Andrew with the Misspelled Middle Name, Born on the Feast of St. Francis

 It's birthday season in the Martin family, and today we celebrate Andrew's 19th birthday!

Andrew was due on October 9th and we thought it would be so funny if he was born two days late on his dad's birthday, especially since JP was born on his mom's birthday.  We didn't know his gender before birth and had decided on Andrew Philip for a boy or Emily Margaret for a girl.  That pregnancy has a few memories that stick out for me, the first being that my younger sister got engaged and asked me to be her matron of honor at her wedding nine months later.  I looked at Phil and said "Well we just can't get pregnant this month or I'll be giving birth at the wedding!"  Hardeeharhar guess who got pregnant that month?  So this is what I looked like at my sister's wedding:

I was very thankful to still be pregnant and not have to miss the wedding, and I danced like crazy that night and ended up giving birth nine days later.  Also during Andrew's pregnancy, my dad's brother passed away whose name was Padraig but everyone called him Poric, and that's how he signed his name.  We decided to honor my uncle by naming the baby Andrew (which is my grandfather's name) Padraig.  When he was born, I was so concerned with getting the spelling of Poric/Padraig correct that I didn't even realize he was born on the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi.  I felt so bad to have missed the naming opportunity of including Francis in his name that I spent the next years convincing Andrew to take Francis as his confirmation name.  He listened and is Andrew Pauric (spelled wrong) Francis.  And now he goes to Franciscan University where they celebrate St. Francis's feast day each year (I think classes are cancelled?) which means Andrew's birthday will be extra fun.

Week in Review: Big Kids, Big Schedules and Advice for a Care Package

Hello!  Not much to say this week, but here's the look back in the rearview mirror.

I felt really overwhelmed this week when trying to figure out the kids' schedules.  On Wednesday alone, we had a volleyball game, soccer game, basketball clinic, soccer practice and swim team practice.  Tuesday had been the same, less the basketball clinic.  It's exhausting and we do the bare minimum when it comes to kids being involved in sports - one sport per kid per season, no travel teams - but it all adds up quickly.  Technically, Declan is playing soccer and now has a once a week basketball clinic at his school because they are trying to prepare a team for the CYO season.  Thankfully, a friend whose son is on the same soccer team as Declan offered to bring him from basketball to soccer for me, which is a huge help.  The fall is just always crazy, and it's nobody's fault but a young Colleen and amorous Phil, so I am complaining in the mirror.

Does anybody know if Elisabeth Frost's blog is still functioning?  I can't seem to get on her website anymore and I don't see her commenting here and I hope everything is ok.

Today at work, my one big annual report is due and I have everything completed on my side but I am waiting for the Town to send me their numbers and it is killing my Type A Goodie Two Shoes Top of the Class Teacher's Pet self.  I think I'm going to have to turn it in late!

Tomorrow we will be mailing out a birthday package for our freshman in college and I need to shop for some "fillers" today.  And tips on snacks or dorm room ideas would be helpful!

There is a hotel verrrrrry close to our house that will now be hosting illegal immigrants.  The story is here and people are upset and I have lots of mixed feelings about it, especially as I am the daughter of an immigrant and feel so very badly for what is happening in Haiti.

Some photos from the week:

Favorite daughter

Focus

Phil and I tried a new Indian restaurant and it was DELICIOUS

Police dog visiting the kids school

Brendan sees me rolling out my back and has to join in

Rainy Saturday mornings = soccer canceled = pancakes!

Cousins and scoopers

Andrew and friends after a game

Have a wonderful September-October weekend everyone.  Hug your families tight :)

Eamon: From a Difficult Bambino to the Easiest Seventeen Year Old

Our little meatball turns SEVENTEEN today.  

Eamon was one of the hardest babies, having colic and a mother who became pregnant/sick/exhausted when he was only five months old.  His whole babyhood is a crying blur to be honest, with lots of puke, from both of us.  Have you ever been in public and heard a baby cry and thought "Thank God that isn't my kid!  That cry is piercing my soul!" except it IS your kid and he does it almost nonstop until his first birthday.    

But!  

Phil has a theory that hard babies make easy kids, and Eamon really did turn into the bestest little guy anyone could ask for.  

Eamon has always been so funny, so easy to smile and laugh, always has a little twinkle in his eye, is constantly up to something, very witty and charming and so much fun to be around.  He has the winning combination of natural intelligence and a strong work ethic that result in amazing grades.  He gets along with all of his siblings and is the life of the Martin Family party.

Week in Review: Brace Face, Not a Race, and College Grace

Last Friday, instead of going for a walk during my lunch break, I went and got a pedicure.  It included a ten minute massage and boy oh boy did it feel wonderful!  I texted Phil this picture and he was happy to learn that he was off the hook for rubbing my feet that night.  Yes I know that I am a lucky wifey.

We started being able to wear jeans on Fridays, along with a $2.50 donation to a charity, and these little things are soooo exciting.  I wake up extra happy every Friday knowing I get to wear jeans to work.  I'd rather wear jeans and stay home, but I haven't figured out how to identify as a retired lady yet ;)

Andrew texted us from college asking us to send him his Rugged Rosary that he forgot to pack, and yet another reason to love Franciscan!  Just picturing a bunch of college guys kneeling and praying the rosary together makes me so happy.

Phil's parents and his sister, Sister Denise, came to visit this past weekend, and I only have this photo of the boys playing with the new game Nana and Gramps bought for Brendan's birthday gift.  It's called Rubik's Race and they have been playing it nonstop!  They took the kids to the Whaling Museum while Phil and I worked at the ice cream shop for part of the day, and we had a nice time spent visiting with them.

Our Caramel Apple Parfait was a delicious hit!

Week in Review: Fall Sports, Fall Recipes and Fall Storms

My prayers go out to anyone that will be affected by Hurricane Lee, while I am writing this we are expecting a Tropical Storm here in south coast Massachusetts.  This week was full of gross humid sticky wet disgusting weather and I am ready for that crisp air that comes with fall. But there's no rainbows without the rain, and Phil and I saw this little gift on our way out of a workout class:

Let's look back at the week, shall we?

Fall sports are in full swing here.  Brendan played in his first soccer game, then had his first practice a few days later.  Next time, they should do that in reverse, as they got killed the first game.  A kid on the other team looked at least a year older than he should have been, with the height and skill to show for it.  Brendan's soccer league is a recreational league and they group kids by grades, which stinks because kids can be older or younger for a grade, or stay back and be much older.  It can be very frustrating to watch a team destroy us based on the talent of one older kid, and the coach keeps him in as striker and doesn't sit him out.  But Brendan's only barely 7 and I know in the end these things don't matter *she tries to convince her overly competitive self*.

A Very Bad First World Problems Kind of Morning

Every workday, my alarm goes off at 7:01 am and I need to be out the door at 7:15 am in order to have time to stop for coffee at Cumbie's (now $1.38 for a large) and get the kids to school at 7:30 (which is the first minute when you don't have to pay for morning extended care) and then drive to my work which starts at 8 am.  

Could I get up earlier to start my day in a more calm manner?  Should I get up earlier to get myself ready without running around like a chicken with my head cut off?  Yes and yes.  But you know, sleep is the best part of my day.  That sounds borderline depressing but I swear I just love to sleep.

Last Friday morning, I was woken up by Phil getting his clothes out of the closet at 6:40, which is fine.  I mean it is his room too, though cranky-woken-up-Colleen doesn't usually think so kindly or clearly.  I somehow fell into a deep sleep between that and 7:01 am when my alarm went off.  I get out of bed and walk to the bathroom, but somebody is using it.  I knock and wait and finally Maggie comes out.  Maggie thinks she is the third parent in our household and therefore uses the main bathroom downstairs and not the kid bathroom upstairs (and who can blame her when she has to share it with six boys?).  She comes out and I go in and realize there's no toilet paper so I yell at her to get more.  She throws some in and I can finally use the bathroom.