Hi Lo: October 2nd

HI's:

1) Eamon turned 3 last Saturday! We had a party combined with my niece's Baptism party at my brother's house. The priest in the first picture is Fr. Bill, who married my parents, baptized me and all of my siblings, then married all of us, and now baptizes all of our children. He's an amazing and holy man, and we are blessed to know him!

2) We went apple picking and got lots of apples. I have made two apple desserts this week: apple crisp and and Swedish Apple Pie. The latter was better, and the recipe is here.

3) The weather has been beautiful. I am loving autumn :)

LO's:

1) I went shopping the other day at a store where I had a 20% off coupon, and guess what I forgot to give the cashier---yup, the coupon!! I hate it when I do that, it really bothers me (probably too much). I'm gonna try to go back and see if they will still honor it.

That's it for me, what are your highs and lows this week?

This better not be my midlife crisis....

...because I want to live past the age of 60, but I there have been a lot of big life changes happening this week:

1) I have given up on the CPA Exam (for now, maybe forever). My boss was really understanding and supportive about it, thank God!

2) I signed Phil and I up for a 10 K race at a local YMCA on October 17th. I can easily run this distance, but I've never been in a race before.

3) We were denied approval to buy the condo we currently rent. We had been approved to buy a house for much more than we were going to buy the condo for, but due to the low appraisal value, and the strict condo/down payment rules, it just didn't work out for us. In a way, I am relieved as the mortgage/taxes/insurance would have been an extra $600 per month.

4) I joined Weight Watchers. I'm gonna start for real on Monday. I don't have tons of weight to lose, but I'd like to lose about 10% of my body weight. I exercise a lot, but the diet side of being healthy has always been really hard for me. Hopefully this is the motivation I need.

Anyone else dealing with this type of life re-evaluation? Is it just because I'm thirty? Is it that I'm finally realizing I can't say "Yes" to everything? Is it my "momma bear" mode coming on? Who knows? But I'm trying to role with it through prayer and perseverance.

Meals & Wheels

I don't know about you all, but I am always interested in what people eat. Here's my unhealthy breakfast treat:

(I went to McDonalds to get the free coffee, but then felt bad not buying anything, so I ordered one of these. There, I feel much better now.)

~

I'll make up for that bad breakfast with a healthy lunch.

And a 4 mile walk while pushing a double stroller filled with two chubby babies.

~

In case anyone is still interested in this random and boring post, dinner tonight is pot roast with onions, carrots, and celery, and mashed potatoes.

Homemade apple pie for dessert.

And I wonder why I'm not losing any weight ;)

Ride, Eamon, Ride!

John-Paul: Future Artist and Daddy

One weekend morning, John-Paul and Andrew woke up early, and J-P decided to make Andrew a word search. Pretty cool for a 6 year old to come up with, right?

John-Paul started CCD this year at our parish where Phil is the Director of the program. On the first day, his teacher asked them to draw a picture of their family doing something together. He drew us praying. So sweet!

When he got home, he started talking about his future family to me and how he wanted 12 kids (Ha! I used to say the same thing!) but then decided on 6 kids, and the first boy would be named George and the first girl would be named May. I told him to draw a picture of his future family, and this is what he came up with:

I am so loving this picture because:

1) He spells daughter "doder".
2) He shows love (a heart) between the parents.
3) He has the kids in action poses: playing ball and petting the cat.
4) Most importantly because he chose me to be his wife!

(See, he wrote "My Mom" instead of just "Mom" or "My Wife").

Eamon Turns Three!

Eamon Philip Martin came out crying on September 26, 2006 around 7am, and had the "worst" cry of all our children. He was a hard baby, allergic to milk and soy, and vomited all the time.
His brothers still loved him anyways ;)

He didn't get relief until he had ear tubes and was able to crawl around.

Then we discovered that he had the "best" laugh out of all our kids. It's contagious and adorable!

And the boy loved to eat!


And get presents! Anything new is SO exciting to him, doesn't matter what it is!

I can't believe that he is three years old today. I couldn't imagine my life without him. He has made me a more patient person, a better mother, and gives me many reasons to laugh everyday.

We love you, Little E. Happy Birthday!