Frugal Friday

Here's a 30% off coupon at Gap, Old Navy, or Banana Republic.

But hurry, it's only for July 30th to August 2!!

What great timing for some back-to-school shopping and end-of-summer clearance. That is, if you're into new clothes and saving money.

You could even be a good doobie and print a couple coupons to hand out to other shoppers when you go to the store. Nothing like finding a good deed to do while shopping - makes me feel MUCH less guilty :)

This should make my hubby happy.

Another reason not to shop too much....this is unbelievable.

Socket to me

I went for a follow-up visit with Dr. Tooth Puller Outer yesterday, and told him I was in a lot of pain (which I thought was because I wasn't taking my pain medication anymore).

They looked around, rinsed out my sockets, and made my mouth ache even more!!! Then they informed me that I have "Dry Sockets".

I researched it, and, FYI:

A dry socket is:
Any socket in which a patient is having pain due to the loss of the blood clot thus exposing the bone to air, food, and fluids along with an offensive odor. This often occurs two or more days after an extraction and can last about 5-6 days.
This condition exist when a blood clot is dislodged from the surgery site thus exposing the bone and fine nerve endings. The blood clot helps in the stopping of bleeding and lays the foundation or framework for new tissue and bone to develop over a two-month healing process. This condition is more common in the mandibular area and in back teeth due to poorer circulation in this area, with wisdom teeth being the most common site. Dry socket delays the healing process.
It usually takes gum tissue about 3-4 weeks to heal where as the bone can take up to six months to heal.

Of course, if it's gonna happen to 5% of the population, it would happen to me...I am very lucky like that ;)

So now they are stuffing my sockets with something that looks like a metal hairball in order to irritate the socket so that it will grow new blood clots. Sounds fun, huh? The pain has lessened since the "stuffing" so I am grateful for that.

You know what? If this is the biggest problem in my life right now, then I am actually one lucky girl! As my mom says, I will "Offer it up for the poor souls in purgatory" and make some sense out of suffering :)

Gratituesday: July 28th

Today I am thankful for this random family outing we had recently at a lighthouse in the town next to ours.

We drove there just to let the kids run around at the end of a summer afternoon, and they had the best time....with no toys, no tv, no entertainment....just each other, their imaginations, and a little game of "Get Daddy"!

I had the camera in the car, so I was able to capture some beautiful shots. Enjoy!!

What are you thankful for today?

No more Fr. Andrew?

It's a sad day when your 4 year old decides he no longer wants to become a Priest when he grows up, but a magician instead. The saddest part is that he can't even pronounce "magician", he calls it a "magic-can"!!

Ever since Andrew could understand the question of What do you want to be when you grow up?, he has always responded "I'm gonna be a Priest...Fr. Andrew."

We never told him to say that, he has just been so blessed with many of our Priest-friends coming over to our house and being a wonderful example.


We keep reminding him that a Priest is just like a magician because they can turn the bread and wine into Jesus' Body and Blood. But he says he wants to do different tricks ~ C'mon, nothing is cooler than Transubstantiation!


I guess I should relax a little....we probably have quite a few years of career indecisiveness ahead of us ;)

SCARY!!!!

Notice the swollen lower jaw, the stretched out corners of my lips, the greasy unwashed face and hair, and the pathetic, drug-induced-comatose-look I am giving my hubby.

Contrary to this picture, I actually am feeling pretty good and healing well. Still sore and can't eat a wide variety of foods, but getting better every day :)

Recovering...

I am writing this on Wed, to post on Friday because on Thursday I am having my wisdom teeth out. They must come out because they look like this:

The doctor said I wasn't the oldest patient he ever had, but I was getting up there ;)

Real nice, doc, to make a thirty year old feel ancient.

I'm thinking I might save the teeth for a crafty project I have in mind:

I hope removing my wisdom teeth doesn't make me stupider. Oh, wait, that can't be possible!

Anyway, hopefully by the time you all are reading this I will be at my mom's house recovering nicely. And feeling good from all the drugs I plan to take :)

Allow me to introduce: My college roomie

When I was a sophomore at Franciscan University of Steubenville, I got assigned a new roommate. And, guess what, I loved her from the first day!!

Her name was Andrea (Andie) and she had a twin sister, Amanda (Mandie). How cute is that...twins named Andie & Mandie!! They came all the way from the Phillipines to go to the greatest Catholic college in the world (I may be a little biased).

Andie began dating a guy named Hideki from Indonesia who also went to FUS. They dated FOREVER, and then got married and are now expecting their first bambino. They are such a beautiful couple, and their baby will be so well loved.

Check out Andie's beautiful maternity pictures here.

It's a beautiful thing...

The love a Father has for his son:




The love a Son has for his father:





Reminds me to work on my relationship with the Big Kahuna :)

Gratituesday: July 21st

Today, I am thankful for a great laugh.

You want one too?

Then watch this:

What are you thankful for today?

Someone hold me accountable!!

I've (stupidly?) decided to train for a Half Marathon. I am just kind of in an exercise rut, and always wanted to say I completed a half marathon (13.1 miles). I may not actually run the half marathon race, but I hope to stick to the schedule and run the half marathon on my own.

I looked up Hal Higdon's Half Marathon training schedule for an intermediate runner, and tweaked it so I could continue taking my Tues, Fri, and Sat classes at the gym.

So, here's my workout schedule for the next 8 weeks (I'm actually on Week 5 already):

Week 4
S: Walk 1 mile, Run 1 mile, Weights/Abs 30 min
M: Run 6 miles
T: Kickboxing-1 hr., Abs-30 min.
W: Interval run 3.5 miles, Weights/Abs 25 min.
Th: Yoga - 30 min, Walk 45 min
F: Run 7 miles
Sat: Rest

Week 5
S: Run 7 miles
M: Run 4 miles
T: Kickboxing-1 hr. Abs-30 min.
W: Run 4 miles
Th: Rest
F: Run/Strength Class - 1 hour
Sat: Kettlebell-45 min, Kickbox-30 min.

Week 6
S: Run 7 miles
M: Run 3 miles
T: Kickboxing-1 hr. Abs-30 min.
W: Run 4 miles
Th: Rest
F: Run/Strength Class - 1 hour
Sat: Kettlebell-45 min Kickbox-30 min.

Week 7
S: Run 8 miles
M: Rest
T: Kickboxing-1 hr. Abs-30 min.
W: Run 5 miles
Th: Run 4 miles
F: Run/Strength Class - 1 hour
Sat: Kettlebell-45 min Kickbox-30 min.

Week 8
S: Run 9 miles
M: Rest
T: Kickboxing-1 hr. Abs-30 min.
W: Run 5 miles
Th: Run 4 miles
F: Run/Strength Class - 1 hour
Sat: Kettlebell-45 min Kickbox-30 min.

Week 9
S: Run 10 miles
M: Rest
T: Kickboxing-1 hr. Abs-30 min.
W: Run 5 miles
Th: Run 4 miles
F: Run/Strength Class - 1 hour
Sat: Kettlebell-45 min Kickbox-30 min.

Week 10
S: Run 11 miles
M: Rest
T: Kickboxing-1 hr. Abs-30 min.
W: Run 5 miles
Th: Run 4 miles
F: Run/Strength Class - 1 hour
Sat: Kettlebell-45 min Kickbox-30 min.

Week 11
S: Run 12 miles
M: Rest
T: Kickboxing-1 hr. Abs-30 min.
W: Run 5 miles
Th: Run 4 miles
F: Run/Strength Class - 1 hour
Sat: Kettlebell-45 min Kickbox-30 min.

Week 12
S: Run 4 miles
M: Yoga - 1 hour
T: Kickboxing-1 hr. Abs-30 min.
W: Run 3 miles
Th: Rest
F: Rest
Sat: Half Marathon

OK, who wants to join me??? C'mon, misery loves company :)

Hi Lo: July 17th

A quick one for today....

HI's:

1) Eamon pooped in the potty!! Sure they were tiny rabbit poops, but it still counts, right?

2) The weather has been awesome!! No need for air conditioners yet, and it is mid-July! I knew this global warming thing was a farce.

LO's:

1) I have a physical today. My first since I've been married. Don't get me wrong, I go to my OB every year like a good girl, and have seen the doctor when I'm sick, but I just haven't had a physical in over 7 years. This should be fun ;)

What are your highs and lows this week?

Yeah, what she said

Wow, I feel like I am living her life, just a few years behind ;)

Wordless Wednesday: My Lunch

Gratituesday: July 14th

Today I am thankful for BEACH DAYS!!

(You can click on the pictures to make it bigger)

What are you thankful for today?

Giveaway at her place

One of my favorite bloggers, Jen at Harried Mom of Four, is having a giveaway!

She has 4 kids, she runs, she's funny, and she is super cool.

(Does that lock me in as a winner, Jen??)

Click here to enter :)

Deep Thoughts

1) Why does Blogger call it "word verification" when you have to type in something that is obviously so NOT a word in order to leave a comment. I would be so happy if I had to type in "apple" or "plate" ~ but no, I am asked to type in appeleyin or ploatti. Why not just ask me to type in sdakljfhasldjifhlaksfhlkasfhfbyervgk, because I seem to never get it right anyway ;)

2) Word is a very weird word. Seriously.



3) How come everyone tells me how great my hair looks after I've just made an appointment to chop it all off?



4) That's all my deep thoughts for now. Surprised? Don't be. Turns out I'm not that deep after all :)

Hi Lo: July 10

HI's:

1) Eamon pees on the potty!! He will be 3 years old in September, and needs to be potty trained for school. He wears pull-ups, but keeps them dry all day (as long as we bring him to the potty every hour or so). Poop is another issue ;)

2) Only one child in diapers!! (Maggie)

3) The boys have started in a Summer Track Club, and it's been awesome. We haven't done it in the past because it's from 6-8 pm, which is past our strict bedtime schedule, but as they have gotten older, we are trying to extend the time a little in the summer. They are having obscene amounts of fun and learning so much. The program is twice a week and they learn to run sprints, relay race, throw (children's) javelin, shot put, and discus, long jump, do an obstacle course, etc. I love getting them involved in activities to keep them fit and healthy!

4) Happy First Birthday to my nephew, P.J. on July 5th!!

5) Happy Birthday to my Dad on July 9th!!

LO's:

1) Hmmmmm, the rain is still a pain, but we've had a few sunny days around here. No beach days yet, which I can't believe! Usually we are at the beach all the time in July because the water is too cool in June, and the jellyfish come out in August. Hopefully next week we'll get a few.

2) Still too busy to take pictures of the house. Well, also because we haven't finished hanging everything back up or buying all the curtains and blinds that we need. And my Type-A personality needs everything in order first :)

That's it for this week....what are your highs and lows for the week?

Do you love babies?

Do you value human life?

Then go here, and take a stand!!

I'll thank you in advance, and God will thank you in eternity :)

Burps and Breams

Today I want to talk about a personal subject matter. Something that makes babies feel relief, kids laugh, and adults embarrassed.

Yup, you guessed it, I'm talking about farts.

My mom will probably be mad that I just typed the word "farts" because we were not allowed to say that word growing up. Instead we called it a "bream". Hahahahaha, funny, right? I always assumed the word was Gaelic for f--t because my Dad came from Ireland and sometimes used his Gaelic instead of English ("Please pass the bainne (pronounced ban-ya, meaning milk), "Feed the huss" (that is not the actual spelling, just how it sounds, meaning Be Quiet), etc.





But when I asked my parents about the origin of the word bream as an adult, they had no clue where it came from. Apparently my parents made up the word so we wouldn't say f--t!





Which leads me to the present day.



When John-Paul was little and he would pas gas, we would make him say "Excuse me" (because we are perfect parents after all!) which sounded like "Scuse me".



When he realized he could pass gas in the form of a burp or a bream, he started saying "Scuse me, mouth" or "Scuse me, bum". And that led to him thinking that burps and breams were called "scuses". All of the other children followed suit and the name has stuck.





I think it's pretty cute, even for such a disgusting deed! When I was talking to my friend Laura recently, she told me that they used the words "Toot" and "Boofah"......which led us to thinking about how everyone else refers to passing gas.





So let loose (pun intended!) and tell me what you call them!!

Gratituesday: July 7th

Today I am thankful for Aubrey's big news!!

Go check it out :)

What are you thankful for today?

Parades, Parties, and Priests...oh my!

We had a nice July 4th weekend around here...how about you?

We went to a parade on Saturday morning a few towns over and met up with two of my sisters and their families. Then we had a cookout at our house in the evening for our priest friends (and my parents). We are sooooo lucky to know such great Priests!!

On Sunday, we went to my brother's house for a family cookout and birthday party for his son, P.J. who turned one! He is such a cutie :) Their were cousins galore for our kids to play with (my parents have 17 grandchildren - going on 19 by the end of the year!) and fun was had by all.

Enjoy the slideshow in the post below!

Hi Lo: July 3rd

HI's:

1) It's a holiday weekend!! Yay for cookouts with friends and family, parades, and freedom!

2) Our house feels like new! The paint colors are perfect, and it was well worth the money. It took 8 days to complete the job ~ and that was with 6 men working 12 hours a day!

3) We have been staying with friends and family to get out of the painters way. It was so nice to visit Phil's parents and sisters, then to my brother and sister-in-law's house with their 5 children under the age of 7 (so we had 9 kids under age 7 in the house...chaotic but FUN!), and finally to my parents house for a few days where my mom spoiled me with homemade dinners and folding my laundry :) A girl could get used to that!

LO's:

1) John-Paul had his first heart break this week. Let me remind you that he is only 6! It all started back in preschool, when he would talk about his little friend K. I thought it was cute when he called her his girlfriend since he was only 4 years old. Well, he has liked her for the past 3 years, and at Camp on Wed, she informed him that they were breaking up. I know this was her decision because J-P doesn't even know what "breaking up" means. He was obviously hurt but putting on a brave face and an I-don't-care attitude. It makes me so sad to think that someone hurt my child's feelings this way. And I know it's only the beginning! :(

2) Phil and I have been staying up way too late at night getting the house clean and organized, and we are cranky to show for it.

3) The rain has been awful here, but it's supposed to clear up for the weekend.

That's it, what are your highs and lows this week?

Almost done...

We are in the process of returning from vacation and putting our house back in order after the painters left. They did a beautiful job, and I will have to post some before/after pictures later.

I feel like we have a new house!!

It's been a lot of work getting ready for them to come, and getting everything back to normal after they left.

Of course, once I saw the new paint, everything else looked old, so we are slowly replacing curtains and blinds, cleaning windows, and hanging shower curtains.

If only we could afford a new couch and carpet ~ oh well, there's always next summer!