7 Quick Takes Friday - The Vacation Edition

We went on vacation!  

1) Look how happy they all were on the way to New Jersey to the Coco Key Water Resort.  Even the baby slept for 3 hours straight in the car, which was over half the trip.

We spit on Yankee Stadium as we drove by.  Boooooo Yankees!

2) We actually drove straight to Philadelphia first, and thanks to Aimee's recommendation, stopped at Tony Luke's for a cheesesteak.  This was the first REAL Philly Cheesesteak any of us had ever eaten, and it did not disappoint!  I put pickles on mine, not sure if that is the protocol, but it was yummy!

3) Next up was a walk around historic Philadelphia, with a stop at the Liberty Bell and the Betsy Ross house:

4) Then off we ran to the Franklin Fountain, an ice cream/fudge/candy shop I had read about in a magazine.  After all, it was Fat Tuesday:

Much to our dismay, it was CLOSED!!!

 We tried to console Xander, but he was just too upset...

5) Actually, he didn't get really upset until we got to the water resort and plopped him in the water torture device chair:

But just for a minute, then he regained his composure and was a happy little clam fish.

We all enjoyed ourselves.  The reason we went was because it was a Groupon deal, so it was an inexpensive family vacation.  I bought restaurant.com gift certificates (with promo codes) on the cheap too so we could eat out without breaking the bank.  And we brought bread and PB to make sandwiches for lunch.  It was a poor man's Martin vacation, and it was awesome!

6) On Ash Wednesday, we went to church and got ashes, which led to some very interesting conversations on the car ride home:

"My ash is bigger than yours!"

"No, Mom's ash is the biggest!"

"Awww, Xander has the cutest little ash!"

We ate at Cracker Barrel on Thursday morning for breakfast, and the rocking chairs made a great place to take photos, but the shadows nearly did us in.

7) Sadly after 2 nights and 3 days of fun, it was time to leave:

 And we were ready:

We had a loooong ride home.

This is when Phil realized he had to fork over $12 to drive over the George Washington Bridge.  TWELVE dollars!

Not worth it:

For $12 bucks, it should have included lunch!

Have a great weekend everybody!!

Wordless Wednesday: Mini Mozart

Things I Wish I Had Thought of Earlier

1) Problem:

Every morning, my kids would go to put their shoes on from the communal shoe basket.  

Shoes would go flying, kids would be screaming, and it was a disaster every morning.  

Solution:

I bought four small baskets so each child has their own place to put their shoes.  No more shoes all over the place or elbowing each other trying to get to theirs.

2) Problem:

Since we only let the kids watch one tv show each weeknight, it is a pretty big deal which show gets chosen.  Of course it's almost impossible for a 9, 7, 5, and 4 year old to agree on which show to watch.  Every night would lead to someone being disappointed or Phil and I just picking a show nobody liked because they were all being unreasonable.

Solution:

One night I wrote down their four names and told them the first one got to pick the show, the next one picked the next night, and so on.  Done, no more arguments, they just take their turn and pick their show and that's it.

3) Problem:

The kids have a chance to buy snacks at the snack counter after school.  They were always begging us for a dollar, but one dollar each for every school day is $20 per week.  Too much for us to dole out.

Solution:

Every day at school that they are well-behaved and don't get "spoken to" or a check, or whatever is equivalent of getting in trouble, they earn a quarter.  On Friday morning, if they've been good all week, they get $1.00.  If they had one bad day, they get 75 cents, etc.  Now they have an incentive to be good all week and look forward to their snack money on Fridays.

4) Problem:

Maggie is scared of the night (no idea where she gets that from...) and will sometimes start to cry that she is going to have bad dreams at night.

Solution:

I took a bottle of an old Victoria's Secret perfume, and told her it was "Good Dream Spray" and spritzed a little in her room one night.  The next morning she said it worked and asks for it every night now.  

Now I know these are not wicked smaht said in my Boston accent ideas, but they are common sense solutions that I wish I had thought of sooner.  And I'm thinking all you wicked smaht ladies out there have way more solutions like this that you could share with me...so start spilling....please!!

Plans for Lent

I think I have finally learned my lesson and am keeping my personal Lenten plans to myself this year. 

 Maybe then they will be more fruitful than prideful :)

God knows I need all the help I can get.

Good luck on your journeys!

7 Quick Takes Friday: The "Found!" Edition

1) After reading this blog of a mother of twelve (twelve!) I have found the next diet I am ready to try.  Please don't tell me that "diet" is a four letter word, I know it and I hate them, but I really need a strict jumpstart to eating right.  This is the one that I'm going to try.  

2) Back in December when Maggie went for her 4 year old physical, her Pediatrician (Dr. A) said her ear looked "weird" and wanted her to go see an ENT.  The ENT said her ear looked normal.  A few months later, Maggie went to a different pediatrician (Dr. B) for a sick visit, who also asked me about her ear.  I said that the ENT said it was fine.  Well, Dr. A and Dr. B talked and decided Maggie really should go back to the ENT again.  So this week she went back to the ENT (side note - do doctors realize how difficult it is to schedule appointments when you work full-time and have 5 children?).  This time the ENT saw something and fished around and used a suction device, and found a little white bead rolling around in her ear.  

We have no clue how long it's been in there or how it got in there for that matter!

3) I've found the next race I will be running after our half-marathon next month. It's the ING Hartford Half Marathon, and it's in October which means I will have to train in the hot summer months - yuck!  But I'm going to be running it with Cari if she doesn't chicken out and use a lame excuse like "I just had my sixth baby 6 months ago and I'm not ready" ;)

4) Found on my bedside table from John-Paul for Valentine's Day:

That sweet boy used his own money to buy me some girl scout cookies because he knows my love affair with cookies.  How sweet.

5)

Found a quiet activity for the kids to play.  These are great and I wish I discovered them sooner!

6) Found Xander's current favorite toy:

7) Found out that our dear Fr. Bill died on Wednesday morning.  

Although he was a priest, he was definitely the grandfather I never had.  He married my parents, and baptized all 6 of their children, then married us all to our significant others, and baptized almost all of our children.  He was one of the most amazing people I ever knew, and you can read more about him here.  I am sure he is celebrating in Heaven, dancing with his sister who could never walk on Earth.  We will miss him dearly.