Friday, July 25, 2025
Week in Review: Happy Christmas in July
Friday, July 18, 2025
Week in Review: Books and Cooks and Looks
In the afternoons, I come home from work and want to take a nap, but then I know I won't get to sleep well at night, so I rest on the couch and read a book until Phil gets home from work and then we make dinner together.
The books:
Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney
My first Alice Feeney book, and I liked it, but going back and forth between characters who had names and nicknames and fake names hurt my little brain at times. I thought I had figured out the twist at the end, but much like a soft serve at The Cottage, there was a delicious extra twisty twist on top.
God's Influencer: Holy Advice from Carlo Acutis by Antonia Salzano and Andrea Acutis
We are big Carlo Acutis fans in the Martin household. First of all, my husband looks just like Carlo as a boy, so I've always felt a connection with him. Secondly, Carlo's real attraction was that he was a "normal" boy living in modern days, playing Nintendo, wearing jeans and using technology, but always tried to make sure his actions would be glorifying to God. As someone who is an overthinking perfectionist, I completely related to the rules and plans he would make for himself to use entertainment in moderation and not get addicted to it. He discovered a love for Jesus, and was excited to learn about Eucharistic miracles, so much so that he started a website to spread the word. He's an inspiration to my teens for sure, a timely reminder we are all still called to be saints, it's not just for old nuns from other countries, or war survivors from decades ago. Each saint's story is as unique as we all are, and it's not impossible to become a saint in our lifetime. Anyone who gets to Heaven is a saint, and we all want to get to Heaven, so we all want to be saints :) This book is a great read, told by his parents, who will be at their son's canonization. Legendary! I can't wait for him to be canonized, along with Pier Giorgio Frassati in September.
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
I'm not finished with this one yet, though I am reading it much faster than Good Bad Girl because I need to find out answers! The stage is set right away with an aging grandma inviting her family to her secluded mansion by the sea, reading aloud her will, then people dying one by one mysteriously.
Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspe
I listened to this one on Audible and while it wasn't really any new information about nutrition for me, it was interesting to hear how the way we eat certain foods matters, and how we pair them with other foods. I find myself adding a sweet to the end of my meal rather than as a snack now. My fasting blood sugar levels have always been a little high, and since I had gestational diabetes, I am very aware/concerned with eating in a way that can prevent me from getting diabetes later in life.
A Song for Nagasaki by Paul Glynn
I am listening to this book through the Hallow app and it's just so good! It's about a Japanese doctor who survived the atomic bomb, his conversion from atheism to Catholicism, the many losses that happen in his life, his health issues, and his changing views and values. I haven't done much research on the Japanese culture, but I find it so interesting to learn through this story.
Friday, July 11, 2025
Week in Review: Life at the Lake, Life at Home, and Life is Good
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Cuzzies |
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Is it even a family party without Spikeball? |
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Last shift at The Cottage |
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Pondering Parenting from Babies to Adults
Weren't they the cutest?
But also, the most dependent and needy and clingy and hungry and dirty and awake-at-the-wrong-hours and crying and fighting and mess-making and totally normal toddlers and babies.
There's a reason that Baby #4 and Baby #5 were born almost four years apart...Mama was tired. I felt like I was drowning in babies. Thankfully, I was young, I was strong, both mentally and physically, and while I recognized the season was hard, we were able to get through it pretty well. And yet, I used to hate when a well-meaning older woman would see me grocery shopping with all of the littles and tell me "Enjoy every moment, it goes by so fast!" I remember thinking that having older kids would be SO MUCH EASIER. Kids that could get themselves dressed and fed, were potty trained, and go to bed and sleep through the night sounded like winning the lottery.
And that was true.
We had such a glorious stretch of years when having another baby wasn't too hard because there was only one baby and only one toddler, with plenty of older siblings to play with. Years when all five kids were at the same school, years when all seven kids were in school (no more daycare! no more diapers!), and plenty of years when everyone was asleep in their own bed under our roof. Dinner for nine was the norm and we knew who was coming and going and what they were doing. It was busy with lots of moving parts, and it felt difficult at times but it never felt harder than those early baby years. It was much more fun and entertaining, and those dependent babies became independent kids and teens that we loved to be around.
Thursday, July 3, 2025
Week in Review: Fashionably Unfashionable, Altar Boy Boot Camp and Patriotic Prepping
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Friends since preschool |
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Cousins since birth |
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Our Diocesan group |
Friday, June 27, 2025
Week in Review: Morning Walks in Weighted Vests, Steubenville Conferences, and Setting Up an Apartment
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Learning my old track event - shotput! |
Monday, June 23, 2025
A Strong Start to Summer
Maggie took D + B to The Cottage for lunch and a treat on their last day, as one does:
Declan and Brendan both had really lovely teachers this year and had amazing years all around, academically, socially, physically, mentally... you name it and they grew leaps and bounds. We are very thankful for our Catholic schools!
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Apparently they call him Decky? Who knew? We typically shorten to Dex at home. |
making him a wonderful contributor to our classroom environment.
He always put in his best effort and faces every challenge with confidence.
I would encourage him to continue putting his best effort into all that he does
and to continue to love learning.
Brendan will do great things!
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Summer Martins and Summer Not |
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When the days end of "Hey Mom! Look what I found!" I will be sad for sure. This was a hermit crab. |
Monday, June 16, 2025
An Expensive Trim, A Quick Getaway, and A Father's Day Race
So maybe I shouldn't have scheduled a haircut on Friday the 13th after all. It's not super awful, but it's not what I was going for. It's a little shorter and no real style, just a long bang chopped straight across before I asked her to try to angle it a bit. Basically I now have a shoulder length cut with some short pieces in front that annoy me and I keep re-tucking behind my ears all day. No bangs. Oh and did I mention that I scheduled a Wash + Cut Only, so I went in, waited a few minutes, got my hair washed and cut and was done in 21 minutes for FIFTY DOLLARS? What the what now? Of course, I left a $10 tip for the stylist as well, so I was out $60. No real styling, no hair drying...I can't even imagine what it costs to get one's hair colored or any extra services added on.
Moving on.
Phil booked us a 24 hour getaway to Newport to a little Bed + Breakfast place we like, and we stayed overnight on Friday. It was just what the doctor ordered. We ate, we walked, we slept in, we ate some more, we shopped, we picked up groceries on the way home and still made it to the Vigil Mass on Saturday. We have absolutely no photos but it was the start of a nice Father's Day weekend for Phil which he deserved!
On Sunday morning, Phil and five kids ran the 5k race in our town. The Ice Cream Cottage is a sponsor and it's a fun event plus we can just walk over to the start line.
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Happy Father's Day to their favorite! |
It was Brendan's (age 8) first time running a 5k race and he did great! Phil ran with him and said he ran the whole time and had a good attitude.
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Eamon |
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Declan (Andrew and Xander too) |
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Andrew and Xander |
Friday, June 13, 2025
Week in Review: Undergraduate Awards, Retro Meals and Haircut Hopes
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Maggie, Maggie and Maggie, jk that's my niece Abby |
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Cousins both in the Top Ten of their grades |
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The Maggies doing the Maggie Face |
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
The Fifth (Child) Graduates Eighth (Grade)
Monday, June 9, 2025
Senior Week: Awards Night, Baccalaureate Mass and A High School Graduation
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Tommy and Eamon, classmates and cousins! |