All I want for christmas...

Okay...not ALL I want for christmas...but...

I've determined that I need THIS for Christmas...and if not for Christmas, then just a "hey, just because you are you" type of gift...and here are some reasons why:

1) My memory STINKS...I can't stay on task if my life depended on it...(okay, maybe if my LIFE depended on it) but, in normal situations where I have to change over the laundry before it starts to smell...or wash the pots and pans so I can actually cook a meal...make sure I have shampoo/conditioner in the shower BEFORE I get all wet, even though I've "reminded" myself a gazillion times to get it out of the grocery bag in the bedroom!!! UGH

2) My brain thinks faster than my hand can write/type...infact, I get these GREAT ideas for blogs...oh, while I'm in the car or in the middle of making the bed...most of the time, I just sort of "zone out" (not while driving of course) and "think" about the blog I could write...and "in my mind", I am a PHENOMENAL writer...I mean, the way I weave words...it's amazing, LET ME TELL YOU!  By the time I can get myself in front of a computer, however, #1 kicks in and I can't remember anything that I just "wrote" in my head. 

And so, you all have to suffer through these lovely attempts at blogging in the hopes that I can put together coherent sentences and use big girl words instead of my daily conversations with my 4 year old which consists of, "Mommy, I have to go pee...so I'm going to go to the potty and then we can talk and then you can come help me and can I have macaroni and cheese and some pop? but I want a cookie too...could I have that and then let's color!"  (I don't know where she gets that steady stream of non-sensical words that flow from her mouth in what seems like a never-ending sentence)

And so, I thought...HEY, wouldn't it be great if I just had a little hand held thingy (great use of big girl words I KNOW) where I could just flip it on and record my thoughts.  I might actually achieve some "funny" (I'm VERY funny in my own head...whilst driving and listening to Little Munchkin sing Tangled songs over and over again) OR, perhaps my paragraphs would go together and there were be this "flow" to each post...wouldn't THAT be something? 

However, I do NOT have this device currently and once again, my brain has completely switched gears on me and I can't think of anything else to write...except that now I am remembering that there are 2 baskets of clothes in my laundry room and I'm not sure if I put away the leftovers from dinner and I KNOW FOR SURE that I didn't put the sheets on my bed and my hubby is heading there now...dang...gotta run..

CAUTION: p90x causes acid reflux...

apparantly the ab ripper and mason twist can do some major "twisting" of your insides as well...

Okay...so I suppose the accusations are a bit harsh...especially to all my die hard Beach body friends...

Believe me, it was a hard blow for me too...I've tried doing p90x 3 different times...the first time I fractured my leg, the 2nd and 3rd time left me thinking I either had throat cancer or was having a heart attack...

Turns out, it's just a form of acid reflux caused by the extreme straining and twisting of my body trying to achieve those killer abs...I think my dear Italian Stallion is going to have to get used to seein' a little muffin top from here on out...

And really, it just means that there is more of me to love...

Now granted, my doctor didn't tell me that I couldn't exercise at all...she "might" have said that cardio workouts are still just fine...however, I may or may not have just spaced out there in my absolute delight of discovering that I didn't have cancer (that and the fact that I probably have some ADD issues...but that's a whole 'nother story)

I'm not trying to make humor at a cancer diagnosis'...I'm one of those people that when something goes "awry" in my daily life, my mind just goes there...do not pass GO, do not collect $200...it goes straight to the worst case scenario.  It's a gift I have:)

So anyway, currently I AM able to swallow without feeling like I have a golfball lodged in my throat and I can eat without jerking my head & neck in a weird directions as if having a seizure, without calling attention to myself in the middle of a restaurant where my husband needs to give me the STARE as if to say, "Oh my goodness, would you stop that and just take a sip of WATER!"

I still have those "ghost pains" of where the swallowing and "wake me out of dead sleep in the middle of the night" pains WERE...back when it was hurting so badly that I assumed I had cancer (are you getting the picture here...I can tell you, I am a PEACH to live with!!!)

So, we'll see if the meds work...of course, I'll be the one eating my Christmas cookies and NOT working out, so I don't expect to be feeling anything other than overweight and "sugar-fied" for the next month anyway:)  The doctor did say that if the pain came back that I'd have to have some type of "scope" thing...I didn't want her to elaborate on that "possibility"...I already have my own imagined "nightmares"... so,I don't need "reality" hitting me upside the head as well...

Just thought I'd let you know what was up with me...we're still knee deep in all our advent traditions and getting excited to see loved ones very soon...hope your December is everything you hoped it would be!

More Traditions

We started a new tradition this year in our home…it’s quickly becoming one of my girls’ favorites…

I’ve developed more of a love/hate relationship with it…at least just this first year…

Let’s face it, Italian Stallion told me yesterday that at this rate, it’s going to take us 2 months to get through the 25 days of Advent with all the “new” traditions I keep adding…

We’ve read the Advent book from the start, along with “gifts to God” at Christmas time…we’ve read the books, watched the DVDs, all trying to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and not get caught up with everything else…

On the flip side, I know that there is evidence that Jesus was into celebrations and fun and friends. So, I also don’t want to get so “opposed” to that other “man-made” side of Christmas that it becomes a “oh boy, Mommy’s taken over the bandwagon again”

Anyway, in my quest to make sure that our hearts are in the right place and our focus is first centered where it ought to be this season, I added another “tradition” to our (apparently already full) plate of activities during Advent.

Our neighbor friends let us borrow this little Advent door thing…my idea wasn’t that we’d be somber in reading each night…but I also wasn’t planning to create “fun” activities…My purpose, I suppose, was to create ways that we could just spend a few extra moments together as a family, talking, praying, laughing…(and to also do something so that each child had a “job” on that specific Advent night…therefore we have the 1)door opener of the advent book 2) door opener of the Advent house and 3)chain ripper for the countdown...because I'm all about the let's not argue about whose turn it is please FAIR)

Each night, there is a small piece of candy for whomever's turn it is to open the “house” door. There is also a note to be read…(this is where the love/hate thing comes in) I LOVE being creative…however, trying to come up with 25 ideas to write on these notes, has proved itself to be more difficult than I imagined. We have prayed together as a family, we’ve read a Christmas book, created our own Mad Lib for Christmas, raced daddy in a Christmas wordsearch, listened to a Christmas song before bed, went around and told about our favorite ornament…

I’ve read about other ideas, but sometimes it’s just more involved than I am wanting…I am looking for QUICK, but meaningful…FUN, but poignant…

We’ve already completed 8 days. I can’t believe we’re this close to Christmas already. It’s actually done a good job on me in that I am not feeling the “stress” of the season so much…at this point, I’m more worried about what I will write for the little note behind door number 9.

Preparing...Decorating...Sending...Hurrying:)

This season always brings with it a mix of pure thankfulness, joy and anticipation...coupled with anxiety, travel, and eating:)

(I had to put the eating in there because I can't seem to keep my hands off the goodies this time of year! UGH)

Anyway, things have definitely slowed down from the whole Photography aspect, but just when that was being put on the back burner, December got here:) 

I love the traditions that my family has created...I mentioned one of them in the previous post...just the whole "choppin' down the tree" thing.  It's fun and it brings a sense of security and familiarity to the season. 

I am glad for all that we do...the focus on Advent...the stories of the ornaments...seeing the Nutcracker...the live nativity...concerts and performances...traveling to see family...church services...fellowship and parties...

It's a festive and fun time of year...but, it comes with it's share of time consuming activities and, if I care to admit it, just plain "draining" situations...

However, before I find myself going into a rendition of "woe is me"...I want to be sure that I keep my perspective right...YES: it's a fact that we're going to have to pack up the kiddos and travel more this month...YES: it's a fact that my heart is going to be heavy with all the hurt that is out there this time of year & what seemingly little I can do to help...YES: it's a fact that it takes planning and purposed determination to parent and model what this season is all about during the entire month of Advent...YES: it's a fact that I'll be up late and up early (well, at least early in MY definition of early...but I won't get into that because Italian Stallion will definitely have something to say about it seeing as he gets up before 6am daily...but I am the one currently at the keyboard, so MY words get to grace the screen...and by golly, I wake up EARLY for ME!)

However, it's also a fact that I have a choice of how I'm going to "see" Christmas this year...how Advent will "look through my eyes"...Often, I get anxious or just tired...and I'll admit, I get caught up in everything else...

But, it's the times that I choose to live in the moment that has been given and appreciate where we are right now...it's those times that I love this time of year all the more...

My girls having such a special heart for setting out the Nativity...

The together-time with their cousins and Nana when they will go to see the Nutcracker...

The ornaments that all have their story and the memories ...we sit and share about them as we hang them on the tree...

The Preparation for Advent...the performances...it all leads to one thing...

We're memorizing a verse in Ephesians this week as a family...You might be familiar with it? 
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. And Love your neighbor as yourself"...

I need to keep remembering that it's all because of LOVE and a desire for a relationship that we have Christmas in the first place...

I'm not trying to make Christmas somber and boring...I'm all about the fun and the making of memories...but, I also don't want my heart to be so heavy with worry or just anything else that sometimes creeps in...I suppose it's different for everyone. 

Lord, may I keep my eyes straight and my heart focused...may I find genuine joy in what I have been given and model that to my girlies:) 

Happy Christmas...the countdown has begun!!!

Countdown to Christmas Part 2

I LOVE traditions...I love that there is something that I can count on every year...

My girls love it too...my eldest, especially, is a romantic at heart...(sorta like her momma) she fantasizes about each "tradition" and how "wonderful" it will be...(which is also the reason she asks to be the FIRST to do everything...and whenever we allow her that chance, she does it with FLAIR)

From the time Italian Stallion was a boy, he has gone to Fly Away Tree Farm to chop down a Christmas tree...his cousins own the place and we love to go in a visit every first weekend of December.  Without fail, we find our "perfect" tree and drink gallons of hot cocoa and listen to stories from Martha & Marcia before heading back down the street to our house.  I will tell you that they have some funny ones to share too:)  (just FYI: they are twin sisters...it's Martha & Dave's farm, but all the family come in to work the Tree Weekend...this year, stories revolved around Martha & Marcia's "Europe Tour"...let's just say that after having $900 stolen and shimmy-ing themselves under locked doors...well, we were rolling in laughter)

I thought I'd share a few pictures from "through the years"

***note: can't find my 2008 picture of the tree farm...even though I have stellar organizational skills...I know, it's mind-boggling!!! ALSO, before 2005 I did not own a digital camera...and I'm too lazy to go find pictures and scan them in...so there***

 and THIS year...again, the PERFECT TREE:)

We had a great time starting our Advent traditions this year...I love that cutting down the tree is part of them!

Countdown to Christmas Part 1

Well..the countdown has begun...

So much has happened in the few days since Thanksgiving that I'm going to have to break it up into a couple of blog posts...otherwise, you're just going to give up and never come back checking to see what's going on in this Italian household (and I DO use the term "italian" quite loosely...it's more of a "saying" rather than we actually ACT Italian...but I digress...)

Anyway...We had a wonderful time of Thanksgiving together as a family...and once we ate our way through all that food and raced as many Mario Karts as we could around the tracks,we knew it was time to get ready for Christmas...

Our first "Christmas" present was given/received just a few days after Thanksgiving...Italian Stallion's sister is able to come into town for just a couple days after Thanksgiving and we have a "mini-christmas" time with her family...We never know how the travel is going to be in December, so we don't take our time or moments for granted...

The cousins decided that in place of a gift exchange this year, we'd all go in together and get something for Nana & Popi's house...

Welcome Wii...

We enjoyed some great cousin time...my husband thought it was a good idea to drop pillows from the loft above the children for "entertainment"...He "may" have been right:)

We also enjoyed a fabulous meal...an "italian" one to be exact:)  Popi gets to make meatballs and we stuff our faces full of all the good food, while we listen to stories from aunts and uncles and holidays of the past:)

The kiddos all get matching PJs too...not sure how much longer that tradition will last, but again, we don't take those moments for granted!

Here's a little slideshow of the whole evening:)

Thanksgiving Day

I love being with my extended family...I enjoy hanging out with my brother & his family...with my sister(s) and my parents...I love sharing in festivities...

However, for some reason, Thanksgiving Day has become a little pocket of time that we've been able to carve out for just our immediate family...We see my side of the family the weekend prior and we see Italian Stallion's family the weekend after...

That leaves the "day of" open...just for us...

We've come to soak in that time together and enjoy our day...

It starts off with the parade on the TV in the morning...usually while working on "crafts" or other things that the girls have "planned for"...this year, we got out the big ole puzzle and started working on it bright and early...

Once Daddy made the trip to the store because,  mommy always forgets something for thanksgiving dinner, he likes the fresh air...the girls and I started on our Thankful Tree and getting all the place settings ready.  Sweetpea's favorite thing is to set up the napkins in some new way each year.

Daddy tackled the bird this time around...he had high hopes of turkey injections and marinades that made your mouth water... (and he did not disappoint:)

I took care of the mashed potatoes:) 

Don't get me wrong...we worked as a team in the kitchen, but if you ask HIM, he'll tell you that HE was the master chef...and that's okay...I'm more of the big picture and "make the table pretty" sort of person...he likes to make sure the food gets cooked...So, like I said...we make a good team:)

The girls did a fabulous job of helping and getting things looking so nice...and the turkey came out delicious...

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal...every last drop:) And Italian Stallion made a large dent in the carrots...his FAVORITE Thanksgiving side dish...(he would even admit it tops the bird...)

While Mommy took pictures and tried to avoid the scraping of dirty dishes and soapy water and Daddy cleaned up the mess, the girls enjoyed another round of Wii Mario Cart (the annual new Wii game that Daddy buys)...

We had much to be thankful for again this year...but for me...

THIS...

 is what makes my heart most grateful...