Hello and Happy Friday!
Phil and I celebrated our 24th anniversary on Sunday, and I wish that I had the time to write a beautiful post about marriage and how easy he's made it to be with him longer than I've been without him...but instead I'll just say that I love my best friend/baby daddy/partner for life so much and I'm grateful to God for putting us together!
We celebrated in bits and pieces over the weekend, because May anniversaries only add to the normal May chaos. May I suggest y'all get married in a less busy month? On Saturday, we drove out to Plymouth for lunch and I think Phil's face says it all when we revisited Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Pebble is more like it.
That night, our friend Fr. Cook was filling in at our parish for the vigil Mass, and we invited him out to dinner (and ice cream, of course) with us and the kids who weren't working. Phil and Fr. Cook shared the Fajitas for Two as if it was their anniversary:
On Sunday, we started out the day by working out, because the couple that works out together...works out together or something.
We took our annual Cottage photo on Sunday morning. Season 4 on Anniversary 24:
Then we drove to beautiful Bristol, RI to have lunch at The Beach House. It was a gorgeous view but very hot in the sun. Our weather went from winter to summer it seems!
The heat was great for business at The Cottage though! Lines all weekend long!
On Wednesday evening, Declan was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) after having to fill out an application, get a letter of recommendation (he asked our pastor) and be interviewed by the principal and asst. principal. He was very proud of himself for making it into the NJHS because "I would be so embarrassed if I was the first kid in our family not to get in!" Oooh the pressure upon those tiny shoulders is too much sometimes.
Phil and I felt absolutely awful when we realized we couldn't attend Declan's NJHS induction because it was the same night as a scholarship dinner for Maggie that we had RSVP'd for weeks earlier and bought tickets to attend with my parents. Declan was so sad that we couldn't go, but happy when I told him that Andrew would take him to the ceremony and then he could get anything he wanted at the Cottage after...and that Phil and I would take him out to dinner at a restaurant of his choosing sometime soon. One-on-one time is his love language, and eating out is his second love language - ha!
Also, God? May I suggest if you bless a mom with a large family that you also send her the gift of bilocation?
Declan said when he signed the book, he realized that everyone who's ever been in this NJHS chapter has signed this book, and he got so nervous that his hands were shaking and he thinks he signed it very poorly. My sweet empathetic overthinker :)
Meanwhile at the scholarship dinner, Maggie was enjoying her shirley temple in her Walmart dress (can you believe it? So cute!)
The speaker was Vince Wilfork - a former Patriots player who was well loved here, especially by my mom!
There were ten scholarship winners and each kid's intro was better than the one before. There were kids with gpa's over 4.7, kids who were heading to Ivy leagues for difficult careers, kids with sports prowess and all kinds of talents. Maggie was called up near the end and made Vince laugh when she got up on stage after being announced as having a 4.5 gpa, saying "Sorry I'm not as impressive as everyone else!" He laughed and told her that he was so impressed with her. His speech had actually been about prioritizing academics over athletics (which he didn't do) because athletics is a small window in your life, but academics will get you far.
Phil bought a photo of Vince so that he would sign it, and my mom could meet him, and they certainly had a moment!
I was taking a selfie of me with Vince when a woman took my phone from me to take my photo instead. "Do you want your whole group to be in the photo?" "Nope" I said "Just me and Vince!" Mr. Dimple popped out as he always does when I meet a celebrity - the nerve!
Maggie has had quite the week for herself besides the scholarship dinner. She was in the newspaper for being named Top Ten in her class (a goal she set for herself since freshman year):
She received the St. Julie Billiart award for 150 service hours this year, was chosen as the Pope Pius X award winner from our parish:
... and was unanimously voted to receive the Principal's Award, which is the highest award from her high school:
She didn't have to take any finals, and headed to the Cape with friends for a couple of days to enjoy:
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| The Maggies |
Next week is Prom and then the week after that has a ton of senior events that I'm trying to mentally prepare for. Transitions are tough for moms.
She sent a screenshot of her dad/teacher in her yearbook, and I had to laugh at his quote:
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| He also loves to say "Who's going to fight the wars?" |
It's been so nice having all the boys home! JP got all A's in his first year of med school and started his orientation at Brown for a summer internship.
Andrew and Eamon are either scooping or golfing:
And we have been retraining ourselves how to cook for nine people every night:
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| Copycat Chick-fil-A grilled chicken sandwiches w/ fries and salad |
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| Sesame Chicken and Broccoli (with rice) |
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| Grilled chicken salad |
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| Chicken + Corn Chowder |
We do eat more than just chicken, though my camera roll disagrees. Oh wait! Salmon and salad, with an obscene amount of croutons (Phil and kids had steak subs this night):
Brendan got his 1st place trophy dropped off from the piano competition last month:
Declan's middle school History Fair is today, and I hope we he gets an A!
I am very thankful for a long Memorial Day weekend, even if the weather looks rainy and cool. I hope you are all surviving, better yet thriving, this May!
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