The Everyday Life of a Mother, Teacher, and Wife!

Our "First" Valentine's Day!

2012-02-10T14:40:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe it's almost Valentine's Day already. Where does the time go???

Anyone who knows me, knows I have NEVER been a fan of Valentine's Day. It goes back to my early 20s', when I made a lot of mistakes in my life. One being, getting married, ON VALENTINE'S DAY to a man I neither loved nor was attracted to. He was more of an excuse, or a defense in my life. Marrying him put me into a deep depression. For nearly two years, I stopped caring about myself. I let my appearance go. I stopped hanging out with friends and my family. What was worse, no one except my coworkers knew we were married. I had to lie to my family, especially my Mother. It broke her heart when she found out. Little by little, I was dying inside. Until I met my husband. He pulled me out of my depression and gave me the strength and courage I needed to end that farce of a marriage. More then anything, he was a friend and I fell in love with him.

So, even though I was divorced from that man, every time Valentine's Day came around, I wanted nothing to do with it. It would always bring up bad memories, which wasn't fair to Sean, since he had nothing to do with them. He just wanted to do nice, romantic things for me, on the most romantic day of the year. I wouldn't let him. He use to get mad, telling me to forget about the past. Valentine's Day has nothing to do with my marriage to him. I wanted to believe him, but just couldn't bring myself to except it....until this year.

I don't know what changed, but I don't feel that resentment anymore. In fact, I had this overwhelming excitement for the holiday. I wanted to find something special to get Sean this year. After all, this is actually our "first" Valentine's Day...so to speak. So where did I go to do my research....where else but Pinterest. There were so many great ideas, but one stood out the most.

Sean is from Massachusetts, and our first home together was in a small beach town named Hull. (It's actually a dump) Despite having very little money there, we both have fond memories of the little town. We brought home our first child there. Bought our first car there and I even made some wonderful friends whom I am still quite close with. (Love you Malia!!) So what better idea would I choose then a message in a bottle. This website is awesome. There were so many different bottles to choose from. The picture on the left is the one I chose. The rolled up scroll is on antique paper and you can choose to have the edges burned. They have pre-written messages or you can write your own message. I wrote him a poem! You can also have items inserted. I went with the shells and sand. It was packaged in a lovely gold box, tied with a white ribbon. I am so excited and can't wait for him to open it. He even took Tuesday off for me. We are going to have a nice three day weekend with the kids and then put them to bed early Tuesday night for a romantic dinner. I even bought crystal candlesticks and 10 inch white candles. Its a little surprise! I also bought him some cool Red Sox sunglasses and a wooden Celtics sign that reads "Home Sweet Home" for our front door. I know it's a lot for just Valentine's Day, but I have 10+ years to make up for...lol.

Upity wives should learn to keep their mouths shut!

2012-02-08T17:31:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Patriots. So you could imagine my upset when they lost in horrible fashion to the f****** Giants AGAIN!

I know how hurt I was, so I could only imagine how Welker, Gronk and even Hernandez felt. Each of them missed or dropped an important play, all at key moments in the game. How awful each of them must have felt, blaming themselves for the loss. As if that wasn't bad enough, here comes Gisele Bundchen (Bradys' ~~BITCH~~ wife) and her RUDE, UNCALLED FOR comment, made to several Giants fans after the game. "My husband cannot f—ing throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can't believe they dropped the ball so many times."

I cannot believe she was dumb enough to let the fans get to her. Not only did she make a fool of herself, but she also made Brady look bad in front of his own trusted teammates. She broke the "code of brotherhood". Which I am to understand is a cardinal sin in any sport organization.

I would really like to see her scrawny butt on that field making the plays those AMAZING receivers do everyday. She has no idea how hard they have trained to get where they are. Welker was in tears after the game over his missed catch. That one comment she made just made it all the worse.

I never liked her to begin with. She has given Brady a hard time for years about his job. Come to think of it, they haven't WON a Superbowl since she's been in his life. What does that tell you??

I'm sorry to be so negative, but I love the Patriots and anyone who publicly insults, degrades or humiliates the players for their own satisfaction leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Especially the WIFE of a key player!

Back in the swing of things

2012-01-19T14:04:00.000-08:00

Now that ALL the holidays are behind us, we can finally put some order back into our lives. Sean has gone back to work. He has been crazy busy with "new year" meetings. Since the company will be staying with its present owner, its back to business as usual. Everyone is however, waiting to hear what the owners are planning to do with the company. On a positive note, any employee who stuck with the company through the uncertainty is being rewarded with a retention bonus. They are paying them out in two installments. The first on the 26th of this month and the other at the end of June. Because Sean is one of the top 5% in his salary bracket, he got the highest payout, which is AWESOME for us, since we have a little catching up to do in bills after Christmas. Plus, we still need to finish the boys room (sheet sets and curtains still need to be bought.). We've also decided to buy the girls a trundle bed. The extra cash this month is a big help to us.

Last week, Sean received a call from his boss around 8am. She never calls that early, so right away he knew a wrench would be thrown into his day. He was right. His bosses, bosses boss (still with me....lol) flew in from Seattle to go on a "ride along" specifically with Sean. I guess there has been a "buzz" about his performance with one of the companies bigger accounts. Sean has been #1 in the market with this company for the last three months. (Since he started this new position) I guess they wanted to see what he was doing that the other markets were not. He spent 6 hours with this 7 ft tall man and blew his socks off! The guy reported back to his boss, the VP with glowing remarks about Sean. Its pretty exciting that all these big wigs are taking interest in his work. Maybe another promotion will be in his future a lot sooner.

Yesterday he had to get up super early to be at a race track by 8am. The company was holding their annual AOP meeting and this year they got to race cars before the meeting. Sean had never driven a race car, but he was thrilled to get the opportunity. They each got to race ten laps. Sean came in seventh because he was rear ended by one of the other SDRs in the 9th lap. He just didn't have enough time to catch back up. After racing, it was meetings and presentations all day. He was asked to do a presentation on how to drive sales. Since his stores are #1, they wanted him to share his secrets with all the other markets. He had to give his speech in front of over 150 people and several "high ups". It must have been pretty important since he actually changed his clothes twice before he left the house...lol.

Today, at 8am, he and the other two SDRs' had to go meet with the VP. It was for something called a "round table" meeting. The VP is basically filling the guys in on what will be going on this quarter with the company. Since no one really knows what the future holds with the company yet, this is a pretty important meeting that will give some enlightenment. This is the last early meeting he has to go to until February 1st, when he has to travel all the way to San Diego for some event.

The boys and I have returned to our school schedule. We are in week 14, a bit behind where I'd like to be by this time, but with all the illnesses we've had, I should consider myself lucky. Declan had a bit of trouble with English last term. He received a C- on his final, which brought his final grade down to a B-. Sean wasn't pleased and had him explain why he did so poorly on his exam. His biggest problem, he doesn't read or follow direction. (he actually has that problem in most classes) He just assumes he knows what he's doing and then gets the problems wrong. He has a lot of problems with Nouns and Proper nouns, so I have been trying to find extra activities for him to practice with. If any of my teacher/home schooling friends have any suggestions, please let me know.

Cian is doing really well. He is ready to start reading, so we are starting him on the "I can Read" book collection on level one. They are simple, Dick and Jane style stories. He isn't ready for the bigger 4 and 5 letter words yet, so these simple words are perfect for him. I owe Time4Learning a lot of credit for helping out where Setons could not. It really is a great online curriculum! Now if they could only teach him to write. That has been an uphill battle with him. Sean suggested maybe hiring a tutor twice a week to help out. With Fionn starting school next year, that might not be a bad idea.

I got a new cell phone!!! The HTC Sensation, its super fast compared to my old Vibrant and has an awesome camera. Since Microsoft rolled out the new Nokia Lumia 710, all managers and higher got the phone last week for free. Sean gave me his phone because he is required to use this phone for three months. He loves it. He didn't think he would since Windows has had a bad mobile application in the past, but this phone is amazing. Its super simple yet classy. Great start for bringing Nokia into the smartphone world.

Lastly, I wanted to give a special mention to my friends Michelle and Adam. Adam was in a motorcycle accident last weekend and suffered a concussion, two broken wrists, an ankle and damaged his knee. I have know Adam since working at the Marriott back in Arizona over 11 years ago and his wife and I have become great friends. Adam and Michelle, our prayers are with you both for a speedy recovery. The Air Force needs you!!!!!!!lol

I'll leave this post with some new pictures of the kids. Have a great weekend!!!!

It was a sunny morning during breakfast.

Bear and Wookie

Bear, he thinks he owns the couch.

Wookie too

Lizzie being silly

She has such a pretty smile!

I like your tulip Mommy!

Sam, looks just like Sean as a baby.

Mary thinks she's still a baby.

Mary and Sam

Just a little venting, don't mind me....

2012-01-13T15:07:00.000-08:00

I was reading my blog list and came across a womens blog who was bashing stay-at-home moms. She made a top 10 list of what we do all day long. It made me laugh because so many times I have been asked these questions and more. I never thought of it before, but they are rather rude and annoying to be asked. So I decided to answer these questions and add my own. So here are my top ten "NEVER Ask a stay at home Mom" questions.

10 Things You Should NEVER Say to a Stay at Home Mom

1. It must be so nice to sleep in every morning.

I think this is my favorite. Because we have 7 children ranging from 9 to 0. Most mornings the 4 oldest boys are up screaming, yelling and slamming doors before the sun is even up. Seans' alarm goes off at 7:30am every morning. Not that we ever actually need it. I must then get the laundry started, dishes put away and counters/tables sanitized before I even begin to make breakfast. (We have two annoying cats) I have to fix breakfast, change diapers, pull out something to thaw for dinner and clean up the trail of garbage from the dogs, all by 8:30am. Then its on to feeding the kids, stopping food fights, and generally keeping the peace while my husband does his morning conference call. I also have to feed the baby some time in between. I have to clean the kitchen AGAIN, get the little ones settled in the living room and the older kids started with school. Did I mention I home school? All by the time you leave your house for work. Sleeping in to me is 6am. What time do you wake up again? Oh yeah, did I mention that weekends follow this exact same pattern?

2. Can you tell me what is happening on my favorite soap?

I have to admit, I have been watching the Young and the Restless since I was in kindergarten. Thanks to modern technology, the DVR is my new best friend. I currently have around two weeks of episodes waiting for me. Not that I ever have time to sit and watch them. If you want to know what is going on in Sid the Science Kid or Thomas, I'm your girl. If you want to know anything about the adult world, you're asking the wrong person. Since I can't drive, I never leave the house. On the off chance that I do get to watch TV during the day, it is while multitasking - you know, folding clothes or vacuuming floors. So I probably don't know if Luke and Laura are still together. But I'll be sure to ask my mommy friends for you.

3. Don't you get bored just sitting home all day?

Sitting? What's that? The closest my butt gets to sitting is while feeding Sammy, but I'm usually standing while doing so because I am teaching a class in the process. I don't get lunch, so no sitting there. I usually eat my dinner while serving the family theirs, again that's standing. I am constantly running around between teaching and household chores. I do get to sit down, but its usually only to pee. I long for boredom. I long for one day of having an hour uninterrupted to sit down. So, no, rest easy - you don't have to worry about me getting bored!

4. It must be nice to have nap time every day.

Babies nap. Mamas do not. In the two hours of nap time (if I'm lucky) I teach, fold clothes, pick up toys (that will need to be picked up at least 10 more times before the day is over), vacuum floors and dust furniture. If I'm feeling really lucky, I may try to squeeze in a three minute shower. So don't worry that I'm dreaming away while your working - the only dreaming this mama gets to do during "work hours" is daydreaming about a break!

5. Don't you just love never having to get dressed up for work?

I always want to answer this one with "Why yes, because I prefer spit up covered PJ's to pant suits any day of the week!" Once upon a time, I got to wear a nicely pressed skirt suit with pantie hose and heels. Those days are long gone. Do you know how frustrating it is to never have time to get dressed? Or do your hair and make-up? Or perhaps actually leave the house? PJ's and boxers are my uniform of necessity. I can't crawl on the floor in a skirt. I can't clean bathrooms in heels. And I miss being dressed up and not having to worry that my clothes are going to end up with formula, jelly or some other sticky pre-eaten food.

6. What do you do with yourself all day?

Well, let me tell you what I don't do. I don't get to close my office door for five minutes alone. I don't get an hour lunch break where I can just get away. Actually, I don't even get to go to the restroom alone. So what do I do? I teach, cook, clean, referee, pick up toys, bath babies, fix bottles, clean litter boxes, pick up chewed up toys, kiss boo-boos and pretty much anything else that needs to be done during the day. And tomorrow I'll do it all over again.

7. It must be so nice to not have a boss!

I do have a boss - 8 actually! Their names are Sean, Declan, Cian, Liam, Fionn, Mary, Lizzie and Sam. And it's quite humbling when you are directed around by a 9, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 7 month old. If I was my own boss I would schedule a lunch hour alone and make nap time 4 hours a day. But my bosses don't agree with this. Some days they don't want to nap. Some days they don't want to give me time to eat. Some days they don't give me time to breathe. My bosses are some of the most demanding out there because reasoning doesn't work with them. Pleading doesn't work with them either. If the house is a rec by time Sean gets home, I have him to answer too as well. And taking a sick day - that definitely doesn't work with them!

8. What's the last good book you read?

Do you mean an adult book? As in not "Super Fudge" or "This is Our Home"? If I am still awake by 9pm, I may read a few pages on my tablet. I did just finish reading "The Help", but it took me almost two months to do so. Most nights I crash when my head hits the pillow. I'm lucky to get 6 hours of sleep with Sean tossing and turning all night. So you enjoy that new novel that you're reading on your lunch breaks. By the time I get to read it, you'll have read at least a dozen more.

9. What are you going to do on your holiday?

I'm so glad that your work closes for certain days each year. And that you get a paid day off to do nothing. The kids don't have an off button. And unfortunately I don't get federal holidays or two weeks of paid leave a year. So on scheduled days off for the rest of the world, I'm jealously looking on while doing the exact same thing I do the other 364 days of the year.

10. Why don't you just put the kids in public school?

Again, this is a favorite. Have you actually taken a stroll through your local public school lately? How many kids are in your childes homeroom class? How many visits to the principles office have you made because your child has come home with a black eye or a split open lip? These are all questions I don't have to face because I refuse to put my children in that situation. With the federal budget the way it is, most schools have cut out after school sports, field trips, art, music and my favorite, school lunches. Now what does that leave for your children to do in their spare time...The classes are far too crowded for one teacher, leaving slower children to fall behind. I have two that need extra help. And lets talk about the students. Have you seen or heard the language that spews out the mouths of 8 and 9 year old these days? Or the talk of sex in elementary schools? My girlfriends 14 year old daughter, who is in 8th grade, was caught in the shower with a boy while ditching school. She spends more time texting her boyfriend than doing homework. What's worse, she can't even speak proper English. What the heck does "Slow much" mean? So the next time you ask me why I refuse to put my children in public school, why not ask yourself who your child is hanging out with or why Sarah is failing English.....

Now, don't get me wrong. I am sure there will need to be a follow up to this entitled 10 things you should never ask your working friends. But in all seriousness, please respect that I work hard at my job. No, it may not be traditional. Yes, it may be a little less structured then your corporate position. But do trust me when I say there are days I would switch with you in a second! But in the end, I bet I'm a lot happier with what I do then you are....

Happy 2012!!!

2012-01-05T15:16:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I can't believe another year has come and gone in the blink of an eye. Christmas was wonderful, but I'll get to that in a few.

This holiday season wasn't as great as it normally would be. The past three weeks have been filled with illness and infections. Backtracking to my last post, I was blessed with a UTI on Thanksgiving. Only days later, Sean came down with a small cold that spread like wildfire throughout the house. Everyone except myself caught it. (It was a miracle I didn't.) Even Sammy had a nasty cough. My poor baby boy had his first illness. It was heartbreaking, but he fought it like a champ. Around the same time Sean caught the cold, he also developed a boil on his lower back. Of course Mary then caught the infection and ended up with three, one her side, one her tailbone and one on her inner thigh. The one on her side was huge and scary looking. I had never dealt with anything like it before, so I was pretty worried. It took two weeks to get rid of them and she still has small outbreaks from it now. A week ago, Cian cut his finger open and didn't bother to tell anyone. That turned into a boil as well, and spread to his leg, on the side of his knee. By New Years day, it was 10 times worse than Marys. He had a slight fever as well. So Sean took him to an urgent care. The doctor didn't seem too concerned, but did give him two antibiotics and a shot in the butt. Cian has not taken any of this as well as Mary. He has been the biggest baby about it, lol. All of this has made the holiday season a bit stressful. Between playing Santa and doctor, I have been running ragged.

Enough depressing talk. On to the Christmas festivities!!! Sean worked 6 days in a row to have Christmas day through this past Tuesday off. It was the first time we have ever had him around for a whole week after Christmas. It was soooo fun!! We did have a great Christmas day. Mom went crazy this year with gifts. She bought Declan a new 24 inch bike, that was way too big for him. Sean had to take it back and exchange it for a 20 inch.

She bought Cian a new scooter that I got stuck putting together. Santa bought him the same one last year, but I broke it trying to put it together. We tried to exchange it, but they were sold out. So he never got his scooter last year and Declan did. He loves it! She also bought Mary and Fionn Radio Flyer My 1st Scooters, pink and red. Those were easy to put together. They both love them. She bought Liam a Radio Flyer Trike, he is constantly stealing Marys, so now he has his own to ride. Lizzie got a cute little bug to ride. Stupid Bear chewed off all the toys the day after Christmas. She was so upset. Mom also bought the Fisher Price Grand Dollhouse and all the rooms to go with it. She's crazy, the house alone was $75. Each room was between $12 and $25. She bought 8.

For Sean and I, she bought a red professional pots and pans set. A red yogurt/ice cream maker. I really nice knife set along with new cookie sheets and utensils. Last, but not least......an Xbox 360 with Kinect and the Disneyland Adventure game....THAT WOMAN IS CRAZY!!!!! I love her to death, but she's still crazy. I won't even go into what she bought my Dad, Aunts Rene and Doreen and Jazmin. (She got her the Xbox Kinect and Nintendo 3DS) She decided this was going to be the last Christmas she would go crazy with.

As I had mentioned in my last post, this was going to be my first Christmas buying gifts for Sean by myself. I was able to get him the Star Wars Blu-ray set, a really cute key chain and, his big gift....A new smoker with wood chips and a grilling set. It wasn't going to get here until after Christmas, so we decided to do a second Christmas on New Years Eve. He apparently had another gift for me as well........a 10k white gold diamond wedding band, to replace the one my Mom bought me for our wedding. At the time, Sean couldn't afford to buy me one. I was shocked and thrilled!!!! It's so beautiful and he even cried when he gave it to me. He had our song playing on his tablet as well.

He gave me my gift first, so I felt a little bad that my gift to him wasn't as flashy. He loved it anyway! We spent the rest of the afternoon putting it together so he could smoke a big brisket for dinner on New Years Day.

The girls made out with lots of dollhouse stuff, princess jewelery and even a vanity. (which they fought over) The favorite gifts were the dollhouse and the Disneyland Adventure Xbox game. Mary and Lizzie love that they can hug and dance with Minnie Mouse and all their favorite princesses.

We had a yummy turkey dinner with all the trimmings and our wonderful landlady Keiko cooked us a delicious prime rib and brought it over for dinner. She has been such a blessing in our life and come to think of her as part of the family. (Sean goes over to play Wii Bowling with her a lot. Not too shabby for an 82 year old women...lol).

All in all, it was a lovely Christmas. The best part, we aren't broke in January this year...lol. I'll leave this with some photos from the gift opening!!

Crazy Christmas Season

2011-12-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

Wow, Thanksgiving was gone in a flash and now Christmas is almost here. Where did this year go?

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I wish I could say the same for me. Don't get me wrong, the meal was wonderful. However the day before, as I was cleaning out the garage, I got really light headed and felt sick. I went inside and sat down and it only got worse. I went to the bathroom to pee, and then it hit me. Any women knows exactly what I'm talking about....cramping and burning...UGH!!!! I had a UTI. The first one I've had in almost four years. Unfortunately, I had no way of getting to a doctor until Tuesday, so I had to suffer and drink tuns of water and pure cranberry juice for days. Finally, my wonderful next door neighbor Mel came back from vacation and took me to the doctor. Turns out, I waited to long to go and it almost turned into a kidney infection. I had to have a shot in my bum, which was the WORST. (Not the shot, the medicine going into the muscle...OMG that hurt for days!!) He then gave me Ciprofloxacin 500mg twice a day for 5 days. I'm allergic to Amoxicillin, so that was the next best thing. Sean said that stuff is crazy strong and will wipe out the infection in no time. To top it all off, my "monthly bill" reared its ugly head during the same time. (How did women survive without tampons....) Needless to say, I was in terrible pain for Thanksgiving.

This year, Sean bought a tun of new decorations at Costco. He bought matching swags, garland, bulb set for the tree, and a huge wreath for the wall. All red, white and green pine. They look beautiful together. He and the boys went to Costco to buy the tree as well. Unfortunately, not only do they not cut the stump, but they don't tie it to your car either. So, Sean bought a chain saw that he had no idea how to use. He didn't realize it needed an extension cord and oil. So he had to make another trip out to Sears. Instead of buying the oil and cord, he bought a flimsy hack saw, thinking that would cut through a tree stump just fine.....HA!!!!! He didn't get through an inch before the thing broke. So, he gets pissed and swears to never buy a real tree again. Meanwhile, I take a hammer and large flat head screwdriver and start trying to pry off the cut stump. I was using what was left of the hack saw and the hammer and screwdriver. It took almost an hour, but I manager to get most of the stump off. (All but about an inch in the middle) It was enough to let it drink water. Now, getting it into the stand, that was a whole other challenge. The tree is the heaviest we have ever had. So heavy that it kept tipping the stand over. It took three tries to get it to stand up somewhat straight. The end product....it was worth it. The prettiest tree we've ever had!

This year, I was determined to get all 7 kids in a Christmas picture, around the tree. Sigh.......I tried. I took around 100 shots and this was the best I could get. Mary was moody, Lizzie wouldn't sit still. Declan kept putting on a fake smile, Cian wouldn't look at the camera when everyone else was, Sam was tired of being held by Declan and Liam kept trying to inch away with the Christmas present. The only good one was Fionn. He's my little angel! As a gift for Sean, I earned enough Coke Rewards points to get him a sterling silver key chain. I wanted all the kids in the photo, but the picture was too wide for the key chain. So I tried to get a shot of just the girls instead. YA, that didn't work either. Mary was still in a mood and all Lizzie wanted to do was play with her smartphone. Again, this was the best shot I could get. I sure hope he likes it.....sigh.

Lastly, you're going to think this it hilarious, but I do online surveys for fun. Opinion Outpost is the site I use and it pays rather well. For 100 points, you get $10. I got 1000 points in two weeks and was able to get a $100 gift card for Amazon. So, I bought Sean the Blu-ray set of Star Wars. He's been wanting that but not willing to pay the money. I am currently trying to save another 815 points to get him a new smoker and wood chips, and finally made it yesterday. When I went to go purchase the gift card, IT DIDN'T WORK. The option is temporally unavailable. GREAT...now how am I going to get his gift. It's the only money I have. For those of you who don't know, I am a stay at home Mom and our only income is through Sean. He never lets me buy him a gift for his birthday or Christmas, and if he does, I can usually only spend $30 or less on him. So this year, I'll show him...HA!!!! I'LL MAKE MY OWN MONEY AND HE CAN'T SAY S*** ABOUT IT!!!!! HA...I WIN!!!!!LOL. Anywho, I really hope they get that option back up and running before Christmas. I really want to get him that gift.

Here are a few more photos of our Christmas decorations!

Merry Christmas...HAHAHA

What I'm thankful for....

2011-11-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again....the holidays! Thanksgiving is tomorrow and this is the first year Sean has had the day before off! I finished off the first term of school Sunday, so the boys and I have this week off. The house is decorated for Christmas (minus the tree). Mary is almost potty trained (except for naps and overnight) and the cooking is half complete! (We decided to semi-cook this year)

We have so much to be thankful for this year. Sean works for a wonderful company that treats and pays us very well. We have a roof over our heads and a vehicle to get us from place to place. Our bellies are always full and there is always clothes on our backs. Our children will have a wonderful Christmas and want for nothing. I would tend to say, our life is pretty comfortable. As I think of how good we have it, I can't help but think of a friend who isn't so lucky this year. They are a family of 5 without an income. Her husband is unable to find work, mostly for medical reasons. They cannot pay there bills or even take their children to see a doctor, for lack of proper health insurance. The holidays are looking pretty grim for their children. Without money, Christmas will be slim to none. As if things couldn't get any worse, they are about to lose their vehicle. Even if her husband were hired tomorrow, how would he get to and from work....

I would like to say I can't imagine how that family feels, but I can. Not so long ago, we were in that same position. Unemployed, broke, homeless and almost without a vehicle, all during the holidays. When you're put in that position, the things you do to survive may not be legal or even right, but you do what you have to do, to save your family. Sometimes you have to put pride aside and ask for help. It took being homeless with four hungry children for us to do so, but we did. I am grateful for my amazing, wonderful Mother who bailed us out not once, or twice, but three times. We are forever in her debt and happily return the favor monthly.

I refer to my family so often, but at the same time I feel sad for my husband. My parents and Aunt are his only family, even though his Mother and Sister are somewhere back east. It has been years since we have seen them and it saddens me to know that they have no idea where we are or that she has so many Grandchildren. However, my husband chooses to keep it that way and I have no say in the matter. I would have liked to have had a sister-in-law, since I am an only child. Courtney, his little sister, is a bright, funny women that reminded me so much of Sean. She could make me laugh like no other. It seems like a lifetime ago, and every holiday and birthday I can't help but think of her. As children they were so close. Now....so far apart. They really have no idea what they're missing...

I really hope my friend and her family have someone they can fall back on in their time of need. We are in the season of hope and faithfulness. Family is most important and sometimes much needed. I am grateful to have a strong bond with my parents and Aunt Rene. In our time of need, they were there for us. As we are for them. I know I said it before, but I am very thankful for my wonderful family, near and far. So with that, from my family to yours...

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!! God Bless

Random photos

2011-11-16T10:26:00.001-08:00

Busy week for us here. Sean is on a six day stretch so he can be off the day before turkey day. So I am shrinking two weeks into one to finish this first term.
Since I don't have the time to really blog this week, I'll post a few recent pictures of the kids. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Because everyone should learn to potty with a kitten on their lap!

Lizzie strikes a pose

Mary and Sammy

Sammy 5 months old

Fionn, Mary and Cian making an A

Mary, Lizzie, Cian and Fionn making a 5

Thanksgiving Crafts for the Kids

2011-11-10T14:39:00.001-08:00

Since Thanksgiving is....OMG...two weeks away (where has this year gone), I thought I'd share a few cute crafts for the kids. This year we decided to semi cook the Thanksgiving meal, so I needed something to keep the kids distracted during cooking and football. Thanks to my new found addiction Pinterest, I found some really cute and easy crafts the kids can all do together!

This first craft is my favorite. Leaf Feather Turkeys

You'll need:

brown construction paper
white construction paper
dried and pressed fallen leaves
large circle stencil
small circle stencil
crayons
glue
scissors
small wiggly eyes (optional)

Use a cereal bowl or something of the same size to outline a circle on a brown piece of construction paper and cut it out. (Great scissor practice for the little ones) Use an empty toilet roll to outline a smaller circle on the same sheet of brown paper. Cut that out as well.

Add eyes to the smaller circle (small wiggly eyes work too) and cut off the tip of a pointy leaf for the beak and a small strip of a leaf for the red waddle. Glue them on.

Finding the perfect leaves are a bit of a challenge for us since our trees don't really change colors. Find a few different sizes, shapes and colors. 8-10 leaves should do the trick.

Glue down the bottom half of the big circle to a white sheet of construction paper. Carefully tuck a couple of the bigger leaves behind the big circle, arranging them however you wish. Glue those down. Add the smaller leaves on top of the bigger leaves, again arranging them however you wish, just make sure to overlap them, and glue those down as well. Glue the top half of the bigger circle to the leaves. Draw some legs and you're done!

What a cute craft to hang on the fridge or a window!

This second craft I realized we can't really do since we don't have large leaves here, but I really like this craft so I'm going to post it anyway.

Colorful Leaf Painting

Supplies:

large leaves (different shapes and sizes)
cookie sheet
acrylic paints (red, orange, green, yellow)
white construction paper
paper towel

Start by squirting different colored acrylic paints onto a baking sheet. Spread around the paint a bit to mix the colors and allow for enough room to press the entire leaf down. Press the leaf into the paint and then carefully place the leaf onto the paper, pressing it some more. Make sure to place the leaf vein-side down. (into the paint)

Children really need to press down all around the leaf...making sure to press all the way to the corners. It takes a minute or two for small hands to be able to do this.

Carefully lift the leaf off the paper....the results are amazing and each so different, despite using the same leaf over and over again.

I really want to try this with my children, so I think I'll just bite the bullet and pick a few leaves off the tree in the front your. They're not very big, but they do have a nice shape. Here is another picture I found on the web of the same concept. So pretty and fallish!!

So that's my little craft session for the day!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

I know I'm a few days late posting this, but Sean took Saturday off for extra family time. For some reason, I cannot post pictures from my tablet, so I had to write this post and then go back and post the pictures from the laptop. So, here was our Halloween....

Halloween was a little different for us his year. Since we still don't have a replacement for the van, we couldn't take the kids to the mall for trick or treating. Instead, Sean stayed home with Liam and Sam, and I took Declan, Cian, Fionn, Mary and Lizzie out. I'll get back to that adventure in a few minutes.

Sean spent most of the morning hunting down a pumpkin. For some reason, there was a shortage here this year and every Wal-Mart, Target, Costco and Vons was out of them. He did finally find one, though I'm not sure where. He cut open the top and let the kids go at it cleaning it out. Declan, Cian, Fionn, Mary and actually Liam were all set to get there hands dirty when Declan decided to push Fionn off the bench and he hit his chin on it. So, Declan got to sit on the floor while the others had fun cleaning out the pumpkin. He wasn't too happy. When they finished, Sean attempted to carve a scary face, but it turned out, not so scary...lol. (For some reason, we didn't take a picture of the final product.)

We put the little ones down for an early nap and let the older kids watch The Great Pumpkin before getting ready for Trick or Treating. They had pizza, which Declan complained about. I guess he was annoyed that we had had pizza the year before as well....sigh. (I hate to see what he will be like as a teenager.)

As I had mentioned earlier, I was taking the kids Trick-or-Treating because our van is not drivable. So, I got myself and the girls washed a ready while Sean got Declan, Cian and Fionn ready. This year, Mary wanted to be Snow White. Lizzie was Minnie Mouse. Declan and Cian were Mario...again, and Fionn was Superman. Since I was going out alone with five kids, we though it was best to leave Liam and Sam with Sean. (Sam was a doggy BTW) I had to cut Marys hair because it was in her eyes, so I decided to make it look like Snow Whites hair. I added a little lipstick and blush to her cheeks. She looked sooooo cute!!!!

Lizzie was so cute as Minnie Mouse. The ears the costume originally came with had a red bow, but Liam snapped them in half, so Sean had to order a new pair two days before Halloween. He refused to pay $15 for ears with a red bow, so he went the cheap route and bought the $5 pink bow ears. She looked silly, but I don't think anyone noticed except me.

Fionnys costume has a funny story. A couple years ago, he made up a silly super hero for himself named Super Wookie. (Named after our dog Wookie) Super Wookie was originally a "she" but was actually a boy. (Fionn was having gender confusion) Ever since, he has pretended to be his super hero alter ego. Well, this year he wanted to actually be Super Wookie for Halloween. Since we couldn't make an actual costume for Super Wookie, We told him the Super Man costume was actually Super Wookie....lol. He was happy.

Declan and Cian were Mario again this year since their costumes still fit them from last year. Sean was once again too cheap to buy new costumes for them. They didn't really mind. Its all about getting candy to them. I had Declan strap Lizzie into a stroller, which he pushed for me. Fionn and Mary were holding my hands and Cian was walking behind Declan. He was my biggest challenge. He tends to wonder off and not watch where he's going. I waited until 6:30pm to take them out. It wasn't quite dark yet. I kept looking up and down our street for kids or even people to have their doors open. The only other houses giving out candy were Carol and Mel next door and the family next to them. We literally had to walk to the next block before we saw any kids or houses handing out candy.

Once we did find houses giving out candy, kids came out of no where. There was one group of at least 20 kids. They looked to be between the ages of 5 and 12 and the language coming out of their mouths would put a sailor to shame. Declan kept trying to speed up to them, so I had to keep pulling him back. This was Lizzies first real Halloween and she was having a blast. Declan would roll her up to the door and taught her to say "Trick-or-Treat". He made sure she got a piece of candy in her pumpkin bucket. Every house we left, she would say "Bye-bye Daddy". I'm not sure why she thought every man was Sean...lol. Somewhere along the way, Cian lost a shoe and didn't bother to tell me. He wasn't wearing socks for some reason either and it was chilly. I didn't notice until Fionn started complaining he had to pee. We were several streets away from our house so I had to pick up Mary and hurry them along. By time we reached our street, my back and feet were killing me and I had three fussy kids.

Sean had only three kids the entire time we were gone. He let Liam have a piece of candy and wait for the kids with him. He climbed up on the couch and fell asleep before a single trick-or-treater arrived. The poor dogs were locked outside and were not happy about it. Sean felt bad and let them into the classroom. He opened the window a crack so Bear could stick his nose in. He gave them treats and played with them. He had been watching the Ghost Hunters 6 hour live Halloween special we the kids and I got home. We got them out of their costumes, gave them each a piece of candy and put the four little ones to bed. Declan and Cian got to stay up and watch the rest of Ghost Hunters with us. We only had two other kids come to the door by 9pm. Not a great turn out this year, but this was the first time we've taken them door to door for candy, and despite Cians shoe mishap, it went over pretty well!

Another legend is gone....

2011-11-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

Last night, Andy Rooney 92, passed away due to complications from surgery. He was best know for his 33 years as a commentator on the BEST journalistic show ever 60 Minutes. His little 3-5 minute rants and musings were always entertaining, whether you agreed with them or not.

I remember as a child, I would stay at my grandparents house on the weekends every now and then. Sunday nights Grandpa would park himself in the den and watch 60 Minutes. It was one of his favorite shows and Lord help you if you interrupted him from watching it. As an adult, my husband and I watch it almost every Sunday. It truly is the last reputable journalistic show on TV today. The topics they report are real and important, unlike this eras journalistic ideas (do we really care about Kim Kardashian getting divorced or the Michael Jackson death trial).

Just a few weeks ago, we watched his last episode and couldn't help but feel a little sad. Is he the first of the last respected journalists to pass on? Lets face it, non of them are getting any younger and I personally don't see any of them being replaced by reputable reporters. The average person watches local news. My husband jokes that if you watched a person watching the local news, you might catch a little drool dripping down their chin. I think that's a bit harsh, but I do see his point. You really do have to be a moron to be interested in anything they report. Here, the Michael Jackson trial and Kim Kardashian divorce takes precedence over the Euro debt crisis and China. Why is that, because the average person got a terrible education and their attention span for real news is 0!!!

I better stop while I'm ahead. I don't mean to offend anyone. I'm just sick and tired of this country not educating our children properly. If the average journalism graduate thinks that celebrity gossip is "real news" I seriously fear for the future of shows like 60 Minutes.

Returning to School and Birthday Fun!

2011-10-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe 5 weeks have come and gone!

We have been super busy with school and birthdays. Declan started 3rd grade and Cian K-1 on September 27th. Declan has a new class this year, vocabulary. They make the lessons fun, so its become one of his favorite classes. He is off to a great start!

Cian is repeating Kindergarten with Setons and doing 1st grade with Time4Learning. We went back and forth on whether to put him in Setons 1st grade curriculum or hold him back. It was clear he wasn't ready for their advanced 1st grade schedule, so we decided to repeat Kindergarten. I incorporated Time4Learning into his lessons and he loves it. Not only is he learning to read, but also learning to use a computer and tablet.

Declan is working on memorizing times tables in Math and is being introduced to pre-algebra. I don't remember starting it in third grade, but he sure is. Its pretty basic, like x+1=3 solve for x. He gets a kick out of it. I just hope it doesn't get too advanced too soon, because I suck at math....lol. I couldn't pass algebra 1. Thank goodness Sean is a math whiz.

We have had three birthdays this past month, Liam, Declan and Lizzie. Liam turned 6 on 9/7 Declan turned 9 on 10/21 and Lizzie turned 2 on 10/13. For the life of me, I can't remember the details from Liams party.....I'm sitting here racking my brain, and I can't remember anything...lol. The pictures are on Seans phone and he's at work, so that doesn't help me out much. I'll have to post them at a later date.

Lizzie had a lovely birthday. She got a new Barbie and pink car, a toy pink microwave, which all the kids LOVED, a Tinkerbell doll with wings that flutter, a new baby doll and stroller. Her favorite toy is the stroller and baby, of course. Sean and the boys went to Costco to pick up her huge princess cake. It was enough to feed 45 people...we have a big family, but that was a bit crazy...lol. She had a great day. I can't believe my baby girl is two. Only one baby left.....sigh.

Declan turned 9 this year. Wow, where has the time gone. I remember when he was born very well. Between walking the halls and Courtney, Sean's sister dropping a tray of food on the floor in the cafeteria, (Sean still gets a good laugh out of that...but we still love her..lol.) it was a wild ride. In the end, we had this perfect baby boy. He was so sweet, now he's 9 and thinks he knows EVERYTHING!!! (You should have seen the temper tantrum he pulled last night. ROTFL!!) In the end, he's a great boy. Helpful, caring, a hard worker and wonderful big brother.

Sean got him his first skateboard, which he loves. A Rubik's cube, Prime Transformer, a puzzle and the show stopper.....an Android device. How many 9 year old kids do you know walking around with a $200 cell phone.....sigh. It doesn't have voice, but he does have unlimited Internet and text. Seans thought behind it was to teach him about technology and reading. I still don't think he should have it, but I was over ruled.

Besides birthdays and school, not a lot has happened. I did get a new free phone. I had the Samsung Galaxy, but Sean won a MyTouch from LG at a distributors convention yesterday. He was hoping for the new Samsung Galaxy S 2, but was the only guy in his group that got the new MyTouch. He was pretty pissed since the MyTouch is a step down from his Sensation. So he gave it to me. It's not too bad. It is 4G, which my phone is not, and has a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, a 5-megapixel camera with 720p HD video capture, a front-facing camera for video calls via Qik, and Netflix support. The screen is 3.8 inches, touch of course. It will be out around Christmas time. (Mine is the one on the left)

The kittens are now 9 weeks old and the sweet black and white fluff ball went to his new home. My neighbor Carol, next door gave him a good home. She named him Figaro (or however you spell it) and bought him a jeweled collar. He eats off her good China...lol. Shadow is staying with his Mama since he is still nursing. For some reason, she can't wean him off. He still can't eat solid food either, so I have been giving him Sams baby cereal, just don't tell Sean....lol. Sean hates him because he chews Sams nipples off the bottles. He's had to buy three new sets in the last month. We are once again down to one. Shadow loves Sam and will lay with him any chance he gets. I took this cute picture of the two of them this morning.

Remember about 8 months ago when I mentioned the neighbors from hell moving out....the new owned fixed up the entire house and flipped it. Well, I met the new couple who were buying it about a month ago. A newlywed couple expecting their first child. Well, they moved in this past weekend. They have had workers working on the house as well. They have two yappie dogs as well, so this is going to be one noisy street. I'm just glad they aren't trashy.

Lastly, here are a few pictures over the last few weeks.....enjoy!

Sam, 4 months in his football jammies

A little tummy time and Patriots!!

Declan and his Optimus Prime

Lizzie eating her birthday cake

Bear and I in class.

Mr. Bear, Sticking out tongue 101.

Declan w/ his new skateboard.

Declan and his new smartphone.

Lizzie and her new baby.

Sigh.........

2011-09-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, I loved Barbie. I had every Barbie you could of. My favorite was Day and Night Barbie. I had the office play set as well and I would pretend Barbie was a lawyers secretary. I loved her pretty business skirt suit. When I grew up, I wanted to be that lawyers secretary, wearing the pretty business suit and working in a big fancy office building. I wanted to make lots of money and look it too....

27 years later, not exactly as I had dreamed. Not at all in fact. I never became that beautiful successful women. In fact, the closest I ever came to an office was behind a lobby desk in a hotel, making $12 an hour at most. (I did own a pretty dress suit though, my Grandmother bought it for me one Christmas many years ago.)

After I graduated high school, I got a job working at Robinsons May in the Petite department at our local mall. It was a part time job, just something for me to do to make a little cash. At that point, I had no desire to return to school. That was one of my biggest mistakes. Instead, I met a scum bag guy that brainwashed me into thinking he hung the moon. I was pregnant by 19. I went through hell, living with his family. When my child was 2 months old, I moved back in with my parents and tried to make something of myself. I went to the local community college and registered for school. I made it through one semester and realized I couldn't hold a full time job, raise my child and study too, so I dropped out. I worked full time at a Marriott Hotel, and for the three years I worked there, I loved it. Life was simple then. Sure I couldn't drive, but I had friends and family I would hang out with. I had a LIFE!

10 years later, I have 8 children. A loving husband that works his butt off to support us. Two dogs with fleas and 3 cats with fleas. I still don't know how to drive and I haven't left the house since I gave birth to my 8th child. The only communication I have with the outside world is my next door neighbor Mel. Now that school has started, my days consist of homeschooling until 3pm, laundry, cleaning and making dinner.

My husband Sean, on the other hand, has a great 9-6 job. Wears nice dress clothes, has a laptop, a smart phone, makes great money and works in a big fancy office building once a week. He travels all over the southern part of our state on a daily basis and meets lots of interesting, professional people. Today, he got to spend the day at a beautiful beach, playing football and having a barbecue with his co-workers. He even got paid to do it. He has the career and social life I wanted.....and I got the barefoot and pregnant housewife job.

I feel so useless and unimportant. I feel like everything I do is for nothing. Like I'm just here filling space so someone else can live my dream. I'm not saying being a stay at home mom isn't important too, because I know it is. I just feel trapped because I have a paralyzing fear I can't overcome. My life wouldn't be so bad if I could learn to drive. I know a lot of stay at home moms who have it all, because they can cart themselves and their children around. They have hobbies to keep them sane. They have a social life and family to support them. (Sean and I only see my Mother once or twice per year.) We don't have any of that. Sean doesn't like to socialize outside of work. I guess he finds small talk annoying, which is ironic since he gets paid to do just that all day, everyday. He won't let me hire a babysitter because he doesn't trust anyone except my mother with our children. So, here I am, having a pity party blog post for myself. I know, I'm pathetic and need to get a life.......sigh........but thanks for listening anyway!

Funniest Sign Ever!

2011-09-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, my Grandparents had this sign hanging in there kitchen, to the right of the doorway leading into the dining room. It was a wooden sign, which looked to be from the late 50's or early 60's. I loved the sign because it was so funny. The front of it had three stick figure firemen holding a fire hose. Above them read "In Case of Fire, Raise This Flap....." When you raised the wooden flap, the inside read "Not Now STUPID, In CASE of FIRE!" I use to laugh my butt off at that sign, reading it over and over again. Well, almost 11 years ago my Grandmother passed away and then my Grandfather did as well a year or so later. All the possessions in the house were either taken by the siblings or given to Goodwill. That sign was taken by my Aunt Doreen. I haven't seen it since. I tried to find another one online, but all I could find was this picture of the sign....

If anyone knows where I can find this sign, please let me know. Its a memory from my childhood that means a lot to me.

Fall Decor-Framed Pumpkin

2011-09-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

I've been looking for new creative ways to decorate the house this fall. I wanted something easy and inexpensive to make. I found this really cute idea from Someday Crafts.

It's really simple to make and all you need are:

1. Styrofoam pumpkin (from a craft store)

2. picture frame with glass (make sure its big enough for your pumpkin.)

3. Scrapbook paper

4. glue gun and crafting glue (for the scrapbook paper)

5. ribbon (optional)

Just glue a strip of crafting paper to the glass. Cut your styrofoam pumpkin by 1/3, so you have a flat back to work with. Use the glue gun to glue the back of your pumpkin to the scrapbook paper. Let it dry for an hour or so and then tie a strip of ribbon to the stem (if you wish). That's it, you can hang it on a wall or set it on a table. Too cute and so easy and cheap to make!!! I've actually seen it used with other fruit like pears, apples and lemons. All great for a country kitchen theme.

How I remember 9-11

2011-09-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

I know most people would soon forget that horrible attack on our country 10 years ago, but I can't help but remember. I remember it well because I had just flown home from visiting Sean in Boston the evening of the 10th of Sept, 2001. I remember laying over in Newark and looking out the window at the two towers. I was talking to Sean on the phone and asked him what they were. (Yes, I was one of the few who had never seen them in person, had no clue what they were.) That was the first and last time I had ever seen them.

The next morning, around 5am Pacific time, I got a call from Sean saying his sister had been hit by some ditsy girl while on her way to work. Sean was headed to the hospital to pick her up. Since my body was still on EST, I stayed up and turned on the TV. I was laying in bed watching the second plane fly into the second tower. At first I thought it was a movie, but soon realized it was real. I freaked out, tried calling Sean again, but he had already left his house. I ran into my parents bedroom and woke them up, turning on the TV. I remember the fear I felt. Watching people panicking, firefighters running to help, and the noise. Its etched in my sole forever. I personally didn't know anyone (that I know of) but I do know people who lost their loved ones. I can't help but tear up at remembering all I saw on the news for weeks. Our country has never been the same since. My children will never know what the world was like before that awful day. It really is sad.

So, to end this on a more positive note, today we will be spending the day celebrating life with our children. We are having Liams 6th birthday party. There will be no sadness for them, they are too young to understand and we want them to remember the 10th anniversary as a happy day, not a sad one.

God Bless all who lost their lives....

Critter Love

2011-09-08T19:08:00.001-07:00

SHere are a few pictures of the kittens. They are now a week and a half old and so cute. I was finally able to get some decent pictures of them. The black and white one will be going to the lady next door and the black one is mine! His name is Shadow.

Saying Good-bye and Pinterest

2011-09-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

Sean had his last day as an RSM with his company on Saturday. The "team" bought him an ice cream cake and this cute little card. They all signed it and had nothing but nice things to say about working with him for the past 2 years. They were all pretty sad to see him go. (All except one girl, who was a total b**** to him the entire day.) He felt bad because he thought he should have felt some sort of emotion. He had grown close with two or three of the team members and spent most of his life in that store for the past two years. He just couldn't understand why he felt NOTHING about leaving. I'm not sure why he's so worried about it. In the end it's just a job. They wouldn't think twice about him leaving the company, so why should he. He moved on to bigger and better things. He should be happy about that. I don't know, I have never really had a "real job" so I guess I just don't understand. Anyhow, his former boss wanted him to come to one last meeting this morning and have cake and say good-bye to the other RSMs' in the district. Sean didn't really like any of them, and I'm sure the feeling was mutual. Still, his boss asked him 3 or 4 times to come in, and Sean really liked the guy, so he agreed. Besides, he wanted to show them all up in one last team game....lol. Leave it to Sean to piss everyone off one last time. (He ALWAYS has to win). So, he left for his meeting at 8:15am. He was scheduled to start his new position at 11am. He will be working Tues-Sat, 9-5. Tuesdays are office days, meetings and paperwork. He has a little cubical, an issued notebook and Blackberry to work with as well. Oh, and did I mention they pay for his car too? Since the majority of the job will be driving, they pay 55 cents per mile. On average he will be driving 75-100 miles per day, 4 days per week. Doing the math, that's somewhere between $700-$800 per month, which more than pays for his car and gas! He has been assigned to about 40 stores. Walmart and Costco are his clients. (They gave him two of the companies biggest accounts!!) Since he had been wearing a uniform for the past 3 years, he had to go out and buy an entire wardrobe. He had to do it this past weekend, because they wanted him to start TODAY. We weren't expecting to have to drop $400 on clothes, so it has made us a little tight on money this month. He did get a big raise, so we should be fine in two weeks! All worth it if he enjoys the new job!

Thanks to my fabulous friend Michelle, I have found my newest hobby! It's called Pinterest and its totally addictive. The best way to describe it...it's kinda like a virtual bulletin board with all the things you like, in one place. There are thousands of people on the site (Kinda like a mature Facebook) collecting photos of things they love, ideas for their home, office, schools, cars, recipes, you name it. Anytime you're on a website and see something you like, you can just pin it to a board and share it with others. It directs you straight to the site it was pinned from, so others can see how it was made or shown. It's so much fun and I've gotten so many great ideas for baking, decorating and photography. You have to be invited to join the site, but its easy to do and only takes about a day to receive your membership. Here are a few things I really like...

Hanging flowers in a jar, from Country Style Magazine in AU.

Yarn and Balloon hanging ornaments. Great for birthday parties, Christmas ornaments and so much more. Really simple to make.

Missing sock collection, a cute idea for storing all those annoying missing socks.

Lastly, here's a few pictures. Have a great day!

Dee-duh and her kittens, one week old!

Tinker-Mary!

Sam-10 weeks old

Minnie Sean!!! Horrifying isn't it...lol.

Mary's 3rd Birthday Party

2011-09-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

Even though Mary's actual birthday was on August 31st, we celebrated it yesterday because Sean had to work on her birthday. So, we had a fun day hanging out, watching movies and munching on In & Out burgers and fries! She didn't get a nap, so by time we started opening presents, she wasn't as peppie. Getting her to smile was next to impossible...lol. Here are the best pictures I could get.

Declan waiting for cake.

Cake time!

Mary feeding her new baby.

Fionn waiting for cake.

Liam ready for cake.

Lizzie ready for cake.

Mary and her new baby.

Mary and Minnie Mouse.

Mary ready for cake.

Opening presents.

Present time!!!

Tinkerbell slippers!

Blowing out the candles.

Mary and her new Tinkerbell dress and baby.

Marys 3rd Birthday Cake.

Congratulations Gillian & Brayton!

2011-09-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

My long time girlfriend from my Marriott days Gillian, and her husband Brayton just had their first child via c-section yesterday at 11:07am. She weighed 9lbs 20 3/4 inches. Her name is Kaitlyn Marie. Congratulations to you both, she is beautiful!!!

The Lost Photo

2011-09-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

When Sam was born, we had pictures taken of him and Sean (since it was Father's Day). A week later, it disappeared. I searched the house top to bottom trying to find it. After losing a kitten in my closet today, I had to take EVERYTHING out to find him....and guess what I found pushed in the back of the closet. I WONDER WHO HID IT THERE??? So, here it is...Oh, and I did find the kitten with a little help from her Mama!

Happy 3rd Birthday Mary!

2011-08-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, we've hit the birthday parade. Mine was on Aug 19th, and today is Marys' 3rd birthday. I cannot believe my baby girl is three already. It seems like yesterday I woke up at exactly 11pm to my water breaking. In just three hours, we had our beautiful baby girl.

She is such a joy and has blossomed so much. She is a loving, caring little girl and adores her little sister and brother. She can be very sensitive at times and scares easily. She LOVES her Daddy and follows him everywhere. She is a total ham in front of a camera and loves to sing and dance. She loves princesses, Tinkerbell, and Minnie Mouse. Her favorite foods are fruit, green beans, meatballs and cereal. She has a set routine for nap time and if it isn't followed, she bugs...lol. She loves to look pretty with dresses and clips in her hair.

Here are a few photos of Mary over the years and some new photos I took yesterday. Happy Birthday baby girl. We love you!

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2009

Summer 2010

We have Kittens!

2011-08-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

My beautiful kitty Dee-duh had her kittens early Saturday (Aug 27th) morning. She had two little ones, one pure black and the other all white on the belly and legs and black one the back, except for the neck. They look to be both males. (Not 100% sure on the black and white one, its the runt.) She had them under my couch because she couldn't get into our room. We heard her meowing and scratching at the door around 5am, but Sean ignored her. He got up around 7am to get ready for work and heard her making weird noises under the couch. Sure enough, she was under there cleaning a little black ball of fur. The other was born a short time later. They both seem to be doing well, except I believe they have fleas. I saw a tiny bug crawl across the black and white kittens' belly. My guess, Dee-duh caught them from the tom cat that knocked her up. Sean is going to have a fit. He hates them to begin with. If anyone has any suggestions what I should do, please let me know.

As I mentioned in a past post, Sean got a promotion. He was a little nervous because he hadn't heard from the underwriter until today, but they offered him a significant raise! Since the position is all driving, they pay for his gas and car payment! Its also an hourly position, so he's eligible for overtime! His commission stays the same. He will be working Tues-Sat, 9-5. No more uniform, semi-casual attire. (Polo and Dockers or collared shirts) On another plus side, it looks like his company will not be sold out, so job security is still in play. All in all, this has been a GREAT week for our family...minus the fleas...lol.

Time4Learning Trial- Week 1

2011-08-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a past post, I was selected to try a free 30 day trial with Time4Learning. I am trying it with Cian, my 6 year old, who should be starting first grade this year. Cian is a bit of a slow learner and doesn't do well with straight up book work. We used Setons Catholic Home School for kindergarten last year, but don't feel he's quite ready for their 1st grade curriculum. I'm hoping Time4Learning will be a little easier and more entertaining for him. I have enrolled him in the 1st grade lessons for just $19.95 per month.

Week 1- Let me start by saying, Time4Learning is completely web based, you don't have to wait for the mail to send you any materials, which is a huge plus for a big homeschooling family. It is not an accredited school, so make sure to check with your states laws for homeschooling before you purchase their curriculum.
Both you and your child have a log in page. The parent login page has account information, parent resources which include detailed lesson plans and parent forums.

The student login page takes you directly to the daily lessons, with a little welcome from Ed the Mouse. (Since my son is in 1st grade I'll only be testing/reviewing this grade.)
1st grade has 4 subjects- Math, Language Arts, LA Extensions and Science. We started with Language Arts. First of all, Language Arts is more like Phonics, so I'll be referring to it as such. There are 13 chapters for Phonics. Starting with chapter 1, Consonants and short vowels. Inside each chapter are mini chapters. The first one, sights and sounds of m, r, h, s, d, t and a. Inside that file are the daily lessons. There are 4 to complete here. Each one is an interactive game. The characters are cute and hold Cians attention well. Once you finish a mini chapter, a check appears and your done with that lesson for the day. Parents can log in to their section and see their childs progress for that lesson. The lessons are timed as well, which the parent controls. There is a "Playground" mode that the child can play with, but only after a timed lesson is completed.

So far, I'm pretty impressed with this curriculum. I will be back in a few days to review Math.

Funny Friday

2011-08-26T10:14:00.001-07:00

I was feeling silly today and took a couple funny pictures of Mary and Bear. Happy Funny Friday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!!!

2011-08-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

So, I just got the BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER!!!!!!! Daniel Goddard (Cane on Young and the Restless) just called to wish me a happy birthday!!!! Because the number was private, I didn't answer it. He left one voice mail and then called back and left another because his iphone dropped the call. I am in absolute aw. He was so kind in the message and even asked me to leave him a message on his Facebook account as to when would be a good time for him to call me back. I am SOOOO HAPPY!!!! I called Sean, who was on his way to an interview just to tell him. I don't think he was all that thrilled, but he seemed happy for me. (who could top a personal call from your favorite celeb.....lol) What a great day!!!

Update: Sean got the promotion!!!!!

Mommy and Sam

2011-08-23T19:07:00.001-07:00

I started a tradition when Mary was just two months old, taking a photo with my babies. I hate having my picture taken, but I figure when they're all grown up, I'll look at these pictures and be greatful that I took them. Even if I look like an old maid.... Lol.

Time4Learning 30-day free trial!

2011-08-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

I found a link on Twitter for one of the BEST online home school curriculum. Time4Learning is giving away a FREE month if you test their curriculum and write about it in your blog or website! I just signed up myself and I'm excited to try it out with Cian for first grade. I'll be posting a few blogs and his progress soon!

We're Expecting.......

2011-08-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

Well, not exactly. My cat Dee-duh is expecting her first litter within the next week or two. I think I mentioned in a past post how it happened, but if not, here is a refresher. During the week after Sam was born, Dee-duh went into "heat". Mom was staying with us to help out with the other kids. On the night of the 24th of June (I think) the back slider was left open and she bolted out the door. We tried to lure her back in, but she was having none of it. Mom left the back door open all night, hoping she would come back. Well, she did, along with two new friends. She was sitting on my classroom table and two male cats were sitting on the classroom floor, both staring at her. Mom chased them away, but we feared it was too late. We were right. So here we are, about to have a little of kittens. Sean is livid. He hates the cat to begin with. Now he hates her even more and will not help me with the situation. So I'm on my own with kitty duty.

I've been doing a bunch of research, but I still have no clue what to do. Sean doesn't want to pay to take her to a vet, so I asked my wonderful next door neighbor Mel to help me. She has had cats with multiple litters and knows what to do/expect. She said I could call her day or night when she goes into labor. I'm just afraid she will do it somewhere in the living room or MY BED. I don't want the kids seeing any of it. So, wish me luck.....anyone want a kitten????

Preparing for a New School Year & Other Happenings.

2011-08-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. Purchasing school curriculum for Declan and Cian and deciding what grade to start Cian off with. Yes, he did complete Kindergarten last year, however I don't feel he is ready for Setons first grade curriculum. I thought about trying a different curriculum, but the state we live in is one of the few that discourages home schooling, so I can only use an accredited school. Unless you are Catholic or have pockets as deep as Bill Gates, they are few and far between. Sure, there are plenty of cheap curriculum out there, but when it comes time to either put them in high school or college, most will not except those grades and your childs' future is screwed. So, accredited is the only way to go.

I spent days searching, reading and listening to curriculum videos online, until my head ached, however none compared to Setons. I was at a loss until Sean suggested we talk to Setons counselors. After all, that is what we're paying hundreds of dollars for. Let me just say, Dr. Kay is the most WONDERFUL advisor. She listened to my dilemma with Cian and actually came up with a special curriculum just for him. We're calling it K-1. Its a mix of Kindergarten and 1st grade work. He was not ready to move onto first grade Math, Phonics or Handwriting, so he will be repeating those subjects in Kindergarten. The rest of the subjects like Science, Religion, and History, he will be moving on to first grade. The best part, there is no extra charge, in fact its actually cheaper since he already had most of the books. In less than an hour, all my schooling problems were solved!! So, as all the neighborhood kids have returned to school last week, my kids still have until after Labor Day to enjoy their summer!

On a bit of an exciting note, as I had mentioned in a past post, Sean has been trying to interview/transfer to a different position within the company. He finally got that chance last week. He phone interviewed for the position with the new District Manager. After an hour talking with her, she decided he was over qualified for that position and wanted him to interview with her boss for a District Manager position, the same as her, but in a different market. He was floored, since he had received a call from a recruiter for the same position in yet another market just hours before talking with her. The job is basically supervising two SDRs', the position he was originally trying to transfer to. He would have about 100 stores to manage as well. An explanation of the SDR position, Its a person that works for the company that goes to retailers such as Target, Best Buy, Walmart, Radio Shack etc. and works with the GM to help them sell more of our companys' products. They have a certain number of stores in their region that must be visited daily. Its their job to do whatever it takes to motivate the department staff to sell more accessories, phones and plan packages. Sean would be in charge of two SDRs and their stores. The position requires minimal travel but a lot of desk work at the district office. The position pays significantly more and he would have set days off, which is nice. No more dealing with annoying customers and staff issues. No more profit and loss issues or uniforms. He is pretty excited.

On another exciting note, my 34th birthday is this Friday and my WONDERFUL husband bought me this...It's the new G-Slate Tablet with the Android Market. I had a choice, I could either get the new phone he got or a tablet. I chose the tablet since my laptop is starting to go out. He is also taking the day off and we are going to put the kids to bed early and have a lovely dinner from our favorite restaurant.

Last, but not least. Here are a few pictures of the kids. Sammy is now 8 weeks old. 13 lbs and 24.5 inches long. He is off the chart with his height. If he continues to grow at this rate, he will be 6 feet 6 inches tall. He eats 6 oz. every 4 hours but sleeps around 7 hours at night. He loves to smile at his Daddy, which is pretty sad since he is with me all day and I can't even get him to for me. He even smiles for the stupid dogs.

I'll end this post with a few pictures of the kids and the dogs. Enjoy

Who could resist that face!

BUSTED!!

I can drive with a waffle!

Playing in the spritzer hose

Cover Girl!

Mama's little man!

I'm hearing you but I don't understand....

A little puppy love....YICK!!!

Back to the Grind

2011-07-30T17:13:00.000-07:00

Well, the vacation is over. Sean went back to work this week. We were all sad to see him go. The kids became spoiled with him home, so they were pretty bummed this week. Sean was less than enthused to return himself. There have been a lot of changes and not for the better. People are quitting left and right, with all the uncertainty of the company. The rumor is the merger will be happening sooner, rather than later. Even Sean has started looking elsewhere for work. He's pretty upset. This company has been so good to us these past, almost three years. He knows he will still have a place with the company, but will it be worth it....The uncertainty has taken a toll on him. He's back to not sleeping and stressed. I just wish it would all end. I hate to see him this way. Positive thoughts!!!

I have been pretty sick these past three weeks. We're not sure what is wrong with me. Without going into the gory details, my symptoms look to be either a bacterial infection or colitis. I have an appointment with a gastroenterologist next week. I can't eat anything dairy, sugary, caffeinated, or spicy. In other words, I can eat bread and water. Which is what I've been living off of for the past week. I have lost almost 15 lbs in three weeks. Its pretty scary. We think I ate bad watermelon. Sean had bought the watermelon to make margaritas, but they tasted funny. I ate a few bites of the watermelon, which tasted funny as well. (Yet I still ate it.0 Late that night, Sean woke up sick, making several trips to the bathroom. That lasted 2 or 3 days for him. I had the same problem, only mine never went away, it got worse. I am scared I have colitis, but Sean says it doesn't make sense. Why would I, all the sudden, contract a chronic illness out of nowhere. I see his point, but I more symptoms of that than I do an infection. I just have to wait it out another week and see what the Dr says.

On a more pleasant note, Sam turned 6 weeks today. He has gotten so big and is becoming more and more alert everyday. He loves the dogs, they lick him and lay with him and he really reacts to it. He tries to make sounds, but it just ends up sounding like gurgles...lol. He's eating 5.5oz now and is sleeping 5 to 7 hours per night. Not too shabby! The girls just love him and are constantly trying to kiss and hug him. Mary loves to help feed him. Lizzie has even developed a maternal instinct and carries a baby doll around, pretending to burp it. She sings to it as well. Very cute!

My mother had been nagging at me for years to let the kids finger paint. I've never let them because I remember the horror show I made as a child with finger painting. For those who know me, know I can't stand cleaning up huge messes. I like my home to be paint-free. I know, I'm such a bad mom. Well, Sean decided to go out and buy them finger paint. "I'll clean it up" he says. Famous last words, so I was out numbered. Here are the results of the painting day....

And by the way.....I CLEANED UP THE MESS!!!

Last, I'll leave with a few more pictures of Sammy and Bear!

4 weeks old and another addition!

2011-07-16T13:25:00.001-07:00

Now don't get the wrong idea, we're not expecting again. However, Sean did get sucked in to this precious face. He's 9 weeks old, half Cocker Spaniel half Black Lab. We named him Bear. He is so sweet and lovable. He gets along great with Wookie and the kids. The vet said he should be around 50 lbs full grown. We've never had a big dog, so this should be interesting... lol.

Sammy is 4 weeks old today. The time just flew by. He weighs just over 12 lbs and eats 4.5 oz every 3-4 hours. He stays awake for hours during the day and loves to watch his brothers and sisters play. He has such a great temper too. Hardly ever crys. He truly is a joy!

Congratulations Stephanie and Dan!

2011-07-12T12:43:00.001-07:00

My good friend Stephanie and her husband welcomed their first child on July 6th. Michelle Rose was born at 10:06pm EST weighing 2lbs 11oz and 16 inches. She was born almost 33 weeks via C-section due to Stephanie having Pre-eclampsya. Both mother and baby are doing well! Congratulations to you both!!

Sleeping Booty......

2011-07-10T17:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, so maybe this isn't the most flattering photo of Mary, but you have to admit, its pretty funny. She was outside playing in the sprinkler with the boys and started to get a bit moody, so Sean brought her in for a nap. Of course she wasn't happy and threw herself on the couch, in this position.....and then fell asleep minutes later. I couldn't resist, she just looked so cute with her butt hanging off the couch and the pillow covering her head, as to hide from Daddy. She actually slept like that for about an hour. Wish I could sleep any place, in any position. I'd be thankful to get an hour of sleep period.

With Sean home until July 26th, the kids have had some great quality time with him. Mary has become quite attached to him. Everyday, she asks him "Will you stay with me?" and "Are you my Daddy?" She has asked him that second question 16 times today. We're not sure why she keeps asking it, but it started when Mom was here. Maybe she's insecure? I hate to see how she's going to react when he has to return to work.

With two weeks left in his vacation, we have to come up with a routine for me. Like it or not, I still have to finish school with Cian and find a new curriculum for him for 1st grade. Setons is great for Declan and Fionn, but too advanced for Cian. We also have to decide what to do with Liam. Sean is taking him to our pediatrician this week to see what she suggests. Its obvious he will need special schooling, but no school will take him until he is potty trained. I am at my ends wit with trying to train him. He just refuses to learn. With 7 children now, its even harder to find the one on one time he needs. Maybe a little advice from another professional will lead us in the right direction with him.

Sammy Photo of the Day!

2011-07-08T14:18:00.001-07:00

<p>Sammy loves his bear from Grandma! Almost 3 weeks old and already weighs 10 lbs. He eats around 27 oz per day and has been staying awake several hours during the day. Now if only he would sleep for more than two or three hours during the night.

Random photos

2011-07-03T12:06:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures taken over the last week or two.

Two weeks old!

2011-07-02T13:34:00.001-07:00

<p>Sammy is 2 weeks old today and doing great. He is eating almost 4oz already. He sleeps between 3 and 4 hours at night, and can stay awake during the day for several hours. (Who could sleep in this house... lol.) He's got Seans dirty blonde hair and Cians bright red lips. He hardly crys, except when he wants to eat.

One week old.

2011-06-26T14:19:00.001-07:00

Well, it has been a crazy, sleepless week. My Mom was here to help out with the kids. She was a huge help with breakfast and keeping the kids entertained, but brought a tun of chaos too. She fed my kids tuns of cookies and drinks to the point that Lizzie had gained almost 10 lbs in a little over a week. She went from wearing 24 month clothing to not being able to fit into 2T clothing. Of course that sent me into a panic. Sean said she was giving her a cup of water every time she asked, which is every time she's bored. She has been peeing like crazy today, but has managed to thin back out. Sean said she had a tun of water retention.
Mom left yesterday afternoon and we are finally starting to regain order in our home. Sammy is doing great. All the kids love him. Though Lizzie is a bit jealous. She's coming around though. Sean and I have been taking turns waking up with him. He usually wakes once around 2 or 3 and then again around 6 or 7 in the morning. We usually feed him around 11pm so that works out well.
I'm recovering slowly. My entire body aches, especially my lower stomach. I'm so glad Sean has another 4 weeks before he goes back to work. It's hard for me to do simple things like get out of bed. On the plus side, I've lost 15 lbs in one week. Not too shabby. Hopefully I will be able to fit into my regular clothing in a month or less!

Introducing Samuel Kennedy!

2011-06-18T20:53:00.001-07:00

Sean and I are proud to introduce our 7th child, Samuel Kennedy. Born June 18, 2011 weighing 8lbs, 8oz and 20 inches at 4:08pm! I will post more pictures when I get home from the hospital.

Crazy, Busy, Car Shopping, School, and Baby Preparing

2011-06-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

It seems like I never have the time to blog anymore. These last three weeks have been crazy and stressful. I'll start from the beginning.

OK, so its well known that I hated my last OB/GYN office. So much that I stopped going to my appointments....for about three months. I was completely against going to another Dr because of my horrible experience. So, 34 weeks rolls around and Sean is screaming at me to find a new DR. I was so upset and dreading a new experience that I kept putting it off still. Finally he convinced me to find one because he would not be able to go on FMLA without a DR signature. So I had no choice. All the OB/GYNs around here all work for the same horrible office, so I had a terrible time finding a new one. I also had to consider the commute, Liam and Lizzie both get horrible car sickness. I finally found a small office about ten minutes away with only one doctor. He turned out to be quite nice. The only problem, he has a wedding to go to on the 22nd of this month, for a week. My due date is the 25th. No problem!!!! I asked to be induced a week earlier and he was all for it! That kills two birds with one stone. I needed a set date to give to my Mother (She will once again be the lion tamer during my delivery...what would I ever do without her!!!) for her time off. She can only stay for a week and a half, so this was perfect. I am being induced some time on the 18th. I was suppose to have an appointment today, but Sean couldn't get out of work and we no longer have a registered vehicle to transport all of us....(I'll get to that mess next) So I had to reschedule for next Thursday, which they weren't happy about. Mom comes in at 10pm a week from today, so that was the only time I could go. I did have an ultrasound done last week. It was pretty cool to see a fully formed baby. Also, we changed his name AGAIN....its now Samuel Kennedy. That has Sean written all over it, not me.

On to the van dilemma. So the time has come to register the van for another two years. The tags expire the end of May, and of course Sean puts it off until the last minute. He went to get it smog tested and they wouldn't even look at it because the engine light was on. So he took it to Sears to see what the problem was. We have a 2004 Venture that has 4 oxygen sensors. Apparently one of them was out. Sears said it would be an easy fix and not too expensive. They sent him to a full body repair shop. After looking at the van for 5 minutes, they said they needed to test all four sensors because there was no way of knowing which one or how many were out. They were also in a tight area that requires things be removed. Very labor intensive, or so we were told. They said it could be a couple hundred or a couple thousand. He also said he had no problem fixing the parts, but couldn't guarantee that the van would pass a smog test ever again. We live in a state that once you encounter engine problems, its very hard to pass emissions. So, we have two options, 1. Pray that the van is a cheap fix and will pass the smog test. 2. Buy a new van. In the meantime, the tags were expiring in three days. Sean needed something to get him two and from work. So he spent the next three days going from dealership to dealership. He was about to purchase a 2011 Ford when something told him to sleep on it. He was right. They were trying to rip him off by about $2000, so he walked away from the deal. Instead he went to a Toyota dealership and was sold on a 2011 Corolla S in about 30 minutes. Its fully loaded with alarm, XM radio, power seats, and Blu-tooth. The best part, its in Barcelona Red, a rare color they stopped making. Its beautiful and gets about 40 miles to the gallon. Sean loves it! Whats even better, Sean may be promoted to a new position within the company within a month that requires him to travel 100 miles per day. The car is perfect for that. I know it doesn't solve the van issue, but it does buy us some time and money to save.

I have been so busy trying to get Declan finished with second grade before I have Sam. I am happy to announce, mission accomplished! He finished his last final Friday and we are just waiting on Setons to send his final grades and promote him to second grade! This week he is doing the CAT test, so we can see where he stands with other prompting 2nd graders. He also finished his first novel, Tales of A Fourth Grade Nothing. It took him about a month to read and he loved every second of it. He can't wait to read Super Fudge. Cian, on the other hand, just started his 4th term of Phonics, so I will be working with him throughout the summer. No rest for the weary...sigh.

This will most likely be my last post before Sammy is born, so wish us luck!!! Hope you are all doing well!!

Easter Pictures, Mother's Day Illness, and The Neighbors from Hell....

2011-05-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I had written an entire entry with pictures and all, but somehow all but the first line was missing. As if I have time or the memory to rewrite my entire post....sigh. So I will do my best to rewrite it.

Sometime around Easter, Sean caught a nasty cold. It hit him like a tun of bricks. Sore throat, cough, congestion and a double ear infection. He is still not completely over it. Still has a cough. Well, I came down with it on Mother's Day. Lucky me, and let me tell you, this is the WORST cold I have ever had. My throat feels like I'm swallowing razor blades. I can't stop coughing day or night, which is really bad when your 8 months pregnant with your 7th child. (The bladder isn't what it use to be) My rib cage is killing me and to top it off, I now have mucus coming out of my eyes. (I guess that's common with a really bad cold) Little by little, the kids are coming down with it as well. First Declan caught it, though he just has a sore throat and a slight cough. He was down the first day, but has bounced back nicely. Then Fionn caught it. He was down for an entire day with a fever as well, he's still not himself. Falls asleep on the couch during school a lot. Cian was next to catch it. He was actually vomiting and had a fever the first evening he caught it. So far neither of the girls have come down with it, but Liam has now come down with it today. I can tell he isn't feeling well because he hasn't caused trouble at all during school today. He also has a fever. This cold lingers on, and I have always had a cough for months after a catch a cold, so I am worried I will still be ill when Sammy is born. I'm so afraid of giving it to him. I have less than 6 weeks to go in this pregnancy, I'm sure I will still be coughing by then. Time will tell I guess.

Sean was at work when he came down with the double ear infection. He was dealing with a customer when his left ear went numb. He couldn't hear out of it at all. His right ear did the same thing a few minutes later and then he couldn't hear at all. He left work to go across the street to a CVS to the Minute Clinic. She checked his throat and said it was really irrigated. Sure enough both ears were infected. She gave him an antibiotic for his ears, then took his blood pressure. She actually took it twice because she couldn't believe how high it was for his age. 144 over 100. She asked him what he did for a living, he told her and she asked if he thought that was a stressful job. He said not really, but she said she was reading a book before he came in. He's never been able to sit and eat his lunch in peace at work, let alone read a book, so I guess that means its a high stress job. She recommended he see a doctor ASAP. Of course he doesn't have time for that right now, so he did some research on his own. He found that consuming more than 3 alcoholic beverages per day causes high blood pressure. He usually has 4 beers after work every night. Since he was on medication, he couldn't drink. It was the perfect opportunity to test his theory. He hasn't had a beer in over a week. He went to CVS this afternoon before a meeting to test in BP. 129 or 80...much better. He's even lost about 10 lbs in the last two weeks as well. We all know how many calories beer contains...lol. Lets just hope it stays down!

In my last post, I mentioned our neighbors from hell. The trashy low lives that had some sort of boarding house environment going on. Well, I am happy to announce that on May 5th, THEY MOVED OUT!!!!! That's right, They pulled up in a huge moving truck and packed all their s*** up and left that evening. Of course they left the place in shambles. The whole house is trashed. They even managed to rip apart the door frames. I'm talking shredded wood. They even left all the doors open too, front and back. Sean in convinced they skipped out on the landlord, since he hasn't shown up yet. We are just so thrilled they're gone!!!

Last but not least, here are a few pictures from Easter and over the past few months of the kids! Enjoy

Fionny finds some eggs!

Liam finds and egg!

Mary found the most eggs!

Lizzie found a chocolate bunny!

Mary and her Easter bunny!

The girls sharing candy!

Declan found the prize silver egg!

Fionny resting after much candy and egg fun!

Fionny & Cian making homemade pizzas!

Mommy & Mary making a pizza!

Three kids in a box!

All lined up to dye Easter eggs!

Lizzie in a box!

Fionny and the Lego's!

Declans much needed first trip to a barber!

Finally, Dee-Da and the rose!

Crazy Months

2011-05-02T14:08:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't blogged in a month or so, but it has been crazy around here with school, holidays, birthdays, and Seans work. I have not had a moment to myself. Since I need to be done with school by June 15th, I won't have any time for the next few months. Here's a brief rundown since Cians Birthday....

1. We live next door to the trashiest group of people ever. They have at least 3 or 4 different families living in the 3 or 4 bedroom house. At least a dozen kids run the place and love to throw trash (empty cans, water bottles, juice boxes) over our block wall, into our backyard. Anyone who knows my husband, knows he won't tolerate such behavior. So what does he do, throws the crap back over the wall. The kids think this is a game and throw the crap back over. So Sean yelled at the little punks and hit one of them in the head with a can. Some women yelled at him and of course he yells back, "control your kids lady." That was one incident. He had another run in with some guy who was allowing his little kids to drive a remote control truck in our driveway. Sean was backing out and didn't see the truck, and almost ran it over. The guy got right in Seans face, cussing him out, trying to get him to get out of the van and fight him. Sean laughed in his face and told him he was a great influence for his kids. When Sean came back, the guy was waiting for him, calling him names and telling him I was having guys over all the time. Of course, that pissed Sean off even more and he yelled at me. As if it was my fault. Needless to say, once he calmed down he was more rational and decided maybe we should consider moving after the baby is born. Our lease is up June 1st and the baby isn't due until the 25th. Lots to think about for the time being.

2. The next morning, Sean took the day off and was chilling, reading Twitter when he noticed CNN announced something huge that had to do with his company. Of course he had to call work to find out if it was true, which it was. For the rest of the afternoon he was on conference calls with his boss and his associates. Of course no one knows what the future will bring, so everyone is panicking. Nothing will happen for at least a year, so its business as usual until then.

3. Of course last weekend was Easter. That was crazy. Sean bought 3 dozen plastic eggs to hide. I put all the baskets together, which took forever. The kids were up at 6am sneaking candy from their baskets. So Sean and I had no choice but to get up. The first ten minutes we let the kids have a candy free for all....lol what a sight. Then it was egg hunting time. Since Mary was out with us first, she had scoped the living room out for eggs and had a huge advantage over the boys. It was pretty cute. In the end, Mary found the most eggs and Declan found the grand prize silver egg. He was pretty proud of himself.

4. As if things weren't crazy enough at Seans work, he was at a meeting at a ballpark last Thursday when the P&L guy pulled him over to tell him there was a problem with their invertory again. This had been going on for the last 6 months, but got better in Feb. Well, March was really bad so Sean had the guy come into the store on Friday to go over all the paperwork with him. Long story short, for the last six months, since Seans assistant manager had started at his store, there had been tuns of high end electronics missing. Several of the employees noticed the guy leaving the store at closing with boxes and bags full of stuff. Of course none of them said anything to Sean until this week. So they went through the video and sure enough, the guy would go into the vault with empty bags and boxes, and come out with them full. Apparently he had been doing this for the last two years and three different stores within the company. They determined he stole about $50,000 worth of merchandise. (That he admitted to.) He has to pay it all back, or the company will press charges. Needless to say, everyone was fooled by this guy. An outstanding employee, very good at his job and Seans right hand man. Sean was really upset. More because he felt stupid for not knowing than anything else. So now he is short an assistant manager and will have to work more hours. On the plus side, he has an interview, finally with the manager of another department within the company this week. It would get him out of all this retail BS and more independence, which is what he's better at. Plus, no uniform and a pay raise! Keep your fingers crossed.

So that was been our month in a nutshell. Not very pleasant, but we're getting through it. Its time to focus on positive things like Fionns 4th Birthday on Thursday and BIN LAUDIN IS DEAD!!!!!!! Hope everyone is having a great week!

Happy St. Patrick's Day...and my 200th Post!!!

2011-03-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! Is everybody ready for Corn Beef and Cabbage? What a great day to write my 200th blog post!!! I can't believe the last 100 posts went so fast...lol. Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me and my crazy rants. It's been a real roll-a-coaster ride.

On to the good stuff....Cian had his 7th Birthday party yesterday and today! Sean had to work all day yesterday, so we gave him the option of celebrating his birthday really late last night or having two days of fun, since Sean would be taking PTO today. You can guess what he chose....what kid wouldn't want their birthday to last for 2 days...lol. So, after classes, we made 3D Shamrocks and rice krispie treats with green frosting...yuck...lol. When Sean got home, we ordered pizza and opened baseball cards. (He is currently shopping for presents as I type). Here's a new picture of the birthday boy. He lost his top front tooth the other day. Funny, I was looking at his 6th birthday picture and noticed he had lost his lower baby tooth. We're on pace to loose a tooth a year...lol. I will post more birthday pictures after todays party, but in the mean time, here are a few pictures of our art project. ENJOY!

Happy Birthday Sean!!

2011-03-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week. Sean went on a ride-a-long for a new position within the company. Its a promotion that would get him out of running a retail store and into more independent work. He would be in charge of 40 retail stores like Target, Walmart, Radio Shack, Best Buy, etc. He basically motivates the GM to sell more of the products from his company with incentives. It requires a lot of travel, around 100 miles per day, but he would have weekends off and an office in the cooperate building. Oh, and out of that ugly uniform. Business-casual attire. The only draw back, we may have to relocate to a different part of the state that is more expensive, but then again, we would be closer to the ocean and he'd he'd get paid a lot more. To his understanding, this is a fairly new position and not in demand quite yet. He's hoping to get an interview soon.

Sunday was Seans' 37th birthday. He usually gets pretty pissy on his birthday. He HATES it. This year wasn't bad. We barbecued cheeseburgers and hot dogs.A yummy spinach, bacon, and egg salad and chips. He got a new speaker system for the kitchen, so we blasted 80's music and played baseball outside with the kids. We had a quiet evening watching Major League on Blu-ray. Oh, and really yucky birthday cake. All in all, it was a good day. Next, Cian celebrates his 7th birthday on St. Patrick's Day. The long line of birthdays begin.....

Living Room Make Over Complete!

2011-03-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

It's official, we finally finished the living room! The oil paintings came on Monday and we hung them last night. What a difference a little color will make. The living room looks so much brighter. I would still like to get this cute mirror set to go on either side of the O'Keefe painting in the background (next to the tree), but we've spent enough money for now...lol.

Our next project, the kitchen. We decided to go with vintage tin Coke signs across the top of the windows and doorways. Sean really likes that look and it will really brighten up the room. I'd like to find some curtains, but I have yet to find anything I'd like, any suggestions??

I have been so sick for the last week or so, (now all the kids have the cold as well) but I did manage to put together three new beds in the boys room. Solid cherry wood, each weighing around 200lbs. Sean could barely get them into the house. It took me two days to put them together, but finally finished. My boys can destroy anything in a matter of minutes, so Sean threatened certain death on all of them if anything happens to the beds or mattresses. (The last set they ripped apart to the point of springs sticking out in all directions) I will update with pictures when they clean they're room...lol.

St. Patrick's Day Recipes

2011-03-04T17:41:00.000-08:00

As part of my St. Patrick's Day theme, I'm posting my FAVORITE Shepherd's Pie recipe. Good comfort food that's easy to make and the kids LOVE IT!! It does require a little work, like cooking mashed potatoes and chopping a few ingredients, but well worth the effort! Sean and I have been making this for years. We've tweaked it a few times and made it to our liking. You can even make it healthier by substituting a few ingredients. Its great for St. Patrick's Day or any winter meal. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 pounds potatoes, (I use russet) peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons sour cream or softened cream cheese (cream cheese makes a richer taste)
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup cream, (for a heart friendly version, substitute vegetable or chicken broth)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, season to taste
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, (1 turn of the pan)
1 3/4 pounds ground beef or ground turkey (turkey for a healthier version)
1 carrot, peeled and chopped (I like to buy the frozen peas & carrots, I'm lazy...lol)
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef stock or broth
2 teaspoons Worcestershire
1/2 cup frozen peas, a couple of handfuls (again, kill two birds with one stone)
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves (optional)

Directions

Boil potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain potatoes and pour them into a bowl. Combine the sour cream, egg yolk and cream or stock. Add the cream mixture into potatoes and mash until potatoes are almost smooth (I like to mash and whip them with my mixer).

While potatoes boil, preheat a large skillet (non-stick is best) over medium high heat. Add oil to hot pan with beef or turkey. Season meat with salt and pepper (we also used garlic powder). Brown and crumble the meat for 3 or 4 minutes. (May take a bit longer) If you are using turkey and the pan is fatty, spoon away some of the drippings. Add chopped carrot and onion to the meat. Cook veggies with the meat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. In a second small skillet over medium heat cook butter and flour together 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and worcestershire sauce. Thicken gravy 1 minute. (This is tricky and takes some practice) Add gravy to meat and vegetables. Stir in peas.

Preheat broiler to high. Fill a small rectangular casserole dish with the meat and vegetable mixture. Spoon potatoes over meat evenly. Top potatoes with paprika and broil 6 to 8 inches from the heat until potatoes are evenly browned. Sprinkle the chopped parsley over the potatoes and serve. (Best if eaten right away)

Sick As A Dog......

2011-03-04T14:50:00.000-08:00

There are several terms in the English language that make little sense to me..."You're S****** Me". What on earth does that mean? It's really gross if you think about it. Who wants someone leaving "poop" on them? My husbands favorite term..."Take a dump" Really??? Where are you planning on taking that dump too? Shouldn't it be "Leaving a dump? After all, we're not taking it with us, we're leaving it in the toilet.

In my case, and what this entry was actually about, I am "sick as a dog". (Sean brought home a cold last week and one by one, we have all caught it.) Sore throat, runny nose, cough, and just plain tired. I'm not really sure were a "dog" fits in with that. I didn't think a dog could catch a human cold. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a dog sick. So where did the term come from? Clearly I'm delirious from lack of sleep, so I'll just leave it at that....lol.

Attempting to make a blog button....

2011-03-03T17:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I want to make a blog button, but I'm computer illiterate. I've done a tun of research but still don't get it. I guess I have to post the picture to my blog to get the code. So, here we are. Sorry for the goofy random post!

Upgrading the Living Room!!

2011-03-02T16:38:00.000-08:00

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that we decided to spend our tax return on decorations and furniture this year. Well, I'm happy to say that our new sectional arrived yesterday and looks wonderful in the living room. It's so nice to have a couch that everyone can sit on at once and not be sitting on top of each other. To the right is a before picture (with the ugly green monster) taken Christmas of 09'. Since then, we have added new carpet, a much lighter shade and some trees, pictures, and soon to be art work. (Should be arriving some time next week). To the left is the new carpet and sectional! The couch is so cozy and soft. It feels like a velvet material of some sort. (The boys were playing tick tac toe with their fingers on it this morning..lol) Its not too soft or hard. There is actually a chase lounge that goes with it, but we're still debating whether to purchase it or not.

My other new project was putting up a few collage frames in the hallway, by the front door. I did post the frames in an earlier blog. Since then I have ordered the pictures from Snapfish and put the collages together. Here are the finished product! I'm quite pleased with the way they turned out!!

St Patrick's Day Crafts for the Kiddies'

2011-03-02T14:14:00.000-08:00

As part of my St. Patrick's Day theme, here are a couple art projects the boys and I will be working on in school. This first project is the Tissue Paper Shamrock that I found at Crafts by Amanda. (It's one of my favorite crafting blogs.) I actually remember doing a similar craft in elementary school and remembered how much fun I had doing it. It's very simple, all you need are:
1. Green construction paper
2. Green tissue squares (I get mine at Discount School Supply)
3. White glue
4. Scissors
5. Pencil
6. Poster board
7. Hole punch (optional)
8. Yarn or string (optional)
9. Shamrock pattern

For a cost effective project, Ebay has a really cute simular craft kit for only $1.50 + shipping. (She only has 7 left)

Here's another fun St. Pattie's Day project. This little leprechaun face is so cute and easy for the little ones to help with. All you need are:

Green, black, orange, white and yellow construction paper

Googly eyes
Crayons
Glue
Scissors
Leprechaun Template

How to make your Paper Leprechaun Craft

Print our template and cut out the pieces. Trace them onto the specified colors of construction paper. The face and the nose should be copied onto white paper and then colored peach (unless you can find peach construction paper!). If you want something even simpler, just have your children color the pieces. Cut out your leprechaun pieces.

Glue the beard onto the round face piece.
Glue the yellow band onto the green hat. Then glue the black buckle onto the yellow band.
Glue the shamrock onto the hat.
Glue the hat onto the leprechaun's head.
Glue two eyes and the nose onto the leprechaun.
Use a red crayon to draw on a smile.

Hope these make there way into your arts and crafts time with the kiddies. I look forward to making them with my kids!!

More St. Pattie's Day Treats!!!

2011-02-28T17:26:00.000-08:00

This pregnancy has definitely brought the sweet tooth out of me. I just can't get enough sweet treats to make. On that note, here are a few more St. Patrick's Day sweets that I will be trying this week. They are both quick and easy and minimal baking required. (For those of you who don't have the time to be a true Martha Stewart...like me...lol.)

This first recipe I found from Munchkin Munchies. These little treats are easy to make, very little baking, and minimal ingredients. They're even easy enough for the little ones to help. Make them for St. Patrick's Day or even April Fool's Day.

Irish Potatoes (Martha Stewart)

"Irish Potatoes"

4 tablespoons softened butter

4 ounces softened cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

6 ounces walnuts, toasted cooled and finely chopped (in food processor) plus extra for garnish

1 pound confectioner’s sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon for rolling

Cream together butter, cream cheese, vanilla and salt on high speed until lightened. Beat in walnuts and sugar until smooth. Refrigerate 1 hour until firm enough to roll. Roll about 1 tablespoon in your hands and shape to look like mini potatoes. Roll in cinnamon and brush off excess with a pastry brush. If you would like to create “eyes” stick a few pieces of walnut in some of the potatoes using tweezers. Chill 30 minutes. Serve.

This next recipe is so simple and takes minutes to make. St. Patrick's Day Marshmallows. All you need:

large marshmallows

green edible marker
green sanding sugar or sprinkles
cup of water
lollipop sticks

You can find green food writers in the craft store, Americolor Gourmet Writers are the best! Find the sprinkles (go for sanding sugar or very fine sprinkles) and the lollipop sticks in the craft store.

For shamrocks, simply draw a shamrock and insert stick, if desired. For glittery marshmallows, insert a lollipop stick into a marshmallow. Quickly submerge the marshmallow in a cup of water. Immediately sprinkle sanding sugar or sprinkles over marshmallow to completely coat. Tap off excess and set aside to dry.

These are great for parties or just a treat for the kiddies! I personally love marshmallows, so these are on my favorites list!!

This last recipe I found from Tip Junkie. Its called Lucky Leprechaun Cookie Bark. The main ingredients are....Thin Mints....you know, those addictive Girl Scout cookies. Green M&Ms, pretzels and chocolate....yummy!!!

Dancing Baby

2011-02-27T13:46:00.001-08:00

I thought I'd share this quick video of Lizzie. Any time she hears music, she starts to dance. Too cute!.

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Enforcing Organization

2011-02-25T17:59:00.001-08:00

After careful thought and discussion with Sean, it was clear that we needed to establish some new rules and organization in our household. With homeschooling and managing a family of 8, (and another new addition coming in late June) I really need some help around here. We discussed hiring a maid service, but I need someone pretty much daily. That's not something we can afford right now. My two older boys have chores that we assign to them, but have never really enforced them. Taking a long look at my daily to do list....lets face it, I need to establish some order and assign chores, and hold them accountable. An example: Declan, our 8 year old is in charge of clearing and cleaning the table and sweeping after every meal. He is also in charge of feeding the dog. He does pretty well with the cleaning, but I have to remind him to feed Wookie after dinner. Well, apparently he hadn't fed the poor dog for the last two days and he began eating all the cats food. The poor pooch was starving. Sean was pretty livid, which was part of the motivation to enforce the chores.
One of the advantages to blogging are all the great mom blogs out there. Lets face it, we're all just looking for a little support and advice. One of my favorite sites, orgjunkie.com had a really great idea for a chore chart. We needed something that was simple, customizable and had a daily/weekly checklist. She made a PDF version for both boys and girls that were also age appropriate. I spent hours looking online for the perfect chart, when this one was right under my nose.
Declan and Cian are the only two really old enough to do chores. I can handle the bathrooms, laundry, dishes, and vacuuming. What I really need help with is the dining room, classroom, backyard and living room. That's where the boys come in. Daily chores for Declan consist of clearing and sweeping the dining room after meals and feeding the dog. Cian picks up all the toys and trash in the living room before bed. Weekly chores for Declan, cleaning up all the dog poop on M-W-F along with cleaning his and the baby girls room with Cian after school on Fridays. Saturdays the classroom needs to be cleaned. The chore chart is organized by chore per day and a box for them to initial after they complete each chore. At the bottom of each day and week, is a box for me to initial as well. Its not much and simple enough for both of them to handle together. As a reward on Sunday, after I have signed off that all chores were completed, Sean will give them each $2 for something they really want. Its teaching them to save as well. We just started this today, so I'll post an update in a few week.

Another problem we've been dealing with is Declan sneaking cookies, cakes and candy early in the morning. He has been punished for this in the past and it hasn't seemed to make a difference. We caught him sneaking conversation hearts a few days ago. (Actually he would have gotten away with it, but Cian ratted him out at breakfast...lol.) Since punishing him doesn't seem to work, Sean came up with the idea to set out a snack basket. Each morning, the basket will contain one fruit item and a breakfast bar of some sort. There are 5 of each, for each of the older children. The idea is to hold them off until breakfast, since I refuse to get up before the sun does. We are also hoping this will discourage Declan from sneaking unhealthy junk. He's getting older now and needs to be able to make a few decisions for himself. We've given him the option to keep his hair longer, even if it makes him look like a Chia Pet...lol, now he has the option to choose a healthy snack or nothing until breakfast. Again, this is something we're just starting today, so I'll give an update in a few weeks.

OrgJunkie

St. Patrick's Day Treats and Home Decor!

2011-02-24T17:43:00.000-08:00

One of my familys' favorite holidays is St. Patrick's Day. Since my husband is pure Irish, (On both his Mother and Fathers sides) its important to him that our children learn and celebrate their heritage. Besides the usual class activities I have planned for them. I wanted to find a fun and tasty treat that we could all make together. I thought to myself, this is going to be easy. I'll just do a Google search for St. Patrick's Day treats. HA!!!! Boy was I wrong. After hours of searching blogs, cookbooks, and cooking sites, I found NOTHING I liked. Finally I resorted to an old standby...Kellogg's! Lucky Shamrock Treats, a simple and fun recipe that even my 2 year old can help with. You can even dye the rice crispies green with food coloring! I have a box of 101 cookie cutters that I have never used. Three different sized shamrock shapes. Thee're great for cutting down on the fighting...lol.

With the new living room set coming next week, I decided the walls needed more pictures. Lets face it, we have no family pictures on the walls, at all. I can't even remember the last time we had pictures professionally done. So, I wanted something that would go with the new furniture and look sharp. I found the perfect collage frames on Amazon for only $25 each, with free Prime Shipping. (I bought the last two) Each collage holds 10 4x6 pictures. The photo doesn't really show it, but each little frame is 3D. Its the perfect accent for the bare wall next to our front door. (We have lived here for 2 years and have never put anything up there.) That was the easy part, picking out the perfect pictures from our sea of a few thousand, not so much. I spent hours trying to find 20 pictures. I didn't want to have too many of each child, so I hope the 21 I had printed from Snapfish will work.

Sean didn't want the living room to look too girly, so he added a few accents of his own, to remind him of home....In case you didn't notice, he's a huge sports fan. He loves all the Boston teams, ie. Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots. Since he was already spending loads of money, why not go on an Amazon shopping spree. I don't really mind. I love all the teams too, even though I'm from AZ, my heart is with the Boston teams.

A Buzz of a Problem....

2011-02-21T13:09:00.001-08:00

So, as I was in the middle of class this morning, Declan noticed two bees on the slider. I quickly sprayed them with bug spray and continued with class. A few minutes later, two more bees started flying around the classroom. Ok, this isn't good. I went out back to look around, on the side of the house, right above the classroom door, I could see a few dozen bees swarming around. LOVELY, I called our pest control guy. His dad called back and said they didn't deal with bees, but gave me two companies to call. He said it would be pretty pricey, so call them both. So, I sent Sean a text to see what to do. He said call them both and get estimates. Its going to cost between $155-225. The guy should be here within an hour.

I just looked out my kitchen window to see all the bees, and they were gone....Ok, that's weird, so I went out to investigate. There was one or two still flying around the roof, then I saw it, a square opening in the roof just above the classroom door. The bees were flying into that. WONDERFUL!!! I guess these bees are called scappies. (I know I spelled that wrong, but u get the idea) They seek out a destination to bring the entire hive, which consists of thousands. They stick around for about 72 hours. If they like the area, they come back. If not, they move on. Since I am allergic to bees, I'm not taking any chances. Lets just hope these guys can fix the issue quickly.

Update: The guy came and treated the hole where the bees were and stuffed it with insulation. We have to keep an eye on it for the next 72 hours. If we see any more bees or a swarm of thousands in the area, we have to call ASAP. Here's a picture of what he did.

Enough of the bee talk. Here are a couple of photos of Elizabeth that I touched up with Picnik. Its a software offered by Picasa. Not sure if I like it yet. I am not a professional photographer like my Grandfather was, but I definately have it in my blood...lol. Let me know what you think. (Especially you Michelle...heehee)

Our New Living Room Set!

2011-02-20T17:15:00.000-08:00

I forgot to include this in my last post. Sean went to one last furniture store today and finally found a living room set we both liked. I know, I said I didn't want something brown or earth toned, but lets face it, that's what's "in" right now. So here it is, our new sofa and love seat. (We didn't purchase the tables) It won't be delivered for a week or so, but it's ours!!! Sean said it's very comfy and the arms are tall. It will look nice in our living room.....I hope.

Playing with Pictures

2011-02-20T17:07:00.000-08:00

Out of pure boredom, I decided to download Picasa 3.8 onto the laptop. Let me tell you, I had no idea how many pictures were on this computer. Over 120 folders were found, some dating back to 2002. In fact, its still uploading photos. This is a picture I took of Mary yesterday, after we made chocolate dipped marshmallows and strawberries. She just looked so cute trying to stuff that big marshmallow into her little mouth. I played around with the coloring a bit, and came up with this picture. Its not perfect, but not bad for my first attempt at editing.

Mission: New Couch...IMPOSSIBLE!!!

2011-02-19T18:35:00.000-08:00

After four years with the ugly "green monster" (aka- our couch), the kids and Dee-du the Cat managed to rip the stuffing out of the seats. So, my very cheap husband finally gave into the notion that we need a new couch! Ya!!!!!! Thanks to our wonderful Uncle Sam, we will be spending our tax refund on new beds for the boys and a couch.

Sean and I both agreed we didn't want an ugly earth toned couch. Something bright and colorful, like red or navy blue. We wanted a sectional, since we have a lot of butts that need to sit, lol. We also wanted one that included a recliner!! Oh, and a pull-out bed would be nice too, for when my Mom comes to visit. Lastly, it had to be comfy. None of the trendy Ikea, hard-as-a-rock crap. This was going to be easy, or so we thought. Sean started shopping online, to get an idea of what was available in the price range we were willing to spend. Suddenly, this didn't look so easy. All the sectionals we were looking for were over $1000. Sean was looking for something more along the line of UNDER $1000....sigh. Another obstacle we ran into, EVERYTHING IS EARTH TONED!!!! YUCK!!! HOW UGLY!!!! If I wanted my living room to look like something out of Leave it to Beaver, then I would have painted the whole room gray. That's the problem with people today, they don't have enough color in their lives!!!LOL. The photo is an example of what I'm looking for.

We tried looking on an old stand-by, Amazon. No luck there either. There aren't any discount furniture stores near our home, so now we're stumped. Here we have all this money to spend, and can't find anything to spend it on. So I guess we'll just keep looking.

Lizzies' First Corn on the Cob

2011-02-14T20:20:00.001-08:00

This is as big as my head!

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Crazy Domestic: Valentine S'more Bites

2011-02-13T12:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a fun recipe to make with the kids. I talked Sean into picking the ingredients up for me after the Celtics game. They were a big hit!!!!

Crazy Domestic: Valentine S'more Bites: "Every holiday, my mom sends my kids a package, FULL of clothes, toys, candy, etc. corresponding to that holiday. I'm not gonna lie, my m..."

The Michael Jordan of Math!

2011-02-02T12:44:00.001-08:00

I took this picture of Cian in Math class today and thought I'd share it. He sticks his tongue out whenever he's colors....too funny.

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Lazy Saturday

2011-01-29T14:59:00.001-08:00

There's nothing like a spotless house, sleeping toddlers, and happily playing boys to allow me to relax on the couch, with a cool 68° cross draft and a weeks worth of Young and the Restless on dvr to watch. This is the first time my pregnant body has been able to relax in, I don't know how long.

Yesterday, I was at my witts end with the house. Its always a mess, always disorganized and just smells. I had had enough. So I put Declan to work. Since he is still on punishment, I had him scrub all the walls and floor boards in the kitchen, dining room, and living room. I scrubbed both bathrooms, walls and floors. Scrubbed all the walls in the hallway too. Spent over an hour vacuuming my living room, (we have a vacuum with a dirt sensor, it turns green when all the dirt is completely sucked up. I like to have a completely green carpet...lol) and ran Scooba (robot mop) on the kitchen floor twice. I scrubbed all the windows in the kitchen and living room and dusted the mantle and end tables. I even washed the couch cover, thanks to Dee-duh the shedding cat. I did 6 loads of laundry and mopped the front hallway. Lastly, I cleaned my room. Now the house smells nice and looks clean too. I can relax and enjoy feeling my baby do flips in my belly!

One more exciting tidbit of news, Sean won a trip from work to a 5 star, all expenses paid resort in Florida. First class flight and all. He was in the top 100 performing RSMs in the company and #1 in our state. He even met with the CEO of the company yesterday. I'm so proud of him. He does so much and works so hard for us. They want him to move up in the company, but he's happy with where he is now. The trip is in April, right around our 10 anniversary!! I'm hoping Mom will stay with the kids for the weekend!

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17 weeks and counting

2011-01-18T19:54:00.001-08:00

Here's a 17 week belly shot. It seems the more children you have, the sooner your belly starts to show....lucky me. I am now able to feel the little bumps he makes when I'm trying to go to sleep. Sean still can't feel it, but he will in a few weeks. I Went to the doctor Monday. Everything is great. His heart rate was 150. Good strong heartbeat. My doctor also said all my blood work came back and I have no anemia problems so far. One weird thing I noticed about this Dr office, they don't offer prenatal vitamins. In fact, they have never once mentioned them. Not sure if I should ask or not, but Sean bought me over the counter prenatal and dha vitamins, so I've got it covered.

The doctor also thought it was funny that I was calling the baby a "him". I said, well that's what I was told it was. He asked, where did you hear that. I looked at him with a puzzled look on my face and answered, from the ultrasound. He said, you had a 14 week ultrasound, the sex can't be definite until around 20 weeks. Well, maybe so, but I saw his "package" from two different angles, and there was definitely something hanging between his legs, and it wasn't the cord....LOL. I have a picture to prove it!!

On a not so nice note, we had an incident with Declan and our next door neighborhood the other day. The boys were out back playing when the lady and her partner were out in their yard as well. Cian and Fionn kept talking to her. Of course Declan comes running in to tell us she was talking to them. Sean told the boys not to talk to strangers, but they continued to talk to her. Well, Declan decided to take matters into his own hands and threw a handful of dirt over the wall and it hit her. Fionn comes running in to tells us what he did, so of course Sean runs right out there to see what was going on. Sure enough, it was true. Sean apologized up and down to the women and made Declan do the same. He wouldn't give us an answer as to why he did it, but we knew. So he is grounded for two weeks from all family activities. Sean feels very strongly that we need to nip this sort of behavior in the bud before it gets worse, so this was the harshest punishment he has ever received.

I can't believe he did something like that. As much as we pound human respect and kindness into their brains, its just shocking and disappointing to me and Sean. That's the kind of behavior that will land him in jail as an adult. It scares me to think he could choose to go down that path. I may be overreacting a bit, but he's my son and I only want what's best for him. I expect him to treat others as he would want to be treated....sigh.
On a happier note, Lizzie is officially walking, EVERYWHERE, on her own. Its like something just snapped in her little brain the other day. Its kind of sad, since she's now a full fledged toddler. She not the baby anymore. She is really cute though.

Well, thank you all for the wonderful comments! Hope you are having a great week!

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We're having.......

2011-01-14T10:15:00.001-08:00

So, its official.....we're having another..........BOY! Oh joy. I'm not thrilled, but as long as he's healthy, I guess we'll keep him...LOL. Sean thinks it hilarious. I guess he'll get him basketball team after all.

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Christmas 2010 part II

2010-12-31T18:32:00.001-08:00

Here are a few more pictures I found on my phone from Christmas!

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Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T12:10:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was a bit chaotic. Not as smooth as we had hoped. I'll start from Christmas Eve. Sean came home from work and last minute shopping around 5pm. We ordered Chinese for dinner and let the kids watch A Christmas Story before bed. We dressed them all in their new Christmas jammies and Sean read The Night Before Christmas to them. All were in bed by 7pm!! This was the best picture I could get of all 6 of them.

Sean and I waited an hour or so to start putting the two scooters and two bikes together. That was not fun. On top of that, I did finish all my wrapping before Christmas, but all the gifts Mom and Dad sent came Christmas Eve, so I had a tun to wrap. My closet was full of boxes from top to bottom, filled with wrapped presents. Sean got the job of dragging them all out and putting them under, around, and all over the living room. It was a overwhelming, even for us. Sean had been worried for weeks that I didn't buy enough toys for all of them. I think we went a bit overboard. I took these pictures just before we let the monsters loose.

Here is a short video of their reaction! Pretty funny.

The present opening started off pretty crazy. Declan was all about "me, me, me" which made Sean pretty angry. He would pout when it wasn't his turn to open a gift. we keep telling ourselves, its just a faze. I sure hope so....sigh.

Fionny opening his favorite gift!

Mary opening her first gift.

Liam attempting to open a present. He checked out after 6 gifts. We actually had to finish his gifts the next morning.

Cian opening a Star Wars guy. It wouldn't be Christmas without them.

Lizzie and Daddy opening a present!!

Declan with his Star Wars Playdoh set.

The kids were so overwhelmed. We had to take several breaks throughout the day. We finally finished with presents after dinner. They were completely out of control and crazy. It was just too much for all of them to handle. Next year, we need to cut back, way back. I hate to say it, but it wasn't very enjoyable. Here are a few more photos taken throughout the day. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!

Santa Visit!

2010-12-22T10:11:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe how fast the Christmas season has come this year. There is only 2 shopping days left. Of course Sean has to work right up until Christmas, so he has been getting up really early and heading out to the mall and Toys R Us every morning before and after work. I hope he's almost done, we've spent a fortune this year. The kids are making out like bandits. (Though the way Declan has been acting for the last month, he should be getting nothing but coal.)

We took the kids to the mall to see Santa on Monday. I was hoping we could get at least 4 of the kids in the picture, (Cain is terrified of his own shadow, so we knew he and Mary would be out, but Lizzie and Liam didn't like him either....sigh,) but only Declan and Fionn would sit on his lap. Declan asked for a scooter and Fionn....are you ready for this.....a PUPPY. Are you kidding me, he has a dog. The dog loves him. There was no way I was going to potty train another dog. The one we have still isn't completely house broken. (Its been pouring rain for the last week here, so he won't go outside at all. Instead, he pees on my floor....grrrr.)

It has always been my Mothers tradition to wrap all the Santa gifts on Christmas Eve, after I went to bed, so I have always done the same. However last year we were up wrapping until almost 3am. This year I have a bike and two scooters to put together, so I have done all the Christmas wrapping for the last three or for days, locked in my room while the kids watch every Christmas movie and cartoon imaginable. I actually ran out of paper. 8 large rolls just wasn't enough. So, hopefully Sean bought some today so I won't have to do any wrapping on Christmas Eve, We just want to put the three items together and relax watching 24 hours of A Christmas Story.

This will be my last post before Christmas, so from our family to yours, have a safe and Merry Christmas! God Bless

Another Christmas Season!

2010-12-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

Well, its that time of year again. Christmas shopping, cookie baking, and everything in between. Sean, Declan, and Cian went last Monday to pick out a tree at "Home Wicco" (Home Depot, Cian can't pronounce depot). They had a fun morning, cheeseburgers and fries for breakfast...sigh. The tree was just tied up as they were leaving, so it settled pretty quickly and we were able to decorate it that evening, while watching the Patriots game. Here is the finished product!!! Below is a picture of the boys in the van while the guys put the tree on the van.

On another note, Sean and I are expecting our 7th baby!! I am 12 week pregnant today and we are due June 25th! We find out the sex of the baby on Dec 27th!! Here is a 12 week photo.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

Its that time of year again!! I am bubbling over with excitement for the holiday season. I just love this time of year. So much to be thankful for and we love to see the excitement and anticipation on our childrens faces!!! The house is almost funny decorated for Christmas. (I am ordering a few more decorations online today) Sean and the boys just need to go pick out a tree next weekend. Half of our Christmas shopping is finished, for the kids that is. Life is wonderful!!

I don't know what it is about Thanksgiving, but it is by far my favorite holiday. Maybe its the food? Football in stunning HD? The first time we play Christmas music, or my favorite, watching the first showing of A Christmas Story (on Blu-ray this year!) after dinner. It could also be all the baking and cooking, but this year we ordered our entire meal from Honeybaked.com. (Sean wanted to just relax and enjoy the holiday rather than rush around the kitchen....me too.) I am baking 3 homemade cranberry breads for breakfast in the morning. The smell in my kitchen is fantastic right now! Whatever it is, it brings out the best in all of us.

Last year I wrote a Thanksgiving post about family traditions. To continue with that, we have several Thanksgiving movies we enjoy every year. Maybe some of you have seen them and enjoy watching them as well....Here are a few of our favorites....

Dutch, starring Ed O'Neill (Al Bundy) and Ethan Randall (Randy, from National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation). Without giving away too much, the movie is about a spoiled boy who's father would rather spend Thanksgiving with his girlfriend than his son. So his mother, who wants nothing more than her sons love, sends her boyfriend to pick him up from private school and bring him home for Thanksgiving. They go through a wild road trip in the process. This movie is hilarious and yet touching. A must see.

Our second favorite is a classic. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, starring John Candy and Steve Martin. I can't think of anyone who hasn't seen this movie, but just in case. Neal (Steve Martin) is trying to get home two days before Thanksgiving when he runs into Del (John Candy). The two of them are thrown together on a wild trip From New York to Chicago, where anything and everything goes wrong. Another hilarious yet touching movie. (Not totally appropriate for the entire family, the "F" word is used A LOT in one scene.)

Our third favorite, a must see classic for anyone with children....A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. My parents watched it as kids, I watched it as a kid, and so on. I don't need to to give a rundown, we all know the story. Always touching for young and old!!!

Last, but not least, after dinner when all is clean and settled down, we cuddle up on the couch with the kids and watch our very first showing of A Christmas Story. The Christmas season officially begins with the opening music of Deck the Halls. Just writing about it gives me the chills. A great movie for the whole family about a little boy who wants nothing more that a Red Rider Bebe gun for Christmas. What makes this movie special, its a true story told by the actual man it happened to. Such a funny movie, from a kids prospective. TNT plays it all night starting at 8pm on Christmas Eve until 8pm Christmas night.

Well, I have enjoyed writing this post, but I must get back to baking. Sean will be home from work early today, in time to watch the Celtics!! From our family to yours, have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! God Bless

Long Week

2010-11-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has really been a long week. We got through another week of school. Still reviewing with Declan, but I think I'm going to start blowing through it. He seems bored and I need to have school finished by the beginning of June this year. We will be moving that month, along with a few other changes. Cian continues to do well too. He has learned both letters T and B, he knows the sounds and can recognize both in words. A good start, I just hope it keeps being this easy with him.

Sean has been working his butt off at work. Lots of people on PTO, so he has been pulling a lot of hours. In fact, yesterday and today was his first days off in almost two weeks. (Cut short this afternoon due to a call from his boss. An employee was caught using his login to rack up thousands of dollars in credits for customers....ouch.....so he went in to give the staff a royal ass chewing.....sigh.) Its been rough on me because I haven't been feeling well the last two weeks. I'm hoping it will go away soon.

We started breaking out the Christmas decorations this weekend. I have been checking through them for spiders and taking an inventory. Sean wants to buy new decorations this year. We are planning on decorating the weekend before Thanksgiving. Its been so hot here, it doesn't even feel like November. Its been 80 or so all week. This year we also decided not to waste an entire Thanksgiving cooking, so we ordered our entire meal from Honeybaked this year. Sean also ordered our pies from this world famous shop in LA. The pack it in dried ice and ship it to you. We are so excited to watch the Patriots and not have to worry about cooking!!!

That's pretty much all that's been happening this week. Hope everyone is having a week!!!

Kitchen Sink Update

2010-11-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

I have a few minutes between school and deciding what to fix for dinner to post a quick update on the kitchen sink dilemma. As I said in my last post, the faucet broke off and water went spraying all over my kitchen. I called our landlord and she called her fix-it guy. Unfortunately, he was out of town and couldn't make it until today. So we had no running water in the kitchen all weekend. To make matters worse, my dishwasher backed up again......sigh.

So, after determining that the entire garbage disposal and faucet needed to be replaced, here is the finished product. The faucet can either spray or pour out, and you can pull out the head to move it around. It works great!!! It only took them two hours too. Not too much school disruption this time. Now all is right in the O'Donnell Household....lol. Have a great Monday!!!

2010/2011 School Year Begins!

2010-11-06T17:13:00.000-07:00

Its that time of year again. We started another school year on November 1, 2010. We have stayed with Setons, since it seems to work well for Declan. This year I have gone ahead and started Cian in Kindergarten. Setons curriculum is a bit advanced for him, so I did not actually enroll him. Instead, I bought all the books and decided to let him work at his own pace. So far so good!

Here is a rundown of Declans classes:
1. Religion 2 for Young Catholics
2. Math 2
3. Phonics 2
4. Reading (This is a new class this year)
5. PE
6. Spelling 2
7. History of the Saints/ Maps & Charts
8. English 2
9. Handwriting 2
10. Art 2

So far, Religion has been a review of his prayers, which we are currently helping Cian to learn, and a review of Creation. (God created the heavens and earth etc.) Math has also been a review of Addition, Subtraction and Time. All easy stuff he just blew through. Cian has been learning simple directions like inside, outside, on top of and below. He is also learning the same and different and identifying the three basic shapes (He actually already knew those). These are all things that come a bit slow for him. It requires more attention and patience. (If he were enrolled in a public school, he would have been put in a "special" class. That's not acceptable to me or Sean). Little by little, he is starting to get it.

Phonics has also been a review for Declan. Identifying an image and writing the word below it. Again, all stuff he blows through. Cian learned the letter T and its sound this week. He is slow at remembering letters, if give a worksheet. I think he finds them boring, so I use a few online games for him. He responds to that better. Its funny, he remembers the sound T makes, but always forgets what it looks like.

Reading is a new subject for Declan this year. The class consists of using a reader Mon-Wed (These Are Our Neighbors.) He reads a short story in the reader each day and answers questions. On Thurs-Fri, He has to do a book review. (See photo on left) He reads a book and then has a list of questions he must answer about the book. (Title, Author, when and where it takes place, main characters, order of events and critique of the book.) He did his first review this week. Lets just say, he's not thrilled. He had to finish his review today since he didn't get it done in class yesterday. Sean and I like this subject because it makes him think about what he's reading, and not just blurting out the words. He has to then remember what he read and put that in his own words, in complete sentences. He hates that, lol.

The first week of Spelling were really simple words that he could spell in his sleep, So I skipped ahead to week 2. He knew 5 out of ten of the words. He's a very good speller. He usually sees a word once and remembers how to spell it. Wish I could do that. I can't spell anything...lol.

History is different this year. He is learning about Saints in History. This week was St. Anne, the Mother of the Blessed Mary. He also has Maps and Charts. This week was all about pictures and captions. he likes this class and does well in it.

Cian doesn't have any of these classes, so during this time when I need to give Declan more attention, he his either playing a game online or coloring in his Art book. Sometimes, Mary even comes in to join him.

In English, Declan is learning to use a Dictionary. How to put words in ABC order. Not a favorite for him as well. He gets it, but gets a bit frustrated at times. So that is what we worked on this week.

Handwriting is the last class of our school day. Declan has been reviewing A-E, which he really needs. His handwriting has something to be desired. He is his Fathers son. This class is my biggest challenge with Cian. He cannot write at all and has not shown any interest in learning until this year. He started this week with basic downward stroke letters, l, i, and j. He did great with the l's, but he had a hard time with the dot above the i. He is not use to writing in lines either. The j's, well lets just say he needs a lot more practice. Not too bad for his first week though.

All in all, it was a good first week. At least until today....the faucet on my kitchen sick broke off and sprayed water all over the ceiling and kitchen. Our landlord can't have someone come out to fix it until Monday, at the earliest. The whole faucet needs to be replaced.....sigh. So I am without a kitchen sink. Ever see the episode of Steinfield where Crammer does all his dishes and cooking in the shower? That's where I'm at....lol. Hope everyone had a great week!!

Halloween Mishap

2010-11-05T17:17:00.000-07:00

Well, this Halloween didn't go as planned at all. The day started out pretty good. We watched the Patriots and hung out as a family, eating lots of yummy appitizers. When the game was over, we dressed the kids in their costumes and headed to the mall for trick or treating. Loaded all the kids into the quad stroller and tried to push it into the mall. Something wasn't right. Sean couldn't push the stroller. He checked all the breaks, all unlocked. Then I noticed something wasn't right with the front right tire. OMG, the plastic joint that attaches the wheel to the stroller completely split apart. (I contacted the company that makes the stroller and they told me we had to go through the company that sold us the stroller. Well, apparently they were a factory that was putting the stroller on auction. Sean bought the stroller on Ebay. The seller said the factory they got it from went of business. Still waiting on what to do next.) We weren't going anywhere. So, how do you tell 6 kids they can't go trick or treating this year......sigh.

We had to make a quick decision as the mall trick or treating would be ending in about an hour. So we quickly drove home. Sean dropped off Mary, Lizzie, Liam and I at the house. He took Declan, Cian, and Fionn back to the mall. I felt so bad, so I put on Planet 51 for them and they got to help me pass out candy to the ~~delinquents~~ children in our neighborhood. We had pizza and candy for dinner! Sean and the boys came home with sword balloons and and a half bag of candy each. All was not lost, at least they had fun. Here are a few pictures of the kids in their costumes. To the left is Liam the Gorilla. He had a mask but refused to wear it. Sorry for the blurry photo. He has never stood still for a moment in his life.

Mary was Minnie Mouse. The kids have all been obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney, so Mary picked Minnie. She was sooooo cute. Fionny Bear was Charlie Brown. He loves all the Peanuts cartoons and asked if he could be Charlie Brown after watching The Great Pumpkin. I do say, he made a very good looking Charlie Brown.

Sean took Declan and Cian to the Halloween Superstore to find Star Wars costumes. They had every character you could think of, but when Declan saw this Mario costume, he just had to have it. Of course, anything Declan wants, Cian wants too. So, they were BOTH Mario....sigh.

Here's Declan, hamming it up for the camera.

Birthday Videos

2010-10-27T12:54:00.000-07:00

This is a video of Lizzie from her 1st Birthday cake.

Birthday Update...

2010-10-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

So, being the airhead that I am. I did actually take pictures from Declans Birthday. I just found them on my cell this morning. I sware I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached. So, here they are. Please excuse his attire. He is his fathers son...lol.