The Birthday Boy's Weekend O' Fun

When your 13th birthday falls on a summer Friday, well you gotta live it up all weekend, and Alexander Blaise certainly did just that!  He went to the last day of Camp Acutis with his little brothers:

And they had a pizza dinner and award ceremony when camp ended at five.  Phil and I were both able to make it to the 4:15pm daily mass where the kids sang as they had practiced all week.  Let's just say it was beautiful to God's ears, I'm sure!

Xander's award said "Amazing with a thurible" thanks to all those years of altar serving :)

Brendan got "wearing St. Anthony socks to St. Anthony church".  This made Declan mad because that was actually Declan who wore the socks.  Hey, they look alike!

Declan's award said "Your youthful spirit and sincere love for those around you"

We had brought a cake to the dinner, but Xander did NOT want to be recognized or sang to, so it just sat on the dessert table.  Gotta respect the teenager's wishes!

We drove home and Xander wanted to open his presents, which included gift cards, cash, treats, Lord of the Ring books, and...

... a new phone!  We give our kids a Gabb phone when they turn 13 so that they can call and text and take photos but there is no Internet access or app store, which makes it a great and safe phone.

On Saturday morning, we had breakfast together because we have to do it before The Cottage opens and everyone goes to work.  Sadly, JP was not home because he's travelling, but Darian took his place and even wore a Harry Potter shirt just because Xander loves Harry Potter so much.  Xander chose crepes with strawberries and belgium chocolate and whipped cream.  We also made eggs and bacon because protein, people.

My brother texted asking if anyone wanted to go on his boat, and this lucky crew headed out with some cousins and their Aunt and Uncle:

Vitamin Sea.

After a day on the ocean, Xander came home to a delicious (if I do say so myself) pot roast dinner and sheet cake, his choices.

Xander B we can not believe you are already 13 and you have grown up so much recently.  We are very proud of you and your hard work ethic, amazed at your desire to swim or run every day, crack up at your sayings all the livelong day, admire your reverence on the altar, your commitment to reading and listening to audiobooks every night, and your talent on the piano.  We know it's not easy being a fifth child who has the biggest age gap from the sibling above and behind you.  Sometimes you are a young man on your own island, but we all love coming to visit you there.  You bring joy and honesty and fun and craziness to our lives and we love you so much!!

Week in Review: Another Teenager, Summer Fun, and Tropical Weddings

Happy LAST Friday in July!  Today is a very special person's 13th Birthday:

Can you believe we have a fifth teenager? Alexander is at Camp Acutis this week with his younger brothers, so we will be celebrating him in bits and pieces over the weekend, starting with munchkins for breakfast and a surprise birthday cake at tonight's end of camp dinner.

Happy Campers

Maggie and I were not happy campers on Monday because we had doctor appointments.  I had my yearly physical and everything is fine and dandy except that my cholesterol has sneaked up a few more numbers.  My brother who is a doctor told me to avoid taking cholesterol meds for as long as possible because they can cause dementia, so I convinced my doctor not to start me on the meds just yet and promised to eat oatmeal and take metamucil (his advice) to see if I can bring the numbers down. I actually love overnight oats but I don't eat them often because I typically try to lower my carb count to prevent diabetes.  WHICH ONE SHOULD I BE FOCUSING ON BODY?  For now, it's cholesterol.  Sorry blood sugar.

Maggie had to go to the dermatologist to get a cherry angioma removed from her scalp.  Nothing serious, just an annoyance and it's all gone now.  Of course we had to go out to lunch afterwards which was lovely and my sweet working girl offered to pay the tip :)

Rest in Eternal Peace, Jean

We lost a friend this past week in a tragic accident and I am once again reminded how precious and fleeting life is.  

I can't even wrap my mind around Jean Revil's death.  She was one of the holiest and most selfless people I have ever met.  She was a coworker and a friend and we had just seen her twice in the past few weeks and sat and talked awhile with her and gave her a hug, as she always greeted us.  She was a devoted and faithful woman who visited prisoners, taught theology, was a campus minister, an oblate of St. Benedict, led adult faith formation, and so much more.  

She consoled and counseled so many people in all of her different lines of work and volunteerism.  She formed teenagers and adults to grow in the faith.  She always led by example.  Years ago, she went through a terrible trial and while I was holding my baby and expressing to her how sorry I was and how unfair it was that she had to go through it...she told me that she was "Glad it was her, and not someone with a spouse or children".  Even suffering through her worst days, she still thought of others and carried her cross courageously while giving thanks it wasn't their cross.

I went to a funeral mass this past year for a woman I didn't know, but who was a friend of the priest saying her funeral mass.  The priest told me that this woman who died wouldn't have many people in attendance at her funeral as she was older and without children, so I wanted to show up for her.  Guess who also was in attendance at that funeral mass?  Yup, Jean.  We hugged each other after that mass and commented on the beautiful homily.  I told her that I wanted that priest to give the homily at my funeral mass, and she said "Same!  I just told him that!"  Sadly that priest is on an assignment far away, but at Jean's funeral mass yesterday, there were fifteen priests and four deacons.  I couldn't keep it together watching them all walk out to offer Mass for this most special woman.

The priest who gave her homily was a former teacher and colleague of Jean, and he did a wonderful job at portraying Jean to the fullest.  He said Jean had come to daily Mass on the day she died, as she always did, but dressed up a little more than usual that day, as if she was ready for something special.  He also said that even though her death was the result of a tragic accident, if the angel Gabriel would have appeared to her the day before and warned her what was going to happen the next day, Jean still would have gone to volunteer.  That part is so true and helped bring peace to a lot of us, and there were a lot of us in the full church.

Jean literally died in the act of volunteering which is just so apropos to describe the type of person she was.  Her last breath was spent serving others.  As the priest said in his homily, Jean was caught in the act of doing good work.  As employees might try to look busy when their boss walks in, Jean didn't have to pretend to be doing good works when she met Our Lord.  She was constantly doing good work, living the gospel and was an awesome example of a consecrated single vocation.  Jean would ask herself when making a decision; "Will this be good for my soul?"  And if it would be, she would do it.

 Rest in eternal peace, Jean. I know I can't canonize saints but if there was ever a person I believe went straight to heaven, it's definitely you.  I promise to pray for your soul just in case, but please pray for us all too.

Week in Review: Sad News, Good News and New News

We had terrible news this week with the death of a friend/past coworker this week but I will write more about that next week after we attend her services.  It was a tragic accident and is difficult to wrap our minds around it all.  I want to take the time to write a little tribute for this very special person who was a living saint.

Moving on because life somehow still continues after tragedy.  Here's what happened this past week.

Maggie got her license!!

The Martin family now has six licensed drivers living at home and only four cars so that's been interesting.  It is helpful that most of us work at The Cottage which is less than a mile from our house and doesn't necessitate a car.  

On Prime and Now It's Mine

Did you know that it's Prime Day?  I'm sure you do and if you are in the mood to buy something, may I suggest that you use this link to start shopping?  Thanks so much!

Our Prime Day purchases included:

I was influenced by a famous lady travelling through Italy who said she wore this dress over and over, seems really baggy so I ordered it in a small.  Fingers crossed.

I love an athletic skort over shorts anyday, and this one is only $18 right now.

Eamon asked for these Hey Dude's to wear with his school uniform and a new pair of airpods.

Maggie got this backpack for her Junior year.

The little guys wanted these reusable water balloons which do honestly seem like lots of fun.

Andrew bought an Apple Watch (he lost his last summer jumping off a cliff).  I also lost mine to the ocean, but I am trying to see if I can live without one.  It's not looking good so far.

Grace from Camp Patton fame said this protein powder was good, and since she looks amazing after having ten kids, I'm going to try it!

Phil has been keeping his eye on a Samsung TV Frame and the price is pretty low right now...maybe that's a good family Christmas gift?

And I wish I would have bought these Echo Pops at ONLY $17.99 right now, but alas we already have one in almost every area of our house.  

Any good deals you were excited to find?

Summer Bucket List - Check!!

My littles decided they had one Summer Bucket List Item this summer, and it was to visit South Shore Beach in Little Compton, RI.  We call this beach the "Big Wave Beach" because compared to the beaches near our house, it does indeed have big waves.  

It's about a 40 minute drive and you have to get there really early to park.  We left at 8 am and the parking lot was over halfway filled at 8:45.  Crazy!  Of course, when you are going to be out for a few hours with my crew, you need to pack lots of food and drinks or they will riot.  I set up a make-your-own-sub bar and everybody did just that!

We were able to take all of the kids (except JP who had to hold down The Cottage for us, but who is also going to Hawaii this month so we didn't feel tooooo badly) plus Andrew's girlfriend, Darian, and Eamon's girlfriend, Ellie.

A + D

E + E

Week in Review: Captains, Smarties, Shows and Food

Happy Friday!!  

I forgot to take a picture of my doormat sitch from July 4th week, but isn't it cute?  Door mat from Kohl's, rug here and flower planters here.  I hate spending good money on outdoor items because they always get beat up and need to be replaced often.  

When your toes match the flowers :)

Congrats Are in Order

We had two reasons to celebrate this week.  

The first one was that Maggie (16) and Darian (Andrew's girlfriend) were made Captains of the Varsity Volleyball Team!  Darian is undoubtedly the best player on the team and will be a Senior, and Maggie is following in her volleyball shoe steps on the court and was made a Captain as a wee little Junior.  I'm just so proud of them!  The team votes and the coaches discuss and the administration at the high school approves, so it's a big decision.  

How do they look cute even at this angle?

Not to be forgotten on this blog because he's rarely around the house, but Eamon (17) is also the Captain of the Varsity Soccer team in the fall!  He's a Senior and they announced captains at their awards night last year, so we've known for awhile.  Eamon's been playing in a soccer league this summer, which is the same league where he broke his wrist last summer, so we are praying the refs are able to control the players a bit more this summer.  

The second reason to celebrate was that Eamon's AP Scores came back and he got two 5's on AP Biology and AP Language!  If he attends Franciscan, this means he doesn't have to take a whole year of Biology plus Labs (8 credits) or an English class (3 credits) so that's a sweet deal!  Every college has different requirements for scores and how many credits it earns, depending on your major, etc. but this should free up his college years for sure.  He will be taking four AP classes in his Senior year so that's a tough schedule but the kid is such a hard worker and gifted with brains for sure.  He's also reeeeealllly humble and will be mad at me for bragging but I'm just a mom with a blog so it's not my fault :)

Happy Birthday Grandpa and America!

July has been a whirlwind of activities and weird weather.  We've had so many hot and humid days with not a lot of sunshine and I miss June already.    But first, today is my Dad's 84th birthday so a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the greatest Dad/Grandpa/Downstairs Neighbor we could have :)

Let's see what else has been going on since last we met?  

My boss let us out early on the day before the 4th (also known as the 3rd) so I was able to bring lunch to John-Paul and his boss (who is retiring this month) which was a nice treat.  JP thinks he will be working for a urologist next, and those stories should be...interesting.  As my brother-in-law doctor said "He's going to see a whole lot of front ends."

On Independence Day, we dressed up in Red, White and Blue and headed over to my sister's house for a family cookout.  Even Lucy Doodle got in on the festivity:

Week in Review: Minions, Mopeds, Microscopes, 'Merica

It's a short work week for me because of the July 4th holiday and I'm taking Friday off because going back to work on a summer Friday after a holiday just seems cruel.  So here's what happened this half-a-week around here.

We got a new waffle maker!  Now we have two waffle makers and can make cones twice as fast, which is great because they are a big seller (and so delicious).  I had no clue how expensive these babies are, but if you guessed just over $1000 you would be correct.

Because Despicable Me 4 is coming out this week, I used my *free* Canva skills and created this for The Ice Cream Cottage:

I also ordered these cute stickers from Etsy to put on the frappe cups:

"Our Customers are One in a Minion!"

Can you see the minions taking over the shop?

And if you think it's hard to constantly be thinking about creating and accounting for the shop plus work my own full-time job plus make sure the little kids are cared for plus make dinner every night plus walk the dog plus clean the house and do the laundry plus try to have some semblance of summer fun - you would be correct.  Hence my bad mood earlier this week.  Also PMS, which at my age is just a stupid thing.  Like really Lord, this old thing again?  Sending the kids to camps next week will help my mental burden/guilt a lot and we will have fun on this long weekend, by hook or by crook.  Fireworks and cookouts and parades and beach trips are on the agenda.

How to Be the Perfect Summer Mom with No Boredom, Complaints or Fights From the Kids.

 I have no idea how to be one, that was supposed to end in a Question Mark not a Period.

Sometimes we're thriving and sometimes we are just surviving.

Camp starts next week.

Phew.

Hang in there moms :)