7 Quick takes Friday

1. Lent has begun & I've finally had a great reason to get back to going to daily Mass with Miss Ava... that being that our parish, (Our Lady of Perpetual Help in New Bedford) switched it's Mass time during Lent to 5:30pm!!!  This is SO much easier for me to make as:

#1. I'm not a morning person
#2. The usual Mass time falls anywhere between Ava's feeding and/or naptime (and she's now become too nosey to nap well in public)
#3. ...repeat #1

The other great thing is that there are confessions before every daily Mass (except Fridays when there are Stations of the Cross beforehand and confessions offered afterwards).  I'm LOVING it! 

2. I'm having this great desire lately to learn how to SEW!!!

I tend to be crafty and creative in other ways, but SO want to learn how to SEW!  I keep getting all these ideas and thinking, "Darn!  (no pun intended) I wish I had a sewing machine... but I don't"

3.  Spring is in the air.  When springtime nears, I get this great desire to start GROWING things!  So today I went into CVS to get Ibuprofen and came out with these:

...and a movie.  I hope it's good!

Anyway, I have all these beautiful Amarylis bulbs downstairs in the basement which I bought and planted for our Wedding (If you recall they came up to early). 

I thought they I'd plant a few in each container and bring them back to life.  I know this is typically done around Christmas, but this year has been so confusing season/weather wise... they probably won't know the difference.

4.  I put some finishing touches on Ava's nursery.  I have had these cute little green frames and hadn't had a use for them, so I put a bunch of pictures to tell her birth story and placed them up in the nursery with Command hooks (the little clear ones.  ...I told you I'm SO into these things!) and they look great hanging from the trees over her crib.

5. I FINALLY found a teether that works for Ava.  She has HATED every single one I've offered to her during this whole teething process.  Until NOW!  I found these at Marshalls of all places:  Nuby Softees teethers...

...as you can tell.  She approves.

6.  THIS is one of my favorite things in my house.  It's a beautiful Holy water font that's hung right outside our bedroom door.  Our friends Pam & John Martin gave it to us for our Wedding.  I love that it's right there and so easy to dip into for a quick blessing and reminder.  I love watching Shaun bless little Ava.

7.  ...I've started working out again.  Ok... so I worked out ONCE technically.  I hope this holds me accountable.  I SOooo need to.  I have this big fear that I'll get pregnant again (that's actually NOT the fear part) before I lose the weight from this past pregnancy (THAT's the fear part).  So, I've turned my living room into a workout area.  Before I actually started, I watched the workout videos I had purchased over a period of 3 days to see which one most motivated me.... that's right, I said video(s)... plural.  "You just watched them you say?  Don't you mean to say, you worked out to them?"  Nope.  Just watched them... I think one of them I watched while I was snacking on Jax. 

That must have been Fat Tuesday. 

I'm SO uncoordinated I thought I might injure myself if I just jumped in.  I actually did sprain my ankle once doing Tae Bo!  So, I decided to skip the Tae Bo.  Sorry Billy.  I also decided to skip the "Post-Pregnacy Boot camp".  The lady was just too sweet and I thought when she said, "If you need to take a break, just take a short break" ...I would.  So for now I'm going with Jillian Michaels' "Ripped in 30". 

I'm hoping she can guilt trip me just enough to workout 3-4 times a week.  The tough part is that I'm not really that swayed by peer pressure.  I sort of have always "done my own thing" and if someone tells me to do something, I have a hard time doing it just because someone tells me to. 

I'm not like my dear friend Colleen of Martin Family Moments who seems to really enjoy excersize and has written many posts in defense of it.  (Her whole family is actually like this, so I think it's sort of a genetic thing) Or my friend Ellie from Me and my House who really likes to run and after 10 kids looks better than me after my first.  I don't enjoy it.  I hurt afterwards.  I have stairs in my house and the shortage of estrogen due to breastfeeding really makes my joints hurt more.  You know what I DO enjoy?  I really enjoy... EATING!  My tastebuds are in better shape than my legs.  And it doesn't help that I have a husband who thinks I'm absolutely beautiful ALL the time and seems unable to notice stretch marks... or weight gain ...this is actually not a complaint at all, but doesn't exactly motivate one to excersize.  *sigh*

But I want to be able to chase my children around without thinking, "Please Lord, When will they stop running???" so I'll give it a try.  Say a prayer.  Day one done, check!

A Busy Week!!!

So... it's been another busy week and is nearing a close (though it's not over yet).  I told myself that even if Mr. Shaun T. Fullen thinks I'm crazy for feeling the need to excersize, I was going to start actually using that gym membership and going... starting in November.  We joked as we were watching "Swamp People" and snacking on JAX & Chocolate Fudge Brownie Frozen Yogurt that most women at this point in their engagement would be freaking out and starving themselves... not me.  Instead, I say "Can we at least compromise and put the bag between us you little JAX hogger!"

Mmmmm...

On Monday, it began, though.  I have the BEST Maid of Honor who gets up and meets me at 4:45 in the morning to go to the gym.  Have I ever mentioned I'm NOT a morning person?  Nope.  I wax & wane between complete zomified non-responsiveness & unbridled chatter about nothing.  Poor thing.  Hope she still loves me by the end of this!

 ...some mornings I think I'm just gonna look like this on the eliptical... but overall, I'm happy I'm going and feel much more productive in the am & alert at morning Mass.

Monday was also "All Saints Day" and I dressed up as Mother Mary with my kids.  They were Super CUTE!  I wish I could show all the pictures but... legalities... you know!

It was quite a feat taking these 25 to Mass for the first time... in costume.

 

At school the kids have been helping me get ready for "My wedding".  We do a LOT of planting in the classroom all year long and have already planted nine containers of pumpkin seeds (from our carved jack-o-lanterns), 4 containers of apple seeds, 2 Maple trees, 2 containers of "pop"corn seeds ...oh, and ONE orange seed (one of the girls saved it from her lunch & wanted to plant it)... but they've also been helping ME to plant favors/decorations for the wedding. 

We planted 150 Spruce tree seeds (please grow) and a dozen Amarylis bulbs... that I REALLY hope grow.  We even prayed Hail Mary's for them.  They're all excited about helping me and I wish I could show you all the pictures (but don't have permission from the parents), so I'll just show you a few where you can't really see the faces:

"Today boys and girls, you're going to help me plant AMARYLIS bulbs!"

"For your wedding?"

"Yup."

"I'm coming to your wedding" (repeat)

"I hope so."

"Who are you marrying?"

"My friend Shaun"

"I know Shawn!!!"

"Not that Shawn... (looking at little Shawn) though I love you too Shawn"

"I love you TOO Miss Marijanna" (repeat 25 times)

"Ok, lets get back to planting..."

(whispering) "I think she's using us for slave labor!"

"Voila!"  (Please grow & BLOOM... by Jan 1st!)

...Just a little window into our world!