My thoughts on matching

This picture totally cracks me up.  I LOVE this rowdy bunch!  Even though this picture is of Wesley and the big kids, it's still impossible to get "the perfect picture".  Fortunately I've come to accept this fact, and I can find humor in the crazy faces they give me.  One day, one day they will look back on these pictures and think why was I making that face.  Better yet, one day they will likely have children of their own and these are the faces that they will get when they take pictures!  Ha!

Well I'm home on this Sunday.  I'm home caring for the sick.  I thought about counting how many Sundays there have been this year, and then counting up how many I've been home caring for the sick.  You know I could do that, because I write EVERYTHING down on my calendar.  I decided it would not be the best use of my time, because it really does not matter.  It's just what we mothers do.

I'm determined not to do much today for a couple of reasons.  First because, it's Sunday.  We are supposed to lay around in our pjs and do nothing rest on Sundays, right?  Secondly because this is our staycation weekend.  Your definitely supposed to rest on staycation/vacation, right?

So I'm blogging.  Unbelievable I know!  I'm blogging while I sit next to the sick one.  I thought it would be fun to share these fun pictures from today.  I LOVE to take pictures on Sundays when everyone is dressed up and often matching!  Yes I'm one of those moms.

You might wonder about us odd ball moms who like to match/coordinate everyone in our family even when the kiddos start to get older.  I know it's not very cool or popular, but that's OK because we all LOVE it.  Well almost all of us love it!

So my thoughts on matching...well if they don't mind why not?  It makes for super cute pictures!  And really this started as something that I loved to do, but now all the kids love it and they work super hard on Saturday evenings to piece together outfits that match.  Wesley thinks it's kind of weird, over-kill, too much, but when Luke comes to him trying to find something to wear so that he can look just like  Daddy, well then Wesley cannot resist!

The best matching days are days when I don't go to church.  Ha!  I own the least amount of clothes in our family.  I've changed sizes several times over the past few years, mostly because I've been pregnant a lot.  And I just never seem to buy clothes for myself.  The kiddos have to get new or new used clothes, because they are constantly growing.  Wesley occasionally has to get new clothes because according to him "he's got to look good for work".  Uh huh.  OK, sure.  And if I ever get time or money to shop, I usually shop for Wesley and the kiddos.  It's way more fun!  Don't get me wrong, I do shop for myself sometimes, I just don't do it as often as I do for them.  I usually have a few basic things that I love and I wear them all the time.  I don't have the variety that everyone else has.  So all that to say that it's way easier to match or coordinate everyone when I'm not in the picture.

Occasionally (more like rarely) someone will tell me that they like for their family to match too, but that it's just too hard or costly to pull off.  First let me say, that I'm not the one that plans this anymore.  This is all Grace, Mary Ruth, and yes often Luke!  Also I very rarely spend money so that we can match.  Mostly it just happens.  Sometimes if the kiddos are in need of clothes I might come across a good deal and buy something that matches, but that really is the exception.  A lot of times grandparents buy things that match because they know how we all love it.  Take today's outfit...Wesley is wearing a sweater vest that was a gift from friends for Christmas a couple years ago.  Luke's sweater vest I got at a thrift store several years ago for $2.  He's just now getting into it.  Wesley and Luke's sweaters are not an exact match.  They are both argyle of course, but they have different colors.  In these pictures the colors look a lot more alike than they really are.  Grace's top was in a bag of hand-me-downs from sweet friends.  And Mary Ruth's dress was a birthday present.

Busy Lizzy jumped in the last two pictures.  It was hard for me to let her in, because obviously she is not matching, but I like to live on the wild side every now and then!  Ha, ha!!  She did not go to church this morning, so she was left out of the match up!