Can You Hear the Screaming in my Head?

Right now, Phil is at the hospital with Xander who is getting his ear tube surgery.  Of course I am nervous for everything to go ok (he will be put under anesthesia) but I am very excited that this minor surgery will cure all of his ear infection problems.  He is our fourth child to need the tubes and they worked wonders for the others. 

Yesterday we found out that Andrew (age 7) can make his First Communion with the second graders on SUNDAY.  Like, this Sunday coming up!  He is thrilled to receive early and then he can train to be an Altar Server with John-Paul.  That means this week we will be going to rehearsal, memorizing a song that all the kid's will sing, drilling the Act of Contrition into his head, and bringing him to his First Reconciliation.  Plus planning a party for the family, of course.

Excuse me while I find a paper bag to breathe into....

7 Quick Takes Friday: Phone Photo/Video Dump

1) What's up with the price of gas (in Maryland) last week?  It's $3.68 here today.  Just another reason to move to Massachusetts :)

2) We had ice cream with Xander's godfather, Fr. Jay.  Every Spring I miss my parent's homemade ice cream store they ran for twenty years on Cape Cod.  I wish we could have taken it over...

3) John-Paul's zip line injuries from Cari's house.  He was tough about it in front of his future wife Lotus, but he was pretty scraped up. 

4) Xander asleep in the stroller wearing his "Little Brothers are Awesome" shirt and holding his favorite teething toy. He just turned 9 months old yesterday, weighing in at 27 pounds 30.5 inches tall.  And yes, little brothers are awesome.  I highly recommend adding one to your family.

5) I posted this stealthily one night, and I don't know if many people saw it.  I know everybody thinks their baby is the cutest, and they are!!  But watch his newest trick:

What else can we teach him to do at this age?  He's so eager to learn!  Maybe sign language?

6) This is a picture of the chapel at my work/school.  I wish the lights were on so you could see the gorgeous Easter decorations, but you can get an idea of what I am so blessed to have right around the corner from my office!

7) Alexander gets his ear tubes on Monday!  He went for a hearing test this morning and passed with flying colors, but the doctor who will be doing the surgery took a look in his ears and said "Whoa, he definitely needs tubes." Um, yeah, duh, that's what we have been telling you for months and months. 

Have a great weekend everybody!!

11 Things

So I've been tagged by Cari to do this little game, and while I'm tempted not to because she's asking some hard questions (see below), I will NEVER EVER say "NO" to a 9 months pregnant lady.  So, yes m'am and here's my 11 Things....

Rules:

1.  Post these rules.

2.  Post a photo of yourself.

3.  Answer the questions for you set in the original post.

4.  Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.

5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you have tagged them.

Here's a picture of me 9 months preggers with my 5th baby.  Right before I went to the hospital and was sent home and didn't end up going into real labor for another whole week:

Dang I make swollen pregnancy face look good ;)

1. Throwing a party, or attending a party, which do you prefer?

Definitely attending a party.  

I get all bossy and mean before we throw a party, making lists and cleaning the house and yelling at the kids to make lists and clean the house.  Let's just say I want everything to be perfect, and then when I am hosting the party, I never sit down or enjoy myself.  I'm always worried about making sure everyone has a good time.  And the cleanup after - oy, if you thought I was crabby pre-party...look out!

2. Scariest Animal on the Face of the Planet- what is it?

A mouse.

(actual picture from a house we rented...eeeew!)

Or a bat, which is just a mouse with wings.  I have mouse and bat stories from my past...click if you dare!

3. Best piece of advice your mom ever gave you?

Ha!  A few days before I got married at the ripe old age of 23, my mom decided it was very important to let me know that "men are amorous".  Almost ten years of marriage and five kids later, and she was totally right!

4. You have $500 to blow on a single clothing item/accessory.  What is it?

Is jewelry considered an accessory?  I hope so because I couldn't ever spend $500 on an article of clothing.  I have one piece of jewelry that I really want, and it's a Mother's 

Ring.  Kind of like this one:

Phil knows this and has researched them many times.  Only problem is that I want one when I'm done having babies, and only God knows when that day will come.  Probably when I'm 67.

 5. Habit you have that you suspect people find most annoying.

It's probably that I'm always right.  Notice I didn't say that I think I'm always right.  I said that I'm always right ;)

6. Habit other people have that you find most annoying.

When people think they are always right.

7. Strangest thing you ever learned on a documentary/educational show.

I learned that a baby can grow and develop outside a womb.  There was a really scary documentary that I watched while pregnant with Baby #5 (I LOVE documentaries) about a woman living in England who was pregnant with twins in her womb and then a triplet in her abdominal cavity.

8.Website you visit most often.

My blog.  That sounds really self-centered, but I go there to click on everyone else's links in my Dashboard.

9. Movie/book/or song you profess to hate, yet secretly enjoy.

This is embarrassing.  It's Twilight.  Ugh!  Team Jacob all the way.

10. One social media outlet you would never ever give up.

Blogging, duh.  Since I've already given up Facebook, Blogging is my only time suck now :)

11. Favorite ethnic food.

OK, I'm not very cultured nor do I experiment with food too much, so Mexican is about as ethnic as I get.  And I love me some nachos with fresh salsa, black beans, cheese and sour cream.  Mmmmmmmmm.

Now here are my 11 Questions for whomever wants to play:

1) Did your parent's *almost* name you something different?  And if so, why did they choose your name instead?

2) If you could meet one blogger in person, who would it be?

3) Sweet or salty?

4) If you were forced to participate in the Olympics (winter or summer) what sport would you compete in?

5) Who's your favorite muppet?

6) If you could bring one fictional character to life, who would it be?

7) What items of makeup do you wear everyday?

8) Who's your Daddy?

9) What's your favorite body part (on yourself)?

10) If you could go back to your wedding day, what would you do differently?

11) How did we "meet"?

I am supposed to name specific people to play, but I need to go fall asleep on the couch watch tv with my husband, so please play along if you like (and let me know you are), I'd love to read your answers!!

Wordfull Wednesday: Proud Momma Moment (As if I had anything to do with it...)

Martin, Andrew

CHRISTIAN VALUES          95 VG

COMMUNICATION            96 VG

LANGUAGE ARTS               99 VG

MATHEMATICS                   97 VG

MUSIC                                   95 VG

RELIGION                             98 VG

SCIENCE                              98 VG

SOCIAL STUDIES                98 VG

WORK SKILLS                     95 VG

~

Martin, John-Paul

 

Language Arts               94 A

Reading                      96 A+

Mathematics               99 A+

Science                      96 A+

 

Social Studies               92 A

Religion                     98 A+

 

Music                        95 VG

Cultural Portuguese  100 VG

Penmanship               97 VG

Last Vacation Day: From MD to the Clan!

We left Maryland early Thursday morning and started the looooong drive back home.  But we had a planned detour to Cari's house in Connecticut.  We didn't tell the kids until we were about an hour away from the Donaldson's house and they went nuts when they found out.  They had such a good time with these kids back in September, and had been "pen-palling" (when their moms actually mailed the letters) since.

We pulled out matching van beside theirs.  Notice the Rosaries hanging from the rear view mirrors.  What else would you expect from a monster sized van that only a big Catholic family would need to fit their multitudes of offspring?

The Donaldson's sticker family

(They need to add a new one soon!):

The Martin's sticker family 

(Phil is throwing a frisbee, not stabbing me with a knife):

Cari had bought kites for all the kids to play with...so nice!

(That's just a naked baby doll)

Here's a naked baby:

But the most fun of all was hiding in the tarp and popping out when someone opened the "present". 

 As Cari said, "Who needs toys when you have a dirty tarp and some ropes?"

And of course, my kids were fascinated by the chickens since their mean mom and dad won't let them get a pet for a while:

City Boy:

Country Girl:

And man, how I hope one day they end up together. 

 A mom can dream....

 How cute is John-Luke?

Almost as cute as his 9 months pregnant momma!

Gabriel's outfit stole my heart.  

The Batman pajama shirt, the jean shorts, and the cowboy boots.  

Of course.

All 10 kids posed on the wall before we left:

Maggie just loves Joaquin:

And yet another naked Donaldson...

Ha!!

It was awesome spending time with another crazy Catholic family.  Especially one with children who have excellent manners.  My kids could learn a thing or two.   Thanks for having us Cari!

Day 6: Will Exercise to Eat

Day Six of our trip was a rainy day.  

Phil and I managed to sneak in a five mile run between the rain showers, and we found ways for the kids to get out their energy:

We baked these awesome delicious little pieces of Heaven:

 and went out for frozen yogurt too.  

What?  You run, you feast....right? 

We also got to spend time with Aunties:

And play games like BOLO:

and Scopa:

This boy rules Scopa.   It's embarrassing.

You can learn how to play here:

On our last night visiting, Phil spent a few hours at the Walk-In Clinic with Andrew who ended up with a double ear infection.  Not surprising since Maggie had one right before we left for the trip.  Even though they aren't supposed to be contagious...

Are You Ready for Some Football??

Day 5: The Turtle and the Creek

So, because the zoo obviously didn't meet our animal quota for the week, the kids found a turtle in Nana and Gramp's yard.

Aunt Kelly helps Tommy take a turn:

And down to the creek we marched to set it free:

Walking sticks were a necessity, of course:

As were flowers picked for Mommy:

Box, the turtle, made it safely back home:

And it was time to throw rocks and skip stones in the creek:

And snap pictures of my chunky monkey:

And smooch him to death:

You just have to say "Yay" now and he starts clapping.  Cutest thing ever!

Cousin Tommy was enjoying my boys bad big influence on him: 

And Xander imitated the rocket from earlier in our trip:

By the walk back to the house, I had a beautiful bouquet gathered for me: