a little cry goes a long way...

just when you think your life couldnt get any better a surprise gift from God pops up in your mailbox. (if the anonymous sender happens to be reading this, i hope you know how much your generous gift is appreciated!) frank and i truly are so blessed in so many ways and we are starting to see how good things happen to good people! we have our moments, our days, that are less than pretty...but through them we have been learning and growing and i can finally say that we have reached a point where we have felt pretty successful at doing so. our hard work as parents, as husband and wife and at our jobs really seems to be paying off lately and apparently people are noticing and helping us to recognize our accomplishments and that means more than any surprise showing up in our mailbox!!! surprises are just added bonuses that really make the tears start flowing...happy tears of course!

so with this today, i had the most amazing cry this afternoon...one of those spill your guts because you feel so unworthy cries with God. i havent had one of those in such a long time and to be honest, i have been intently praying for a moment like that with God for quite some time now. every week when i sit in church i notice my mind wandering during the sermon, not because i am not interested or that our pastor is boring, but because its the only hour of the week that i actually have "time" to think! and then i catch myself and i ask for Gods forgiveness and i pray that he help me clear my mind enough to fully listen to his word as it is being taught to me, because he knows more than anyone how much i need to learn! well today i think i got the slap in the face i had been asking for and i couldnt be more grateful. since joining our small group a few months ago, frank and i finally feel as though we belong to our church as a family. its been something we have been seeking and praying for since we moved back home. our church family in CO was something we will never forget and something we greatly look forward to getting in touch with this summer! but today was a true reassurance that we do belong to something so wonderful here, The Vine Wesleyan Church, our new church family. a place we can run to in times of trouble, celebrate with in lifes joys and cry with in moments of sorrow. its a feeling greater than words could ever explain and all i can say is if you dont know the feeling i am talking about, i pray for you that you somehow find it because it is irreplaceable.

on another note...tuscan woke up from his 2 hour nap today with a completely dry diaper!! yeah tuscan...i was so proud of him, we did a little dance together in celebration!

it rained here most of the day, finally, my poor landscapping has needed the rain terribly! but that means ill need to spend some serious time out there in the next few days weeding...oh the price we pay! but i will be optomistic and look at it as Gods way of getting my butt outside to enjoy the world surrounding me. i have to take advantage of my outside time while i can because once the pollen starts flying the thought of the great outdoors will probably make me sneeze!! oh hay fever...at least this spring i can take some allergy medicine, i feel like its been a few year (of pregnancy) since i was last able to do that!

and now i am off to make my grocery list...its gonna be a big one, setting a strick budget doesnt leave much room for stocking up, so this is my big every-few-months stock up trip, we need meat, cereal, pancake mix, fluff, juice, pasta, sauce, some quick dinner items...the works! my boys are already starting to eat me out of house and home! i can only imagine the teenage years...

and if im lucky to have enough energy when that is all said and done, then i might scrap a page or two, cuz i dont have to work in the morning...yeah me!!

our Earth Month!

so as you have seen, i havent been blogging much lately and i think i can honestly say that its for two reasons. reason #1 - lack of time, energy and creativity. reason #2 - i guess i feel my life hasnt been exciting enough for anyone to read about. but for those of you who love me for who i am and really want to know the more intimate details of my days, here it goes.

in many ways this has sort of been an Earth Day month in our house....

• tuscan and i started a project this spring...planting seeds! last fall i saved all the seeds out of the centers of my marigolds and this year we decided to plant them. so we started saving plastic containers (reuse!) from yogurt, butter, playdough, we also used some old formula cans that my dad had saved. they are all lined up on our livingroom window sill and surprisingly they are growing quite well. if they are big enough by the end of may i have every intention of putting them out at our yardsale to see if we can make a few dollars! i figure if i put tuscan out there asking people if they want to buy a flower - we should make a killing!! no one seems to be able to say "no" to him, especially when he shows them "the eyes"!

• frank and i started a new garden out in the backyard. last year we had wanted to put up two chunks of white picket fencing but when we found out we would need a permit to do it we opted not to. it would have potentially cost us up to $300 in fees to put up $150 in fencing...no thanks! so instead we decided to create a more natural barrier! we extended our exisiting flower bed to stretch across the length of our backyard. in it we planted iris that kellie had sent me from OK last year before she moved, in addition to purple allium that i ordered at the end of the season last year. we also transplanted a shrub that we had in the corner near the house and some yuka (spelling?) and lillies. so hopefully it will all blossom the way we have envisioned it. there is still a lot of thinning out to do in the exsisting flower bed, but at least we have a head start early on in the season!

our new flower bed...

my much anticipated arbour!!

• for Earth Day, the kids and i watched Wall-E, courtesy of Kellie when she was here. and earlier that week i got a great deal on a pair of Wall-E sneakers for the twins...$5 with a coupon at famous footwear, cant beat it...so they took turns wearing the new kicks around the house for the day! i also made a vow that day not to use any of my major appliance, ie -dishwasher, washing machine, etc...and i was successful! needless to say that caused a minor back up on the laundry situation but it was worth it. its the least i could do after all the diapers my family has created in the landfills the last few years!!

the twins bottles recently made their way into the recycling bin...they were becoming less and less interested in the bedtime bottles, so one day while unloading the dishwasher i decided enough was enough, i needed more room for sippy cups and the bottles had to go...and they did! never to be thought about again! they now march their little bottoms up the stairs (no more carrying by mom), they brush their own teeth and get a sippy of water - which always ends up getting thrown out of the crib and onto the floor, along with their blankets before they fall asleep...crazy kids!

tuscan is completely daytime potty trained and takes care of business all by himself (aside from turning on the sink to wash his hands-his stool doesnt help him reach that far), but no pull ups - not even when out in public or driving in the car! but he does still wear a diaper when napping or to bed at the end of the day. somehow he cant figure out how to not pee while he's sleeping, i keep reminding him...but we're still working on it! any suggestions? (as i am typing right now i am watching him take all his clothes off and change into his jammies all by himself. apparently when you approach the age of 3 you become immensely independent!)

frank and i took the kids to his resturant for dinner last night...family date night- partly to celebrate tuscan's birthday yet again! and i have to say, it was wonderful! im sure there are many families in america that dread (to say the least) taking 3 little kids, babies if you will, out to dinner at a less than family oriented resturant! franks resturant is no applebee's, although it is still quite casual. but they were perfectly well behaved! just one more outing that made us so proud to be parents. tuscan drank his very own shirley temple. all 3 of them were eating calamari! they each ate their dinners without any fuss and shared an enormous piece of multi-layered chocolate cake! the couple that was sitting behind us stopped at our table before they left to tell us that we had a beautiful family, our children are extremely well behaved as they had nearly forgotten there were 3 little kids sitting behind them and that we as parents were doing an amazing job! another family stopped us on our way out, to say just about the same thing, as well as two older woman who were standing outside! i know there are times when i dont see it- because im the mom - but frank and i truly have been blessed with remarkable children and without even trying they do such a good job at making us so proud everyday!

as we laid in bed last night, we couldnt help but chuckle as we were recapping on our day. we love our life, there is nothing more we could ever ask for right now, nor could we have ever imagined being so content at a time when we thought our life couldnt get crazier!

if He brings you to it, He will bring you through it. and with much grace if your lucky!

tuscan's birthday party....

i feel like a bad mom, i have been horrible about blogging lately - ever since i started working from home my internet time has really diminished...and i cant even promise that i will try to get better at it!

but here is a recap - there hasnt been to much exciting going on in our life lately, which could actually be a good thing for once. but we did have tuscan's birthday party this past weekend and kelly came down for a visit with riley! the party was amazing, very laid back which gave me a lot of time to actually visit with my guests. the kids were all so well behaved, the food of course was amazing ("mad good" if mandy was here!) the weather was better than we could have ever prayed for and tuscan was truly blessed. when i sent out invitations for his party, there was a little poem along with it "from him" and this is how it read:

i know it might seem silly, since im only turning 3 but this year for my birthday ashley furniture is the place for me. im getting really big now and im going to be starting preschool so this year for my birthday a new bedroom set would be really cool! i hope you can make it on my birthday party day, if not you'll have to come over on another day to play. i hope you like my letter, its my birthday boy wish a chance to share my birthday with you is something i wouldnt want to miss! so much love, tuscan

and not only did i get quite a few compliments on this years little jingle, but it also made it easier for people to decide what to get him! and it helped us out tremendously!! i have to say though, the best part was seeing the look on tuscan's face yesterday as he walked up to the counter at ashley furniture and handed the guy his envelope of birthday money to pay for his new bed!! i have never seen my little boy so proud!! so yes, the set is ordered, his bed and two dressers...pics will be posted once its delivered - hopefully by next weekend! but for now, here are a few pics from his party.

if you would like to see more pics, ill be sending them through snapfish - if you do not receive them then you must not be on my snapfish mailing list, so just leave me your email address in the comments and ill be more than happy to send the pics your way!! and to everyone who was able to celebrate the wonderful day with us, either by your presence or presents, watch for a thank you card/picture from tuscan coming in the mail soon!

i also received my birthday present a little early, over the weekend - the wooden arbour that i have been eyeing at the craft shows for the last 4 years, that i finally decided to buy this time last year, ended up unsuccessfully going to 3 different craft shows to get it and was finally able to special order for this year!! ill post pics of that sometime this week when i can sneak out in between the rain drops. its gorgeous!!

we will be putting the down payment on our new roof this weekend. so hopefully in a few weeks my house will stop crying everytime it rains!

and i have also joined a MOMs group through our church. we meet every other friday from now till the end of june. i've gone to one meeting so far and i really am enjoying it. it is exactly what i need, especially now that our marriage bible study is taking time off for the summer! god has been amazing in our life lately and i guess maybe i should set myself a goal to blog everyday again, even if its just a small statement about how God worked in my life for the day because He truly has been very present lately and i am loving every minute of it!

our easter...

we have been so blessed in so many ways the last few years, i couldnt even count all the times i have been so amazed at God's love and the way He has worked through me and my family. the number of things that i have been so grateful for is absolutely countless and He doesnt stop, His love continues to grow and He keeps on blessing us although we are in so many ways, so unworthy. this weekend, like many other holidays, in many ways can feel so commercialized, the eggs, the baskets, the candy, the bunny...but it is so important to keep in mind that Easter is a holiday that should be recognized by us for the resurrection of our Lord. the candy is just a bonus!

i so often go through the motions of my daily life, grateful for the Lord and all that He does for me on a daily basis, but all to often i look past His greatest sacrific. we all know that Jesus died on the cross for us, but how often do we really think about what that truly means. my pastor had a good point this weekend...at any given point, while Jesus was being nailed to that cross he could have used his godly powers to set himself free...but that wasnt his purpose in life. the purpose of his life was to live amongst us, as we live and to die for our sins so that we could be forgiven. how amazing is that! and in return all we have to do is believe and ask for forgivenness...seems like a pretty small sacrafic on our part, in comparison, if you ask me!

and for the commericial side of easter...the boys sure did have a lot of fun searching for their eggs and baskets!!

and then we spent a relaxing afternoon at our parents house with nani, my grandparents, my brother and his girlfriend...thats what holidays are all about!

5 generations, 90 years apart...

since when...

since when has it ever been such back and forth weather here?? it almost reminds me of living in CO again!! snow the last two days and sunny and breezy today...its only about 50 outside, but nice enought to dig up and replant a bush, transplant lillies and weed some flower beds!! its been nice to because with the rain one day, sunshine the next routine it really has kept the ground soft enough to dig easily... the kids were all so happy to spend a few minutes out of the house today too. i wish it would have been a tad bit warmer because we may have been able to get a little more done before the twins decided it was time to go back in, but we do always seem to make the mistake of starting outside projects with lunchtime right around the corner. i have to say though, we were pretty happy with what we did get accomplished! i cannot wait to see our yard this summer, with all the stuff we have transplanted and all the bulbs i am in the process of planting - we just might have the prettiest yard in town! ill be sure to post some pics when things arent so small and surrounded by dirt!

a photo update...

there have been some (complaints) requests lately, apparently i havent posted any pictures of my kids recently! how silly am i? of course pictures of my kids are way better than anything i could ever type about!! so i apologize, and here they are....

our first attempt to eat lunch at the kids table like big boys...we havent done it since!

showing off their cheesey grins!

brotherly love...they kiss each other all the time! its so darn cute!



after naptime snack time - hence the crazy hair!!

three boys in a wagon...we do love the nice weather lately!!

frank and tuscan, being frank and tuscan!

me and matteo at nani's 93rd birthday party

cenzo - "drinking" my chai

matteo - "drinking" my chai

tuscan posing -"me to mom...cheese!"

my three precious boys!!

what can i say...i am the luckiest woman in the world!! i truly have been blessed with some absolutely adorable little boys and even though they make me want to scream sometimes - i wouldnt trade my life for anything! i love it just the way it is!!

friendship and fellowship...

they are two things that i wish went hand in hand more often. i have to say, i am a very lucky woman...not only do i have an amazing husband who has worked so hard over the years to become the amazing man he is today, i have my 3 precious baby boys that make me more and more proud everyday...but i have also been blessed with the perfect sized handful of really great women, some of which i have fellowshipped with right from the start, others that are just joining me on that journey more recently.

kellie - the one who showed me the way...she was the first one to ever introduce me to a non catholic church...the first time i ever experienced what a personal relationship with God looked like was with her. and i loved it!! i loved it so much that she and i started going to church together all the time, and not just one church but 3...we went to a college age worship on friday nights, we went to another church on saturday nights and then we had our sunday morning church, which was the church she grew up in. im sure over the years i have thanked her in my own ways for the peace she was able to introduce into my life, but im not sure she will ever know what an amazing thing she did for me, my marriage and my family (that was only a thought at the time) kellie even bought frank and i our very first NIV bibles, it was the one wedding gift that we will charish for the rest of our lives! but aside from the fellowship aspect of our lives, kellie is and always will be one of the very best friends i have ever had. no matter how far away her life may take her from me, we are always just a phone call or instant message away from each other and we take full advantage of that when ever we can! i love you kellie and could not imagine where my life would be if it hadnt been for you. not only do i believe that God picks our spouses, but he also hand picks our other significant others too!

bridget - the newest on my list of best girlfriends, but the first to join my life through fellowship that quickly turned into friendship. we just have so much in common, our faith, our upbringing, our husbands and their pasts, our kids are the same age...we share so many of the same morals and values and our families enjoy each others company as much as we enjoy just hanging out with each other. its only been about a year, but i know that there are many years ahead of us to share our lives and grow in our faith and i thank God for putting someone in my life who truly understands, through her own experiences, the struggles i have faced in my life. I love you guys, bridge i am so happy to have you in my life, so grateful that frank has matt and i so much look forward to our boys growing up together!!

mandy - oh mandy...the stories i could tell!! but since this is a posting about fellowship and friendship, ill stick with the more current and God influenced aspects of our life!! for the last year or so mandy and i have shared much more of the heart felt things in our lives, our kids, our marriages, our finances and our faith. through it all it has strenghtened our friendship in ways i could have never imagined. when i first moved back home, she was my mom friend and i was so happy to have someone in my life who had kids that i could hang out with once i had tuscan. then she moved away...but i think its safe to say that our friendship is stronger and more consistant these last 3 years then it ever has been in the 12 years that i've known her. she started a blog this year, a journey more or less, that we share with a few other moms (my flip flops and me - its on my sidebar) and through it we have shared some great stories, journaled some personal feelings and created a network of moms in all stages of life. from the partying days to the days of mellow moms, we have shared in quite the journey even well before the blog started! mandy, there has always been a piece of me that felt like i should be a part of your family...like it was where i belonged, if it takes our kids marrying to get there that would be wonderful, but if not that space is filled with the friendship that we have always shared, no one ever said that friends couldnt be part of the family - especially when we're all italian!

kelly - last but not least...my most long time friend on the list, my twin sister at times, my partner in crime, my remember when...and personal jokes friend with the list that would go on forever! kelly and i have shared everything together over the years...everything (with the exception of boyfriends, where we only shared our opinions) we have known each other since kindergarten, we have been best friends since 7th grade and we have lived 150 miles away since 8th, but through all the crap we have brought upon ourselves we have come out alive and our friendship is stronger now than it has been in years! (with the exception of 7th grade of course) not only do we now share in the similarities of married life, but we are also sharing our stories of motherhood and reaching out to each other in areas of faith. it is amazing to me how sharing a common bond, the belief in God, can make some of the strongest relationships even stronger. in the past year kelly and i have put forth so much more effort to be a part of each others everday lives, we IM each other all day long, we talk on the phone a lot more (not as much as 7th grade, thank goodness, i dont think we could afford that!) and most importantly we find the time to be a part of all the exciting things happening in each others lives... birthdays, baby showers, trips to the zoo...the things that memories are made from! i love you kel, and even though there may have been some pretty ugly moments in our friendship, i thank God everyday that we were able to see past them and get to the point we are at now. i am so grateful for the time we get to spend together and i am so looking forward to watching our kids grow up together. you have always been like the sister i never had and i am so grateful to be able to call riley my neice!!

so heres to my ladies, that i love so dearly - i cant imagine my life without each and everyone of you. you have all touched me in so many different ways that have helped make me who i am today and for that i am grateful. praises to God for all of you and the life that we share together! Amen.

please say a prayer...

all i am asking right now is that God's will be done. we have done what we can as far as applying for our mortgage...the rest is up to (not us). the one fear we had all along is on the track to becoming a reality...our old house in CO. many of you probably know we once upon a time owned a condo in CO. when we moved home we tried renting it - very unsuccessfully - and over a year later ended up filing for a deed in leiu. we were under the impression that going that route would protect us in the future from ever running into any issues getting a new mortgage, car loan, etc...well that was all before the economy went down hill and bad mortgages started popping up all over the country and everyone in the midwest went into foreclosure! now things are being looked at through a different eye and unfortunately it may be affecting us.
apparently 3 years need to pass between the time of foreclosure (no matter what kind) and the time you apply for a new mortgage....well we wont hit 3 years until october of this year. so we just wait and see. countrywide (the old mortgage company) is faxing some info to the new bank, it should be there by tuesday...so we'll see. if its meant to be it will be, i guess...otherwise beth will just refinance to take advantage of these great rates...we will continue to pay off the rest of our debts and maybe in 2 or 3 years we will try this all over again. by then our cars will be paid off so we wont have any debt against us, which will be just one more step in the right direction i guess.

so say a little prayer...

on a good note, it was gorgeous here today!! while the kids were napping, i did some office work and then laid out on the swing and closed my eyes in the warmth of the sunshine for a bit! it was awesome! then once everyone was awake we took a nice long wagon walk....i love the sight of all three boys sitting snuggly in their radio flyer wagon together! the 3 of them are so cute together when they dont have room to argue! but they spent the walk pointing out birds and talking to a doggie that was several yards ahead of us. i am so happy that spring is on its way! it is giving a new sense to my motherhood. going for walks is the first thing i have felt comfortable doing out of the house with all 3 kids by myself. maybe by mid summer ill even be able to take them to the store by myself occassionally!

love to all, have a great weekend!

a quick recap...

just thought i would type up a quick post to sort of bring everyone up to date. we have been pretty busy around here - hence my horrible efforts at blogging! im sorry!! but most of my computer time is consumed by work nowadays, with a quick chat here and there with one of my 3 bff's (i miss u girls!!)

we have spent quite a bit of time outside already this spring, getting the yard cleaned up, getting the gardens ready. yesterday tuscan and i started planting marrigold seeds in containers in the house - if i can get enough of them to start growing, i may even be able to sell them at our yard sale at the end of may...that would be awesome!

tuscan and i also finished making our own version of his ABC book this week, he is so proud of it and loves practicing saying his letters and his favorite words! i have been so proud of him lately, he is just so awesome!

the twins have been doing a lot of singing lately - cenzo is very fond of the ei, ei-o part of old mcdonald...he sings it all the time while he is playing. matteo has been trying to whistle and both of them have been putting a lot of effort into trying to make out some new words. they say "all gone" with their hands raised, palm side up, "bye bye" "dada" "doggie" "baba""poppa". they love brushing their teeth - but only by themselves (or brushing each others teeth) but they get very angry if i try to help them and they clamp their jaws shut!

tuscan went to his 2nd dentist appt last week...he has a cavity in one of his front teeth that they have been watching now for about 6 months, it still looks ok thankfully...and he did wonderfully during his cleaning! another one of those moments when i was totally proud of him!

we met with the guy at the bank today about our mortgage...as long as we dont run into any snags, i get the impression we will be home owners by the beginning of may!! yeah for us! and everything is exactly where we need it to be financially, so as of right now, i can honestly say its a perfect situation!

starbucks has been wonderful, i am loving my job so much lately. i have been working with my boss a lot more lately and i have to admit, i really enjoy it! frank and i's bible study has been wonderful. we have found some great fellowship in the last several weeks and it is making us love our church even more. our friendship with matt and bridget is growing stronger, i have been given an opportunity to join a MOM's group (mothers of miracle is our name!) it will be starting april 3rd, with some of the moms from our church...i cant wait for that! it is so the answer to so many prayers and exactly what i have been looking for! a chance to get together with other moms, with our kids, who are living the same life stage as me! finally, someone who understands!

but anyway, im off to play some kentucky rummy with frank, my brother and lindsey!! hopefully ill be back to this blogging thing sooner than later!

new carpet, new creation, new career...

well there you have it, we got the carpet for the family room today! and we love it! and it looks amazing! and the kids were super excited to play on it! sort of makes me wonder why we didn't take that plunge a little sooner.

i also created a new idea for dinners around here...italian (pizza) style quesadilla's. leave it to the german/irish girl to think up an italian twist to a mexican dish! but let me tell you, they were amazing! i diced up some chicken, sauted it with some garlic salt and other seasonings, put my tortilla shells on my hot skillet, topped them with cheese, my cooked chicken, pizza sauce and olives, folded the shell in half once the cheese was melted, flipped it for a few more minutes, cut it into 4's and man oh man, they were delicious! you have to try it!

and i got my computer all set up and linked to the doctor's office this afternoon. so i was able to get in my first (pretty successful) hour and a half of at-home-work-time accomplished while the kids were taking their nap! what a blessing this is already. when i started hearing them stirring in their beds, i finished up the section i was working on, logged out for the day, wrote down my time worked and turned off my computer screen. just minutes later i was holding sleepy babies, changing their diapers and playing in the family room with them.

for the first time in my life, i can honestly say, the last few months things have felt right on track. im not sure which track it is, but it feels like the right one and i hope to stay on it for a while!