5 Favorites with not Hallie

Linking up with Grace because Hallie is busy.  The nerve, being busy with a newborn and five other kids ;)

1)

My new favorite snack.  It's actually a throwback to my childhood but with an updated peanut butter:

2 ricecakes with 1 TBS of pb on each = 4 WW Points

2)

This gorgeous necklace:

You can have it made with however many eggs are in your nest children are in your family.  Although there may be a limit for you overachieving fertile couples ;)  So pretty!

3)

I am wearing this wrap dress today:

and it's actually flattering!  I wear a tanktop underneath and I should be wearing spanx too, but I kinda like being able to breathe.  Call me crazy.  Old Navy has been making some cute dresses lately.

4)

My kids' teachers.  It's Teacher Appreciation Week and I am just so thankful for the people who teach for peanuts at Catholic schools.  Love you all!

5)

Guest Posts.

I am over at Cynthia's awesome blog writing about discipline for littles (don't laugh...ok, go ahead).  Thanks for having me Cynthia!

Why I'm Still Not on Facebook

Disclaimer: I used to be on Facebook for a short period of time.  

I remember joining during a Christmas break when we were visiting Phil's family and I figured "why not?"  I started finding and requesting friends and was having lots of fun until I saw my ex-boyfriend's name on another friend's list.  I thought to myself, well, I'll be mature about this and ask to be friends and maybe the guilt I still carry from breaking off that 3 year relationship can finally go away.  When I requested his friendship on Facebook, he replied "you've got to be kidding me."  Ouch.  

But life went on and I was discovering so many of my old high school friends, and I loved seeing what they were up to and reconnecting.  I was spending a lot of time on Facebook, but it was Christmas break after all and I had nothing much else to do.

Soon those fun and friendly findings turned into a nosy and voyeuristic temptation.  I secretly delighted in seeing that the mean popular girls from high school had turned out to be not the happiest of people (shocker!) and that the sweet little wallflowers seemed happily married with children.  I would see pictures from someone's home or vacation and find myself feeling jealous that they were living it up.  I was constantly trying to raise the number of friends I had and spent time searching people out.  So much time.

I realize this makes me sound like a crazy person.  But maybe you can relate a little too.  Facebook just isn't good for me.  My personality and my insecurities and my temptation to be nosy and spend too much time worrying about people who don't care about me led me to actually walk away from FB feeling pretty miserable each time I used it.  Phil has never cared for Facebook at all.  He sees his students getting so wrapped up in their online status that they aren't enjoying real life and living in the moment.  A lot of divorces have occurred in which Facebook was cited in the divorce petition.  He would tell me that life does happen even if we don't proclaim every action to the Internet.  

So I quit.  And I never looked back.

This shirt would make things a lot easier.

Now, I know that so many people can use Facebook and Twitter and blogging and Instagram and whatever else is out there and handle it well.  These social medias actually improve their life and allow them to converse with friends and keep in touch with relatives.  I just know that for me, Facebook and the like are a major waste of time and play up all my temptations and vices.  Blogging is the one social media tool that actually makes me feel so good when I use it.  It's cathartic for me to write, and I love reading what's going on with the blogger friends I have.  Sometimes I can even get too wrapped up in the blogworld and spend to much time there, and I have to refocus my priorities.  

Besides my own personal problems with using the social media, Facebook has other problems as well.  So, although there are many times where I feel I probably miss out on a good announcement, or sale, or giveaway, or birthday reminder by not being on FB, I know that for me, the happiness I have from staying away far outweighs those perks.  

Keeping and Pondering

Growing up, my dad would always reply to a compliment with "Just borrowed".  You could tell him he cooked a great omelet (one of his few specialties) or was an amazing builder or had the biggest hands in the whole wide world (he does!) and he would say they were just borrowed gifts from God.  The talent was from God, the glory was His and my Dad was just one of His creations.

A few months ago, Phil and I were talking to an elderly Deacon and his wife that we have known a while.  They are the sweetest couple, and always encourage us and share stories from the past when they were raising their children.  The wife was saying something impressive about one of her daughters, and I said something like "Wow, you need to tell me how you raised a daughter like that!"  And she replied, "We don't take credit for their successes and we don't take offense at their failures".

Both my dad and this couple are such great witnesses to me.  There are plenty of times (just read through the blog archives) where I brag about my kids and put a little too much value on their achievements.  My daughter can read at age four, my baby can say 20 words at 12 months, my son runs faster than anyone else on his team.  Should I be happy for them?  Yes!  Should I give thanks to God for their borrowed talents? Yes!  But at times, I can let it go to my head as if I had anything to do with it. As if.

There are also many moments when I wonder exactly what I did wrong because my child can't seem to "get" math like his classmates, or listen the first time Dad calls him, or talk at a normal decibel.  If I am honestly trying the best I can to raise them with values and morals and a good education, then I shouldn't be so easily offended when they slip up.  They are still God's children, and they are imperfect just like me.  We can do everything in our power to raise them right and teach them properly, but they have free will to make their own choices.

When I consider Luke 2:19 ~ But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart, I am starting to see more and more what the role of motherhood really is.  We should rejoice with our children in their goodness but not let our pride for them become prideful for us.  We should sympathize with their difficulties but not let their crosses become our fault.  We are only vessels.  Parents have such important roles in raising children, and we need to do our best and then let go and let God.  And God willing, they will turn out all right in the end :)

7 QT Friday

1) 

This week was John-Paul's CYO Basketball Awards Banquet.  He was so excited to get a plaque AND a trophy for the season.  He's such a cute little baller.

His coach said something encouraging about every boy on the team, and said when he thinks about JP (as he likes to be called on his sports teams) he thinks "Effort, effort, effort!"

For being one of the youngest (and sometimes basketball-challenged) members on the team, it was really nice to hear.

The other kids enjoyed the "banquet" part of the night!

2)

I'm back on the WW bandwagon.  I love WW philosophy that you can basically eat what you want but not all day long and not in huge portions.  My health insurance pays for my WW membership up to $150 so I am going to use it until I reach that point.  And just so you know how weak I am when it comes to food, I already have gone over my points every day.

3) 

Swimming lessons ended last night.  No more views from the nosebleed section, chasing Xander up and down the bleachers.  How else will we spend our Thursday nights?

JP and Andrew

Maggie

Eamon

Twinsies

4)

So I've somehow started this new tradition where I take a walk after dinner (or whenever, really) with one or two kids.  Usually whoever is my favorite that day (don't even tell me you don't have a daily favorite!)  After Eamon's speech appointment on Wednesday, we went for a quick chilly stroll around the block and he picked me dandelions.  Every mother's favorite, amiright?

I really wish I had started doing this earlier.  First because then I might not need #2 above, and secondly because kids really love one-on-one (or two-on-one) time.  Which leads me to ask - how do you give your kids that individual attention?

5) 

Today is my husband's Feast Day!  He is my real life Saint Philip, if it's possible to hold that title without actually dying, then yup, that's him.

6)

Xander has a major celebrity crush.  Her name is Dora.  He talks about her all day long, sings her songs, and references Boots and Map like they are his buddies.  It's hysterical!

Dora, my love.

Xander's slice of Heaven.  Chocolate milk, thumb in mouth, and Dora on the tube.

7)

Oh, I thought of something!  Last night I was leaving the gym after a kickboxing class with all the kids (Phil babysits twice a week for my brother's kids).  I had Xander on my hip and two others near me and two more up ahead.  This lady who is probably 50 and does a lot of the same classes I do stopped me and said "Woah.  Three kids?"  I laughed and said "Nope.  Five." and pointed ahead to the other two.  She says soooo loudly "Five kids?  What are you, like 17?"  I smiled back sheepishly and said "34" and we continued walking out.  Now I know I was dressed in a Franciscan shirt and shorts with my hair in a ponytail and acne on my face (at what age does that stop?) but come on.  If she had only looked at my tired eyes and wrinkles galore she could have seen I was not 17 and not announced it to everyone around.  Phil and I get these comments every.single.time we go anywhere (and we go a lot of places).  I don't know if it's because we have so many young kids, or that we had them while we were young, or that we are one of the few families that have more than 4 kids around here.  Anyway, I guess I should look at it as a constant call to be a pro-life example in this world.  But maybe people could stop being rude about it, just a little?  I can take shocked, but not rude.

Have a wonderful weekend full of only nice comments about your family size!

Player

Toddlers have the life, don't they?  They just play, play, play all day.  This week's Theme Thursday is Play and so may I present my favorite 21 month old doing what he does best:

Play on playah.

He was so excited to see this campus security vehicle parked inside the athletic building where my kids take swimming lessons.

He was even more excited when his mother let him climb right up on it and start *driving*. 

"Vroom vroom!  Beep beep!" he played for a solid ten minutes, which was ten minutes of time I didn't have to spend playing "Keep the baby out of the pool".  

I guess parents of toddlers play all day too ;)

5 Mother's Day Faves

Five Mother's Day favorites...

1.

First up, a recipe from my own mother:  

Mint Chocolate Brownies

 So easy to make but seem more complicated...which is exactly the kind of thing I like to serve to guests :)

Just bake these brownies as directed:

While they are baking, unwrap a whole box of these (this is a great kid cooking opportunity):

And when the brownies come out of the oven, layer the candies on top and once they start melting, just spread it around like frosting.

Let cool (sometimes I put them in the fridge to let the topping harden faster) and serve.

2.

Climbing Roses.

We have a statue of Our Mother Mary in our backyard under an arch that would really look pretty with some climbing roses growing all around her.

The whole area around her could use some sprucing up too *ahem*.

3.

I've talked about them before, and they are super duper popular in the Northeast and would be a great mother's Day gift.

Alex and Ani bracelets

I have one birthstone bracelet for each of my children, but I would love the clover bracelet, and I think it would be nice to remember your godmother with this bracelet.

4.

Phil used to teach CCD for about 7 years on Sunday mornings after Mass.  Every Mother's Day I used to wish that we could go out to breakfast after Mass to celebrate, and as soon as he was finished with the CCD position, we started doing that.  

Last year's Mother's Day.  This restaurant makes the best apple walnut french toast!

I love a good brunch!  So for you Dads that read this (ha!), let Mom sleep in, give kids a banana and cereal bar to keep them full enough for Mass, and then take your wife out to breakfast after.  Don't forget to make a reservation because everyone else does the same thing!

5.

Willow Tree Figurines

Almost three years ago, I lost a lot of my Willow tree figurines in an accident.  That sounded very dramatic (and it was).  Anyways, I love these beautifully simple and moving pieces and they make great Mother's Day gifts.

Mother and son. 

They grow up so fast.  

In fact, instead of all these gift ideas, maybe someone could just bring me a remote so I can pause time and keep my kids this way forever?  Is that too much for a mother to ask?

Now off to see Hallie for more...