13 in 13 Lucky Link-Up!

Dwija is hosting a 13 in 13 photo link-up to commemorate 13 memories from 2013. 

Have I lost you yet?

No? Great!

So, here we go.....

Killian and I (and Will!) visited NIU in January. It was the first time the realization of his impending "nest-leaving" hit me. 

In February, Will turned ONE! Well, technically, we celebrated his Leap Day birthday on 3/1, but he IS a February birthday. OK????

St. Patrick's Day is always fun around here and this year, Will got to wear the Dempsey Baby Boy kilt (along with rabbit fur sporran!). 

We ended up March with Easter at the lake. A newer tradition that I really love.

In April, Will and I tagged along on one of Kyle's business trips to Cincinnati and Columbus. We managed some quality sightseeing time, too.

In May, my oldest baby graduated high school. 

The pool opened in June! Yay, Summer!

In July, I turned the big 4-0 and Kyle threw me an awesome pub crawl party!

Kyle drove a Lambourghini in August. Nuff said.

By the first week of September, everyone was back in school. We had a college freshman, high school sophomore, 8th grader, 5th grader, 1st grader, and a Pre-K!

October brought Halloween!

November brought sugar highs!

And Christmas added more costumes and weaponry to our already burgeoning arsenal.

Happy 2014!!!

Five Favorites: For a Rainy Day

It's been crazy rainy and stormy around these parts this past week, so I'm joining with the peppy Hallie and sharing some of my favorite things we've been doing to keep ourselves occupied....

1) Reading! Specifically, I'm digging out some of my old favorites for myself and the kids. What's my favorite?

I have loved this book since I was in high school -- the imagery, the history, the characters. During one of my pregnancies, I had Kyle completely on board with naming the baby Katherine Scarlett, so I could have my very own Katie Scarlett. The little bugger turned out to be a boy, and by the time I was pregnant again, Kyle says he had come to his senses and Katie Scarlett Dempsey was off the Names List. Boo. 

2) Which brings me to my next favorite rainy day activity: classic movies! Want to guess which one is my favorite?

Also on the list are: The Sound of Music, The Quiet Man, The Bells of St. Mary's, and The Trouble with Angels.

3) Netflix currently has quite a few Disney classic cartoons in their lineup right now! I love that my kids are enjoying 

and...

and...

"Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?" is Faith's new favorite song.

4) Summertime Religious Education! Actually, I'm just doing the formal version for Jack and Eamon, but they are really enjoying reading the chapters in the Faith and Life Series (for grades 5 and 2) and working on the corresponding workbooks. Weird Montessori kids that they are, workbooks are a treat for them.

5) And, I'm loving that Dwija has named her sweet baby boy and that we are getting so SO close to being able to give them a real and functional laundry room before she has to go on hospital bed rest. Please keep them in your prayers, whether or not you are able to donate. Prayers are the MOST important!

Now.....

Rain, rain, GO AWAY! The Dempseys have a graduation party on Saturday!

BEST IDEA EVER!!

Hey everybody!!!

Cari, over at Clan Donaldson, had theeeeee BEST idea! She is holding an online fundraiser to help our very good buddy, Dwija (HouseUnseen), get a working laundry room!

If you haven't been following Dwija's story, here are a couple of examples of what she is going through right now and of how beautifully she deals with the stress and heartache.

I have personally met Dwija and her beautiful family, and if you think you would like her based on her writing, ten you are wrong: you would DEFINITELY LOVE her! She comes across as genuine and loving and beautiful in her posts because that is exactly who she is in real life!

Please, go to Cari's blog and give anything you can to help out the Borobias. I can tell you from experience that the laundry of 5 (and 6 and 7!) kids is overwhelming when you have a working washer and dryer, hot water, and no leaky valves. I really cannot imagine doing it the way Dwija does, and all while she is supposed to be resting to keep Baby Borobia safe. Please, will you help?

Feel free to share this with a lot of people, too!!!

7 Links because Dweej says I *have* to...

No, seriously, Dweej, I love you to bits! And, I love your blog, "HouseUnseen. Life Unscripted" almost as much! So, that's why I'm doing this MEME (which seriously needs a better acronym, or whatevs) wherein I have to link back to 7 posts from my own blog, THEN (here comes the revenge part! moooo-haaa-haaa!) tag 7 other bloggers to do the same.


Most Beautiful Post
Honestly? This is like asking me to decide which outfit makes me look the hottest (um, none), but I'll try. I choose this one because it was nice to remember my 4 year old son when he was the baby.

Most popular post
For the life of my I cannot figure out why this post about my mother's journal (not my mother, rather my journal about being a mother) is the most popular. Must be in the tags....

Most Controversial Post
Me? Controversy? Whachoo talkin' 'bout, Willis? Probably due to the fact that I don't have a very popular blog, enough people haven't had the chance to be offended by yours truly, but if I had to choose I'd pick this one.

Most Helpful Post
Assuming that people find anything I say helpful, I would have to choose my post about chores as being the most helpful post. Actually, it was probably only helpful to me as it keeps me somewhat honest.

Post whose success surprised you
This one, definitely this one surprised me. Which made me feel less upset and more "normal". Thanks, everybody!

A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved
Because none of my posts are worthy of attention, I will do a shameless plug for my husband's awesome Vlog! He makes me laugh so hard, and he is my biggest supporter. Go check him out!!!

The Post You are the Most Proud of
It's not the post of which I most proud. It is the saint in Heaven who belongs to me, as well as all of us that makes me proud.



OK, now instead of choosing 7 of you, I would rather you just pick up on this MEME and let me know what you said, OK? ALL of you, GO POST NOW!!!