All I Want for Christmas Is...

My Two Front Teeth!

Our Sunday in Pictures

For the Feast of Corpus Christi, we walked in a procession:

Then we went strawberry picking.  Well, truth be told, Phil and the kids did the picking and I stayed in the car ;)

We'll be making some pound cake tonight to go with those strawberries - yum!

7 Quick Takes Friday

This is my first time participating, and Hallie is hosting because Jen is in the hospital for Baby #5!!  So here goes:

1) Summer has officially arrived this week - but we've been having gray/rainy days since.  Stinkers.  We did put up our little pool and have been to the beach once, so it does feel a bit summery.

2) I haven't gained any weight in the past month.  My midwife hasn't commented on it, so I guess it's no big deal.  I do know that now that I'm not working full-time, I am more active in general, and I'm still able to walk 4 to 6 miles each day.  Plus, eating a lot of food at once gives me heartburn and makes me want to pop my belly to relieve some pressure, so I've been subconsciously eating smaller meals.  If only I could keep this up after the baby's birth ~ but breastfeeding makes me STARVING and I always eat a ton.

Current Craving:

CHERRIES!!!

3) Training on my new job (that I will officially start in October) has been going awesome!  It's so nice to work in an office with a chapel right down the hall, Mass offered a couple times a week, as well as regular Adoration and Confession.  And this high school has such wonderful Catholic administrators and a really faithful (and cute!) Theology Department Chair (don't worry...it's Phil).  It feels so *right* to be working there.

4) I still haven't driven our new van, which we've nicknamed "The Beast". 

I did buy Phil a sticker for The Beast for Father's Day:

Cute, huh?  I almost chose the pregnant lady for me (since I feel like I'll be  pregnant forever) but got the mom holding the baby instead.

5) Sorry, this will be the last pregnancy-related item for today, but I am just so so so nervous about this upcoming birth.  My midwife doesn't allow drugs, and I've done it naturally before, but I can't seem to relax about it this time.  We are re-reading the Bradley Method book to help prepare and I've been going to Daily Mass as much as possible to pray my way to peace, but the thing that scares me the most was how short-of-breath I got at the end of Maggie's labor.  I was just about to hyperventilate and felt like I was going to pass out.  I panic when I feel I can't breathe right.  This time I'm going to talk about getting oxygen at the end to help me get through it.

6) Have you all been following the Caylee Anthony trial?  It's so sickening to watch, but I can't seem to turn away.  Just seeing Caylee's sweet face on the news breaks my heart:

Here's the thing.  People are so shocked and disgusted by what this little girl's mother (allegedly) did, as well they should be, but does nobody see the irony in wanting to give this mother the death penalty when other moms murder their babies all.the.time?  Abortions occur every 23 seconds - so why aren't we all disgusted and outraged about that?

7) Does anyone have any good books or series (interesting, funny, adventurous...just no language like "stupid" or "hate")  for an 8 year old boy who wants to read The Wimpy Kid Diaries and Harry Potter but whose mean parents won't let him?

We Do Not Say the F-Word!

The other day, the kids were playing and Andrew ran up to me in the kitchen proclaiming, "Eamon said the F-word!!"

I was shocked (where had he heard that word?) and marched into the family room to confront my little culprit.  "Eamon, did you say a potty word ?"

"Yes..." came his reply as he sheepishly looked at the ground. 

"But where on earth did you hear that word?", I asked. 

"All the kids at school say it", he answered.

I was stunned, considering we send the kids to a Catholic school.  As I sent Eamon to time-out and was about to dole out his punishment (losing his nightly tv show), Maggie walked by saying "We do NOT say The F-word.  We do not say FART!"

I tried to contain my giggles as soon as I heard that my kid's definition of the F-word was much different than mine - thanks be to God!  And then I realized that there are a lot of forbidden words in the Martin House that could be confused with society's curse words.  For example, in this house, the naughty words include:

The S-word: Not as in the saying S--- Happens, but Stupid

The H-word: Not the opposite of Heaven, but Hate

The B-word: Not a female dog, but Butt

The D-word: Not like D---Yankees, or a nickname for Richard, but Dumb

Considering neither Phil nor I curse, I hope our kids don't learn the really bad words until much later in life, and then will know better than to repeat them.  My Dad told us when we were kids that the day we heard him swear was the day we were allowed to swear.  And guess what...I never heard him swear - and he was a contractor!  I never heard my mother swear either, so maybe there is some truth to setting a good example :)

The Two Best Dads I Know

My Daddy:

My Babies' Daddy:

I'm not sure how one girl got so lucky, but I'm thankful everyday for these two men! 

Happy Father's Day!

Convicted

I believe it was St. Vincent de Paul who used to say to those who wanted to join his congregation: "Never forget, my children, that the poor are our masters.  That is why we should love them and serve them, with utter respect, and do what they bid us."

Do you not believe that it can happen, on the other hand, that we treat the poor like they are a garbage bag in which we throw everything we have no use for?  Food we do not like or that is going bad - we throw it there.

Perishable goods past their expiration date, and which might harm us, go in the garbage bag: in other words, go to the poor.  An article of clothing that is not in style anymore, that we do not want to wear again, goes to the poor.

This does not show any respect for the dignity of the poor; this is not to consider them our masters, like Saint Vincent de Paul taught his religious, but to consider them less than our equals.

~Mother Theresa

Feeling a Little Tom Sawyer-ish

I promise...they actually ASK me if they can vacuum and sweep!

We're One of THOSE Families Now ;)

Wordless Wednesday: Memorial Day 2011 (Wicked Late)