7 Quick Takes: Things I Love About My Children Edition

1) John-Paul

He gets me.  He truly gets me.  I don't know if it's because he's the oldest, or because we share a birthday, or what, but we are totally in sync.  He appreciates my humor and my crazy dance moves, and is the first to join in.  I understand his sensitivity and awkwardness at times.  We both forget things all.the.time and can't hear anything or anybody while reading.  He's such an awesome big brother, and has been super helpful with Alexander.  Except diapers.  He does not do diapers!

2) Andrew

Gosh, this kid just exudes cool.  Everything comes easy to him.  School? Check. Sports? Check. Making Friends? Check. He even dresses with a cool vibe; wearing his watch and backwards hat.  He looks up to and respects John-Paul so much, and is constantly making Eamon and Maggie laugh.  He is still my cuddlebug, and doles out hugs and kisses without complaint.

3) Eamon

This middle child is exactly that.  He is constantly trying to get the older boy's attention while at the same time wanting to be the big brother to Maggie and Xander.  There's something almost magical about this kid.  I think it's his huge personality crammed into his teeny body.  Everywhere we go, people seem to be drawn to him and he makes friends so easily.  He seems to be quite a natural athlete like Andrew, but is usually found keeping the baby entertained.

4) Maggie

She is a great mix of girly-girl and tomboy.  She loves her dolls just as much as her scooter.  Everytime I go into the computer room, she follows me in and sits at the kid table to color.  She can color forever.  She has recently started making her faces with "pretty red cheeks" and will always write "Maggie Mom Dad" on the bottom.  She still sleeps in her brothers' bedroom because she doesn't want to be "alone in the night".  She also still fights us about her hair almost every morning, but prefers dresses and tights to pants.  She is the queen of giving compliments no matter how terrible you look; "I love your hair and your earrings and your shoes and the whole outfit"!

5) Alexander

This picture doesn't capture this little guy's happy personality.  He is constantly giving us big happy gooey smiles if we just glance in his direction.  He loves his big brothers and sister, and could watch them all day.  He also adores his exersaucer, bouncy chair, diaper changes, and his nightly baths.  This boy can splash up a storm!  We lay him down in his crib and leave the room, and he just finds his thumb and falls asleep.  No crying or fussing.  He knows the drill ;)  Plus he's been sleeping for about eleven hours in a row every night.  He's a dream!

6) Well, I only have 5 kids, but this is supposed to be 7 Quick Takes, so I guess I'll just leave a spot for future baby #6. 

(Future. I am not pregnant, just sayin'.)

7) And maybe lucky #7 in the more distant future. 

Heck, if they're all as wonderful as the ones we've got...why stop?  :)

CCD with Colleen

Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!! 

Today we remember when Mary was conceived without sin in her mother (St. Ann)'s womb:

And in nine months we celebrate Mary's birthday, on September 8th.

Today is not the day when Mary conceived Jesus...that happens nine months before his birthday (Christmas), which is on March 25th, known as the Annunciation.

So, CCD teachers everywhere...Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Because I've Got Nothing Else..

...here's a joke :)

Bill and his wife, Blanche go to the state fair every year. 

And every year Bill would say, 

"Blanche, I'd like to ride in that helicopter."

Blanche always replied, 

"I know Bill, but that helicopter ride is fifty bucks, 

And fifty bucks is fifty bucks!"

One year Bill and Blanche went to the fair, and Bill said, 

"Blanche, I'm 75 years old. 

If I don't ride that helicopter, I might never get another chance."

To this Blanche replied, 

"Bill that helicopter ride is fifty bucks, and fifty bucks is fifty bucks." 

The pilot overheard the couple and said, 

"Folks, I'll make you a deal. I'll take the both of you for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and don't say a word I won't charge you a penny! 

But if you say even one word it's fifty dollars."

Bill and Blanche agreed and up they went. 

The pilot did all kinds of fancy maneuvers, but not a word was heard. 

He did his daredevil tricks over and over again, 

But still not a word... 

When they landed, the pilot turned to Bill and said, 

"By golly, I did everything I could to get you to yell out, but you didn't. 

I'm impressed!"

Bill replied, "Well, to tell you the truth

I almost said something when Blanche fell out, 

But you know, Fifty bucks is fifty bucks!"

Real Mom Moments: 2nd Edition

Well, we missed putting out our shoes for the Feast of St. Nicholas.  Of course, they do it at school today, so my kids weren't too disappointed, but I wish I could get my act together for all the saintly feast days.

John-Paul made the spring soccer competitive team.  Go him!  But it's a travelling team, so no go him.  We just can't figure out how we will get him to weekly practices and games up to an hour away while still holding down the fort with the other four children, some of whom play baseball in the spring.  It's times like this that make me wonder if the children in big families sometimes do get less than families of fewer children. 

We are 1.5 weeks into Advent, and I still don't have Advent candles in our wreath.

Maggie has had bandaids on her elbow for a couple of days, which she wouldn't let us touch.  I thought Phil had bandaged her up, and he thought I had bandaged her up, so we don't even know how or when she got hurt.  When I finally held her down to take them off, she had a huge red bruise/infection under there.  We are keeping it clean and applying antibiotic ointment and it's healing, but seriously, how terrible is that?

I've woken up twice in the past week to find John-Paul laying on my bathroom floor.  He had woken us up in the middle of the night to tell us he was going to puke, and we told him to go to the bathroom.  Then Phil set up a pillow and blanket for him on the couch.  But he decided sleeping on the bathroom floor was a better alternative.  Poor kid!  We definitely need to bring him to the doctor because this random vomiting has happened three times in a few weeks.  Not so random anymore.  I'm thinking he's allergic or sensitive to something he's eating.

Andrew has been interested in Maggie's Bitty Twin, and keeps saying he wants the boy twin.  I told him he needs to play with boy toys.  There's something that just rubs me the wrong way when boys play with dolls...but I do want to encourage his nurturing side.  What to do?

If we want Maggie to do anything that she doesn't want to do, we threaten to braid her hair.  She is so set against having her hair braided, that she'll do chores, eat veggies, etc. just to avoid it.  Is that wrong?

Share your own "real" mom moments with me!!

Being Girly

We've been telling Maggie for a few months now that when she turns four, she could get a baby doll from the American Girl Doll store.  She devoured the catalog, 

and finally settled on this Bitty Baby:

Well, yesterday was the big day!!  Maggie put on her "Mrs. Claus" dress and sparkly headband.  My younger sister and her two girls came with us since it was Abby's birthday gift as well.

Maggie, Lilly, Abby

After an hour drive, we arrived and the girls skipped their way to the store:

We're here!!

Maggie looked at all the dolls and found the baby she originally wanted.  Then I saw that the Bitty Twins could be purchased separately for only a little more than the baby, and they had hair!!  

Maggie decided to get a Bitty Twin instead:

The nice cashier opened her up so Maggie could hold her right away.  Abby chose a Bitty Baby with brown hair, and Lilly picked out a carrier for her old well-loved Bitty Baby.

Such joy!

Then we went next door to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch.  I love that restaurant!

Of course, Rosemary had lunch with us as well:

And then the waiters came over and sang Happy Birthday to the birthday girls:

Mmmmm, strawberries and whipped cream.

Even though I adore my boys, at moments like these, I truly love having a girl!!

Phil loved that we brought him home a slice of Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple Cheesecake:

...and also one for me (Peppermint Bark Cheesecake).  Don't judge, it's a limited edition flavor!  

Besides, there's no sense in dieting until after the holidays :)

7 Quick Takes Friday - The 4 Years and 4 Months Edition

 1) My little girl turned my favorite age yesterday: FOUR!  She requested M&M pancakes and tacos, which we had for breakfast and dinner, respectively.

2) Her godfather, Fr. Dave came over for dinner and gave her this awesome medieval castle from Melissa and Doug complete with the royal family:

3) Gammy and Grandpa came over as well, and Maggie was very happy with their gifts of a cute dress and "four monies", and of course a Princess card:

4) We had "chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with M&M's and a princess" just as she requested.  She also asked for hot fudge, but I had to draw the line somewhere.  That girl is in love with chocolate!

5) Her boyfriend, Robby, sent her this birthday message:

6) My other baby turned 4 months old on Nov. 26th! 

What a sweetie...he has everyone wrapped around his little finger:

7) Xander is soooooo big and happy.  My parents compared him to a sumo wrestler last night ;)

We recently moved him to a crib in another bedroom and he is sleeping through the night!!!