Forced Family Fun Fall Festivities

Thank goodness this weekend had an extra day in it because we were busy with some Forced Family Fun time :)  

We finally got around to buying some mums and pumpkins after realizing a day at the pumpkin patch was improbable due to schedules this year.  We set these up on our front steps and I added some solar lanterns that look really cool (I'm going to get two more for our back steps).

On Saturday, Phil took the big kids to the Ice Cream Cottage to clean and close up for the winter, and me and my minions did some cleaning of our own.  Those chairs were in need of a scrub down!  Everybody worked hard and deserved some fun!

On Sunday, we drove down to the Cape and went to Ocean Edge in Brewster, where they had an Oktoberfest celebration going on each evening.  This place is crazy expensive to stay at during the summer months, so we like to come off-season like the fiscally responsible people we are.

Lots of games were played in the pool while we had it to ourselves before all the "randos" came.  My kids are just not fond of randos or what a normal person might call strangers.  I can remember back when I was a wee lass, we had an Irish quote hanging in our shop that read "There are no strangers here, only friends you haven't yet met."  Somehow between my childhood and my kids childhood, strangers became dangers and not potential friends.  It's a sad reality and yet they are wise to be wary.

We were playing tag in the pool, and I declared a spot on the stairs as "gools" and my kids didn't know what I was talking about.  Phil called it "base" and then they were like "oh you mean home" or "that's called safe".  I seriously was questioning my memory but I looked it up and "gool" is indeed a Northern (specifically Massachusetts) word for a safe spot, derivative of the word goal.  What do you call it??

"Ooooh they have crotchet!  Let's go play crotchet!"

~ Said a Martin child far too old to mispronounce croquet.

It was a nice and needed family time away.  A retreat if you will.  On our way back home, we stopped for lunch with a birthday gift certificate Phil had and also went to a bookstore and let the youngest three kids each pick out a book.  Xander's choice, Declan's choice, Brendan's choice (inspired by Madeline's recommendation).  The books came in handy during the extra long car ride because there was tons of traffic going off Cape as if it were summer.  This is when the tunnel pass comes in handy ;)

Week in Review: Irish Lads, Two Birthdays and The Babylon Bee

Happy Friday!!  Let's go back to a week from today when our favorite Andrew turned 20!  

But Colleen, why is he drinking a beer at a pub on his 20th birthday?  

Because he's in IRELAND, that lucky lad :)

Their Ten Day break started on his 20th birthday, so he and Smiles flew from Vienna to Dublin to meet up with Smiles' dad who had flown in from America to spend the break with his son (and his "other son" since Smiles and Andrew are practically brothers at this point).  Good thing I sent him that raincoat and some wool hiking socks for his birthday gifts because he needed it!  He also got a travel bible and a journal because he asked for them to use on his trips.  Be still my heart.  And how cute is he in that Irish cap?

They travelled all around Ireland, but Andrew really loved his time in Donegal (he called my dad while in Letterkenny since that's his hometown) and wasn't too fond of the city of Dublin.  What can I say, he's always been a country boy at heart:  

The Temple Bar is in the spirit(s)

A run in Dublin

For the second half of the week, they flew to Scotland!

Andrew said they did the best and hardest/craziest hike he's ever done in Scotland:

Happy birthday buddy, we hope this year is your BESTEST YET and we are so proud of the young man you've become and love you more than you can ever know!

How Do You Watch TV? Advice Needed!

 Life is moving at a frightening pace over here, but I want to take a moment and get your advice.  

How are y'all watching TV/movies nowadays?  

I typically watch in bed at night, with subtitles on because I'm slowly losing my hearing.

...and then blame my husband for losing it.

This is a joke - we actually are strict about screen time in our house.

But that's not what I wanted to discuss.  I want to talk about what you're paying per month and what you're paying for.  

Our current setup is that we pay for a basic cable plan through Comcast that's $42/month.  We also have the following streaming services, which are either bundled or include ads (whatever way is cheapest):

Netflix $7 

Hulu and Disney $25

Prime (free with Amazon Prime)

Peacock $8

Apple $26 (this includes a family subscription for music as well)

So that's $108 per month.

How can we make this less expensive?  Or are we doing okay?  Let's discuss!

Week in Review: Fundraising, Interviewing, and Bonding, Oh My!

Another Friday, another what in the world did we do and I better write it down for the family scrapbook or else nobody will remember any of it.

Phil and I were invited out by friends to a fundraiser for an awesome organization called My Brother's Keeper.  This is the same place where our friend Jean volunteered lots of her time before she left the earth much too soon.  There was a nice talk given to honor Jean's legacy and even though most of us have volunteered here individually in years past, we want to bring the whole family to shop and wrap for a family in need during the Christmas season.  A nice bonus on the evening was that a photographer snapped this photo of Phil and I with our friends and their oldest (of eight!) daughter:

Me: We clean up nice!  Phil: It's called a filter.

JP has been having one of the busiest weeks of his life trying to apply for medical schools, finish up his EMT recertification, and had three interviews for one job.  I think he is going to get the job as an Emergency Room Technician today (?) and also turn in his med school apps soon.  He did well on his MCAT but is worried about his gpa not being high enough, so he is also applying to DO schools.  This waiting and praying game is stressful and lots of chips and chocolate have been consumed (by me).  How I wish I was one of those people who "just can't eat because they're too stressed out".  Meanwhile my stress levels and love of food are besties.

Andrew had midterms this week so he didn't travel last weekend.  These are just some shots of walks around the school:

Campus

Town

Eamon was our family's representative to watch the VP debate and I heard it went well but was rather uneventful.  This meme cracked me up though:

Maggie’s volleyball team had a team dinner at the nicest mom’s house. Maybe this bonding time will help them win some games *fingers crossed*.

Declan had soccer team photos on Saturday and barely survived posing for this photo for me:

I left work at 4:01 yesterday, we get out at 4:00, and the parking lot was already deserted. Working a government job certainly has its perks!

And that was a short story to tell!  This weekend we have a fancy dinner to attend, a soccer game (Declan), a swim meet (Brendan and Xander), SATs for Eamon, and volleyball and soccer practices and games for the highschoolers.  Plus another birthday to someone who is very missed and loved (Happy Birthday Andrew!)

Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

Eamon Turns Eighteen

Do you remember that movie Three Men and a Baby?

I now have three MEN as sons, and I'm the baby feeling very sentimental about it all.  Birthdays have a funny way of doing that to dear old mom.

Somehow this little bundle of screaming joy:

Turned EIGHTEEN last week, and had an away soccer game:

Eamon has always been the most fun-loving kid.  Whenever we look back at family photos, you can bet he's laughing or jumping or goofing around:

Charming the worker at the Buzz Lightyear ride in Disney to get a pass to skip the line (it worked!)

I'm starting to see why he always broke bones.

Everybody smile for the camera.  Eamon - TA DA!!

Eamon was a kid that barely asked for anything, but was so easy and sweet and good to his bones that you wanted to give him everything.  We were reminiscing about the one time when Eamon actually asked for something specific.  He was four years old and we told him that his half-birthday was the same day as Gammy's real birthday.  For months he talked about how he wanted to have breakfast in bed with Gammy on her birthday/his half-birthday so we made it happen:

Giddy with Gammy

 Eamon was always our slowest eater, saying "I can't help it, I just like chatting too much!" and he still will flop down on our bed late at night to chat.  Eamon was on the shorter side and had a late growth spurt but man was he tough.  He excelled at all sports (we had to put him in a bed at 18 months old because he began climbing out of his crib AND down the stairs) and is our only child *looks around to find wood on which to knock* who has broken any bones - a toe, a finger, and a wrist.  The kid plays hard and never complains.  Honest to God, if he even slightly mentions a little pain, I bring him to get an x-ray and it's always been a fractured bone.

In pain and smiling

Eamon was recently chosen to go with the Catholic Athletes for Christ to meet the Celtics coach, who is an amazing role model:

Eamon is our best student yet and we never have to be "on" him about anything.  His teachers and pastors and coaches all love him and somehow our hardest little baby turned into such an amazing man. 

 I came across an email sent from his CYO basketball coach in sixth grade after we had thanked him for coaching that season:

It was my pleasure.  Relatively easy coaching the best player in the league, especially when that kid happens to be just an overall outstanding person and teammate.

With  three minutes left and down by six in last night's game, he politely pointed out who had not played during a timeout.  To me, you do not need to know much more about what kind of kid he is.  He reminds me of another one of my favorite players a couple years ago in a game he tried to get someone the ball (who hadn't scored all season) 14 times in a row.  Weird both those kids have Martin as a last name!  You have raised two outstanding kids, glad Eamon is a CYO champion he deserves it!

How nice was the coach to take the time to write that, and how sweet of Eamon to always be thinking of others.  Speaking of taking the time to write, Eamon still has the letter from the Archbishop of Ireland with his same name hanging on his bedroom wall.

We couldn't find the time to do a big family dinner for his birthday (he got home late from his soccer game) and then because The Ice Cream Cottage was still open, the only time we could all be together was for Sunday brunch, so that's what we did.  We had waffles and eggs and bacon and not one photo was taken, respecting the birthday boy's man's wishes.  Gammy and Grandpa came up to eat with us as did Eamon's girlfriend, Ellie.  

His big gift was airpods because he lost his awhile ago, a Commanders sweatshirt, and some cash to buy his first scratch tickets (he bought twenty $1 scratch tix and won $7 so that was a good lesson about why we shouldn't gamble!)  Maggie took the littles out to put together a basket of goodies for him, and Andrew is buying him some birks from Austria.  Phil gave me a beautiful birth-day bouquet:

Happy 18th Birthday Eamon Philip.  You are one of a kind and we love you so so much.  Never lose your fun-loving, humble, holy personality...you're going to do great things!

Week in Review: Slipping, Visiting, Zooing, Cooking, Relicing and Hiking

Let's start this off with an exciting new development.  I got some orthotic slippers to wear at work because I wear slippers 40 hours a week and was having some foot pain that I think may have been caused my old worn out non-supportive slippers.  

Is it sad that comfort insoles comfort my soul?  

Don't answer that.

Speaking of exciting, Declan's Friday soccer practice AND Saturday game both got cancelled due to the rain.

 

We were looking for a Sunday Funday activity to do with the littles and also needed to drop off a car at the airport for JP to have for his late flight home from visiting friends in college:

So we decided to visit the Roger Williams Zoo and it was a beautiful day!  They kids were delighted to see that they had "real" animals there - giraffes, elephants, cheetahs and sloths - in case you were wondering what qualified.

We thought he was a mammal

My pumpkins