirt, and black leather ballet flats. I am on the hunt for new church clothes, but I want to make as much use of what I've got as possible, so this made me very happy!

The skirt is perfect right now because it is soft and stretchy and still fits over my tummy without making me feel self-conscious (see last week's modesty post for why this is so important). It doesn't keep my blouse tucked in as well as I'd like, but it definitely works for now. The blouse buttons up the front, so it makes it easy to feed the babies as necessary, and the ruffle detail at the collar makes it less stuffy than your average button-down. The shoes are leather and very comfortable, so I tend to wear them any time I'm dressing up and can't or don't want to wear heels. Leather shoes are essential for Oregon winters - in case you hadn't heard, it rains every so often around here ;) - so you can keep your feet somewhat dry on wet days like today. These have a knot at the front, which, like the ruffles on the blouse, makes something basic a bit less boring. I like clothes which accessorize themselves!

Speaking of accessorizing, I don't tend to wear much jewelry. This is partly because my daughters are in a grabby phase and partly because I don't think of it until we are about to walk out the door. I wore simple pearl stud earrings today, because they went with the white stripes on the blouse, and the silver cross necklace that I always have around my neck - I've only taken it off once since I got it. For this stage of my life, that's about as accessorized as I get! I'd like to get better at it, and I'm very much open to suggestions - leave a comment if you have ideas!

Head to toe outfit shot. (You can ignore the pump bag behind me!) Blouse, Gap (thrifted); tank, Target; skirt, Old Navy; shoes, Target; necklace and earrings, gifted.

Head on over to Fine Linen and Purple to check out the rest of the lovely ladies and what they wore today! 

7 Quick Takes, Vol. 19: Life is Funny Sometimes...Oh, and we got shots!

Thanks to Jen for hosting!

--- 1 ---

It's been kind of a funny week around here. We started off Monday with 4-month shots, which were the same (in theory) as the ones they got at 6 weeks. The effects here were much stronger and long lasting. Both girls cried and fussed for two days. Luckily, they still napped a little and slept reasonably well at night, but during the day they wanted to be cuddled and held. My poor babies... I can sympathize with them. Mommy got her flu shot last Friday (Emily and Erin are still too little) and my arm hurt for two full days. I felt pretty lousy for a few hours too. Better than the flu, though!

--- 2 ---

On the subject of shots, I have to keep reminding myself that good health is priceless, and definitely worth a few days of crankiness. Having parents who remember the fear of childhood diseases, I am very much in favor of vaccination for my kiddos. My dad has told us stories of polio scares - movie theaters and swimming pools shut down, kids being kept home - all because they had no idea how it was spread and how to stay healthy. The polio vaccine was life-changing. Right now, where we are, it's whooping cough that is an epidemic - even though we know how it's spread, we still have to hide from it. I don't want to go back to a world like my dad was describing. Innocent kids shouldn't have to suffer from something preventable.

--- 3 ---

Whew. That was a little serious. Let's get more lighthearted. As part of a paper for Media Ethics in college, I watched this Disney short on vaccines. It was produced during World War II, in 1943. I thought I'd share it with you all for fun (just click through the ad, it goes away):

--- 4 ---

I accomplished something major last night. I went to Target and got everything on my list! How was this done, you ask? Simple. I was talking to my brother on the phone and he reminded me what I'd said I was there for. Thanks, little bro! (And you didn't think you could help me out from 1,200 miles away!)

--- 5 ---

I'm excited for Halloween. Are you excited for Halloween? We will have trick or treaters for the first time ever! That includes all the time I was growing up - no kids in our neighborhood. So the girls and I will dress up and hand out candy. Pictures to come next week! How are you celebrating Halloween?

--- 6 ---

Yesterday marked 2 months until Christmas, speaking of countdowns!!! (Can you tell I'm a bit overexcited about this one?!) I really need to get on that gift list. What are you giving for Christmas gifts this year?

--- 7 ---

Last but not least, I posted about a fresh take on modesty this week, in case you missed it. Please read it and let me know what you think!

That's all I've got for this week. I hope you all have a great weekend!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Thoroughly Thankful Thursday Link-Up, Week 4: The Reset Button

Hi everybody! I really can't believe it's Thursday already. I hope you all are having a great week!

The last week or so have been somewhat chaotic around here - I think it kind of comes with the territory; 4-month-old twins and all that. In the midst of this chaos, I've definitely slacked when it comes to being thankful for anything. Some days, it just doesn't feel like there's much to be thankful for. Take Tuesday, for example. We woke up to a freezing cold house. After some investigation, we realized the heater was off and would not turn on for any amount of persuasion. Eighty dollars later, we became acquainted with the reset button. Voilá. Heat. Simple as that. I had imagined I'd feel thankful, but I was just annoyed at the increase in the chaos factor - needing to wrap the babies in blankets for their naps, having to try and find the checkbook to pay the repairman, the fact that he showed up during the one hour I was gone. I could barely muster an ounce of gratitude for the heat.

The truth is, though, that every factor that makes life just a little more chaotic is a blessing. Being married is more complicated than being single; having children is still more hectic. Add jobs, activities, and relationships with others, and you might start to feel like you're stuck in a racquetball court, playing 1-on-20 after you've just dropped your racquet. Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I really don't think it's that far off. Yet all of these things are blessings. They fill our lives with love, and we should be thankful for them - thankful to be so busy.

Being busy feels great, up to a point. It makes us feel important and necessary. But when you get to the point where you just can't handle anything else, it's overwhelming. You just want things to be simple, and you don't really feel blessed to be so busy.

I hit this point last night. I got up to the checkout line, after a frantic trip through WinCo, trying to decide what we would eat for the next week while spending as little as possible and still getting in and out in half an hour. As an aside, this is quite possibly the most stressful way to go grocery shopping, and I absolutely do not recommend it. But back to the story. As I waited for the total to slide my debit card and begin bagging my groceries, it hit me that I was incredibly blessed to be able to pay for our food. Just that. We can afford to feed our family. Sure, money's tight, but we can buy groceries.

Like dominoes, everything else began falling into place. Blessed to have jobs, blessed to have recreation (the volleyball game Dan had last night - my reason for rushing), blessed to have children to snuggle (the reason the groceries still aren't all put away), blessed to have a house, blessed to have things to clutter up that house. Lined up neatly like that, my life felt rich and full instead of hectic and overwhelming. Sometimes all it takes is pushing the reset button. I'm thankful God remembered to include one.

Now it's your turn. What are you thankful for this week? Link up your post or share in the comments!

Musings on modesty: The Closet Project, Part 3

The modesty debate typically takes the forefront during warmer months, when the questions of "how short is too short?" and "one-piece or two-piece?" are on every Christian woman's mind. For me, those questions have fairly easy answers. I struggle more with modesty the rest of the year, to be honest. It seems like it should be easier when it's cold, right? Your natural instinct is to cover up and stay warm. But there is a big difference between merely covering your body and doing so modestly. You could be fully covered and warm in tights and a skin-tight sweater, but would that be modest?

Let me ask the question another way. Have you ever put something on and felt uncomfortable? I'm not talking about the feel of the fabric or other details that can cause discomfort. I mean how you felt, what you thought about yourself as you looked in the mirror. Did your eyes immediately move to a body part you are self-conscious about? Did you mentally resolve to eat better or exercise in order to drop a few pounds? Did you tug and pull at the fabric to try and cover yourself better?

I don't know for sure about you, but I know I've been there, and I'm willing to bet you have too. It's not a good feeling. You definitely don't want anyone to see you in that particular item or outfit. You feel exposed. You certainly don't feel beautiful. The piece of clothing in question doesn't have to be a too-short, too-tight skirt, either. It could just as easily be a lovely wool sweater that's just a bit too tight, or a pair of jeans that don't do your body justice.

There have been numerous attempts to quantify modesty over the years, but I think the above situation offers the best one I can think of: if you don't feel comfortable in it, it's not modest. Again, we aren't talking about physical discomfort (though if your outfit is that tight, it's definitely immodest!). God created us beautifully in His image, so there is nothing inherently wrong with our bodies. There is something wrong, however, with dressing in such a way that we feel overexposed and self-conscious. There’s nothing beautiful or appealing about clothing that barely covers you. The only appeal might be to the men around us, and even that is purely visceral. There is a time and place for that type of appeal, but it’s not at school, work, or while you’re walking down the street.

If you feel as though you can’t walk into just any store and find clothes that you feel comfortable buying and wearing, you’re not alone. Fashion and modesty often seem to be at odds with one another, and it’s tempting to buy and wear things that you feel uncomfortable in just to fit in. Furthermore, if a particular trend doesn’t look right on your body, it’s easy to blame yourself and want to change your body so the clothes look good. I’m pretty sure that’s not what God had in mind when He created us – “perfectly and wonderfully made”, unless we’re talking skinny jeans or halter tops. The same goes for the other extreme – feeling so ashamed of your body that you hide under shapeless layers, telling yourself that this is modesty.

There are plenty of styles that are both flattering and modest. Think about women whose style you admire. They know what looks good on them and they wear it. Almost without exception, they are attractive without being overexposed, and they don’t force themselves into things that don’t fit or flatter their unique shape. They find ways to incorporate trends while still doing their bodies justice. Most of all, they look confident, and that confidence is a beautiful thing – an accessory that never goes out of style. Modesty doesn’t have to hold you back when it comes to looking good and feeling good about how you look; it can be the very thing that leads you to dress attractively. Remember that the next time you look in the mirror.

On being (more) organized...

I've become a little obsessed these days with the idea of organization. By obsessed, I of course mean an unfulfilled longing for something that seems less and less attainable every day. I love the feeling of knowing where everything is, being able to plan ahead and make things work. I am actually pretty good at coming up with ideas for organizing, but somehow I've always had problems making them work. This is usually due to being too tired or distracted to a) get the right things together or b) put in the extra time at first to create a new habit.

Enter the personality test. I've taken them before, and I know that they don't spell the exact parameters of you as a person, but they can offer interesting insight. My personality was defined as ENFP, and one of the descriptors was loving the creative process but balking at actual implementation. Hey....that sounds just like me!

Now that I know where the problem most likely is, I can tackle it better. Truth be told, I'm sure there are tons of disorganized people out there. The Container Store wouldn't be such a success otherwise (or maybe it would? Brain-bender there. Can't think about that right now!) So a sense of inadequacy isn't necessary - just a sense of how much the effort to get things together pays off over time. Motivation, if you will.

Example? Refilling the diaper bag before we're trying to walk out the door (hey, I guess it beats leaving the diaper bag at home altogether, right?) It doesn't seem like a big thing, but it's a habit to cultivate. The first stop when you get home is the changing table anyway, and it only takes a few extra seconds to drop a handful of diapers into the bag and take out any dirty clothes, bibs, or burp cloths and replace them. Then voila, you're ready the next time. Organization isn't necessarily extra work, it just means doing the necessary work in a more logical order. That last line might be the greatest lightbulb moment ever.

So now I'm curious. How do you go about making great ideas work for you? How do you get started? What's the best thing you've ever done to get organized? Share below in the comments!