Meals & Wheels

I don't know about you all, but I am always interested in what people eat. Here's my unhealthy breakfast treat:

(I went to McDonalds to get the free coffee, but then felt bad not buying anything, so I ordered one of these. There, I feel much better now.)

~

I'll make up for that bad breakfast with a healthy lunch.

And a 4 mile walk while pushing a double stroller filled with two chubby babies.

~

In case anyone is still interested in this random and boring post, dinner tonight is pot roast with onions, carrots, and celery, and mashed potatoes.

Homemade apple pie for dessert.

And I wonder why I'm not losing any weight ;)

Ride, Eamon, Ride!

John-Paul: Future Artist and Daddy

One weekend morning, John-Paul and Andrew woke up early, and J-P decided to make Andrew a word search. Pretty cool for a 6 year old to come up with, right?

John-Paul started CCD this year at our parish where Phil is the Director of the program. On the first day, his teacher asked them to draw a picture of their family doing something together. He drew us praying. So sweet!

When he got home, he started talking about his future family to me and how he wanted 12 kids (Ha! I used to say the same thing!) but then decided on 6 kids, and the first boy would be named George and the first girl would be named May. I told him to draw a picture of his future family, and this is what he came up with:

I am so loving this picture because:

1) He spells daughter "doder".
2) He shows love (a heart) between the parents.
3) He has the kids in action poses: playing ball and petting the cat.
4) Most importantly because he chose me to be his wife!

(See, he wrote "My Mom" instead of just "Mom" or "My Wife").

Eamon Turns Three!

Eamon Philip Martin came out crying on September 26, 2006 around 7am, and had the "worst" cry of all our children. He was a hard baby, allergic to milk and soy, and vomited all the time.
His brothers still loved him anyways ;)

He didn't get relief until he had ear tubes and was able to crawl around.

Then we discovered that he had the "best" laugh out of all our kids. It's contagious and adorable!

And the boy loved to eat!


And get presents! Anything new is SO exciting to him, doesn't matter what it is!

I can't believe that he is three years old today. I couldn't imagine my life without him. He has made me a more patient person, a better mother, and gives me many reasons to laugh everyday.

We love you, Little E. Happy Birthday!

Hi Lo: September 25th

HI's:

1) Feels like summer around here, this weather is nice but confusing!

2) Phil has decided to pursue yet another degree. He already has a Bachelor's in Theology from Steubenville, a Master's in Religious Studies from Providence College, and an additional 15 credits in Education courses from the University of New England.

Now he will start working towards a Masters in Educational Leadership from the University of Dayton . He will hopefully start in January 2010 and finish by August 2012. Then if a job in Administration (President, Principal, Vice Principal, Dean of Students, etc) opens up, he will have the right degree and 10 years of teaching by that point. I'm very proud of him!

3) Maggie is such a talker. She is almost 22 months now, and talked a little late due to not hearing us well before the ear tubes went in. Now she won't stop ;) She likes to sing and count to ten all day long. Unfortunately, her favorite words are "NO" "Don't want it" and "I do it". Good thing she's so cute!

4) Eamon is thriving in preschool. He loves going every day, and is not giving us any more problems with peeing/pooping on the potty. His third birthday is tomorrow! I can't believe my baby boy is getting so big.

LO's:

1) Trying to study, but can't get enough time. I really don't want to be a CPA anyways. I mean, the extra money would be nice, but I don't want the responsibilities that come along with it. I like working part-time at a job that only gets stressful during tax season, and I always have someone to report to. I know I keep talking about this, but it's such a big decision, and I keep feeling like I shouldn't be doing it, but then immediately feel guilty for not going for it.

What are your highs and lows this week?

Thrifty Thursday

For a donation to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, you can get a free small sundae at Cold Stone Creamery this evening.

Carvel is having a Customer Appreciation day this afternoon, where you can get a free oreo cookie sandwich.

Keeping on the ice cream theme, if you sign up here at Friendly's, you can get a free 3-scoop sundae and then free treats on your birthday.

And the McDonald's near us are giving away free coffee, any size, from now until the end of the month. Check to see if one near you is participating!

Finally, if you use Snapfish for your digital pictures like I do, they are having a sale that ends tomorrow with 40% off a lot of items (poster size prints, mousepads, mugs, coasters, books, etc.). Perfect timing for me to order my beach family pictures.

Mmmmmm, ice cream and coffee and saving money make this mom's day :)

You would think I was nesting

I have been so productive this morning, I love it!

I woke up and got all the kids fed and dressed, emptied the dishwasher and put in the first load of laundry before bringing the boys to school at 7:30.

Then Maggie and I went to the grocery store to do our weekly shopping trip.

We came home, unpacked the groceries, cleaned the bathroom, started a second load of laundry, vacuumed the whole house and had a little snack until my niece Abby was dropped off at 8:30.

I had the girls playing in the kitchen while I made a lasagna for dinner tonight and cleaned up the kitchen.

My friend Laura dropped off her son, Robby, so that she could go to work at 10:30.

Then we played and had lunch and put all three little ones down for naps.

While they were sleeping I worked out to Jillian's Shred video and then took a shower and had lunch before anyone woke up.

Seriously, it's about 1:00 and I feel like everything has been checked off my to-do list. What a great feeling!

Family Portraits on the Beach

The pictures we had taken last week are finished!!

There are some adorable shots of the kids, and the lighting and scenery was beautiful!

We are very lucky to have our friend and photographer, Heidi Bratton, take these shots. She certainly knew what she was doing, and sometimes the kids even listened to her ;)

(All photographs are copywritten by Heidi Bratton Photography)

So now you can help me pick a favorite to hang above our family room couch.

Which one would you chose??

Sunday Best

The Bishop celebrated Mass at our Parish, and we were encouraged to wear our Sunday best.

I think they clean up pretty nicely!

Hi Lo: September 18th

HI's:

1) I gots a new do! 2) We know some of the nicest people ever. On Sunday, a family friend (who is a homeschooling mom of 6, a photographer, and an author) generously offered to take a portrait of our family on the beach. Maggie was not very smiley, but hopefully we'll be able to salvage a few. I can't wait to see them!

3) Football season!! The first Patriots game was on Monday night, and we had our weekly football party with 16 people in attendance! Great food and fun was had by all...especially since the Pats managed to win in the end, not their best performance, but we'll take it!!

4) Had an awesome day today with just Maggie. Usually on the days I'm not at work, I have Maggie and whomever else I'm babysitting that day (nieces, nephews, friends). Which is actually such a blessing because then they babysit for me while I work. But once in a while it is such a treat to only have one baby at home. We went shopping, to the gym, and then to a playground. Fun!!

5) When I was at the gym, the lady in the daycare center gave me her 10 year old son's old Leapster game system. She said her son had outgrown it, and she knew we had four kids and wanted to give it to us. God's generosity NEVER ceases to amaze me!

6) Weather is awesome!!

LO's:

1) Eamon woke up in the middle of the night on Monday struggling to breathe. Phil got out the nebulizer and we gave him a treatment, but then brought him to the hospital because he wasn't getting any better. They were there for 4 hours from midnight until 4am and in the end found out he had croup. He's on medicine now, and has been acting fine ever since he got back. Breathing issues in the middle of the night is quite scary, but thank God it's all good now :)

2) Didn't get to work out 2 days this week :(

What were your ups and downs??

There's something in the water

It seems like there are so many mom blogs I follow who are pregnant right now. It is so exciting, pro-life, and just plain awesome!!

In no particular order, these are the preggo's:

The Mother Load

Laughing All the Way

Aussie Coffee Shop

Meet Me at the Gates

Testosterhome

Hamilton Home of Four

Baby Cate's Family

And they just had one:

Sardonic Catholic Dad

Momma in Flip Flops

Musings of a Mom

Still praying for her to have another:

With a Hopeful Heart

Who am I missing?

Say What?!?! Wednesday

This morning, as I was ironing my shirt, Andrew came up to me and asked why Daddy and I were "arguing" so much yesterday.

I was completely caught off guard and tried to recall what he was talking about. Maybe we argued about something, but I couldn't recall any significant discussion.

So I started to explain to Andrew, that sometimes Moms and Dads disagree about things and they need to talk to each other. And it may sound like an argument, but it's just talking. I was feeling flustered and nervous as I stumbled through my little speech.

And then he asked, but why were you arguing the clothes yesterday?

Huh? Arguing the clothes?

Yeah, you know, before we took the family pictures, you and Daddy were arguing the clothes.

OHHHH!! (Light dawning)...Ironing, not Arguing!

Yeah, ironing, that's what I said.

Phew! Glad we got that straightened out :)

Gratituesday: September 15th

It was a rainy weekend, so we couldn't do this:

But a big boy trip to see G-Force in 3D was long overdue:


And a $1.00 rental of Madagascar 2 sounded like fun:

But what's a movie without some freshly popped corn?:

Sometimes rainy weekends are a nice reminder to sloooowwww down!

What are you grateful for today?

Whatta deal!

Went here:

I got a water, Phil got a diet pepsi:

Got 4 of these for the youngins:

Andrew, Eamon and Maggie each chose:

John-Paul ordered:

Phil picked:

And I got:

All for $19.36

Seriously!!

How?

It was Kids Night (once a week), where all kids meal are $0.99 (including the drink).

And Teacher Appreciation Night (once a year), where Phil's entree was only $2.99.

So sometimes it does pay to be a teacher with four kids, married to a penny-pinching accountant. Right, Phil, right??