Pro Life March...

Here's a picture of us at the pro life march back in January.... It was a cold day but we walked the walk! Well, Noah refused to walk so I had to bring the stroller which he has totally outgrown. Oh well, It beat me trying to carry him on my back...

Car Trouble...

Archbishop D bought a new chair at Costco and it was broken when we got it out of the box and tried to put it together. We had to take it back and get a new one. It was quite the process...It took, Barrett, Kyle (Aimee's brother), and me to get it on top of the car. Okay, mostly Barrett and Kyle. Then we realized we didn't have any rope. We finally got it all figured out and drove it to Archie's house. Whew...I am glad that is over...

Moments before...

I never posted these pictures and I just found them on my computer. This was the dreaded day...actually moments before Noah got a black eye, bloody nose, and bloody mouth. As you can see, he was having a lot of fun before we had to stop and go to the hospital.

Tuesday

Tuesday night is LOST night. LOST is amazing! Therefore, I look forward to Tuesday nights!! For the past couple of years, Allen and I have hosted Tuesday potluck and LOST nights. There are usually about 10 of us every week but sometimes we have a whole lot more. On the nights of Premiers and Finales, our house is usually BUSTING with LOST fans! I really look forward to LOST night. I have grown to really enjoy the friendships with those who come. Some of them are in the marriage Bible Study group we are a part of, some are Core Members at St Thomas, and some are just friends. In the summers and the fall when LOST is not on, we usually have game nights or movie nights in the place of LOST. This is the final season of the show and I am going to be sad when it comes to an end. We will continue to host Tuesday fun nights but it won't be the same knowing there will not be anymore seasons of the greatest show on earth. Barnum and Baily have nothing on LOST!!! Well, I must go clean my house and fill up the beer fridge....Lost fans sure can drink!!!

Lent

Lent is here...in full swing actually... starting with Ash Wednesday a few days ago. In fact, i hope Lent doesn't end like it started for me. I waited all day to go to Mass so Noah could go with me. I thought about going while Noah was in school so I could spend more time praying and not saying "Noah, please stop shooting everyone with your pretend finger guns" but came to my senses and remembered how important it is for Noah to go with me. Even though it wasn't a Holy Day, I wanted Noah to experience it with me. Of course, Noah was very outspoken all day about NOT wanting to get ashes on his head. He almost got his wish! I somehow mixed up the time and showed up thinking Mass was at 4:30 only to find out it was a prayer service at 4. Noah and I made it just in time to walk down the aisle at the end and get ashes on our head. Way to go, Meghan!! Noah decided not to get them then but after the prayer service when dear Ms. Betsy gave some to him.

I am excited about Lent! My goal is that by the end of the 40 days I will have grown closer to Christ. I hope to spend these 40 days looking at what i need to change in my life to grow in my faith. I am excited about continuing my weekly adoration hour and simplifying things in my life. I am also excited about Friday's in Lent and the abstaining from meat on those days because I LOVE MEAT!!!!! It will be a great sacrifice to give that up and make other things for lunch and dinner but i hope to do it in a way that brings Glory to God.

Noah and I are headed to Covecrest today where Allen is leading the St Thomas teen retreat this weekend. It could not have come at a better time!! I can't wait to spend some time with Noah this weekend in prayer, even if I do spend the whole time saying "Noah, don't shoot everyone with your pretend finger guns".

I hope you and your family are taking advantage of this Lenten season. I hope you spend some time in extra prayer so by the end of the 40 days you have grown closer to Christ! Happy Lent from me to you!!!

Deep Thoughts by Meghan Austin...

• I LOVE the Olympics!!! LOVE THEM!!! I love both the summer and the winter olympics equally. To be honest, the more I watch them, the more I wonder why Kate Parker is not in some sort of olympic event. seriously. I love watching them with Noah. He gets so excited when "our team" wins. I can remember watching them with my mom when i was little.
  

• Noah's black eye is ALMOST back to normal. It now just looks like he is wearing some eye shadow on one eye. He is kind of bummed the "cool colors" are going away.
  

• I am super excited about going to Covecrest this weekend. Noah and I like to tag along on Allen's retreats. Okay, we also love stopping in Helen for a yummy carmel apple and some fudge. Oh, and I can't forget Goats On A Roof...it is also a favorite!!

• I haven't been a youth minister now for 6 months...wow time flies! Well, i guess I should say I haven't been a PAID youth minister for 6 months. I guess the saying "Once a Youth Minister, always a Youth Minister" is true. Unfortunately the past month I have had several phone calls from teens and parents who i used to work for and with who are not happy. It makes me sad to hear that, it really does. When i was in high school, my youth group was a HUGE part of my life and it makes me sad that some of these teens don't want to go anymore. I wish i could wave a magic wand and make it better.

• Allen has been wanting to watch the movie "Whip It" since it was in the theaters. We actually tried once but just missed it. He came home and put it in our queue and it just came tonight. It is GREAT!!!! I have to be honest, I have seen some real doozies thanks to Allen's movie picks but this is a great movie. It stars Ellen Paige (from Juno) and I have always liked her. She does a great job in this movie too.
  

• After the New Year I wasn't running as often as I wanted to but I am finally back on track!! I have found it much easier to run on the treadmill in this cold weather. And I find it even easier to run on the treadmill while at the gym and while watching "Lets Make a Deal".

• I have cut my grocery bills in half by discovering the store Aldi. I love that store!!

• I haven't been to bed before 11:30pm in a long time! I need to go to bed earlier because i get so tired everyday around 4pm. All I want to do is turn on a movie and curl up in front of it and fall asleep. It doesn't help either that Noah has had a TON of bloody noses in the middle of the night this winter waking me in the middle of the night. It is nice though that Noah likes crawling into my bed with me and turning on a movie so i actually can sneak in an afternoon nap some days.

• I need to go bed...
  

Brilliant or lazy??

I am not sure if Noah is a genius or just plain lazy. About a month ago when he was sick and felt like he might throw up, he didn't want to have to keep getting of the couch to go to the bathroom in case he threw up so he made this all on his own...

He taped a Kroger bag to his Heart hat that they made at school and it was placed right under his mouth. Now that is some good thinking. Good news for mom: it was never filled!!

Ice Skating...

A few weeks ago, Allen was working late and my mom was watching Noah so Barrett, Aimee, and I went ice skating. It was so much fun even though I haven't been in years!

Barrett kicked my booty in a race...

Happy Bday Patrick!

A few weeks ago Noah and I got to help our little buddy Patrick celebrate his 2nd birthday. Although I took lots of pictures, these are the only ones my computer is letting me upload right now.
Noah and his buddy Padon...
Noah and those crazy Parker girls...
Noah and his buddies Madeline and Ella...

Day 4...

and still cute as ever...

Lookin' Good...

Day 2...


Day 3...
what a stud!!!

You Should See The Other Guy

Whew! What a night! Tonight was a fundraiser for Noah's preschool at Chick-fil-a. 10% of all the proceeds between the hours of 5 and 8 went to help fix the playground at the school. Noah and I were planning on getting there around 5:45 to meet up with some of our friends who were going too. We were over in that area of town around 4 and had some time to kill before heading to dinner so I offered to take Noah to Monkey Joe's so he could get some energy out. He had been a trooper all day running errands with me where he had to "sit still" for most of the time so I knew Monkey Joe's would be a good idea. And it was! There was only one other boy in the entire place and Noah and the boy were playing together. They were running, climbing, running, sweating, jumping, running, did i mention running? They asked me to play hide and seek with them so I was "pretending" not to see them while they hid on all the inflatables. After an hour of that, it was finally time to go. Noah had just told me he was "STARVING". He asked for "just one more time hiding" so of course I agreed. Man, I wish I hadn't. It was in the last time hiding that Noah and his little friend (probably 2 or 3 years old than Noah) were hiding on one of the inflatables. They were both at the top of the slide. The boy came down the slide and I "found him". He quickly, with full force and speed, tried to run UP the slide not realizing at that moment Noah was sliding DOWN it. BAM!!! The boy's head went right into Noah's face. Immediately Noah let out a scream that I knew meant business. He was holding his eye but when he turned my way, there was blood streaming out of his nose. We ran to the bathroom to get some tissues and I realized his mouth was bleeding too. I was afraid he bit his tongue. I told him to take his hand away from his eye so he could help me hold the tissue on his nose and when he removed his hand he uncovered where his eye was hit. HOLY COW. His eye was so swollen that it was totally swollen shut!! I was freaking out. It was bad. I just scooped him up and literally ran to the car. I called Allen first and then my friend Beth to tell her we weren't going to make it to dinner. She was very supportive and helpful in calming me down while i was driving to the ER. Noah was still screaming so that wasn't helping things. We got to the ER and saw a sign that said it was at least an hour wait. They asked what happened and when I told them, we were in the ER room in less than 3 minutes. They were afraid Noah had a concussion, a broken nose, and eye damage. They did some tests and stuck some things up Noah's nose and luckily he does not have a broken nose. He will have a pretty nasty black eye but there is no damage to the eye. They are also pretty sure he doesn't have a concussion but i still have to wake him every 2 hours tonight to be sure. We had to keep him awake until after 10pm tonight which was actually quite difficult for such a tired boy. Whew, what a night!!!

It makes me so sad to see Noah hurt and in pain but Noah thinks it is really funny that I taught him to answer when people ask him what happened to say "you should see the other guy".

Just Checking In...

Is it almost Thursday already?? Gosh, where has the week gone?? What have i been doing besides having coffee with some of the most amazing women and their amazing babies?? Well, tonight me, my mom, my brother, Archbishop Donoghue, and Noah (dressed in a full Ninja Turtle costume) went to dinner. Archbishop egged Noah on in a pretend gun fight all night. It was quite the sight to watch. To be honest, I am not sure who had more fun...Noah or Archbishop.

hmmm. what else have i been doing? Oh, My mom and I got a pedicure this week....now I have pretty pink toes. Too bad it is a million degrees below freeing so my pretty pink toes have been hidden under socks and shoes all week. It was still fun to do with my mom.

It's snowing all over the Eastern part of the country but not here. Why can't it just snow a little?? Enough for a snow day...a REAL snow day!! One where we can make a sled out of something around the house and spend hours sledding down a hill and throwing snowballs at each other.

I still love watching That 70's Show. Even though I have seen every episode at least 3 or 4 times I still record the shows on my DVR and watch them every night before i fall asleep. I think that show is so stinking funny.

We don't own any pets but one night this week while i quickly ran out to my car and left the front door open, a cat ran into my house without me knowing. I kept hearing a funny sound only to be scared to death when i went to check out the noise and found a cat in my living room!!! My scream was VERY loud!

I have taken 3 hot baths this week! They have been great!!!!

Noah has his Valentine's Day party at school tomorrow and trying to get him to sit down and sign his name on the Transformer Valentines was NOT a treat. He thought it would be funny at one point to sign "mom" on all of them so we had to start over. I can't wait until we have homework every night (can you hear the sarcasm??)

I am in the process of redoing my bathroom. I have wanted to redo it for a while. I found this AWESOME shower curtain that looks like a street in Paris, France. I also found some Paris pictures, one with the Eiffle Tower, of course! Believe it or not, Allen actually likes it!! yay!!

I have seen The Fugitive soooooo many times but it is on tv and I am watching it again. I am waiting for Allen to get home from Whirly Ball.

Barrett and I are going to play tennis when it warms up some. I can't wait. I had so much fun the last time and I am ready to play again.

Yay...Allen just walked in the door.

The Favorite Part of my day...

I LOVE being a mom! I love everything (well, ALMOST everything) about it! It really is the bravest thing I have ever taken on in my life. Even braver than thyroid cancer. seriously. Motherhood wears me out though. I used to be such a night owl. I would stay up way past midnight just doing nothing around my house. Now, I am EXHAUSTED by 9pm. What can i say? I have a VERY energetic child. The Energizer Bunny has nothing on Noah. It is worth it though.

Bedtime for Noah is usually 7pm every night. Some nights it is earlier and some later but 7 is mostly the norm. It has become my favorite part of the day. Sure, It is great because it is when Noah is asleep and I can get some "down time" but that is not why it is my favorite time of day. A few months ago Noah asked me if i would lay with him while he fell asleep. He was not feeling well that night so I caved on his request. Well, since then I have layed with him every night while he falls asleep. I can't believe I didn't do this sooner! I LOVE this time! Noah is so sweet, so funny, and loving in the 10 minutes it takes for him to fall to sleep. I get more hugs and kisses in those 10 minutes than I do all day! He cracks me up so much that some nights I have to turn away so he doesn't see me laughing. Like tonight, Noah was all curled up with about 8 stuffed animals all surrounding him and i was laying next to some of the stuffed animals when all of a sudden Noah screamed. I thought something was hurting him. He told me I was laying on Bala Pig's foot and that it might be hurting him. Yikes. After we got Bala Pig all settled in again, Noah rolls over and whispers in my ear "Mom, I love you, thanks for being the best mom, you remind me of Princesses Leia".

I mean, is there even a better compliment to be given by a 4 year old??? Thus, why bedtime is my favorite part of the day.

Cover Your Ears...

It's Super Bowl Sunday. To some people today might as well be a religious holiday. not to me. so if you LOVE football, cover your ears cause here is my secret...I don't like football. I just get bored with it. I've tried to like it, i really have. So when Noah told me he wanted to try football the other day, i cringed. Please, Noah, don't make me sit through years of football games. There are so many other sports i LOVE watching. Like basketball. Pro, college, highschool, 4 year old, you name it....LOVE basketball. Tennis. LOVE tennis. I'll even get out and play with you. I haven't played in a while but I can still hold my own. Hockey. I like hockey. I LOVE when hockey players get in fights. I know, I'm weird. Baseball. I like baseball. But Football?? no thanks. Of course, football SEEMS like the natural sport for my child. I mean you get to wear a helmet and go crashing into other people. To be honest, I think football was created for Noah. But it was NOT created for me. Noah's mom. The One who would be driving to every game, practice, and season party.

There are some things I like about football though, like Super Bowl parties. Since Allen will be attending the Life Teen Super Bowl Party, Noah and I are having are own party at home after Mass. I made a big pot of creamy potato soup for dinner. Noah and I will then celebrate the Super Bowl by watching some G.I Joe cartoons that came via Netflix and play some board games. After Noah goes to bed, I will open a bottle of my favorite wine and curl up on the couch with a girlie movie. That sounds like the best kind of party to me!!! Have fun at all your Super Bowl Parties tonight!!

Snow Day

Living in Atlanta, I can count on one hand the number of times we have had a good amount of actual snow. It just doesn't happen. We do however, get ice! That is what shuts down the whole state of Georgia...ice...not snow!

After a week of FREEZING weather, we had a tiny bit of snow with lots of ice.

Noah enjoyed catching snowflakes on his tongue...


We walked our neighborhood to see all the ice patches. Our street was covered pretty bad. We didn't mind though. We had a warm fire in the fireplace and a pot of soup on the stove!!

Use The Force...

Allen introduced Noah to the original Star Wars movies (fast forwarding the violent parts) over Christmas break. Noah LOVES it!!! I caught Noah tryng to "use the force" to get his light saber.

Finally!

For some reason, my computer would not let me upload some of these pictures...until now. There are a few weeks old...Allen had Confirmation so Noah, Uncle Bubba, Aimee, and I all went bowling...




Barrett got 5 strikes in a row!!