Wordless Wednesdays: We LOVE Sundays in Lent!

Working 9 to 5, What a Way to Make a Livin!

That song by Dolly Parton always makes me laugh.  She's just such a character. 

Last night, while Phil and I were eating after the kids were in bed, he was reading my blog post (did y'all know he's my biggest fan?) about the Working Mothers Link-up and said "But where are your answers to the questions?"  Duh.  I totally should have answered my own questions before I made you lovely ladies do it!  So here goes...

1) What do you do for work and why do you work?

I work full-time as the Business Manager at a Catholic high school.  After years of working as a tax accountant, I am loving this position a lot!  I am also the bookkeeper for my kid's elementary school, which is work I do from home, usually on the weekends.

I work because my husband is a Catholic high school teacher and we have a mortgage, 5 kids, student loans and we sort of like to eat every day.

2) Did your mother work?

Yes!  Sort of.  She was a nurse but stopped before she had kids.  Then she volunteered a lot with the church, and then she opened up a homemade ice cream shop on Cape Cod when I was 6 years old, and we had that shop for 20 years.  So my mom was able to stay at home for most of the school year, and then worked her little tail off in the warm weather.  All six of us kids worked there every spring and summer from the time we could scoop!  It was a great way to grow up, learning how to run a family business.  I used to help do the bookkeeping, which is how I got into accounting.  

3) Describe a typical work day.

Here's a funny recap of what a morning is like in our house.  

Normally we are all up, dressed, fed, and out the door by 6:50 am.  I drop the 4 school-age kids off at their Catholic elementary school, and Phil drops the baby off at his nanny's house.  Then we wave to each other at work and most days we get to eat lunch together {awww}.  

Phil leaves work around 2:45 on a good day and heads to the gym to workout, or to coach track for our kids, or to babysit our niece and nephew.  I can leave work at 3:30 and depending on Phil's schedule, I  either go to the gym, or pick up the kids and go home.  We can typically all eat dinner together, the kids get showers/baths and then have a 30 min. TV show before it's up to bed at 7:00.  Phil and I usually fall asleep around 9:30 to 10:00.  Although a lot of nights, I am passed out on the couch at 8:30.  #justkeepingitreal.

4) What's the best part about having a job?

The money :)

But I am lucky to actually like and be friends with a  lot of my coworkers, so that's really nice too!  And using my accounting degree and MBA makes me feel like it wasn't all a waste of time and money.

Plus I can go to morning Mass or morning prayers in a beautiful chapel right near my office.

5) What's your least favorite part?

It's not hard for me to work full-time while the kids are in school, but it has been really hard to work full-time while Alexander is so little.  I used to stay at home with John-Paul and Andrew, and then worked part-time while Eamon and Maggie were babies and toddlers.  I started full-time when Maggie went to preschool and found out I was pregnant with Xander right after I started full-time.  We were so stressed out about who was going to care for him, and nobody in my family could help, so it was difficult.  We finally found the most amazing woman ever who watches him and a 3 year old girl in her home.  She loves him like her own grandson, and spoils him rotten.  He calls her "Ba" and has never once not wanted to go to her.  Plus she is teaching him Portuguese too!

6) What would make your life easier?

A house cleaner!  Because we both work, and our kids play lots of sports, I feel like the weekends are all about errands, sports, and cleaning.  If someone would just come in to clean during the week, we could focus more on family time.  But if we could afford a housecleaner, then I probably would have to rethink the reasons I am working :)

7) How do your children handle their mom's career?

They only seem to mind that I go to work when they are on a school break or during the summer.  I have reduced hours during the summer, so it's not even that bad.  They are so used to me working that they think it is "normal" for a mom to go to work everyday.  And you know what?  It is very "normal".  Most of their friends moms work too.  I'm always impressed at families that can afford to live on one income.  It seems impossible in this area where the houses are so expensive.

8) Do you feel supported in what you do?

My husband absolutely supports me.  We are a total team package.  I help earn money for our family, and he helps take care of our family and home.  There's never an argument about who should clean the bathroom or do the dishes or cook the meals.  We just both pitch in and do it.  I do wish we had family around that was able to help us with the kids more. #welovedatenights

9) What are your future goals when it comes to work/motherhood?

I think I'll just stay here until I retire!  Maybe I can retire early and help raise my grandbabies, if I'm so lucky.  The hard decision is always if/when to try for more children because if I was at home, I would definitely have more babies, but working and daycare costs sort of change everything.  In any case, I know God will make it all work out.

10) What are some tips that help you balance it all?

Exercise is a big help with my mood and finding sanity.  

Blogging is my creative outlet that also serves as my social network, so that helps me feel fulfilled.

And, as MC Hammer sang, "You've got to pray just to make it today!"  God is first and foremost in our lives and He gives us the graces we need to get through anything.

Now you should go link-up with the more amazing working moms!

Working Moms Link-Up

Just this week, I had a chance to better get to know a couple of other moms who blog AND work full-time jobs.  And it was very, very nice.  

Sometimes being a Catholic working mother seems like I'm stuck between two worlds.  Like if I was truly a Catholic mother, I would be at home, cooking, cleaning, and of course home-schooling my children.  And then if I was truly a working mother, I'm supposed to be focused on my career and wearing pants suits and having a house-cleaner   Oh boy, do I wish I had a house-cleaner!

So...what to do if your heart is pulled towards being a stay-at-home wife and mother, but your head knows you must be a working wife and mother if you want your kids to you know, eat and stuff?  I'll tell you what to do, you find inspiration and support from others in your same situation!  

Link-up Alert!!  I need inspiration from you!  Are you a working mom?  It doesn't matter if you're full-time, part-time, only-when-baby-sleeps-time, working from home or outside the home.  I want to hear from you if you're a physician, speaker, accountant, Etsy shop owner, writer, teacher, product reviewer, CCD instructor, or anything in between!   

I would love to read more about what you do, how you balance life, and any tips and tricks you might have for helping others.

Here are some questions you could answer as part of your post (not mandatory):

1) What do you do for work and why do you work?

2) Did your mother work?

3) Describe a typical work day.

4) What's the best part about having a job?

5) What's your least favorite part?

6) What would make your life easier?

7) How do your children handle their mom's career?

8) Do you feel supported in what you do?

9) What are your future goals when it comes to work/motherhood?

10) What are some tips that help you balance it all?

I can't wait to read your posts, no matter when you get around to writing it!  I will create a page so you can easily find this link-up later.  And if you don't have a blog but would like to participate, just leave me a long-winded comment!!

(Disclaimer: All moms are working moms.  If you are a stay-at-home mother, then I know you have the hardest job of all!  This link-up is purely meant to encourage those of us that are trying to find balance and harmony as a working woman and mother.  Peace!)

What I Wore...

...outside today!

But then I made Phil snap this C- photo on my phone once I got inside to my office.  Phil said "Good, Jesus is in the background" which made the picture taking much more bearable for my theological photographer.   

Please ignore past year's Palms during this Lenten season

 My outfit underneath is all been-there-done-that, but this cute little navy blue coat is from Old Navy on clearance (of course!) that I bought a few years ago.  It's a little big on me, but every time I wear it I get so many compliments.  This picture is making it hard to see the coat, it looks like this:

Not a flattering angle or light.  Fail.

  Anyway, not my best work, but I really just wanted an excuse to link up with all the better-dressed ladies at Fine Linen and Purple.  I'll try harder next week :)

P.S. Please enter the giveaway below, but only if you like free things!

Cafe Press Giveaway!

Have you all heard of Cafe Press?  

They have practically anything you could ever imagine: custom invitations, mugs, photo gifts, and my current favorite, St. Patrick's Day tshirts!

Like this one (perfect for Maggie):

Or this one that I could see Eamon wearing:

And one for Phil:

Heehee!  

Anyway, no matter if you want a t-shirt, or canvas photo, or iPhone case, or greeting cards, or one of the other bazillion items they sell, enter the giveaway (below) for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate!!  

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

7 Quick Takes TGI Friday

1) 

I have to start with John-Paul's birthday pictures:

Eamon, age 6, made this sign so that he could work on his birthday cards in private.
  My favorite part is "in till I say"

J-P let me pick dinner, and so we had chicken cordon bleu.
Here it is cooking in lots of butter and wine...mmmmm!

My mom gave me a Willowtree Irish Dancer and Phil gave me daffodils from Ireland.
My favorite flowers and my favorite nationality!

John-Paul's requested cake, Lethal Peppermint Chocolate Cake.  We're getting too old for all these candles!

Birthday Buddies!

Eamon and Grandpa share a moment...

...and a sense of humor!

The cake was Maggie-approved.

Teething buddy

Godmother Auntie Maura came over with a gift that lit up his world!

Three generations of men couldn't stop playing with the helicopter!

2)

OK, this is still about John-Paul's 10th birthday.  We had told him (and the rest of the kids) months ago that they could have a "friend" party for this double digit bday OR they could get a Kindle Fire.  John-Paul decided on a friend party.  I even wrote about it in last week's quick takes.  So right before I was going to make out the invitations, I asked him if he was sure he wanted the party and not the Kindle.  He said he wanted the party because one of his friends might give him a Kindle as a gift and then he would have both.  Ummmm, no.  Nobody will give you a Kindle as a birthday gift besides your parents.  So he thought about it again, and decided he wanted the Kindle Fire.  Done.

Happy with his flip flopping decision.

3)

Don't forget to enter the Ddrops Giveaway here.  It ends tomorrow!

4)

I can't believe Pope Benedict is done!  Did you see Jenny's AMAZING pictures from his last Papal Audience?

5)

Xander cracks us up and makes us crazy.  Typical toddler, amiright?

This morning, he was sitting in his high chair saying "Dat! Dat! (Cat)" and then making smooch noises and clicking his tongue to get her to come to him.  Smart kitty knew not to go nowhere near that cat-terrorizing machine.

Here he is sitting in Gammy's lap, and after kissing her, he wanted to kiss Grandpa too, so he leaned over and then waited for Grandpa to lean the rest of the was to plant one on him.  My parents were laughing so hard because Grandpa was having a little trouble reaching Xander, but Xander just stayed there waiting for his kiss like a pretty pretty princess.

6) 

Some of my favorite commenters - I'm looking at you, Sarah :) - don't have their email attached to their blog so that when you leave a comment and I want to reply to it, I can't email reply back unless I know your email.  So please follow these steps (thanks Grace) to set up your email to "attach" to your comments.  Thank you!

7)
It's MARCH!  Already!  All of you February whiners can settle down.  Settle down, I said!
:)
I did very well with my February resolution, which was getting to daily Mass 3 times a week.  This March resolution looks a little harder:

No snacking after dinner.  Who made up these resolutions anyway??  Old me was so committed.  New me, well...not so much.

Have a great non-February weekend everybody!