An Expensive Trim, A Quick Getaway, and A Father's Day Race

So maybe I shouldn't have scheduled a haircut on Friday the 13th after all.  It's not super awful, but it's not what I was going for.  It's a little shorter and no real style, just a long bang chopped straight across before I asked her to try to angle it a bit.  Basically I now have a shoulder length cut with some short pieces in front that annoy me and I keep re-tucking behind my ears all day.  No bangs.  Oh and did I mention that I scheduled a Wash + Cut Only, so I went in, waited a few minutes, got my hair washed and cut and was done in 21 minutes for FIFTY DOLLARS?  What the what now?  Of course, I left a $10 tip for the stylist as well, so I was out $60.  No real styling, no hair drying...I can't even imagine what it costs to get one's hair colored or any extra services added on.

Moving on.

Phil booked us a 24 hour getaway to Newport to a little Bed + Breakfast place we like, and we stayed overnight on Friday.  It was just what the doctor ordered.  We ate, we walked, we slept in, we ate some more, we shopped, we picked up groceries on the way home and still made it to the Vigil Mass on Saturday.  We have absolutely no photos but it was the start of a nice Father's Day weekend for Phil which he deserved!

On Sunday morning, Phil and five kids ran the 5k race in our town.  The Ice Cream Cottage is a sponsor and it's a fun event plus we can just walk over to the start line.

Happy Father's Day to their favorite!

It was Brendan's (age 8) first time running a 5k race and he did great!  Phil ran with him and said he ran the whole time and had a good attitude. 

Eamon

Declan (Andrew and Xander too)

Andrew and Xander

Week in Review: Undergraduate Awards, Retro Meals and Haircut Hopes

Happy Friday the 13th!  I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious so I always recognize the date, look out for black cats and that's about it.  I do not watch horror movies so I don't really know what is supposed to be feared on Friday the 13th and as they say "ignorance is bliss".

Let's look back at the week...an almost uneventful week after having a high school and an 8th grade graduation...yet in this big family, there is literally always something going on with someone.  I wouldn't know how else to live life, honestly.  Like what do people DO when they aren't being scheduled and planned by their kids activities and events?  Will I be bored once all of this is over?  Will Phil and I just stare at each other and reminisce about the good old days or will we love having the freedom to choose the activities?  Or maybe there will be grandbabies to love and it never ends, just changes a bit.  

OK Colleen, let's get on with it already.

Yes ma'am!

Maggie had undergraduate awards after the Closing Mass for the school year, and I was able to take my lunch break early to pop over and attend.  Look at these beautiful door greeters:

Maggie, Maggie and Maggie, jk that's my niece Abby

  Maggie did the first reading and the Prayers of the Faithful:

She also won three awards!  She is in the Top Ten of the Junior Class, received the St. Julie Billiart Award for having over 150 hours of community service this year, and won the book award from St. Bonaventure's College (where my brother attended for one year - ha!).  When she won her last award, I leaned over to Phil and said "we have peaked as parents...it's all downhill from here".  Maggie is just such a wonderful daughter, easy to parent, is virtuous and hard-working, and takes initiative.  Unlike my boys, she needs no nudging at all, and seeks service hours and shadowing opportunities all on her own while playing sports and getting all her school work done.  One might say she is my favorite girl!  One would be correct!

Cousins both in the Top Ten of their grades

The Maggies

The Maggies doing the Maggie Face

The Fifth (Child) Graduates Eighth (Grade)

Right after we got through Eamon's high school graduation, Alexander Blaise said "Hey don't forget about me!" and went ahead and graduated from 8th Grade at the Catholic school he's been in since he was three years old!

Preschool Graduation:

Kindergarten Graduation:

8th Grade Graduation:

It's true what they say:

 "The tie may be long, but the pants are short."

Also, that thing about the years passing quickly!

Senior Week: Awards Night, Baccalaureate Mass and A High School Graduation

What a week!  We have another high school graduate in the Martin family...

3 down and 4 to go :)

Monday night was Senior Awards and Eamon certainly took home a lot, as he should for all of his hard work academically, dedication to service, and being one of those kids that kind of flew under the radar but was also well loved and respected by his peers and the faculty and staff.  

The high school gives out two big awards each year - The President's Award and the Spartan Award - and Eamon won the Spartan Award!  His name will now be on a plaque at the high school forever.

Tommy and Eamon, classmates and cousins!

Eamon has also received $6700 from five outside scholarships that he applied for (with some not so gentle nudging and nagging from his mother).  Worth it.

Week in Review: Spring Concert, Spoiled Dog, Socks Hidden, Smarty Pants and Spiritual Guidance

Happy Last Friday in May!  Did you all survive that crazy month?  This week was like the eye of the hurricane for us, with lots of events the week before and next week too.  We enjoyed the relative calm while it lasted.

It was a big movie weekend, and The Cottage got in on the action:

The little guys had their Spring Concert/Art Show on Wednesday night, and let's just say it is one event I think could be pulled from the school calendar.  Having yet another event at the end of May with all the graduations going on does not seem like the best idea.  They have a Christmas concert that features singing, and the kids art projects could be put up at the benefit dinner in April.  

(These are the moments I think I am a curmudgeon because other parents and extended family members go to these events and seem to enjoy themselves.  Maybe it's because it's my 11th year of attending? Perhaps it's because the kids need a lot more practice to sound impressive? Or maybe it's because singing and art aren't exactly my children's talents?)

  In any case, Declan and Brendan were happy to have us there, they got ice cream after, and that made it worth it.

Declan's turtle

Brendan's sloth

This was Declan's 5th Grade class project and I could tell right away which hands were his because he always wears a watch:

2025 Prom and a Graduation Party

Eamon's Senior Prom was on Friday, so we had to take the traditional lighthouse photo, like I did with JP and Andrew:

We bought JP and Andrew each a suit for the prom (hardly anybody here wears tuxes anymore) as their graduation gift.  They both went to college and outgrew the suit, so when it came time to buy Eamon his suit, I told him if he could wear one of his brother's old suits to the prom, then I would give him money towards a new laptop instead.  He was psyched and squeezed himself into JP's old suit!

After he posed for a few photos for me, he went to meet up with a bunch of friends at a senior's house near the high school: