Holiday Happenings!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas/New Year's/school vacation week! I'm having a hard time getting back into our "normal" routine! I enjoyed the more laid back tone of the kids' vacation time very much!

I wanted to share some of our Holiday Happenings! It was an exciting end of Advent/Christmas/New Year/Vacation Week! 

1. Visit With Santa

Jay's mom invited Kate and Luke to a Christmas Party put on by a local historical society. They do a great job! There are crafts, games(with prizes), and story and song time with Santa and Mrs Claus! Kate and Luke loved it! :)

Kate with Grandma

Luke(aka "shifty eyes") with Grandma

I LOVE how excited Kate is!

#2 Christmas Concert

This was Luke's first year in the school's Christmas Concert! Jay and I are convinced that he is part muppet! He is always making the goofiest faces and noises! Lucky for us, (insert sarcasm here), Luke was up front and VERY visible the entire time the group was singing! There were multiple people around us laughing at that "cute little guy in the front"...who was making goofy faces, only singing the first line, and picking his nose occasionally! Oy! My sil said he was the "funniest kid at the concert"..... Too bad it wasn't a comedy show!

 Thankfully, Ellie was a joy to watch as part of the Chorus! She did a great job in her duet!

#3: Kate Turned Four!!!

Kate loves watching Playdo Princess videos on Youtube, so that was one of her gifts!

She also loves dinosaurs! I was super psyched when Jon found this dino set at Toy's R Us.
It has a baby triceratops that is pink! Kate's favorite!

 #4: Family Christmas Party(a few days early)

Most of my dad's family lives out of town, so we celebrate Christmas the weekend before the 25th. It's always great to spend time with everyone! 

#5: Happy Birthday, Kate (part deux)

We had a family party for Kate the day after her birthday. Jay's mom always makes a cake decorated in whatever the birthday girl/boy wants. Kate wanted a Rudolph Kate. 

#6-7: Warm Weather + Crazy Kids= Necessary Outside Play!

It was so warm on the day of Kate's party, that it was a great opportunity for Kate, Luke, and their cousins, Brayden and Mya, to get rid of a little energy and their sugar rush outside! Since Jay wants to be considered the favorite uncle...he had lots of fun playing with them! Since I love to take action shots....I took way too many pictures! I will try to refrain from posting too manyhere...but I know I will so I'm apologizing in advance!!!

Such a cutie pie!

action shot!

goofy uncle shot #1

goofy uncle shot #2

more action

I saw this shot unfolding and I couldn't get my camera fast enough! Jay's in mid air!
 (And Brayden's face is pure glee!)

 

lol

Clearly having fun!

Love the sun in this shot!

2 on 1

Having lots of fun!

More crazy uncle time

action shot!

The girls practicing how to pump while they swing!

Kate wanted in on the fun with Daddy!

Daddy's Little Girl!

Happy Weekend!

In the Moment

Peter's class had a little Holiday Open House today.

Peter is part of a local collaborative and his classroom is in a high school just a couple of towns over from where we live. Peter has Autism and is not able to be in a regular classroom. Because we live in a small town that doesn't have a program for kids like Peter, we get to choose one of the local Collaborative programs that services the small towns in the area.

Peter just transferred into his new classroom in early November. He had been in a collaborative classroom in a local middle school prior to that, but all of the other kids had "aged out". So, when he started the year, Peter was alone. It really bothered me and I spent lots of time communicating with his teacher and the person in charge of the program. They were trying to plug Peter into more activities with other "neurotypical" kids to give him opportunities for socialization...but it still didn't feel right. All that kept popping in my head was, "It is not good that man should be alone."

After speaking with our SPED Director, we decided that switching classrooms and schools would be best for Peter. It was the best decision for him and is thriving in his new program! :)

Peter's class has 8 kids in it, including him. They have one main teacher and three aids. There are also various therapists that come in and out over the day. They also have neurotypical students from the high school that are part of a program that come in different periods each day to work and play with Peter and his class mates. (This is by far my FAVORITE part of this program! Peter even calls one of the student helpers his "girl friend"! lol I love that Peter has role models and I love that the role models are getting exposure to kids with disabilities. The level of acceptance and kindness is incredible when neurotypical kids...sorry, I hate the word "normal"...spend time with kids with disabilities. There is no fear or awkwardness...they accept kids like Peter for who they are. Neurotypical kids that have spent time with special needs peers see beyond their limitations...the lack of eye contact, the lack of speech, the weird noises...and they connect with them on whatever level they are able to.

It's a blessing to everyone!

I signed up for Dynamic Catholic's Best Lent Ever. Today's message happened to be on "Visiting the Sick". I didn't listen to it until I had already gotten home from visiting Peter's classroom....but it talked about being present when you spend time with people that are ill, and not just seeing the visit as something else checked off a list.

I know that for myself, this time of year is SO busy that it's a struggle for me to stay in the moment and just enjoy whatever activity I'm on! It's something I have to work at all.the.time!

I enjoyed my visit to Peter's classroom. My Dad, Mom, Kate and our buddy, Declan came, too. I think Peter was happy that we were there. His teacher said he spent much of the morning looking for us outside the window. He came right over to us when we got there. Of course, the whole time we were there he played on the Ipad or walked around the room. The questions we asked him received minimal answers. I had made the pasta dish that he likes before we left to see him so he could share it with the class. He hadn't taken a bite, yet, from what I put on his plate before we left.  He was more interested in the mashed potatoes and pears that I had packed in the morning from home!

I got to meet a couple of other moms and I got a chance to talk to his teachers and speech therapist a little. I enjoyed spending time with Peter's classmates. Some were more withdrawn and just did their own thing like Peter. A couple were more talkative. One young man in particular, Ben, came right over, introduced himself and shook hands, and enjoyed watching Kate and Declan check out the giant exercise balls in the room. Ben was a BOSS with a rubics cube!! He would mess it all up and then solve all the sides perfectly in just a couple of minutes! I am SO impressed!

As a mom....we give and give and give and give until we have nothing left...then we somehow manage to squeeze just a little more give out! SO many times we give without much in return. I think this is true with any child...but especially with a special needs child. There are so few things that cause Peter to have a reaction that shows pure joy...(aka one of the ways that makes me feel like a success as a mom!) But that doesn't mean that I don't keep trying! His happiness might not be the same happiness that our other kids have....but that's ok. Just as long as he's happy! :)

Kate and Peter enjoying lunch at the Holiday Party!
Note that Peter is eating his potatoes...not pasta!

The Evolution of the Christmas Card!

I've written dozens of blog posts in my head that never made it to my blog space! So many times I have thought of how much I miss this space...yet, life and the lack of hours in a day, always managed to get in the way.

There's so much I haven't shared...haven't chronicled for my own kids. It just felt overwhelming!

But I've missed this space! I can't promise it will be consistent...but I will certainly try to just jump back in!

What was the catalyst to begin blogging again? 

Well...I FINALLY got around to ordering Christmas Cards today! And, unlike last year, all of the kids are in the picture! At least I hope so! I don't pick them up until Saturday, but I paid VERY close attention and counted to 8 multiple times to be sure! (Jon was closer to the middle this year, so if someone gets cut off it won't be him!)

I took over 20 shots and I had 3 to choose from! With our crew, you know none of them would be perfect! (And they lived up to the expectation!) And I'm ok with that! :)

Since it's 7 Quick Takes Friday, I'm going to share our "Not Top 7". Pay close attention to Luke's face! I laughed so hard I cried! (literally...Jon came in to make sure I was ok! In his words, "I thought someone died.")

 Then I showed him the pics and he laughed out loud, too!)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame perhaps?!?

Can you see who Luke reminds us of?!? He's a LOT like one of his big brothers!
(cough, cough...Jon!)

Note: Kate is just super cute throughout the "photo shoot" sitting in that tree! 

Ellie is always smiling. 

Mike has his "too cool for school" face on...maybe I' should cut him out of the photo on purpose this year! ;)

Andrew has the same "grumpy cat" face in every.single.pic! 

And Peter was just not interested in any way what so ever! 

Oh, well! 8 kids later and I'm happy that most of them look good!

Here's the winner:

Have a great weekend! :)

It's October!!!

It's October!!!

October is my favorite month of the year! I love the cooler weather, football Sundays, apple picking, apple pies, apple crisps, cooking in the oven(there's a homemade chicken pie cooking as I type), wearing sweatshirts, the changing leaves, apple cider....I could go on and on!

October is the month of our Anniversary! 23 years on the 24th!

October is also a month filled with some power house saints! There's no waiting, either! Right from the get go, October arrives ushering in the littlest power house of a saint, St. Therese of Lisieux!

I love the Little Way of St. Therese.  She's a saint that everyone can emulate because she spent her life focusing on doing little things with great love.  Those "little things" are really hard to do well! A hundred times a day I have opportunities to do little things with great love! Yet, so often, I totally miss the chance!

St. Therese has popped into our lives in special ways over the years. I read a random prayer to St. Therese while dusting in the late summer of 1997. In late September, early October, a dead rose bush in our yard started to bloom and produced lots of roses! We named our first daughter, conceived by the doctor's calculation on October 1st of that year, Therese Elizabeth. During our Therese's short life, God was very present in so many ways. One of the moments that has stuck out the most was the gift of a single rose that our next door elderly neighbor brought over the day we brought our daughter home from the hospital. It was the most beautiful rose I have ever seen. It bloomed fully and perfectly, as did our daughter, when God brought our Therese home to Himself at 2 am the next morning.      

Not a pic of our rose...but it was orange and beautiful like the one in this pic!

More recently, St. Therese has been on my heart after finding a book in Adoration. It's a mini retreat book that focuses on how God's love poured into St. Therese and how she returned His love so perfectly, that the love spills over as grace for the world. 

Another "St. Therese Moment" for me started with a question from a very good friend's conversation with my Sarah. Sarah asked me, "Mom, what's the area that is the focus of your mothering?" It took me a little while, but when I really pondered the question, the answer was, "Love. Trying to make sure that each of you feels loved as much as I can. Even in the little things."

By little things I mean: buying someone's favorite treat because it catches my eye at the store. Cooking someone's favorite meal. Creating a menu every week that includes at least a couple of meals I know that my pickiest eater will like...and making extra so he has leftovers. Spending time listening to my older kids late at night when I'd rather just go to bed. Giving thanks that I seem to always be the one that gets to change an empty toilet paper roll. Always looking for God's inspiration to make any of them(and all of them) feel special. 

I think that's why I love St. Therese's little way! I'm just a mom, but all the little things that I do in love can do big things! 

Another friend from our parish sent out a link to a St. Therese Novena last week. I'm not usually good at doing novenas...and I'm a day behind because I forgot one day. But over the course of the novena, all of the things that I've prayed for have had either answers or opened a path for the next step I need to take. Thank you, St. Therese!  

I put on my Jamberry Nails with a rose design today to honor St. Therese and our little Therese, too!
The flowers were a surprise from Jay last week, "Just because"! :)

Happy October!

What's on My Mind....

Linking up with 7 Quick Takes today....and trying to un-jumble the messy head I can't seem to keep myself out of!

#1: Missing Ring

This week I lost my wedding band!! :( The ONLY time I ever take off my wedding/engagement rings is when I make meatballs!  (Well....I also had to take them off during a couple of my pregnancies bc my fingers got too fat. But that isn't relative right now!)

So, on Tuesday afternoon, I was making meatballs. I hate when raw meat that I've got all over my hands gets around my rings and in the stones of my engagement ring. I mean, it's gross, and hard to clean, and I feel like I won't wash it all off well enough and have raw meat germs on my rings, (and fingers)! And, yes, my family will tell you that I have an issue with raw meat....don't even bring up raw chicken!

I didn't even remember taking off my rings, but I'm sleep deprived and dealing with some perimenopause memory loss(see below)! After I finished the meatballs and washed my hands(a couple of times), I reached in my pocket and the only ring in there was my engagement ring?!? What-the-what?!? Well, I looked all over! Swept the floor, peeked under the stove, watched Jay go through the garbage(once I got up the courage to tell him I lost it!).....and the meatballs have all been eaten now so it wasn't hiding in there! So far, my prayers to St. Anthony have gone unanswered!  I'm hoping it's in some stupid place....since I don't even remember taking it off!

Jay and I got married young and we had no money, so it's just a plain gold, "what's the cheapest band you sell", kind of ring. (I wish we had gone with silver, but gold was the "in thing" back in the early 90's!) Jay was concerned at first because I might go out in the world and appear to be single! Thankfully, I still have my engagement ring...which we actually bought many years later at some point when we had a little money...so Jay can rest easy!(bc, you know, there are LOTS of singles ads that read "single male seeking relationship with single woman that has a boatload of children!)

Replacing the "what's the cheapest wedding band you have" ring will cost about $400!!! Yikes...23 years of inflation is a beast! I'm not going to do that....we'll just wait until a big anniversary and get a special wedding band!(hint, hint, Jay)

(and I'll keep praying to St. Anthony..that ring is around here somewhere!)

#2: World Youth Day

World Youth Day will be in Poland in August of next year. Sarah's high school just announced that they are putting together a group to go....and guess who wants to sign up?!? I have VERY mixed feelings about it! I know it would be an incredible experience to be around so many youth that love their faith...and Pope Francis! Jay is 1/2 Polish and has an obsession with St. Pope JPII, so that makes a trip to Poland even that much more special! However...it's going to cost about $5000!!! We have to figure out fundraisers on our own and only have 6 months to raise the money! Then there's the issue that it's in....Poland....and that we would be sending our (by then) 17 yo daughter overseas to hang out with millions of strangers all bombarding a country where we know no one. The "what if's" of my fearful mama heart can get a little loud...."What if she gets sick", "What if someone hurts her?", "What if someone steals her things?", "What if she loses her passport?!", "What if some crazy people plan an attack?". She will be halfway around the world and we won't be there to protect her!

Fear vs possible experience of a lifetime...and the decision has to be made asap.

I like it better when they're little and the biggest decision is to order them vanilla ice cream or let them have the chocolate ice cream that will probably ruin the white shirt that they're wearing!

Not a white shirt...and she was eating chocolate chip pancakes, not ice cream...but you know what I mean! 

#3: Getting Older Part I

Since this is supposed to be 7 "Quick" takes and not 7 "long" takes...I need to move this along! Since I turned 40 fifteen months ago, the adjustment has not gone well! My kids are getting older, I'm getting older, and all of a sudden all the rules are changing! I'm trying to transfer gracefully from a mom with a (seemingly) constant stream of nursing babies and busy toddlers to a mom with less constant hands on parenting. It's not easy! If people ask, "What are your talents?", for the last 22 years the answer would be having babies and caring for young children!

While I knew those years wouldn't go on forever....even though many nights it seemed they might...I'm struggling to redefine myself. My focus and goals have been on helping my kids through all the various phases of childhood that I'm struggling to figure out how to make personal goals for my "second half of life"! Any tips would be appreciated!

#4: Getting Older Part Deux

This whole perimenopause/menopause thing does seem a little unfair. As if hormones don't wreak enough havoc in our lives during our child bearing years! I think I'll have to get Jay on of those books for men to understand exactly what's going on and how to be supportive. Is there a "What to Expect When You're (Peri)menopausing?

#5: Trying to Get Back My Game Day Groove

Fall is Football Sundays! I'm trying to get back into creating some special game time menus! The request for this week: Buffalo Chicken Wings and Mini Meatball Sliders. Now I have to find the recipes.....I SO need to get organized!

#6: Can We Please Start the Fall Weather

The kids are in school...it's time for beach weather to go away! Bring on the 60's! I want to wear sweat shirts and enjoy putting the oven on again! p.s. Fall weather is welcome to stay until April.  There is no need to send Winter this year! Thank-you.

#7: Happy Weekend!

(At least this one was quick!) :)

New School Year Update!

I seriously don't know how time passes so quickly!  I have written so many blog posts in my head that I'm shocked that it's been so long that I've actually gotten anything on my blog!!!

The last 2 weeks of August and the first 2 weeks of September always go by in a blur! Most of my kids are in school....with the exception of my youngest, who is home with me for just one.more.year, and my oldest, who graduated in May. Although Mike hasn't found a full time position, middle/high school history teaching positions are hard to find(!), he is subbing a lot. (So, technically he's in school, too! :)

Andrew is a Junior at UMass Dartmouth! He is majoring in computer science. (Which is good, because now I will have someone to fix my computer when it doesn't work!)

Andrew doesn't "do" pictures-he claims college is "too old" to take 1st day of school pics.
His "mugshot" pose is his form of protest!
My posting this pic is my form of revenge encouragement to smile in the future!

Jon is a Sophomore at UMass Dartmouth. He is majoring in Mechanical Engineering. (I think his choice of major came from all those years of Lego building!)

Thankfully, Jon likes to smile! :)

Sarah is a Junior in high school! Seriously, I can't even believe it! Sarah is a BIG over achiever and has an academic year packed with 4 AP classes plus religion, spanish and a 1/2 year course of computer science. She just wants to learn about everything!

1st day as an upperclassman!

Peter is still in a self contained classroom at our local collaborative.  His start of the year has been a little crazy...all of the other kids have aged out of his classroom and his main teacher is out on maternity leave until Thanksgiving.  After lots of prayer and consideration,(the continual thought in my head was "It's not good that the man should be alone"), Jay and I decided to pursue moving him to a different program. This week we met with our town's new SPED director, which is always a little stressful. The meeting went great and she agreed with our concerns. We will be visiting a new potential classroom on Tuesday morning.

Peter being Peter

Life with Peter is ALWAYS an adventure!

Ellie is in 7th grade at St Francis. She is 1/2 an inch shorter than I am and is really growing up!

Ready to go! :)

Luke is in Kindergarten and doing really well!  He has transitioned great into full days....he loves having lunch at school!

Luke and his cousin, Brayden, waiting in the Kindergarten line! :)

Kate is home with me.  She is missing her playmates, so I have been playing more than my fair share of "dollies" with her.  Not my favorite, but I know next year, when she goes to half day preschool, I will be missing these moments!

Kate and I aren't alone all day.  We have our friend, Declan, that comes to play.(Since my babies are growing up, I need to bring some in from the outside! I don't want my skills to get rusty....eventually I'll have grandbabies! :)

Isn't he a cutie?!?

I'm getting used to everyone's schedules...although clubs are starting next week for Sarah and Ellie so I'll have some adjusting to do! All in all, the school transition has gone pretty well for just about everyone!

On Borrowed Time

I know the end of summer is trying for lots of moms. One of the best things about summer is that everything slows down and there's less of a set schedule.  By the end of summer, that lack of schedule and routine starts to get to everyone I think!

While I miss having a more set routine, I actually love having my kids around me. (OK...honest moment.  I love having all my kids home except Peter!  Peter is hard and I have a whole other post in my head about vacation time with special needs kids! Extended periods of time with Peter 24/7 is challenging.  I love him...but he burns me out.....)

For the rest of my kids....I love the opportunities that summer holds for long, lazy days of swimming and playing and spending time with them.  As summer draws to an end and a new school year is upon us it makes me cringe a little because, by the time summer time rolls around once again, all of my kids will be a year older and everything will change once again! And even though it seems as if each moment will last for ever, it truly doesn't! I have personal experience with that one since we have a college graduate who has recently moved out on his own!!!

This year in particular is a hard one for me.  Luke is going to full day kindergarten.  My baby boy is growing up and I know all too well how fast this next year will go by!  I know I'm on borrowed time!  The little boy, (that slept for the first time in his very own room on the TOP bunk all night long), came into my room this morning so proud of his independence and in the next breath asked me to snuggle.....that little boy is growing up! I'm on borrowed time! I'm still the center of Luke's life but it won't be like that forever.  I'm on borrowed time! I love the relationships that I have with my older sons, but there is no snuggling involved and I'm definitely not the center of their world anymore! (Nor would I want to be bc that would just be unhealthy and weird!) But I still miss the little boys they were!

Since I've had the experience of raising older children, I have appreciated the time I have with my littles so much more!  But it's still going by way.too.fast!

One of the books on Luke's Kindergarten reading list was The Kissing Hand.  We read it last night...and I was holding in tears by the end! It's hard to let your baby grow up!

Seven years ago, I sent Ellie to Kindergarten! She was the baby of our family(at the time) and was our sixth child to enter school.  I had no idea what to do with myself.  Being a stay at home mom with little children had defined my every waking moment for 15 years at that point in my life and in that one moment everything had changed and I felt SO lost!  I started working part time for my parents but I felt like I had no purpose. (I know...it seems melodramatic but it was a huge life change and it was how I felt!) It got better over time. Between late August and early December, I went from feeling like I had no purpose and was just waiting to die to finding a rhythm I enjoyed that included getting to talk to grown-ups in my job, having a little free time to myself to shop and clean, and volunteering at school.

Then, just when I adjusted to my "new" life....I found out I was pregnant with Luke!  God totally has a sense of humor!

Next year, Kate will go to half day pre-school! Knowing this is my last year with her home with me full time is VERY bittersweet!  I'm close to entering another moment in life that will re-define me! I'm on borrowed time! It's really not easy. (Not to mention that next year, Andrew will be a senior in college, Sarah will be a senior in high school and Ellie will be an 8th grader!!!! I'm SO going to need some Valium!)

It's exciting...and it's all good things.  But change is hard!

(And I'm going to miss this little guy!)