7 Quickies: Pants That Make You Slimmer and a Giveaway Winner

Happy Friday!  It's 7 Quick Takes time.

1)

These are the best work pants I've ever purchased.  For reals.  They are pull-on, no zippers or buttons, slimming, barely bootcut, and the exact right length that I don't look like I'm waiting for a flood.  I'm 5' 6" and 6 months postpartum, and they are even flattering on me now.  I know they'll be around for a while because you can gain a few and lose a few and these will still fit.  

That wide band is a perfect muffin top hider.  Which is great since I like to hide my muffin tops in there, and then I can snack on them throughout the day.  Ewwww.  Gross.  Why did I just write my stream of consciousness?  Anyway, in summary, these are thee best pants, go get you some here!

2) 

My Boston buddy ('sup), Bridget, and my Canadian pal (Eh?), Christy, told me about the best kept secret to defend my family from the flu this winter.  Two words: Elderberry Syrup.  I ordered the elderberries online, bought some raw honey from the store and had the spices in my pantry.  The recipe is easy and the result is a delicious spicy/honey/fruity syrup that the kids fight over.  I give them each a teaspoon every day and Phil and I get a Tablespoon.  Elderberry syrup can be bought premade, but it's way more expensive.   Plus I feel very homeopathic-y when I brew it myself.  

3)

I bought a groupon for an imitation Buildabear type shop, and took Maggie and Xander to try it out.  The store is new, and the employee who helped us is new and let's just be nice and say they have a lot of learning and growing ahead of them.  But, the kids had fun!

Maggie made "Polka Dot" and Xander made "Bat Cat".

Cute but we will not be returning.  Ahem.

Now for a couple kid quotes...

4)

We were talking at dinner about Phil and I having a date night out and the kids getting a babysitter to come over, and the kids started asking what we did on date nights:

Phil: We usually go out to dinner.

Me: And hold hands and fall in love all over again.

Phil: (smiling at me)And then I kiss her.

At this point all the boys start groaning and Maggie starts smiling so big.

Me: (wanting to embarrass my boys even more) And he kisses me alllllll over my face.

Eamon: Wait a minute, wait a minute.  He kisses your EYEBALLS??

Oh Eamon, I love you and your distaste for romance.  It's the main reason you want to be a priest, just so you don't have to kiss any girls.  I hope that never changes!

 5)

I was taking the kids into the gym the other day, to play while I worked out, and there was a sign to entice people to hire a personal trainer that read:

Do you want to lose inches?  Do you want to get rid of your belly?

And Andrew said:

"Who would want to get shorter and not have a belly anymore?  Then they couldn't even eat!"

True dat.  No body issues for this kid.

6)

John-Paul was talking to me in the car (his favorite place to blab his little heart out) and said he thought maybe he had ADD or ADHD because he has a hard time focusing sometimes.  I reassured him that unless it was affecting his schoolwork, he shouldn't worry.  He then said that sometimes he does weird things, like shut his eyes when he looks up at the sky just in case laser beams will go into his eyes.  

Me: I'll let you in on a secret.  You ARE weird.  So am I.  Everybody is.  And also, we all have a hard time focusing sometimes. 

John-Paul (deadpans): Wait, what did you say?

Gosh I love that funny little weirdo :)

7)

And finally, the giveaway winner for the Hardcover Angel in the Waters book is:

Laura Mike!!!

Congrats!  Just email me your address at collmart at gmail dot com and I'll have the book sent on over!

Have a wonderful long October weekend everybody!  We will be celebrating Phil's birthday tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Perfect Ten

It just keeps happening.  Year after year, they continue to disobey me and get older.  Harrumphh.  On Saturday, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi (why didn't we name him Andrew FRANCIS?) my "golden child" turned ten.  

I said "Happy Birthday Andrew!  Double Digits!" and he said "Why does everyone make double digits a big deal?" "Because", I replied, "you'll be double digits for the rest of your life!" To which he stated "Not if I live to be 100."  

Always gotta be right, that one.  Wonder where he gets that from ? ;)

How many fingers?

Declan can do ten fingers  too, can't sit up though ;)

In the morning, we made him a big breakfast of his choosing (eggs and hashbrowns and sausage) and then went to First Saturday Mass, said the Rosary and went to Confession.  A very holy start for a very holy boy.  Andrew loves his faith and is a very serious little altar server.  Monsignor is training him to serve at the Latin Mass now, and told him he is the youngest server for Latin Mass he's ever trained, which made Andrew stand really tall!

Xander: I give you a birthday hug Andrew.  

Just a gratuitous cute baby and toddler capture.

Ok, now onto the gift from Mom and Dad!  We have a deal with our kids ~ we don't do "friend parties" because it's too much money and planning and headaches for our family.  We just do family parties.  Until they turn 10 and can either have a big friend party OR a big gift that they've been wanting.  When John-Paul turned ten, he chose a Kindle and Andrew was planning on having a friend party until he switched schools this year and was torn about which group of friends to invite.  So he also opted for a Kindle, the new one, and we bought the case too because we ain't no fools about boys and electronics.

He totally already knew what he was getting, but was still so excited to have it in his hands!

Declan's like "What's happening?"

Mom, take a picture of me taking a picture of you!

For dinner, he wanted Chinese food and we were all happy with that choice.

Dessert was a trip to a frozen yogurt place in our town.  He got Orange Sherbet with gummy worms and chocolate caramel cups.  Eeeewww!

Good to the last drip.

Declan was just happy to be out and about.  Side note, why is it always the BOYS who get the darkest and longest eyelashes?

We came home and finished opening his helicopter present from Nana and Gramps:

He loved it!

...and a coin sorter from his godparents FILLED WITH COINS!  (The kids couldn't get over that part!)

The next day was so beautiful out, and we headed out for a scenic drive to a farm and did a 2 mile hike with some friends.  It was so pretty and fun.  Andrew loves to be active, so this was right up his alley.  Just yesterday he had 3 hour-long sports practices - track, soccer, and basketball.  I couldn't convince him to skip one of them because sports is his favorite!

I call this one Contemplative Alexander.

All in all, it was such a nice family weekend and the birthday boy was in Heaven.  Happy 10th Andrew, you are growing into an amazing young man and we love you deeper than the ocean!

7 Quick Takes and a GIVEAWAY!

Woot woot, it's Friday!!!!  Let's get started with Jen and her Quick Takes:

1)

I'm still in the thick thin of the  postpartum going bald hair drama.  I've been researching what can help, and one of the things is to eat gelatin.  But I hate Jello.  So I went shopping and found Knox unflavored gelatin, and there's a recipe on the box for how to make imitation Jigglers using juice and the unflavored gelatin.  It's super easy and I feel better knowing I'm putting 100% juice in our bellies instead of sugar and artificial flavoring and coloring.

(I realize you probably ALL already knew you could do this, but it's new to me!)

2)

From my Instagram feed this week (sorry if you've already seen it):

Did I ever tell you about my first college Mass at FUS when I just about melted into the chapel floor as I looked around at all the cool college guys with their scapular sticking out of their shirts? After years of hearing to "wait for a good guy" and not being able to find one in high school, it was like Catholic Utopia. Now...years later, I am a mom raising (what I hope to be) a bunch of the good guys. I caught John-Paul like this yesterday and my heart soared. 

#catholicgeek

3)

I've scheduled professional photos for the kids for later this month.  We alternate between buying school photos and getting them done at a studio, and because the baby will probably be hard to capture, we are going with the studio this time.  Plus I got an amazing deal on Groupon for a photo CD that I can then order prints from.  Cheapy McCheaperson here, and proud of it.

Everybody look and smile!  #nailedit

4)

We have a new Bishop!  And that priest on the left is Maggie's godfather who teaches at St. John's Seminary and worked in the Bishop's office all summer to help prepare for the new Bishop's arrival.

5)

Declan turned 6 months yesterday!

Declan and Gammy

6)

Have you guys read Angel in the Waters by Regina Doman?  She's a fellow Steubie grad and this year marks the 10th anniversary of her best selling book, so Sophia Press Institute released a hardcover edition and sent us one!

I used to read him this book when he was a baby, and now he's able to read it to the baby.  Sniff, sniff.

7)

This book is an awesome pro-life book and teaches kids about the importance of the Guardian Angel.  Since yesterday was the Feast of the Guardian Angel, let's have a giveaway!  One lucky reader will receive a 10th Anniversary Hardcover Edition of Angel in the Waters!

Go forth and play...

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Have a Fun Fall Football kinda weekend, my Friends!

Feast Days and Half Birthdays

Happy Feast of the Guardian Angels!!

My mom instilled in us a love for our guardian angels.  When she was a girl, she used to sit on only half of her seat to leave room for her guardian angel to sit.  I always grew up knowing I had a strong protector by my side, and knowing that has helped me through so many times of feeling lonely or scared.  When I go for a run outside, I pray that my Guardian Angel (who I named Gabriel as a child) makes his buff appearance visible if there are any scary situations awaiting me.  When I'm pregnant, I love knowing there are two angels with me all day long. When my kids are scared, I remind them to take comfort in their angel's presence.  We are so lucky to have these gifts from God with us all day everyday.  After Sarah's passing, I heard that her husband's workplace had assigned someone to always be with him so that he wouldn't be alone in such a difficult time.  That's what God does for us every day.  How caring and loving!

Ok, enough drooling over the angels, how about a drooling baby who turns 6 months old today! 

Who me??  Couldn't be!

Insert cliches about babies growing up too fast, because holy cow, these past 6 months of this 6th baby's life have flown.

Declan Kolbe is learning how to sit and scooch along a bit...

He's eating cereal and veggies, and loving it!  Carrots and peas for the win.

He has had 2 little teeth since 4 months old, but is still deep in the teething troubles, so we're thinking those top two are going to pop in any day now.

He smiles at everybody all the live long day.  Just as happy as a clam.

Always with the tongue.

The big kids are so great with him, and still (after 6 months) argue over who gets to hold him and help take care of him.  I wish all babies came with older siblings, it's a wonderful thing to see.

He "sleeps" in a big crib in a bedroom with Alexander.  I say "sleeps" because he wakes up a bunch through the night because he's hungry or needs his pacifier or his teeth hurt or he's peed through everything...again.  But it's ok, we know babies don't keep and this too shall pass and all those other nuggets of wisdom.  It's so much easier to see the big picture when you've been around the block a time or six.

Dad gets the best laughs out of him by tickling his feet, and the kids are convinced that Declan says Dada.  Whatever, I just carried him for 10 months, pushed him out au naturel and fed him with my body for 5 months...he's going to say Mama first ;)

In any case, we'll keep him.  He's honestly been our happiest and easiest baby ever, which is perfect since our lives are so crazy busy right now.  God knew exactly what we needed!  Happy Half Birthday D.K. and Happy Feast of the Guardian Angels everybody!