Week in Review: Wrapping Up The To Do List

Can you believe it?  The last Friday before Christmas!?!?  This is also the last day of work and school for the Martins until next year and we are so excited!  I was truly enjoying Advent this year, feeling pretty calm, remembering to say the St. Andrew Novena, attending a retreat, but this week I am feeling the pinch and trying to figure out the Christmas Present Fairness Math like:

Does everyone have the same amount of joy-giving presents intermingled with things they need?  Even though I'm an accountant, the math is not mathing.  I will feel like one kid needs something more, then get it, then realize another kid would also like that gift so I get it for them too, but now we are out of alignment again and on and on it goes.

I'm going to finish up the wrapping this weekend and see what else there is left to do, but in a panicky state yesterday I stress ordered a few more small gifts/stocking stuffers as if I was a contestant on a timed game show:

Cute earrings (these are for MY stocking)

Deck of Cards (Brendan's really into card tricks right now)

Tau Cross Necklace (Andrew came home from Assisi with one he wears and the littles want to copy)

Tweezers (to go with all the Perler Bead crafting)

Magic Book (for Magic Tree House lovers)

But I have to stop and just accept that it is what it is.  I don't think I ever feel 100% ready for Christmas morning but you know what?  Jesus comes no matter what and we always have the best time together.

What else has been going on this week?  

Out and About & In and Reminiscin'

A little weekend recap, shall we?

Eamon went on a school trip to New York City for the day last Friday.  They left at 5am and returned at midnight and had lots of fun but boy was he tired the next day.  Youth is not wasted on my kids, as they are always up for an adventure.  I was happy to be home in my pajamas by 8pm :)

On Saturday, Phil had a Confirmation retreat all day, so the kids picked names for their Sibling Swap that takes place on Christmas Adam (the day before Christmas Eve) and I took the littles shopping to find their treasures.  The line at Kohl's was crazy and I'm reminded why online shopping is so much better.  But we had success and it's fun to have one on one time together and see how they want to spoil their sibling.

Maggie went to a friend's house for a little Christmas gathering, including a visit from St. Nick himself!

I've been trying a new treadmill workout where I run for four miles, but walk for one minute of each mile.  I line up the walks with the commercials in my show that I'm watching and I've never wanted more commercials in a show!  Yikes, it's hard to run on a treadmill especially when they keep the gym warmer than I would prefer.  It's mostly the elderly population that uses this gym near my work and while they're working out in their flannel shirts and pants, I'm over here like:

Sweaty Betty

On Sunday morning, I came home from the gym to see this adorable sight:

JP and Andrew and Declan were creating with perler beads.  We sort of forget about these and then they become a big hit again for awhile.  Look what they made:

JP's Nativity

Andrew's Grinch

JP was feeling very grateful because he had an interview last week for a potential medical school scholarship and he heard back that he got it!  The scholarship is called The Physicians Scholarship because it was funded by physicians in the area who donated to give two new med students $25,000 a year for four years.  Can you believe it?  That's $100,000 less in loans and we are sooooo thankful.  JP is still not 100% sure on what school he will attend as he hasn't heard back from most yet, but this one in Maryland is his top choice right now.

On Sunday night, after a very yummy dinner of Maple Chicken (Andrew's belated welcome home from Europe dinner) Maggie was stressing about her AP Bio test and Phil captured this photo of her three big brothers, all AP Bio graduates, helping her study.  

This is the stuff big family dreams are made of and what I prayed for back in the days of dirty diapers and sibling squabbles.  Those days were hard but the payout is so worth it.  Don't give up mamas!  You are doing the most important, often times invisible and thankless, work.  I see you :)

Week in Review: Sports Banquets, All My Babies and A False Alarm

Let's see, where were we?  Last Friday I saw the For King + Country Christmas concert movie and it was good!  Definitely got me in the Christmas spirit and now I want to go watch Unsung Hero about their family's story (seven kids!).  On Saturday I went to a womens Advent retreat that was pretty good, but a bit of a let down from the previous year, when Danielle Bean spoke.  However, I got to go to Mass, Confession and Adoration AND hear Marie Miller sing a few songs including 6'2:

There was a nice gathering of women from my parish that all attended, so that made it fun too :)

This is one side of the church - there were 280 women in attendance, mostly sitting in the central pews.

Meanwhile, Eamon and Ellie went for an unofficial tour of Providence College given by our niece, who is a freshman there.  They ate delicious food at the dining hall and went to a hockey game together that night and thoroughly enjoyed the day!

On Sunday, Declan went to a friend's annual Grinch Day party and had an absolute blast with his buddies:

Week in Review: Adventy Things, a Book Review and An Almost Embarrasing Gift

Happy Feast of Saint Nicholas!!

The kids got their special St. Nick chocolates in their stockings and a new pair of (non-matching) pajamas or robes.

The Advent Calendars have been big hits!  Declan received this one and Brendan received this one and Xander received this one and my candle one is almost too good, as I am still burning the candle from the first night - it just won't quit!  At this rate, I'll have enough candles to get me through the whole winter, whatta deal.  

Building their sets each evening

Funny story, I had originally bought Declan this Lego Advent Calendar, not realizing it was "for girls" according to him.  I guess it's Lego Friends and not just Lego.  Declan picked out a new calendar and I said I would return the Lego Friends one.  Declan then had a bright idea that he should give it to his teacher because she loves to watch the show.  I was like, great go get wrapping paper, then I thought that it was a little strange that his teacher would watch a kid's cartoon, so I asked a few more questions until I finally got the answer:

"Yes, she told us her favorite show ever is Friends".

Aha.  Friends makes much more sense.

Brendan came with me to return the embarrassingly accidental almost-gift the poor 5th grade teacher was about to get.

Say goodbye to your little friends

How Dare She Grow Up?

Somehow, someway this little beauty:

with the sassy attitude:

turned into this big beauty:

with a residual amount of sass:

Our Maggie in the Middle turned seventeen this weekend and awoke to some nice/funny cards from her little brothers and a joke gift, then real gift from her older brothers.  She certainly is loved!

Her dad, whom she has wrapped around her little finger, made her a hootenanny for breakfast because the birthday girl gets what the birthday girl wants.

 

A Wicked Awesome Thanksgiving Break

We had such a nice long Thanksgiving break this year.  On Tuesday, I drove to the movie theater right after work to meet up with these three to see Wicked:

Ellie, Eamon, Galinda, Elphaba, Maggie

The movie was 3 hours long (including previews) and would go through dinner, so we had to eat and I snuck my pastrami sub from Jersey Mike's into the theater and devoured it during the previews.  I just love a nice hot pastrami and wish I lived near an authentic Jewish New York deli.

Wicked was SO GOOD.  The rest of the family wants to see it when it comes out on some streaming service, and besides the scene in the beginning when Elphaba's mom steps out on her dad (I can just imagine innocent Declan asking "But why is she hugging that man that's not her husband?" so we will fast forward that part) the rest is great.  We've been listening to the music non-stop and can't wait for Part Two.  I have seen the play and read the book (I don't recommend the book) and the movie had a much more clear storyline and entertaining scenes and was cinematically beautiful and powerful.

On Thanksgiving morning, we woke up at 7am and ran our own family Turkey Trot:

Maggie was fretting that we would look like weirdos running together, but not to worry as we all run at different speeds and distances anywhere between 2.25 and 4 miles.  One of us walked the dog instead of running, which was a necessary task since she would be alone the rest of the day and it would be rainy all day.

Maggie and Brendan were running buddies

We got this text from Andrew, who had run in the school's Turkey Trot in Austria:

Andrew and Smiles

Then he played in a football game for two hours before dressing up in Austrian garb and having an American Thanksgiving with the faculty and staff.  I guess the mayor from the town was there too and there was music and dancing and so much merriment.

Pinkies up!

Back in America, we all showered and went to 9am Mass to start Thanksgiving Day off right.  We have so much to be thankful for including JP's 1st med school acceptance!!  He got into a new DO school opening in Maryland, close to Phil's side of the family and his girlfriend's family and one he was really hoping to get into.  He had the interview about two weeks ago and got the acceptance news this week which is a huge stress reliever.  He's not 100% sure this is where he will attend, but at least he has one option thus far.  I have to admit, I kinda feel like *we* got into medical school with how much I guided and supported him through the application process ;)

Gift Guide 2025! Our Favorite Gifts Bought, Sought and Brought

Here are the gifts we actually gave and received this year!!  I hope this can be useful to your own gift giving during this holiday season.  Happy Shopping!

*When you click on any of the links, you will be brought to Amazon's site and if you purchase anything after clicking through that link, I will receive a small percentage at no cost to you, so thank you for supporting us in this way ~ you are the best.*

Scratchers (with a scratch ticket!)

Laneige Lip Balm Trio

Sleep masks

Tweezers

Curved Claw Hair Clips

Travel Jewelry Box

Initial Letter Stud Earrings

Illuminator Highlighter (a lovely dewy look)

Teeth Whitening Kit (non sensitive!)

Acne Patches

Vaseline Body Balm Stick

Scalp & Hair Strengthening Oil (I add 5 drops to my shampoo per my hairstylist rec)

Handheld Milk Frother, I use everyday for my greens powder and protein powder

Teen/Women's Quilted Vest (I had to purchase another one after Maggie kept wearing mine!)

Wallet and Keychain Wristlet, Maggie had to have this as soon as she could drive

 Fun ornament for the tree

DigitalAIRE Hair Dryer

The less expensive version of the uber popular Uggs

Wickedly on sale snow boots

A new Twin mattress to replace the (really) old ones

Beats headphones (awesome deal right now!)

Samsonite Luggage (a great gift before college)

Oral B Electric Toothbrush

Bluetooth Speaker

Pickleball Paddles

Nike Favorite Sports Team Gear

Birkenstocks, I love that these are back in style

$19.99 tall boots!

Theology of Home Book

Festive plaid shoes

Running sneakers (almost too beautiful to run in!)

The prettiest color Stanley, in my humble opinion

Womens fleece-lined leggings

Bling license plate frames

My favorite leggings, so soft and so many colors

Essential Oil Diffuser with Essential Oils

Yankee Candle

Bento Lunch Boxes (fun for creating your own lunchables)

Mens casual Adidas shoes

Shave Cream (lasts so long and in many scents)

Mens Puffer Jacket

Mens Hey Dude loafers

Fleece Pajamas for some extra cuddling

Electric Neck and Shoulder Massager with Heat

Reading Pillow for Bed (We used to call these husbands?!)

Weighted vest to build that bone density

Apple watch with adjustable band

Gabb Phone (not pictured but a great first phone, and you can get it FREE!)

Owala water bottle

Kids basketball, soccer ball, volleyball

Game Cube

Motion Sensor Mini Drone

Burt's Bees Kids Pajamas

Boys Columbia fleece jacket that they never take off

Redwall Books, a family favorite

Series of Unfortunate Events books, the little guys are obsessed

Bluey Season 3 DVD

Gap sweatpants

Funko Pops of their favorite characters

Cordless hand vacuum, a gift little kids love to get and use!

Hooded Robe

Kids Digital Camera

Trampoline for a big family gift

Echo Pop (so cheap right now!)

Monogrammed Doormat that looks more expensive than it is

Rubber Tote Bag, perfect for the beach or pool

Elegant gold mirror for a bedroom/dorm room/hallway

Air Fryer (we use ours just about every day)

Solar lanterns to brighten up the walkway or stairs

Week in Review: Boring Weeks are Best and What a Small Catholic World Story

Happy Friday!  Let's rewind and play back the tape of life from this past week...

JP bought his first car!  We buy family cars for the kids to use once they can drive, but he is now the proud owner of a 2012 Ford Focus with only 37,000 miles.  The timing of finding the car was great since he started his job this week.  He ordered three pairs of scrubs and got a short haircut and is a professional young man ready to help you if you end up in the Emergency Department, which I hope you don't.

Andrew sent this picture of his Austrian campus this morning:

Snow!  He said everyone has their Christmas lights up and it's so pretty.  Here's a couple photos from his recent adventures in Assisi:

And from Budapest this past weekend:

Declan and Brendan have also been travelling...to a field trip at Plymouth Plantation to learn all about the first Thanksgiving.  I don't even think these kids realize how lucky they are to live where there is so much history!

The Colonoscopy Review

 I'm sitting here on the other side of my first colonoscopy at the age of 45 and I want to talk about it.  If you don't want to know the nitty gritty details, please skip this post.  

Ok I warned ya!  

I don't have a family history of colon cancer (thank goodness) but I am a big believer in annual physicals and mammograms and skin checks and getting a colonoscopy as soon as age allows.  Why not catch something early if you can?  So if anyone needs a little nudge to make the appointment, please consider this your gentle reminder.

Long story short, it wasn't that terrible.

TMI Alert: Appointments are made months ahead of time, and as Murphy's Law would have it, I had my monthly visitor at the same time as the colonoscopy prep and procedure.  So that was fun.  I'm guessing this wasn't such an issue when women didn't start having colonoscopies until the age of 50, but I read about it online and everything said I could still have the colonoscopy so I went ahead.

I got the call on Friday to tell me that my colonoscopy would be at 8:30 am on Monday.  My last meal was on Saturday after Mass, and I chose fried scallops and sweet potato fries, followed by a cookie.  Hey calories don't count when you're about to flush everything out.

Week in Review: First Time at Costco, Fritters on Demand and Friends in Holy Places

After spending my first three years of this job saving my paid time off, I have some personal days and vacation days that I need to use or lose this year so I decided to take a bunch of half-day Fridays on weeks that don't already include a holiday.  My goal is to not work a full week for the rest of the fiscal year (ending June 30) .  I really sound like a government employee now :)  

On my first half-day Friday, JP and I went with my parents to Costco for the first time ever.  My parents have the Costco membership, but we have a BJ's membership because it's much closer.  Anyway, JP and I were like kids in a candy store and somehow spent $690!  

We shopped separately from my parents but when we were checking out, my mom and I realized we both bought the exact same sweater in the same color and we were cracking up.  When we got to the register, the elderly male cashier happens to  mention "nice sweater!" as he scans it and the giggles returned.  What are the odds to pick the same article of clothing in a giant warehouse?

 

We woke up to a freezing cold on Saturday morning, which also happened to be the last of the soccer games for our Declan boy.  It was worth braving the cold to watch every minute because at the very end he scored!!  He was so proud of himself and it was such a much-needed boost to his confidence.  He played a lot of defense this year and came close to scoring on his chances as forward.  We thought the season might end without a goal, but he pulled it off...phew!

Cheerleaders for life.

To everything turn, turn, turn

There is a season, turn, turn, turn...

...and so we now turn, turn, turn our attention to his basketball season.  We sponsored a team in this league, and the coach who selected Declan at tryouts made sure that their team got the name of The Ice Cream Cottage:

Our #2 scored 2 points in the game this week.  Maybe he should have picked a higher number?

Work it, work it

Xander and Brendan both competed in a swim meet on Saturday and beat their best times, always a great goal each meet.  The meet was almost an hour from our house and lasted 4.5 hours so you can do the math to realize it was a long day.  We need to rethink swim team for next year when it's only Brendan on the team (maybe move him down to the practice-but-no-meets level?) because Xander will be on the high school team and swim team is a very time demanding sport for littles who can't drive.

Brendan (in bottom lane) came in 2nd place in this race