Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Ask Me Anything: Ages and Stages

I received quite a few questions along the line of "When do you allow {insert activity} or how do you handle {insert stage}?" So here's a guide to the ages and stages in the Martin house.  Please remember to take this with a huge chunk of salt as I am raising my kids and you are raising your kids and that was by design and not by accident.

Age 3 weeks - Introduce the bottle to my breastfeeding babies.  There will be a time you are away from your baby.  There will be a time said baby gets hungry.  Ain't no stress like a hangry baby who won't take the bottle.  We learned this lesson the hard way with Baby #2 and the rest of them took the bottle just fine.  Phil gives a bottle feeding once a day and I breastfeed the rest of the feedings until I have to return to work, and then I pump until the wells run dry.  After that, it's formula until their first birthday.  This is what worked for us, as a fed baby is a happy baby, and none of it is worth the heartache and stress I used to put myself through.  As my friend, a nurse, used to say "A bottle a day keeps depression away" and trust me, when Phil would do that bottle feeding and I could sleep for a 3 or 4 hour chunk of time...that did indeed keep my baby blues at bay.

Age 1 - Pacifier and blanky (or whatever their comfort item is) lives in the crib now.  Gone are the good old days of sucking on a pacifier willy-nilly.  The baby uses it for sleeping only, and is excited for nap time and bed time to get their precious items.  We find this very helpful to create good sleepers and good talkers.  Also the bottles go away and it's sippy cups only with whole milk or water.  Bedtime is at 7 pm and naptime is only once a day now, after an early lunch, from 11:30 - 2:30 if we're lucky.

Age 2 - Say bye bye to the crib and hello to a big bed.  We do not do the whole toddler bed thing, we just put them in a twin bed with a wall on one side and a bed rail on the other.  My kids still think they are stuck in a crib with this setup and call for us to come and get them when they wake up.

Age 3 - No more pacifiers.  Two of my kids were thumb suckers and thumbs are not easy to throw away ;)  We had them wear a glove to bed that would remind them to try and stop sucking, but honestly they sucked those little thumbies for a lot longer than they let us know.  Our 3 year olds also go to preschool at the same Catholic elementary school their siblings attend.  It's so much cheaper than daycare, so as soon as they are potty trained (which happens in the summer before they attend preschool) off they go!

Age 4 - Ummmm just my favorite age ever.  Soccer starts as do swimming lessons and I feel like you can kind of really see their personality start to shine.  

Age 5 - Chores begin!  I'll do a seperate chore post another day, but Kindergartners are great at wanting to help!  Even if it means I have to do the chore for real after they "try", I still let them try.

Age 6 - Basketball starts.  First graders can pack their own snacks for school, fill their own water bottles, be responsible for getting their homework done, with our help when needed.  

Age 7 - First Reconciliation and First Communion! Bedtime moves from 7 pm to 7:30 pm after their First Communion.  I know, we're wild and crazy over here ;)

Ages 8-9 No major changes that I can think of.  We usually assess the kids interests and talents, move them to a more competitive league if they are showing more skill.  If they are interested in starting an instrument, sometime before age 9 is typically when that happens. Xander started piano lessons at age 6 and Declan started violin lessons at age 8.  Brendan wants to start piano really badly (he's 6) but the teacher thinks he should wait until age 7.  The kids move from baths to showers in these years, though sometimes I make them take a bath when I think they really need to soak a little longer than they scrub.

Age 10 - Double digits baby!  Bedtime moves to 8 pm.  They get a tablet on their birthday.  In truth, they can choose between having a friend birthday party or getting a tablet.  They have all chosen the tablet option except for Eamon, who had the party then bought a tablet with the gift money he received from that party!  He might be our sharpest tool in the shed as he figured out a way to get it all :)

Age 11-12 Bedtimes can get a little later depending on their middle school homework or sports practices and games.  Deodorant appears in stockings and daily showers happen!  Braces are consulted upon and put on if necessary, with the hope of being removed before high school starts.

Age 13 - They receive a Gabb Phone on their birthday, or another smartphone that we dumb down by taking away data and password protecting the app store.  They can babysit younger siblings now.  When they graduate from 8th grade, they receive a laptop for high school (it's required so we turn it into a gift).

Ages 14-15 High schoolers!  No more bedtimes, they just go to bed when they're homework is done or their sports are over.  These are tough years because they need rides everywhere and they want to do everything!  They also need to get a job at age 14 which is when they can get a work permit.

Age 16 - Friend party for their birthday. Open a checking account and get debit card.  Get their driver's permit, having started driver's ed around 15 years 9 months.  Sweet sixteen means they are allowed to date when they have a JOB and a CAR.  Basically, we will not be driving our kids around on dates or financing them.  If you want to take a girl out to dinner, you need to be able to pay for both of your dinners and pick her up and drop her off.  Of course, we talk a lot about the purpose of dating, which is to find your spouse, and encourage them to be friends with the opposite sex and hang out in groups.  When you are sixteen you most likely are not going to start dating your future spouse (though it did happen to two of my siblings!) but you should be dating someone with the qualities you hope to find in your future spouse and stop dating that person when you realize he/she is not the one.  If we could have it our way (insert maniacal laugh) we would prefer they wait until college to date seriously.

Age 17 - Just the same as 16 really except that now they are licensed drivers and their "chore" becomes helping us drive around siblings which nobody seems to mind as it's a chance to drive.  They also get data on their phones since they need to use Maps and check emails, etc.  Once senior year starts, we allow them to sleepover friends' houses as a sort of gateway between living at home and college.  I feel like we are used to them not being home more often than being home between work, sports and social activities now.  It's sad but necessary!

Age 18 - Birthday gift is luggage for college.  For a graduation gift from high school - the boys get a new suit to use at prom and then for college/job interviews (not sure what to get for Maggie yet).  Then they go to college and we just pray we did enough right in raising them and let God take care of filling in the cracks.

Age 19+ Parenting never ends.  Just a friendly reminder :)  And then hopefully, the grandkids come and you can watch your children get their payback become parents themselves!

Monday, January 30, 2023

A Hospice Care Package

Thank you all for the thoughtful advice on what to put in a care package for someone who has entered hospice care.  I thought I would compile the list in case anyone else is in the same position.

Warm fuzzy blanket

Comfy socks

Hanging window prism

Neck Wrap

Wind Charm

Paper Products and snacks for the caregivers

Biotene mouthwash

Chapstick

Case of water

Soft pillow cases

Audio book subscription

Music subscription

Playing cards

Projector and white noise player

Candles

Candle warmer

Oil diffuser plus essential oils

Lotions

Window bird feeder

Puzzle books

Stamps (for sending thank you cards)

Ginger candies

Easy to hold water cup

Here's what I ended up putting together quickly (as, sadly, time is of the essence in these circumstances).  The care package included a homemade card from each of our kids and the following items:



Friday, January 27, 2023

Week in Review: Soccer Stars, Surgery and Advice Needed!

Last weekend, the three high schoolers were down in Washington DC on the March for Life, and only one of them kept me updated with texts and photos.  Guess who?  Ding ding ding, that's right, my one and only girl :)


These four cuties are such great friends and I'm so proud of Maggie's choices.


Cousins!

It sounds like they had a great time, and I watched the rally speakers and was impressed by Jonathan Roumie (who plays Jesus on The Chosen) and Sr. Mary Casey and her sister, Casey.  Sr. Mary Casey is a Sister for Life and her sister Casey is her twin sister who has Down Syndrome.  What great witnesses!  Here's Jonathan's speech:



When I talked to Eamon, he said "Mom I saw Jesus today!"

I was like "I knooooow, his speech was great and I'm soooooo jealous."  

Eamon quips "I was talking about in Adoration, but I saw Jonathan Roumie too".  

Funny cuz it's true :)

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Ask Me Anything: Schooling Questions and College Decisions

Ellen asks: Do you wish you had made a different decision about what to study at school?  I love Franciscan University of Steubenville and want to encourage my kids to go there but the amount of debt kids come away with is scary.

Erin asks: Can you please give some tips on how to start the post high school/college process?  I have no idea where to begin and I have two high schoolers.

mbmom11 asks: Would you ever send your kids to public school?

Thank you for the questions, ladies!  We always knew we wanted our kids to go to good Catholic schools.  Phil and I both went to a mix of Catholic schools and public schools (and Phil homeschooled for middle school) and then we went to a very Catholic college (Franciscan University of Steubenville) where we met on the Austrian campus.  Homeschooling our kids was never an option for us because we both had to work to make ends meet.  Phil is a high school Theology teacher and gets tuition abatement for our kids because of how long he's been there.  I also worked in Catholic schools in various accounting roles to get the rest of the tuition abatement necessary.  We chose to take lower paying jobs in Catholic schools because we knew the benefit of having our kids tuition covered was HUGE.  

Preschool through 12th grade

Two years ago, I left my job at the Catholic high school as Business Manager and took a job in the public school as the District Accountant.  Seeing the issues that happen in the public schools totally reinforces our decision to send our kids to Catholic schools.  But I know how very lucky we are to have this option and to have jobs that provide tuition as a benefit.  If we did not have tuition covered, we would definitely have to put our kids in public schools as the cost of Catholic high school is $12,400 per student and Catholic elementary school is $4300 per student.  This year alone our cost would total $50,100 for our youngest six kids and our oldest isn't even included in that since he's in college.  Of course, the schools provide scholarships and financial aid and we probably would never have to pay that much, but even half of that amount would be an impossible ask.

OK, now for some college talk.

{With the caveat that I have only sent one child to college with my second applying currently}

Monday, January 23, 2023

Things I Used to Worry About as a Younger Mom That Don't Bother Me Now

Today's Ask Me Anything topic was a request from Kathryn, hi Kathryn!!  She asks:

What are things that you used to worry about as a young mom but don't bother you now?

Let me start out by saying that the more years I have under my belt as a mom, the more I realize the less I know.  It's a humbling vocation for sure.  So I think there are a LOT of things that don't bother me as much now as they did when I was 28 years old and already a mom to four kids.  

Back then, I definitely felt an external pressure to make sure I was doing a good job raising kids, not complaining about the hardships we faced, and making it appear easy to others.  I would see a harried older looking mom of many, with her kids wearing mismatched clothes running everywhere and think that she was doing a bad job in portraying big family life.  She made it look hard and dirty and chaotic.  I wanted to be the complete opposite of that, I wanted to make it look attractive.  My kids were on strict schedules, they were bathed each night, they wore matching clean clothes and taught manners and how to behave in public.  They were disciplined swiftly when they needed to be (we used timeouts and talks) and they towed the line.  They were practically perfect little kids, at least in school and in public.

By the time I was 37, having my 7th baby, I had slowly become that other mom.  How judgy my young and perky self had been.  I got her now, she was just plain tired.  She was doing her best and she knew what battles to pick and choose with her kids.  I cared less and less about appearances (still nightly baths though!  We could be clean if not coordinated!) and focused my attention on raising these kids right and not caring what that looked like to the outside world.  I realized my job was to raise my family, not be the poster child of big families.  That was too much pressure!  It's not so much a "giving up" as it was a "giving in" to the needs we had, the energy levels we had, and the different personalities of our kids.  And just when you think you have the mom thing figured out, God sends you a child to test you, believe you me.  

The little ones may have less strict rules because they see what the older kids are doing and want to be involved, where we could keep the older ones in a bubble.  So they played video games earlier, or they stay up a little later, or ate sweets more often and the older kids are great at reminding us of how unfair it is!  There are plenty of times when the little guys will be naughty and the older ones will laugh, which doesn't help with discipline, and I can see why younger kids are often spoiled or bratty.  But there are so many perks to having this wide family too.  Phil and I may be getting older and more tired by the minute, but we have four teenagers who are full of energy and enjoy doing certain activities with the little guys.  Before he left for college, JP took them all to Target to spend their Christmas gift cards they received.  Andrew has brought Declan to his basketball practices and Xander to piano lessons. Eamon and Maggie still play with the littles on a daily basis, making up games on the trampoline and keeping them entertained.  Seeing the family members all chip in this way helps me not to worry about my role as much...if they don't get all the time/attention/lessons from me, they're getting it in spades from everyone else.

Friday, January 20, 2023

Week in Review: Dead Batteries, No Big Kids, and The Best Pants

On Friday, my mom called me around 3pm and I could hear noises in the background, so I asked where she was.  "Shopping at Kohl's" she replied and I said "No way, I am heading there after work ends at 4!"  I had an hour to kill between work and Eamon's basketball game and figured I could use it to make a few returns.  When I walked into Kohl's at 4:20, guess who was checking out?  My mom.  I went over and hugged her and she said "Don't tell me it's already after 4:00?  Dad is gonna kill me for shopping for so long!"  Apparently my Dad was waiting in the car for her outside, having gone to Lowe's and back already.  I said bye to my mom and went to do my exchanges.  When I was done, my mom called asking if I was still in the store.  Yup, I was.  Their battery was dead, and did I perchance have any jumper cables?  I said I was pretty sure I did, and went out to the parking lot, pulled up next to them and found the cables.  

But then we couldn't figure out how to get their car hood open.  It's a newish car (the battery died because my dad had been listening to the radio while my mom was shopping) and so my mom was reading the manual, and I was googling, and my dad, in his gentle Irish brogue, finally just asked a passing guy "Do you happen to be mechanical?" and the guy said not really, but how could he help?  My dad explained the situation and this nice guy was able to pop the hood, with some difficulty.  Then he made sure we had cables and knew how to use them, and left after we assured him that we did.  

I went inside my van and realized that I *also* did not know how to pop my hood.  Oh for the love.  We laughed and laughed and then my dad searched with a flashlight (it was getting dark) while I googled again.  He found it and just as he popped it open, the nice guy was back and said "Let me guess, you didn't know how to open your hood either?" and we all laughed and laughed again.  Talk about a comedy or errors.  This nice guy then thankfully took over and we got the battery charged.  My mom gave him a miraculous medal because she hands those out like candy, and the nice guy said that he already had one, but thank you.  I said "Oh you're Catholic?  So are weeeeeeee!!" as if I just came across a long lost relative.  We thanked him and his wife, who was patiently waiting in their car the whole time (not listening to the radio I'm sure).

Lessons:

1) Do not listen to the radio without your car running.
2) Do not believe a woman when she tells you it will be a quick trip inside a store.
3) Don't be afraid to hand out a miraculous medal.  Though I think it helps when you're a sweet grandma.
4) Know how to pop your hood and travel with jumper cables.
5) People are mostly very kind.
6) The daughter who jumps your battery is obviously your favorite child.  May the will reflect this.
7) It's always an adventure with these two:


I did make it to most of Eamon's game after...

#5 on the court but #1 in my heart (don't tell the others!)

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

The Name Game and Get to Know The Goldendoodle

Answering a few Ask Me Anything questions and answers today...

What names would you pick if Maggie had 6 sisters, instead of 6 brothers? - asked by Anon.

Fun question, and one my kids love to discuss often.  

John-Paul would have been Kaleigh Rose.

I used to love the name Kaleigh and Rose was a nod to our love story.

Andrew Pauric would have been Emily Margaret.

Phil's favorite girl name was Emily and my favorite boy name was Andrew.  Margaret is my middle name and my mom and grandma's first names.

Eamon Philip would have been ??? 

He was the first baby we found out the sex, and I think I just wanted to wait to find out before discussing names.

Alexander Blaise would have been Gianna Therese, nicknamed "Gia".

Named after Saints Gianna + Therese, a double holy whammy.

Declan Kolbe would have been Felicity Grace.

Just names I found pretty that went together nicely!

Brendan Joseph would have been Elena Mae, nicknamed "Laney".

Sometimes I start with a nickname I like, "Laney", and work backwards to get the name.

So the Martin Family would have been Kaleigh, Emily, ???, Maggie, Gia, Felicity and Laney.

As Maggie always says "so many good girl names just gone to waste" ;)

Maggie also loves to leave selfies on my phone :)

From Maria - Your kids have great names - what would you name more kids if you had them?

Thanks Maria!  Well I'm getting quite advanced to have any more babies (I'll be 44 next month and please spare me the tales of people you know who got surprise pregnant at old ages).  If it happens, it happens, but we have not been trying since the birth of our seventh.  But it's fun to think about baby names regardless!

If the baby was a little girl, I think I would revisit some of those girl names up there and add in Emerson or Rowan. I also love the nickname Annie and Phil vetoes Niamh (pronounced Neve) but I still suggest it every time.  

If we had another boy, I think we would use another Irish name, but nothing hard to pronounce.  I love the names Liam and Ryan but we have nephews with those names already.  I also love Dean but there's already been a famous Dean Martin (from Steubenville!).  So I guess I'm leaning towards a four letter boy name.

  Kane (my mom's maiden name) or Roan come to mind happily.  

I know for sure we would get the kids input, now that they are old enough to not suggest names like Spongebob or something equally ridiculous.  But again, no plans!  I'm hoping to be a grandmother before the age of 50 :)

Friday, January 13, 2023

Week in Review: Shawarma, Smoothies and Stairs

It's Friday the 13th!!  But it's okay because I'm not superstitious, I'm only a little stitious ;)

1)

I made Chicken Shawarma for the 3rd time and it is such a big hit every single time.  All the kids love it, it's healthy baked flavorful chicken on pitas, and we cut up veggies and make rice to go along with it (got lots of skinny active kids that need the extra sustenance!).  I had bought Fried Pickle Ranch dip to spread on my pita and OMG so good!  Here's the recipe (only Phil and I ate the onions, we just kept them separated on the pan):

We double the amount of chicken thighs but don't need to double the marinade, there's plenty.

2)

I have been doing a diet reset for the past ten days, which included drinking a smoothie for breakfast and lunch (and for dinner the first five days) but today I get to have a "real" lunch and I am so excited for this Beef Barley Soup.  My favorite smoothie, if you're interested was the Apple Pie Smoothie:


3)

Brendan (age 6) asked me the other day to cut some holes in his jeans.  "Why do you want holes?" I asked.  "Because that's what everybody else has" he replied.  Oh, duh.  It reminded me of when JP came home from preschool asking for a G-A-P sweatshirt.  He didn't even know what it spelled, just recited the letters to me.  I told Brendan I wouldn't cut holes in his jeans but if he kept playing really hard outside, eventually his jeans would get holes in the knees naturally ;)

4)

I wish I did not have a personality like this, but alas, it's me:


5)

I'm hoping we can start to tackle one of our house projects on this long weekend.  Our front door entranceway and stairs need to have the carpet removed and some cleaning/organizing/painting.  Neither my parents (who live downstairs) or us (who live upstairs) use the front door, and it has become a bit of a storage space with the original pink carpet from when we bought the house still on the stairs.  I think it could look really nice, and I don't want to keep putting it off just because hardly anyone sees it.  I mean, how hard can removing carpet from stairs and replacing it be?  Asking for a friend.  That friend is Phil.

6)

Oh here's a tip I learned from the customer service lady at Kohl's, where I go to return all of my amazon purchases.  When you return the item on your phone through amazon, take a screenshot of the return code and write on it what you're returning, like so:


This came in so handy after Christmas when we had a bunch of things to return, and all I had to do was scroll through my photos for each item, instead of finding emails with the codes.

7)

Thank you to the people who have taken the time to Ask Me Anything...lots of good questions to keep me writing for awhile and I'm learning I have readers I didn't even know about, so hello to you!!  Please click that link to head over and ask me anything!

Have a wonderful LONG weekend everybody and Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Brendan's Kindergarten portrait of MLK :)

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Writer's Block, Can You Help?

I've been wanting to write, and yet no words come when I have time to sit down.  I believe that after 15 years of blogging, there may be nothing left?  Or maybe that's dramatic and it's just some normal writer's block.  

I created a form (inspired by Elisabeth and Nicole and Suzanne) for you to ask me a question of give me a topic to write about and I'm hoping you guys hold the cure!  Please don't be shy and you know I'll answer pretty much anything #oversharersrus but also remember my mom reads the blog, so I do have some boundaries :)  Click on the link below, and thank you!

Martin Family Moments - Ask Me Anything

Monday, January 9, 2023

Tossin' and Turnin'

I haven't had my coffee yet, and I'm feeling mouthy so here's some random thoughts that took place in my brain space between when I laid down for bed last night and this morning (those that I can remember anyway.)  It "helps" that I was awake from my usual 1:30 - 3:30 am.  Need to figure out how to get that to stop.

1)

Some words only have negative meanings but no positive opposite meaning.  For example, I can act nonchalant or look dishevelled.  But can I be chalant or hevelled?  No, no I can not and that bothers me.

2)

Why do we have to work five days a week and have off two days?  Why can't the split be a little more lenient towards living life and not wasting it away at work?  Or maybe you have a really fulfilling job and you don't feel this way at all?

3)

Not to mention any names, but geesh, girls be moody.

4)

My littlest guy is just the best baby of the family.  Like he really takes his role seriously and is nailing it by being extra cute and funny and cuddly and is so easy to get along with everyone.

5)

If I were to get another dog (Phil will veto this) what would I name it?  Would I use the list of kid names we never were able to use?  Would I call my dog Rowan or Laney or Gia?

6)

I dreamed that we opened an ice cream store, and we wanted to name it after my family's ice cream store that we had growing up (Maggie's) but then I thought we should differentiate a bit and call it Maggie's in the Middle (after our own Maggie sandwiched between six brothers), but then that didn't sound like an ice cream store name.  Or does it?

7)

I woke up and my Cape Cod bracelet was unscrewed on my wrist.  How does that happen? 

8) 

I need to look into some sort of martial art class for two of our boys.  One needs the confidence boost and the other needs the discipline boost.

9)

I woke up thinking about my friend's family member who is in the hospital, and I prayed for her.  My mom taught me that if you wake up thinking about someone or dream about someone, even if it seems totally random, that's your sign to pray for them.

10)

Maggie, a freshman, is being pulled up to play Varsity basketball in today's game.  Apparently the Varsity coach wants her to be more involved with that team because she thinks Maggie will be one of her best players in the future.  Maggie literally almost quit the JV team ten times at the beginning of the season and tells us regularly not to come watch her games because she's "so bad".  It's very hard to know when to encourage a kid to persevere and when to let go.  Also, see #3.


So what's on your mind in the middle of the night?

Friday, January 6, 2023

Week in Review: Zumba, The Game of Life and An Identity Crisis

 I did it!  I went to my first Zumba class!  In the beginning I looked like this:

I was so nervous, and the instructor just started right in on the song and dance, everybody else seemed to know what they were doing, and I was like what.is.going.on as my dream of becoming a backup dancer was dashed to ashes.  But then I realized she used like ten moves on repeat throughout that song, and I started catching on.  I slowly gave myself some grace and realized I would get the moves after the first minute of each song, and voila, by the end I looked like this:


Ok, not quite but I truly did have SO MUCH FUN!  I burned 400 calories!  And I'm proud of myself for going waaaaaay outside my comfort zone to try this class.  The instructor was so sweet and smiley and talked to me at the end, asking if I was new and telling me I did a great job.  That's all this Teacher's Pet needs to hear to keep going back :)

~

Loved reading this update on Damar Hamlin:


Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s has begun to communicate in writing with his family and others who have been at his bedside since he went into cardiac arrest Monday — and his first question was “Did we win?” his doctors said Thursday.

“The answer is yes, Demar, you won. You’ve won the game of life.” Dr. Timothy Pritts said in a conference call with reporters from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where Hamlin was rushed after collapsing and being resuscitated on the field during the Bills’ game against the Bengals on Monday night.

~

For Christmas, we gave Declan (age 8) the I Survived book series, and Brendan (age 6) has been talking about how he wants the Magic Treehouse book series.  We told him we already had tons of those books, but he said he wanted the whole series.  I told him to take a piece of paper and catalog the books we had (by number) and we could see what was missing.  This boy might have a future as an archivist because he enjoyed doing this so much.  

Through googling, I realized that the Magic Treehouse books have been renumbered, starting over with #1 for the Merlin Missions series.  So then he wrote down the titles of the Merlin Missions books we had so that we could figure out what was missing, as our old numbers didn't match the new ones. 


I found the Merlin Missions set on amazon, which is cheaper than buying the missing books and Brendan will be a happy camper on his birthday!

~

Lucy Doodle Martin is having an identity crisis after being able to roam free on Nana and Gramp's nine acres down in Maryland:

I loved seeing her run free, but my kids hated having to chase her when she picked up a deer scent and went too far.  She's just a cowgirl at heart.  Or a deergirl, I suppose.

Have a wonderful Christmas decor putting away and getting the house back to normal kind of weekend everybody - Go Pats!

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

2023 Goals But Really More Like Slowly Implemented Lifestyle Changes

Elisabeth posted about her goal of walking everyday in 2022, with a recap of her fitness workouts recorded with her Apple Watch, and I wanted to copy because imitation is the most sincere form of flattery :)  Here's my 2022 monthly workouts, in time and calories burned:

2022 SummaryWorkout Time per MonthWorkout Calories Burned per Month
January41:18:0511,718
February41:04:4413,175
March49:20:0615,424
April42:27:4213,121
May48:29:0814,098
June48:30:2014,104
July42:48:2511,971
August57:00:1915,588
September44:58:2013,108
October44:21:1714,230
November46:48:2715,123
December37:41:2913,984
Totals544:48:22165,644
Average per Day1 hour 29 minutes454

I try to walk 3 miles in addition to doing a workout each day, hence the amount of minutes per day.  I *literally* sit on my tuchus all day at my job, and then in the evening watching tv or reading or watching a kid's sports game....so trust me when I say I NEED these walks and workouts.  I often dream of having a more physically active job so that I wouldn't have to dedicate so much time each day to working out, but hence is the life of an accountant.  And please don't mention a standing desk, I know myself and how much I need to sit to do my work :)

Now onto the goals for 2023:

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Wrapping Up 2022: Family Time, Maryland and A Commanders Game

After Christmas, we drove down to Maryland to visit Phil's side of the family.  God was so good and gave us beautiful sunny days in the mid fifties (except for one rainy day, but I'll take it!)  The kids had TONS of cousin time and I got lots of time with my bestie (Phil's brother's wife).  Here she is building legos at the children's museum where we brought the younger set while the big kids went bowling:


Isn't she so cute?  A homeschooling mom of eight which obviously makes her better than me ;)





The sign says "No painting on the wall please!" which was a little...late??