Double Digits and College Dropoffs

Last week our little caboose turned double digits!

Brendan woke up early to find cards and the traditional 10th birthday gift of a tablet:

Listen, when you're packing up a kid for college and celebrating another's bday, sometimes Christmas wrapping paper will have to do!

Then Phil, Maggie, Declan, Brendan and I loaded up in Vanna White and started the trip to bring Maggie to college.  The plan was to stay at a waterpark along the way to split up the trip and also celebrate the birthday boy, and everything was going smoothly until Vanna White started acting up.

I turned to Phil and said "The air conditioning doesn't feel cool anymore."  Then I saw the engine light flashing on the dashboard and then the car started bumping along.  I looked up an Auto Zone, and there was one at the next exit so we pulled in.  The owner was very nice and told us not to worry, he would get us all fixed up.  He took the diagnostics, handed us a bag of the parts we would need and gave us the address to a mechanic around the corner, who took us right in and said it would be a couple hours to fix the *car parts*.

Maggie: "Let's take a photo for the blog saga you're going to write"

There was a restaurant across the street, so we had a leisurely lunch and the waitress brought over a tiramisu for the birthday boy at the end:

Then we walked down the street, and I saw a barber shop and thought how the littles needed some fresh back-to-school haircuts, so inside we went!  There were two available chairs and Declan and Brendan had the most professional haircuts in their life (anything's better than in the driveway with a mom wielding clippers).

We walked back to check on the van, and the mechanic was just pulling it up!  Phil had to pay in cash (sketchy) but it was probably the best way to ever have a car break down.  We were on our way 2 hours later than expected and arrived to the waterpark around 4pm.  While Phil went in to check-in, Maggie pulled the van through the drop off lane because "this will be the last time I drive for a long time!"

The kids were off swimming and sliding and riding in no time!

We went to dinner at 7:15 and walked around outside the restaurant for a bit after, looking for dessert, but couldn't find any:

Birthday cupcakes from the hotel for the win! 

Week in Review: Summer Stuff and That's What He Said

Happy Friday!  

We took the kids (minus Maggie who was scooping and JP who's back at school) to Scarborough Beach this past weekend, and it was such a nice time.  We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful area!

Andrew and I decided we should open a beach canopy company after seeing so many expensive ones

Best Beach Snack. I also love my swim shorts and rash guard

Andrew stayed for a couple days with a friend's family in Rhode Island, and had a blast going to the beach, golfing and tubing:

Week in Review: Promotion Celebration, Life's a Beach and Happy Campers

Happy Friday!  Please tell me you haven't started school yet...we have a few more weeks over here, thank God!  

Last week, Declan and Brendan went to STEM Camp and came home with a S'mores Kit with instructions on how to make them using the sun.  But it was evening, and raining, and we all wanted s'mores, so stovetop s'mores for the win!

Maggie went to her last scholarship event, where she received a scholarship from a family who lost their son (a three season athlete who had a heart condition they didn't know he had) when he was a senior from the same high school Maggie attends.  I think it happened about a year after Phil started teaching there, and Maggie wasn't even born yet.  His family has done a wonderful job of keeping his memory alive through the years.

This week was my last full week of strength classes at the gym near my house.  They actually moved to a new studio during my 28 day trial and I am going to miss it:

Week in Review: #5 Turns 15, Summery Things, and 24 Years of NFP

 Happy Last Day of July!

Alexander Blaise turned 15 this past weekend, and he loves to remind me how big of a baby he was (almost 9 pounds) and how fast and hard my delivery of him was (3.5 hours, no drugs, big and long baby with a 3 foot umbilical cord, wrapped around his neck twice).  But he was worth it!!!

Somebody was thrilled to finally be a big sister at 3.5 years old!

Xander was the FUNNIEST little kid.  Almost all of my "That's What He Said" posts are about him.  He loved to eat and would tell me I was "the best cooka ever".  He loved to suck his thumb while holding anything with a tag.  Even a bag of garlic would do:

Xander loved music and would pick up a drumstick and say "And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three, four" before he started to play.  He would dance or clap and tell me he was "just feeling the beat" so we knew from a young age he would be musical...and he is!  He won many a piano competition growing up, and even though he stopped piano lessons when he went to high school, he can be found playing popular songs by ear on the keyboard.

After informing us that he was retiring from soccer at the age of four (I told you he's funny) we never found a sport he liked until he finally joined the swim team at age 12.  He swam on the team for a few years, and started running on his days off from swimming because he realized that he slept better when he exercised (he's also smart) and then switched to Cross Country and Track in high school.

And now he's 15 and about to be a (young) Sophomore in high school, so I guess he can't be called a "little" any more.  He got a new phone for his birthday and he's now able to be part of what was "The First Four" group chat and has now changed to "High Five" to include our 5th born.

Andrew took him out to breakfast after Mass, and the night before he went to see The Odyssey with Andrew and some cousins.

He spent the day at the beach with his friends, and then we had Weiner schnitzel, mashed potatoes, salad for dinner, and cake and ice cream for dessert:

The kids made him nice cards and bought him some gifts, as well as a promise to see the new Spiderman movie tonight!  A very good birthday indeed.  We love you Xander B... to the moon and back and back again!!

Week in Review: Not Scoliosis, Not Short Ships, Not School Already?

Declan had two appointments on the same day last week, one with a pediatric orthopedist at Boston Children's for potential scoliosis, and one with the orthodontist to get braces.  I was at work, so Phil brought him to the first appointment, where the doctor examined Declan and decided he did not have scoliosis, just very tight hamstrings that were making his hips uneven and one knee turn in a bit.  This diagnosis made sense since Phil and I both have very tight hamstrings, and I also have the hip issue.

  After talking about our family, the business, etc. she suggested Declan do stretches at home instead of having to take him to physical therapy and she would re-evaluate him in 6 months (we love a doctor who "gets" us).  The stretch is very simple and Phil and I are doing it with Declan (and Brendan, also genetically tight) each night while praying the rosary.  Basically we just have to sit with our legs stretched out in front of us, push our bums all the way back to the wall, sit up straight and breathe/pray through the pain for tenish minutes.  It's so sad how inflexible and tight we are.

Phil had some time to kill in between appointments, so he brought Declan to get Five Guys for lunch. 

Feeling Fine

 Declan took a few bites, said he felt sick and then threw up a few minutes later.  Phil drove to the orthodontist office and Declan threw up again (into a bag in the car).  Phil walked in and told them what was happening, and they asked if it was possibly a case of nerves?  Nope.  Declan was actually really excited to get braces.  So they rescheduled the appointment for a week later and Phil drove the 50 minutes home (we do have orthodontists that are closer but we love the one we use).

The night before the new braces appointment, Declan felt like his nose was stuffy and said he was getting a cold and was worried how they would put the braces on if he couldn't breathe through his nose.  I gave his some Airborne gummies and he told me he was going to pray a rosary in bed to help feel better.  The next morning he woke up saying it had worked and he was all better and ready for braces!  Phil and Declan drove up with some ice cream treats for the office staff, and they turned my little boy into a preteen:

Summer Schedules for Kids + Dorm Room Essentials

Phil created a daily summer to-do list for the youngest kids, which has been working surprisingly well, so I wanted to share.  These are merely suggestions, but the main point is for each kid to do something spiritual, educational, physical and a chore that helps the family/house run smoothly.  

We let them have their beloved screen time in the late afternoon only if they've done something from each section:

Their schools assign summer work, and then I also buy workbooks to make sure the littles keep up with some skills after their assigned reading and math work is completed.  

Top row is for Brendan (age 9, almost 10) - Middle row is Declan (age 12) - and Bottom Row are the two books that Xander (age 14, almost 15) was assigned to read.  Links here

Maggie's been ordering items for her dorm room (I can't think about it without crying!) and talking with her roommate to coordinate comforters and headboards and general dorm room vibes.  Links here

I don't know if these things are helpful to you, but it's what's working for us right now :)