It's Friday Again?!?

How did a whole week go by already!  I need some brakes for this crazy life!  If anyone knows where I can get some, PLEASE(!) let me know!

Since that's a long shot...here's my 7 Quick Takes from the week....

#1:  Strawberries

Jon and Sarah planted flowers and strawberries for me for Mother's Day.  This picture is...wait for it..."the fruit of their labor"!(hee hee:)  The berries were very sweet!

#2:  To Sleep or Not To Sleep

In yesterday's post (click here),  I was struggling with several night of lousy sleep.  Thank-you to all who sent sleep prayers and thoughts our way!  Last night was sooooo much better!  We still have a ways to go before sleeping through the night is a reality around here...but I will take waking up 3 times as opposed to 9+ times any day!

#3:  Happy Birthday, Luke!

My baby boy turned four this week!(sniff)  Luke was so excited!  I tried to make it a Luke centered day and played with him when he asked and snuggled with him on request.  We spent some time at the playground and he had so much fun that he asked to go back after dinner!  (So we did...along with getting a special ice cream treat for the birthday boy!:)

Love this face!

Sarah and Luke on the twisty slide:)

 #4:  A Birthday Haircut!

Luke getting ready for bed after a fun day...and a haircut from Pa!:)

#5:  Catching Up With A Longtime Friend

A friend since high school came by for a visit this week!  We haven't seen each other in quite a few years!  Thanks to Facebook we re-connected a couple of years ago.  Seeing each other again in real life was great!  (As was meeting her adorable 8 month old son!)  Ellie loved him and held him almost the whole time!

#6:  Still No List

I have still not gotten the back-to-school list ready to go!  I'm avoiding it!  With school starting in 2 weeks, I have to get my act together! 

#7:  A New Driver

Jon got his driver's license this morning!  While I am very happy for him, the driving milestone is definitely my least favorite...no control and lots of worry (not my favorite combo!)  Jon is very excited...and now he is looking for a car!

Grouchy Doesn't Equal Love

I woke up in one of those no-good, rotten moods, little black cloud hanging over my head kind of day, today.  There have been several nights of 'less than stellar' sleep...and last night took the cake!  Luke whined off and on from 11:45 to 1:45.  Then I had an awful nightmare that had me wide awake at 2:15 afraid to close my eyes lest I go right back into the dream!  Then Kate woke up 3 times(at least) before 6.  Sigh:(

August is just flying by!  I have to get organized with the back to school lists.  Jon, Sarah and Ellie all start school the last week of August.  Mike moves to college on the 1st of September.  Luke starts pre-school and Andrew starts at our local University on the 3rd.  Peter starts the school year the latest on September 4th.(Ugh! With his summer program ending Friday that is just about an entire month home full-time!  Not easy...especially when my 'burnout is showing' after too little sleep!)

I'm sorry...I'm whining!  I know.  I just want to be grouchy today...like the Grouchy Ladybug kind of grouchy!  (But I don't want to fight anyone:)

My friend, Amy Plante,(who just published her first book...a great fictional novel for teens called Lizzie's Light  Sarah loved it and I enjoyed it, too!  Click on the title for more info), posted a quote from her calendar today:

 "Love is a choice, a commitment, an action, a gift- may the spirit of God give you wisdom to follow your heart in the way of love today."

I guess grouchy doesn't equal love!  Sigh....

The lack of sleep, the busyness of the month, the lack of time to just 'be'....Jay is on call 2 weekends this month, too:(..., and all of the changes that are coming up are starting to get to me!

I guess I just need to remember.....

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Matthew 6:33-34

So for today, I will work on not being "Mom the Grouch"....and try to get a couple of checks on my to-do list!  (And hopefully a cat nap!)

Hope your week is going by smoothly!(and that you are sleeping soundly!)

For My Special Four Year Old!

Today is a special day!  Four years ago, Jay and I held Luke in our arms for the very first time.  He was a pip-squeak...a 7lbs 2oz bundle of love!

When Luke was born, his six sibling ranged from age 6 to 16.  It had been quite a while since there had been a newborn in the house!

In fact, I call Luke our 'bonus baby' because I had thought that stage of our life was over.  Ellie had started school the previous September. I was nervous about having a new child. I found myself, for the first time in 15 years, with no little ones at home.  Some people celebrate that day!

I was grieving!  So much of my life had been centered around babies and toddlers for so long that to not have anyone home was a really hard transition.  And I wasn't just sad..I felt lost.  Maybe it sounds stupid, but I had this overwhelming feeling that, now that my kids were all in school, that I was just waiting to die.

I had lost my purpose!

In life, change happens and I began to adjust.  I started working part time for my parents and found a new routine.  I had one morning a week when I went to Mass and then met with friends for a couple of hours.  I got to go grocery shopping by myself!

Just when I started to get comfortable with my 'new life'........God threw me a curve ball!

...and our life changed again!

It was the week before Christmas when I realized I was a little late.  I was a shocked.  I was a little nervous about telling Jay.  My plan was to wait until after we put up our Christmas tree.  Putting up our tree tends to be a less than inspiring moment traditionally.  There are no angels singing about the beauty of our family harmony, that's for sure.  With kids that love to sing, other kids that hate singing, and multiple kids in a small area....it can get a little ugly.

I figured that if the tree trimming went badly, I would wait a couple of days to tell Jay about the chance we were adding another song lover...or hater....to this chaos!

But God beat me to the punch.  The morning before we got the tree, Jay hugged me spontaneously and asked if I ever regretted that we didn't have more children.  "Well, Honey,...actually" and I didn't have to say anymore.  Mr. impatient ran out to get a pregnancy test right away and it confirmed what I already knew!

The funny thing was that both of us had dreams that we had a baby boy in the couple of weeks prior to taking the test!  Jay's dream even had us naming the baby Arthur, after my grandfather.  (We ended up using Arthur as a middle name for Luke.)

News of a new baby was met with lots of excitement...even from the teenagers.  I wasn't sure how the older kids would react.  Teenagers are tough to read....and it had been a long time since we had a baby!

Luke changed the dynamics of our family in ways that were such a blessing!  The kids all circled around this new little baby with such love and devoted attention!  Seeing these big, manly teenagers cuddle a little baby in their arms is such a beautiful experience!  They couldn't wait to teach him how to play baseball and basketball!  (Luke was still a wobbly walker but he could dribble a basketball and swing a bat!)

Our family then...

sleeping brothers

ditto

Luke with his big sisters!  Ellie was soooo excited to be a big sister for the first time!

 Luke gave the teenagers a reason to want to be home.  They didn't want to miss all his 'firsts' and they wanted him to grow up knowing them well.  Luke was a special 'glue' that kept our family together during those tumultuous teenage years!  That was a gift!

Luke is so full of love and excitement!  He is such a sweet little guy who is definitely, "all boy"!  He is rough and tumble and loves to wrestle with his older brothers.  Luke loves trucks, his sandbox, play-do, and legos!  (Especially when he is playing trucks in his sandbox, trucks with his play-do, and building trucks with his legos!)  He also loves to follow Daddy around and build things and fix things....cutest.thing.ever!

As rough and tumble as he is, he still says to me often, "Let's snuggle, Mommy!" and "You need to hug me with both hands."  It makes my heart melt!

He is such a great big brother!  Luke and Kate are so close!

I can't believe my little boy is four!  I'm so proud of him!

I took a pic of Luke last night after he fell asleep....his last night as a 3 year old!(sigh)

Happy 4th Birthday, Luke!  We all love you very, very much!

A Little Wonder!

I'm linking up with Crystal again today for Behind the Scenes!  

I love this picture I took of Luke late Sunday afternoon!  Seconds before I snapped the picture, Luke had been holding a red dragonfly in his hands.  Luke loves dragonflies!  Jay caught one and called Luke outside.  As soon as Jay called to him that he had a dragonfly, we heard the thumping of little feet run through the house to come and see!

Luke held it in his hand really gently!  (Which isn't easy for a very solid almost 4 year old!)  He was so excited!  When it was time to let it go, the dragonfly walked on his hand for a few seconds before it flew off and I snapped this shot of Luke with amazement on his face!

It's amazing how one of God's smallest creations can cause so much excitement!  I can only imagine how many little graces God sends my way that I don't see because I don't take the time to look!  How many times does God whisper in my heart to see something that would bring excitement and joy to my soul?  How many times do I put off that whisper so that I can finish whatever it is I'm doing only to miss the moment?

I'm thankful for the reminder to find wonder in the little things!

Happy Monday

Happy Monday?  Why can't the work week be 2 days and the weekend 5?

I would like that!

We had a busy weekend!  Jay was on call, but, thankfully, only had to work a few hours on Saturday and an hour on Sunday.

We had our families over for dinner on Saturday to celebrate Luke and Peter's birthdays.  Peter's was last Wednesday and Luke's birthday is this Wednesday so we had one big party in the middle!

We had a simple cookout since hot dogs, chips and watermelon are their favorite foods.:)  Jay's mom made a great dinosaur cake with a triceratops head...so cute!  Luke especially loved it!

Three blue eyed girls!  My niece, Mya, Ellie and Kate:)

Peter blowing out his candles.

Luke looking at the cool dino cake!

Getting a little help from his cousin, Brayden:)

The boys loved their presents!  Peter got some great clothes, a mask for the pool, and some pool games.   Luke got a cool new truck that he calls a 'dino digger' from Jay's parents, some lego truck sets, and some cool dino shirts for fall!

On Sunday, we went to 8am Mass as usual then came home for a quick breakfast.  Jay left to see his patient and when he came back, we were packed and ready to go to our Parish picnic at a local pond.  The younger kids had a great time swimming in the pond while the moms sat around making sure everyone was safe and catching up.  The men were grilling and doing their own socializing, too!

A very full...but very nice...weekend!  Hope your weekend was spectacular!

And My Favorite is.......

Wrapping up the week...boy, did this one fly by!    I'm sharing my favorite 7 pictures from our weekend at the Vineyard.  I'm going to be a little different and count down from 7 to 1!  I'm so excited to show you my favorite photo that I've been talking about all... week... long!  

I hope you agree with me that it lives up to the hype:)

Without further ado.....

#7.  Mommy and Kate

I don't usually always love pictures of myself, but this one is a keeper!  

I'm usually the one taking the pictures so it's good to, at least occasionally, be in the picture!  

Liking the way it comes out is just icing on the cake!

#6.  Kate

Don't you just love those wrinkly thighs!  

I have to say, she is losing her baby chub more and more!(sigh)

#5.  A Loving Big Brother

This is a pic of Kate and Luke looking out the window on the ferry. 

 Do you see how Luke has his hand on her back in a loving and protective way!  

He loves his baby sister sooo much!  

Luke is so patient with her even when she is wrecking his creations or throwing sand on his head!

It makes me melt all the time watching the two of them interact together!  

It makes me feel so blessed to have them...and that they have each other!:)

#4:  Luke in His Pepere Hat

I love this hat!  

My grandfather wears hats like this all the time...except his are tan, not bright blue!  

Luke's middle name is my Grandfather's name, Arthur, so it seems even more appropriate to wear Pepere's type of hat!

(Note the truck sand toy Luke found in one of the stores on Circuit Ave. and bought with his birthday money from his Great-Grandma!  That boy and his trucks!)

#3:  My Goofy, Beautiful Daughter

I asked Sarah to say cheese...and she did!

#2:  Daddy and Kate

Kate was putting fistfuls of sand on Jay's leg and he would tease her and she loved it!  

Look at that love on both of their faces!

AND NOW FOR MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!!!!!

#1  Kathryn Marie

Does it not look like she was photo-shopped into this picture?!?  

The sky is incredible!  

The blue of her dress against the sky is incredible!

Holding the sides of her hat with her cute, little smile...love, love, love it!

Thanks for letting me share our weekend vacation!  Opportunities for family memories is a blessing!

Hope your weekend is filled with great family moments!

Linking up with Jen for 7 Quick Takes Friday!

So Where Are We Eating?

I don't know about your family, but a lot of our vacation seems to be about food!

Everyone in our family has their Vineyard favorites!  We tend to eat at the same places.....Vineyard vacation traditions.

The kids always want to eat a meal at Giordano's Italian Restaurant.  It is definitely a favorite.  We ate there on Friday night and no one walked away disappointed!

Jon and Sarah were taking goofy pictures while we were waiting for our meals:)

.....and a nice pic, too:)

One of our absolute must haves on Martha's Vineyard is ice cream from Ben and Bill's!  They have a ton of flavors of homemade ice cream!  Jay's absolute favorite is their Bailey's ice cream.  It's the only place we have seen it so far and he makes sure to have it several times over our weekend!  (He keeps trying to convince the owner of our local homemade ice cream shop to make Bailey's ice cream, too!  No luck so far but he keeps asking:)

My family is made up of several ice cream addicts!  We visited Ben and Bill's once each day we were there!  Jay got Bailey's every time...Sarah got Cookie Dough every time...Luke got Chocolate every time...and Jon got Mocha Chip every time!  They are creatures of habit...and take after Jay!

I made the mistake of having Kate share Luke's chocolate ice cream the first night and had to go buy stain remover to save her sweatshirt!  After that she shared vanilla with Peter.(one of the few times besides Grandma's chocolate cake that we let him cheat on his gluten/dairy free diet!)

Another fun place we eat is at Larsen's Fish Market in Menemsha.  Larsen's will steam lobsters and clams for people to eat on the beach or on impromptu tables made out of lobster traps.  My parents are professional Larsen patrons and bring their own foldable table.  Not everyone in our family are lobster lovers.  So up the hill from Larsen's is a little shack called The Bite where we pick up french fries and chicken fingers.  

It was a beautiful day on Saturday to eat outside...sunny but breezy so it wasn't too hot.  It's fun having a picnic outside and watching boats come in and out with their load of people or fish!

Peter loved the french fries!

Jon has always loved lobster!  He has expensive taste!

pretty sisters:)

...and we always have to have one breakfast at my Mom's favorite, Linda Jean's!

We always go to the Game Room and The Flying Horses!  Even the older kids go on The Flying Horses....and compete with each other for who can get the most rings at one time!  Jon had a lot of luck this weekend....he got the brass ring two times!!!  Both times he gave the free ride to one of his younger brothers-first Peter and then Luke.  When Luke stayed on for the free ride, Jon stayed on to stand next to him and.....Luke got the brass ring!!!  

Too bad Jon isn't 18 yet!  I would have had him buy a lottery ticket to see if his luck continued:)

I happened to be standing next to Luke's horse right behind Jon when he grabbed the brass ring!  I had my camera out taking pictures of all the kids and I snapped it at just the right time!

Jon looks a little intense and scary the moment after he grabbed the brass ring!

Here is a slightly more subdued, but still super happy, Jon:)

Definitely a fun weekend!  Stay tuned tomorrow for my favorite pic of the weekend!  Happy Thursday!