Savvy Shopper

This weekend, while Andrew, Eamon & Maggie were napping after lunch, I took John-Paul (who hasn't napped since he was 2.5) with me to Target. He willingly pushed the cart for me as I browsed through the ladies clothes. I was so happy to have him with me, as he was extremely helpful and wise beyond his years. See what I mean:

Me: Ooooh, this shirt is cute!

Him: It is cute!

Me: I need to look at the jeans, let's go find them.

Him: They are right here!

Me: (After ten minutes) OK, I need to stop looking at all these new clothes, and buy what's on the list.

Him: OK, good idea.

Me: (As we start walking past the shoe section) Ooooh, those sandals are so nice!

Him: Mom, you need to only look at the men's shoes and the kid's shoes so you won't want to buy any for yourself. And you can look at the clothes that aren't so 'cute'....cuz you won't want those either.

I'm thinking, for financial reasons, I should bring him shopping with me all the time ;)

He did allow me to buy these for the kids this summer:

Bring on the beach weather!!

Saving Money & Something Funny

Here's a coupon to save 30% at Gap, Old Navy, of Banana Republic (even the outlet stores!)March 18th through March 21st. Love it!!

And a coupon to make a blog book - it's time for me to create mine for 2009.

Use code newb2p to save 15% off your next blog book! This coupon is valid until March 31st (click on the picture below).

~

And now for the type of emails that my darling hubby likes to send me:

That moment just before the pain begins...

Heehee :)

Hi Lo: March 12th

HI's:

1) I ran 9.8 miles on Saturday night with Phil. This is my longest run ever, and I was sore the next day! How am I going to run 13.1 miles??

2) This week's running total is 27.8 miles done in 4 runs. I only have two more "medium" runs before the race...I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!! OK, I'm done with the running statistics :)

3) Got to go to daily Mass twice this week! Maggie is a pleasure to bring to morning Mass, as she says "Yay, Holy Mass!!" when I tell her where we're going, and yells out excitedly before Communion "That's Jesus!!" What a great reminder to have faith like a child.

LO's:

1) Abby and Peter were in the hospital this week. Thankfully they both just made it home. Abby most likely has Celiac's disease, and you can read more about Peter here.

2) We are having a lot of issues with family/friends watching Maggie (through no fault of their own) and have begun looking into daycare for her. This makes me SO sad, as I've never put any of my babies in daycare, but between working extra hours, and having medical and personal issues taking a toll on her current "providers" we feel that it is our only choice. Luckily, we only need her to be in daycare for 3 days a week until school is out, and then either Phil or I can always be home with the kids. Still devastating to us though :(

I hope you are all having great weeks!

Thursday Top Ten: Half-Marathon Edition

In ten days, Phil and I will be running the local half-marathon. Why? Well, because:

10) Obviously we are not busy enough trying to raise 4 young children, working 50 hours a week for Phil, 40 hours a week for me, and having meetings/giving talks/teaching CCD every week. SO we needed to fill up the rest of our free time with training ;)

9) It's a goal on my life list...my bucket list, that I can not wait to check off.

8) While I don't think running long distance races all the time is good on a body, I do think occasional races and short distance runs are what the body is made to do.

7) Training not only means running, but also cross-training with weights, various cardio exercises, and eating healthier. It's been a great lesson on taking care of our bodies. And bonus - we have both lost about 20 pounds!

6) Running is such a mental sport. And it leaves us feeling so mentally healthy.

5) This local half-marathon is very popular, and we will be running with some of the past Biggest Loser contestants! I love that show!

4) It's nice to do things together - even if we usually have to train apart, we are still working for a common goal.

3) I just bought $90 running sneakers, and it would be a waste not to run a half-marathon in them ;)

2) Discipline in running leads to discipline in so many other areas of life - eating, sleeping, praying, patience, work, etc.

1) I can finally get a 13.1 sticker for my car. Yes, it's all about the bragging rights in the end :)

Wordless Wednesday: Our Lenten Journey

Two Prayer Requests

Two people we love are in the hospital right now:

Pedro is Laura's husband and our friend.

He was having some pain, and went to the hospital where they discovered he has a pulmonary embolism, or blood clot in his lungs. This is very dangerous, and they are not sure why it happened to him. Right now, he is in the ICU and will be in the hospital all week on blood thinners hoping that the clot dissolves.

Abby is my niece and Godchild.

She has been sick since January with vomiting and weight loss, and doctors aren't sure what's causing it. She is now listed as "failure to thrive" and weighs only 19 pounds at 15 months old. She was such a happy and chubby baby and now she is so thin and frail. She is at a great hospital and they are giving her fluids through an IV in order to get her strong enough to perform a scope and see what's going on inside. They think she has celiac disease, and I know her parents just want an answer to all her health problems.

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."