may the Lord be with her...

i am sad to say that frank's grandma lost her battle with lung cancer yesterday. after being diagnosed over two years ago we have all been grateful to have had her with us this long...but it still wasnt long enough. not even 70 years old, a mother of 3, grandmother to 6 and great grandmother to 5 with one more on the way...as much as we hated to see her go it has also placed peace in our hearts knowing that she is finally comfortable again, sitting beside the Lord in the arms of her loving husband who left us 6 years ago this month.

a death is nothing to celebrate, but a life is...so to any of you who are reading this that have known grandma barbara, take a few moments to remember her and who she was to you and how she may have touched your life. dont be sad, for she is in a better place now, but rejoice for her because she has made it to that better place, a place that we all long to be someday.

may the Lord lay a hand of peace over your hearts tonight as we all deal with the loss of someone we truly love and help us to remember the good that she has brought to our lives and the memories she has left us with.

- rest in peace grandma barbara, we love you and you sure will be missed! take care of each other up there!

getting caught up...

i know it has been way to long since my last blog entry, but it has been beyond crazy around this house. after cleaning out the basement and gaining the motivation to clean out the rest of the house, my 3 little boys decided they needed to get the flu, one kid per day for 3 days...not fun! so after many instances of carpet scrubbing, diaper changing, emergency get-the-stink-off baths everyone is feeling better and my house has been cleaned and sanitized floor to ceiling, thanks to my mom for the help with that one! tuesday night frank and i were able to go out to dinner at the resturant, just the two of us - thank you to bridget for insisting on watching the boys...cutting her kids hair in exchange for a free night of babysitting, thats a no brainer!! we had an amazing dinner together and enjoyed some very wonderful conversation. its amazing how the stress level between us has lowered itself since starting the "total money makeover" my whole take on life seems to be different since we have started the process of eliminating our debt and looking at a future of financial security! and the best part is, its only been 15 days!! i can't even imagine how great its going to feel 15 months from now when most, if not all the debt is gone!

anyway...this is what my day yesterday had inspired and after sharing it with a friend through IM i was convinced to share it with all....

top ten reasons why i love tuscan so much!!

1. after trying to explain to him that he doesnt need to take on the task of yelling at his brothers, he tried telling me today that he's the mom, i told him no because im the one with the boobs! he said "yeah mom"

2. he had such bad gas today...all day he kept telling me stinky coolie! then twice he "sharted" yeah for potty training!! gotta love when they have juicy farts while running around commando! motherhood is amazing...

3. we made brownies, he wanted m&m's in them but there werent many left so we agreed to put them all on top. i asked tuscan if he wanted the one with all the m&m's, he told me no, it was for daddy because its his birthday and he needs balloons too!

4. he has recently embraced this whole potty training thing with complete independence. lives his life, takes care of business and then informs me when all is said and done! he's amazing.

5. i walked through the kitchen today and kissed him on the cheek, two seconds later he is standing before me at my desk, jumps into my arms, kisses my cheek and then goes back to eating his lunch in the kitchen.

6. i said "i love you so much tuscan" he said " lah to so mah mom" who knows what language it was in, but he said it back to me with just as much love and devotion as i feel for him!

7. everytime i am sitting at my desk he crawls up on my lap and asks me to put on "dominic the donkey" for him - in tuscan language "mom, hee haw, hee haw...la la la la"

8. when he brushes his teeth at night, he is insistant that i also brush mine, always looking out for everyone else!!

9. when the babies are put in their highchairs in the morning and waiting for breakfast to be served, tuscan is quick to make sure they each get a handful of cheerio's/kix - we dont ask that of him, he just does it!

10. when i am feeling stressed out/extra tired/just cant go on with the day...tuscan walks over to me, pats my leg and says "ok momma, no biggie" (translation-dont worry mom, everything will be ok in the end, dont worry about it!)

if my other two boys grow up to be just as sweet as him, i will feel even more fortunate than i already do. i am so blessed in so many ways and so grateful for all that God has given me, even on my worst of days!!

new year, new strategies!

im taking the old phrase "out with the old and in with the new" to a whole new level for the first time this year. everyone starts the new year off setting goals, talking about desired accomplishment, big and small things they want to achieve and i was just like everyone else. since summer my "new year" list has been getting longer and longer and finally i have been jump started and my goals are becoming realities as i check them off my list.

our parents came over yesterday to help us clean out our basement. they still had a bunch of "junk" down there that no one really needs, things that they just werent sure how they wanted to get rid of it - donate, yard sale or just give it away stuff...

we cleared out anything that was in cardboard, made of cardboard or was as moisture retaining as cardboard. our pile of garbage is going to stretch across the width of our front yard this week. i have about 6 boxes of stuff for a summer yard sale and a box for goodwill and the consignment shop.

having a new mind set with money and how and where we spend it, has also given me a better insight on materialistic stuff...if im not using it and its not surving purpose to anyone in my house, do i really need it?? answer: NO!! why do people surround themselves with materialistic things? - because they are unhappy with some other area of their life. im guilty of it - shopping is a huge weakness for me, any kind of shopping - diapers and baby food, cleaning supplies, groceries, clothes - anything i think im getting a deal on is a huge weakness. i stock up when things are on sale and i have a coupon...but i do it everytime that thing is on sale and i have a coupon and then all of a sudden i have way more than i need at any given time. ENOUGH! im sick of spending my money before i really need to - it results in me spending more money than i actually have, which is why again this year i look forward to my tax return to pay off the stupid credit card. but this is the last time i will ever do that. this year the credit card is going to have a whole new purpose in our house and it will spend all its time locked up in the safe until there is a true reason to use it. (cant think of a good reason just yet, but thats probably a good thing)

anyway...the cleaning spurt was still in me this morning when i got home from work, so i tackeled to areas that have been driving me insane. one of which was baby clothes. i felt like they were sneaking out of every crevice in our house. there were boxes and boxes that needed to be put into storage bins and packed away. i had left a lot of stuff out while waiting to find out what kelly was having - be it a boy, she was getting all my hand me downs to store at her house until she needed them. (since riley is a girl, we need to set a plan to get the smallest sizes of the stash back here) but i did get all that taken care of and put away in the crawl space today.
and....

i cleaned out my scrapbooking area and closet. it had been another one of those places where it was easy to hide things quickly. well they were losing their hiding ability and i couldnt take it anymore. its hard to find inspiration to be creative when you cant find anything in your workspace!!

so that was my major accomplishment today - aside from the fact that tuscan has spent the last two days running around without any pants or a diaper on - our newest attempt at potty training and i think we finally found one that will work. his potty chair goes where ever he goes...its always just a few feet away. without any pants on he is paying much more attention to when he has to go and its working. so far so good...naptime is going to be a struggle - i tried a pullup today, but it didnt work and i had to put him back to bed with a diaper on, but one step at a time i guess...i swore to myself that tuscan would be out of diapers before the end of 2008, so the best i can hope for is the end of the month!! wish me luck and say a little prayer!

happy new year to all!!

the end of our year was pretty uneventful - although frank and i were able to spend a whole day and night together without the kids on tuesday (12/30) for christmas our parents gave me a homemade gift certificate for a day and over night of babysitting, a gift certificate to hyde park steakhouse and 2 movie passes.

and what an amazing day we had!! we got up around 8, had breakfast with the kids, got them all packed up and dropped off at nonna and poppa's by 10am. headed to starbucks to grab some coffee and over to the grocery store for some necessities. then off to lunch, our complimentary lunch and bottle of wine at mangia. the mall was our next stop. frank and i have not walked hand in hand anywhere in so long, much less the mall! we spent the gift certificate that my grandparents gave us for christmas. frank got some super sexy sweatpants from aero and a really nice pair of casual/dress pants. i got my black boots that i have been on the hunt for as well as a pair of really cute, and comfy, black flats...something to wear with leggings and stuff like that. love them both!!

then we had an amazing dinner at hyde park. frank's cousin is the GM there so she brought over two lemon seared scallops, compliments of the chef. we shared a tomato and fresh mozzarella salad and a bowl of french onion soup. i indulged in the steak levy (named after marv levy!) it was a 7oz peppercorn encrusted filet with a red wine roasted garlic butter on top - amazing!! frank had the steak kelly (named after jim kelly) it was twin bacon wrapped filets with a hollendaise sauce over the top. and we shared a baked potato, which was nothing to brag about. but dessert on the other hand, chocolate lava cake...that was the best part of the whole day! it was soooooo good, i think i could have eaten two of them!

after dinner we headed to the movie theater to see marley and me...such a good movie. it was just as touching as the book, which i read last year. frank and i were both laughing out loud and by the end i was bawling my eyes out and he had a few tears running down his cheeks as well. i think it could end up being a movie we add to our collection in the future, not that i could ever watch it daily, but it was definitely a very real, easy to relate to movie and even better knowing it was all based on a true story!

new years eve was just another day here. i worked in the morning, frank worked all day and night. he was home before the new year but it wasnt anything special - he forgot it might be a good idea to wake me from my comfy spot on the couch before 12:01. anyway...then new years day morning, the car broke down as i turned the corner from our street. after a long to do, my dad ended up coming by to help frank tow the car to the dealership, me and the kids headed to my dad and beths for dinner and frank met us there with when he and my dad were done. we had an amazing meal and spent some good time with dom and dana and my brother and lindsay. the morning may not have been great but the evening was a very nice way to start off the new year!

fortunately the car issues were all covered under warrenty, so the $650+ in repairs didnt cost us a thing (strong recommendations to spend the money on extended warrenties every time you buy a new/used car!! its soooo worth it) our parents are coming over tomorrow to help us clean out the basement. they still have some junk down there that no one really needs, so time to get rid of it!! and next sunday my mom is coming over to help me clean this house, floor to ceiling - the deep cleaning that was supposed to get done at the end of summer after the construction was done! so i am happy at the prospect of starting my new year off with a really clean house. it pairs up nicely with all the other positive changes we are looking to enforce in this house this year. we have a lot of goals, many financial, some big some small...all of which will make a huge difference in the quality of our life now and in the future! we are so excited and i am very much so looking forward to sharing this years adventure with all of my readers. in some way you will all take part in holding me accountable!

God bless you all this new year and i hope everyone has as positive of a 2009 as i am looking forward to with my family!

dear God...

i dont really have anything to blog today because all that i needed to say i handed over to the Lord, kneeling before Him at my kitchen sink. if that doesnt sum up my emotional overload day in a nutshell nothing ever will.

the day started with 4 hours at the "car place" when i took the grand am in for an inspection, which only passed after i put $280 into it. it wasnt completely a surprise, we knew we needed some new tires, but the finances didnt appreciate it very much. i on the other hand, didnt so much mind the 4 hour wait because i am in the midst of reading a very good book, at first sight, by nicholas sparks...its so good and i dont really ever get time to read at home!! and the ladies, who are twin sisters, that work at the car place (one is the owners wife) they are regulars at starbucks and i have gotten to know them pretty well over the last few years in the drivethru...it was nice to spend some time chatting with them too!

when i got home i was feeling overly motivated, so i packed up all the christmas stuff, the tree and everything. got the livingroom put back together, rearranged some things to try it out a different way for a while. i also rearranged the familyroom so tuscan had somewhere to set up his geotracks now that he has almost the complete set!

i have a pile to drop off at goodwill, i have a pile to drop off at the consignment shop...anything i could do to try and max out the end of the year. im starting the new year on a new leaf...handing more over to God than i ever imagined i would and already i am starting to feel better (i think) the unknown is always a scary thing, but i just have to keep reminding myself, He has always provided, we have never gone without, everything happens for a reason and its all in His time. God is good and may He bless us all in the coming year.

this weeks wordle...

obviously the highlight of last week was going to be christmas morning...i was happy to see that wordle picked up on that too!!

christmas day...

christmas morning with 3 kids...thats a lot of wrapping paper!! cenzo was the first to wake up, around 745, my mom showed up a few minutes later all dressed in her red jammies and santa hat (i so regret to say that i dont have a picture of that) but she woke tuscan up a little after 8 and matteo followed shortly behind while taenato wagged his tail eagerly outside the room that danny and lindsay were sleeping in! it took almost 2 hours to get through round 1 of presents. tuscan refused to open anything that had the potential of being clothes but was sure to point out which boxes were puzzles before he even had them opened! the twins seemed a little overwhelmed by the whole concept. with their birthday only having been a month ago they havent had much practice at opening presents!

once presents were done we sat down for a delicious breakfast of cheesy scrambled eggs, cinnamon apple belgian waffles, bacon and sausage. no sooner did we finish breakfast when my dad and beth walked in to start round 2 of presents...although the twins had to wait, it was nap time for them!

cenzo, snuggling up in the new blankies!

tuscan helping poppa open his presents!

yeah - the geotracks airplane!!

tar was trying to help tuscan open his presents!

later in the afternoon my dads side of the family came over for the first annual family gift exchange and to indulge in some delicious finger foods. we dont do traditional meals on either side anymore, its to much work and we all end up to full!!

frank wasnt feeling well all day, he spent most of the day snuggled up under a blanket with flu symptoms but overall we had a very nice holiday. we are truly blessed everyone and everything around us and we are so grateful for the life the Lord has given us.

what more could we ask for!

christmas day and everyone is actually playing together nicely!

silly matteo....

the aftermath...tuscan is in daze on the couch...

me and my silly boy...he's so fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!! AND MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

christmas eve...

matteo and nonna, eating cookies!

Nani

frank's great grandma

(the kids great great grandma)

me and cenzo!

lindsay (danny's gf) and cenzo

danny (love the mowhawk!)

innocent cenzo (do u see the halo?)

christmas eve was spent at our parents house. frank had to work so he was unable to join us and the worst part about that was the fact that christmas eve is with his side of the family. but me and the kids had a good time none the less. matteo spent a lot of time sitting on his great great nani's lap eating seed cookies and was very content with her! something i will always remember but wish frank could have seen. the night was very mellow as most of the family had to spend it with their "other sides" but it was a good way to start the celebration!

does that face spell trouble or what!

my attempt at getting a nice picture of my 3 boys. not so much!

the christmas week wordle...

christmas in the Buff....

BUFFALO that is!! you silly readers!

as many of you know, people in buffalo dont mess around when it comes to the things we are known for! when it comes to food, we have the best - wings, pizza, italian, anything mom and pop...we know how to cook. football games, we start tailgating the night before even if we dont have a winning record! sabres games, the arena is always packed! in addition, when it snows, it snows...it started on friday morning and didnt stop until early today! i think all in all we probably have close to 3 feet in some areas. the schools all started christmas break a little early, the roads have been horrible (until late this morning) and its gorgeous outside!! i have always loved the sight of the first major snowfall, when the pinetrees are covered and the snow is all pure and white. (i tried to take some pictures but there is just so much snow that the camera could not do the sight justice...everything is so white its hard to tell how much there really is!)

i had to venture out this morning to go to work for a few hours. fortunately the roads were free of other drivers because there was barely anything plowed at 430am! the shift who was supposed to open the store today got stuck at the end of her driveway and was about 2 hours late so our manager had to drive in to open the store. jess and i sat in the parking lot for about an hour waiting for someone to show up to let us work! it sucked because we could have still been sleeping, but at least we'll get paid for it. of course it was not at all a busy day, although who am i to say, i was only there until 930...

so im just going to lay low the rest of the day, try and get a few things done around the house to get ready for christmas and pray that the babies are feeling better before it all begins. they both have runny noses and teo's belly is hurting (from the lack of stinky diapers, poor guy). tomorrow will be spent getting everything finalized for the days ahead!!

merry christmas to all and ill be back in a few days!