Preparing for The Perfectly Timed Advent

I have a little pet peeve when it comes to the season of Advent* and your typical Advent Calendars.  

The Advent Season is the time leading up to Christmas, beginning on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ending on Christmas Eve.  Sometimes this season is 22 days long, and sometimes it is 28 days long, depending on which day of the week Christmas falls on that year.

The typical Advent Calendars you can purchase are actually just a countdown to Christmas Day, starting on December 1 and lasting 24 or 25 days, depending on whether the last little door/gift is opened on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.  

So if you want to use an Advent Calendar to truly count down the days of Advent, you typically can not because the days don't line up...until this year!

For 2024, Advent starts on December 1 and ends on December 24 and therefore will perfectly align with the Christmas Countdown Advent Calendars you can purchase from the store.  I've rounded up a few cool choices if you want to play along this perfectly timed Advent.  

Nativity Advent Calendar 2024

Lego Advent Calendar 2024

Harry Potter Advent Calendar 2024

Escape Room Experience Advent Calendar

Funko Pop Marvel Advent Calendar

Shower Steamers Advent Calendar

Gingerbread House Building Set Advent Calendar

Shocking Science Tricks 2024 Advent Calendar

Nativity Scene Puzzle 2024 Advent Calendar

There's also Advent Calendars for coffee lovers, tea drinkers, fishing enthusiasts, makeup loving girlies, Godiva chocolate lovers, rubber duck collectors, and almost anything else you can think of!  Personally, I'm gifting myself this Advent Calendar because I love a scented candle!

*And yes, I know there are only 12 Days of Christmas that should be truly celebrated, beginning on Christmas Day through January 5.  Advent is a penitential time of preparation and excitement for what is to come on Christmas Day (spoiler alert - it's Jesus!) and while we shouldn't spend the Advent season celebrating something that hasn't happened yet, I do like to build the excitement by counting down and recognizing the journey.

Homecoming Weekend

HoCo!

Last Friday night, during halftime at the Homecoming Football game, senior fall athletes were recognized with their parents/families.  We left the littles at home because they were tired from late practices and a swimathon that afternoon so our family picture looks so small:

I realize having "one of each" is such a popular family size but to me it looks so empty with the other five we are missing.  

On Saturday, Maggie and Eamon had their homecoming dance.  Once again the report was that it was "lame" because the DJ used his phone/apple music to play the songs and there were no slow songs and all the lights in the gym were on.  Maggie said getting ready with her friends and then hanging out after the dance was super fun though so no regerts!  

Some beach photos pre-lame-dance:

The Maggies

Besties since 1st Grade

The Boys

My (almost) Irish twins

Eamon and Ellie

Ellie was voted Homecoming Queen and Eamon was voted on the Homecoming court - such royals!  Please note the perfectly matched tie :)

These three are going on a mission trip together in February - beautiful inside and out!

On Sunday, in another homecoming sense, some of my siblings and their families came to visit my parents and watch the Patriots finally win a game.  For living relatively close to one another, we don't see each other nearly enough, so it was a nice time.  And that's a wrap on Homecoming weekend - We've got spirit, yes we do...we've got spirit, how 'bout you?  Next up is a different kind of spirit with Halloween and All Saints Day on the agenda.

Week in Review: Blessings and Endings

Happy last Friday in October!!  I look forward to this time of year so much.  It's giving beautiful weather, it's giving cozy vibes, it's giving fall sports are nearly over :)  I love that my kids are involved in sports, I love that they are athletic and social and having fun.  But I also love the breaks between seasons, they are a blessing to our family life.  Speaking of blessings, look at this clever costume our pastor wore:

This week had lots on the calendar - two annual physicals, three soccer games, three volleyball games, seven swim practices, three soccer practices, two volleyball practices, two basketball practices, two evening DRE meetings for Phil, and four Parent Teacher conferences at the kids school.  Tonight we have the homecoming football game where senior fall athletes are announced with their families, and then tomorrow the high schoolers have their Homecoming Dance for which I procured 12 dresses and four ties for them to try on.  The tie has been chosen, the dress is still up in the air.

We also decided to start working out at the gym at 5:45 am because we don't have enough free time after work.  We're tired guys.  The type of tired that makes you think if we ever get sick with something whose symptom is exhaustion, we will never know.

Declan and Brendan have been going out into the yard to play "Catch the Leaves as They Fall from Trees" which is fun to watch as I make dinner:

Beautiful trees near my work

Halloweenie Thingies

Let's talk Halloween, shall we?

The Candy

As a kid, I really loved any gummy candies, extra points if they were sour.  Give me all the sour patch kids, swedish fish, Nerds ropes, peach rings, gummy grapefruits and sour watermelons.  My kids definitely take after me and love trying any new sweet and sour concoctions like Nerds Clusters, sour skittles and these gummy candies:

As an adult, my tastes have evolved a bit.  I can't tolerate too many straight gummy candies anymore (my blood sugar skyrockets and I feel jittery) but Trader Joes makes these addicting Super Sour Scandinavian Swimmers that are delicious.  I have tried some low sugar gummy candies that actually hit the spot but they are expensive.  Currently I tend more towards a chocolate candy if I'm craving a sweet treat, with my favorites being KitKats, Snickers and Hershey Bars, oh my gosh this box is perfect!

Bone-appetit ;)

I don't think we will ever be a house that gives out full size candy bars, although that is a good goal for when we have disposable income one day.  Everybody loves those people!  We have always just left out a bowl on our front steps and taken the kids trick or treating. The thought of being home and answering the doorbell all night sounds terrible to me since I typically avoid answering the phone or a door, but I'm thankful for those who do it!

The Songs

There are a surprising amount of Halloween songs!  The kids ask Alexa to play Spooky Scary Skeletons, This is Halloween, Monster Mash, Thriller, Ghostbusters, The Purple People Eater, I Want Candy, We Got the Treats, and Love Potion Number Nine.

The Costumes

We've already had the kids dress up in Halloween costumes this year for the Halloween Dance at their school last weekend.  Xander's class put on a haunted stage walk through with a prison theme so we bought him an inmate outfit.  

That's a fake bruise on our favorite inmate

Declan and Brendan went as Milk and Cookie because it was the best financial option from amazon, plus it was cute!

Because my kids go to a Catholic school, they also have to dress up as saints on November 1st for All Saints Day.  Here's a few photos from the past:

2010

2018

2019

Overall, Halloween is not my favorite holiday as a parent - too scary, too evil/weird, too late, and too much work when we have to have a whole other costume ready to go the next morning.  I hate hate hate all the creepy decorations that focus on death and blood and violence.  We only have a few pumpkins and one sign that says "Welcome to Our Haunted House" that's not spooky at all.  But to nobody's surprise, the kids love it and so we power through the costume changes and late bedtimes and sugar highs for the lovely childhood memories :)

What are your favorite Halloween candies?  Do you decorate?  Any costumes planned yet?

Week in Review: Walks and Weights and Worries

We've been taking lots of walks lately (shoutout to Elisabeth's Cool Bloggers Walking Club) and the scenery is beautiful here in leaf-peeping New England.  I try to walk everyday during my lunch break at work and Phil and I also walk the dog each afternoon/evening.  Declan and Brendan love to join in when they are available, especially if it means some loops around the cemetery on their scooters.

The tombstones provide lots of theological discussions surrounding death and heaven and prayer.  Declan noticed that a lot of people have a photo or mention of Jesus or a cross on their tombstone, which prompted talks about how we want to live for heaven and not just hope for it when we die.

That's a terrible photo of the parents Martin, but I wanted to show you the new addition to our walks.  Weighted vests!  They really make a difference in the sense of feeling a little more sore/tired after a walk than without.  I'm one of those people that likes to sweat and feel sore after a workout and walking doesn't always do that for me, so this is a nice one upper.  I researched that you are supposed to wear a vest that's 1/10th of your weight so I'll pass along that tip.

Forced Family Fun Fall Festivities

Thank goodness this weekend had an extra day in it because we were busy with some Forced Family Fun time :)  

We finally got around to buying some mums and pumpkins after realizing a day at the pumpkin patch was improbable due to schedules this year.  We set these up on our front steps and I added some solar lanterns that look really cool (I'm going to get two more for our back steps).

On Saturday, Phil took the big kids to the Ice Cream Cottage to clean and close up for the winter, and me and my minions did some cleaning of our own.  Those chairs were in need of a scrub down!  Everybody worked hard and deserved some fun!

On Sunday, we drove down to the Cape and went to Ocean Edge in Brewster, where they had an Oktoberfest celebration going on each evening.  This place is crazy expensive to stay at during the summer months, so we like to come off-season like the fiscally responsible people we are.

Lots of games were played in the pool while we had it to ourselves before all the "randos" came.  My kids are just not fond of randos or what a normal person might call strangers.  I can remember back when I was a wee lass, we had an Irish quote hanging in our shop that read "There are no strangers here, only friends you haven't yet met."  Somehow between my childhood and my kids childhood, strangers became dangers and not potential friends.  It's a sad reality and yet they are wise to be wary.

We were playing tag in the pool, and I declared a spot on the stairs as "gools" and my kids didn't know what I was talking about.  Phil called it "base" and then they were like "oh you mean home" or "that's called safe".  I seriously was questioning my memory but I looked it up and "gool" is indeed a Northern (specifically Massachusetts) word for a safe spot, derivative of the word goal.  What do you call it??

"Ooooh they have crotchet!  Let's go play crotchet!"

~ Said a Martin child far too old to mispronounce croquet.

It was a nice and needed family time away.  A retreat if you will.  On our way back home, we stopped for lunch with a birthday gift certificate Phil had and also went to a bookstore and let the youngest three kids each pick out a book.  Xander's choice, Declan's choice, Brendan's choice (inspired by Madeline's recommendation).  The books came in handy during the extra long car ride because there was tons of traffic going off Cape as if it were summer.  This is when the tunnel pass comes in handy ;)

Week in Review: Irish Lads, Two Birthdays and The Babylon Bee

Happy Friday!!  Let's go back to a week from today when our favorite Andrew turned 20!  

But Colleen, why is he drinking a beer at a pub on his 20th birthday?  

Because he's in IRELAND, that lucky lad :)

Their Ten Day break started on his 20th birthday, so he and Smiles flew from Vienna to Dublin to meet up with Smiles' dad who had flown in from America to spend the break with his son (and his "other son" since Smiles and Andrew are practically brothers at this point).  Good thing I sent him that raincoat and some wool hiking socks for his birthday gifts because he needed it!  He also got a travel bible and a journal because he asked for them to use on his trips.  Be still my heart.  And how cute is he in that Irish cap?

They travelled all around Ireland, but Andrew really loved his time in Donegal (he called my dad while in Letterkenny since that's his hometown) and wasn't too fond of the city of Dublin.  What can I say, he's always been a country boy at heart:  

The Temple Bar is in the spirit(s)

A run in Dublin

For the second half of the week, they flew to Scotland!

Andrew said they did the best and hardest/craziest hike he's ever done in Scotland:

Happy birthday buddy, we hope this year is your BESTEST YET and we are so proud of the young man you've become and love you more than you can ever know!

How Do You Watch TV? Advice Needed!

 Life is moving at a frightening pace over here, but I want to take a moment and get your advice.  

How are y'all watching TV/movies nowadays?  

I typically watch in bed at night, with subtitles on because I'm slowly losing my hearing.

...and then blame my husband for losing it.

This is a joke - we actually are strict about screen time in our house.

But that's not what I wanted to discuss.  I want to talk about what you're paying per month and what you're paying for.  

Our current setup is that we pay for a basic cable plan through Comcast that's $42/month.  We also have the following streaming services, which are either bundled or include ads (whatever way is cheapest):

Netflix $7 

Hulu and Disney $25

Prime (free with Amazon Prime)

Peacock $8

Apple $26 (this includes a family subscription for music as well)

So that's $108 per month.

How can we make this less expensive?  Or are we doing okay?  Let's discuss!

Week in Review: Fundraising, Interviewing, and Bonding, Oh My!

Another Friday, another what in the world did we do and I better write it down for the family scrapbook or else nobody will remember any of it.

Phil and I were invited out by friends to a fundraiser for an awesome organization called My Brother's Keeper.  This is the same place where our friend Jean volunteered lots of her time before she left the earth much too soon.  There was a nice talk given to honor Jean's legacy and even though most of us have volunteered here individually in years past, we want to bring the whole family to shop and wrap for a family in need during the Christmas season.  A nice bonus on the evening was that a photographer snapped this photo of Phil and I with our friends and their oldest (of eight!) daughter:

Me: We clean up nice!  Phil: It's called a filter.

JP has been having one of the busiest weeks of his life trying to apply for medical schools, finish up his EMT recertification, and had three interviews for one job.  I think he is going to get the job as an Emergency Room Technician today (?) and also turn in his med school apps soon.  He did well on his MCAT but is worried about his gpa not being high enough, so he is also applying to DO schools.  This waiting and praying game is stressful and lots of chips and chocolate have been consumed (by me).  How I wish I was one of those people who "just can't eat because they're too stressed out".  Meanwhile my stress levels and love of food are besties.

Andrew had midterms this week so he didn't travel last weekend.  These are just some shots of walks around the school:

Campus

Town

Eamon was our family's representative to watch the VP debate and I heard it went well but was rather uneventful.  This meme cracked me up though:

Maggie’s volleyball team had a team dinner at the nicest mom’s house. Maybe this bonding time will help them win some games *fingers crossed*.

Declan had soccer team photos on Saturday and barely survived posing for this photo for me:

I left work at 4:01 yesterday, we get out at 4:00, and the parking lot was already deserted. Working a government job certainly has its perks!

And that was a short story to tell!  This weekend we have a fancy dinner to attend, a soccer game (Declan), a swim meet (Brendan and Xander), SATs for Eamon, and volleyball and soccer practices and games for the highschoolers.  Plus another birthday to someone who is very missed and loved (Happy Birthday Andrew!)

Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

Eamon Turns Eighteen

Do you remember that movie Three Men and a Baby?

I now have three MEN as sons, and I'm the baby feeling very sentimental about it all.  Birthdays have a funny way of doing that to dear old mom.

Somehow this little bundle of screaming joy:

Turned EIGHTEEN last week, and had an away soccer game:

Eamon has always been the most fun-loving kid.  Whenever we look back at family photos, you can bet he's laughing or jumping or goofing around:

Charming the worker at the Buzz Lightyear ride in Disney to get a pass to skip the line (it worked!)

I'm starting to see why he always broke bones.

Everybody smile for the camera.  Eamon - TA DA!!

Eamon was a kid that barely asked for anything, but was so easy and sweet and good to his bones that you wanted to give him everything.  We were reminiscing about the one time when Eamon actually asked for something specific.  He was four years old and we told him that his half-birthday was the same day as Gammy's real birthday.  For months he talked about how he wanted to have breakfast in bed with Gammy on her birthday/his half-birthday so we made it happen:

Giddy with Gammy

 Eamon was always our slowest eater, saying "I can't help it, I just like chatting too much!" and he still will flop down on our bed late at night to chat.  Eamon was on the shorter side and had a late growth spurt but man was he tough.  He excelled at all sports (we had to put him in a bed at 18 months old because he began climbing out of his crib AND down the stairs) and is our only child *looks around to find wood on which to knock* who has broken any bones - a toe, a finger, and a wrist.  The kid plays hard and never complains.  Honest to God, if he even slightly mentions a little pain, I bring him to get an x-ray and it's always been a fractured bone.

In pain and smiling

Eamon was recently chosen to go with the Catholic Athletes for Christ to meet the Celtics coach, who is an amazing role model:

Eamon is our best student yet and we never have to be "on" him about anything.  His teachers and pastors and coaches all love him and somehow our hardest little baby turned into such an amazing man. 

 I came across an email sent from his CYO basketball coach in sixth grade after we had thanked him for coaching that season:

It was my pleasure.  Relatively easy coaching the best player in the league, especially when that kid happens to be just an overall outstanding person and teammate.

With  three minutes left and down by six in last night's game, he politely pointed out who had not played during a timeout.  To me, you do not need to know much more about what kind of kid he is.  He reminds me of another one of my favorite players a couple years ago in a game he tried to get someone the ball (who hadn't scored all season) 14 times in a row.  Weird both those kids have Martin as a last name!  You have raised two outstanding kids, glad Eamon is a CYO champion he deserves it!

How nice was the coach to take the time to write that, and how sweet of Eamon to always be thinking of others.  Speaking of taking the time to write, Eamon still has the letter from the Archbishop of Ireland with his same name hanging on his bedroom wall.

We couldn't find the time to do a big family dinner for his birthday (he got home late from his soccer game) and then because The Ice Cream Cottage was still open, the only time we could all be together was for Sunday brunch, so that's what we did.  We had waffles and eggs and bacon and not one photo was taken, respecting the birthday boy's man's wishes.  Gammy and Grandpa came up to eat with us as did Eamon's girlfriend, Ellie.  

His big gift was airpods because he lost his awhile ago, a Commanders sweatshirt, and some cash to buy his first scratch tickets (he bought twenty $1 scratch tix and won $7 so that was a good lesson about why we shouldn't gamble!)  Maggie took the littles out to put together a basket of goodies for him, and Andrew is buying him some birks from Austria.  Phil gave me a beautiful birth-day bouquet:

Happy 18th Birthday Eamon Philip.  You are one of a kind and we love you so so much.  Never lose your fun-loving, humble, holy personality...you're going to do great things!