No Superwoman Here

I try to make it no secret that I muddle through this journey of motherhood right alongside you.  There are no superhuman powers for any of us.  But thankfully there is a lot of grace if you know where to look (nudge nudge Man Upstairs) ;).

I elaborate over at Building Cathedrals today: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/buildingcathedrals/2013/05/i-am-not-superwoman/

If you haven't yet tapped into the power of the Almighty, I encourage you to take a second look.

God bless you this evening,

Performing Arts

In keeping up with the "catching up", three Fridays ago T and his classmates presented "Kindergarten Rocks", a concert of singing, smiling, gestures, and overall 6yo cuteness.  Every parent there was so proud.  I had the honor of representing for all the G-Ville adults--GG, Mimi, and Papa were all traveling that morning, leaving the lone mama and the little girls to represent.  Unfortunately, we were all in the midst of the dreadful stomach virus, but we mustered the energy, put on a smile, and were there to cheer on our beloved T!

The night before he was insistent that we pick out his outfit and have every piece perfect--"I want to look handsome, Mommy."  Cute.  I think we succeeded, don't you? ;)

Our Dapper T, ready for school and the big show!

He was so excited to see us when we arrived...

Afterward we were lucky to get a shot with T's amazing kg teacher, Mrs. C, who also taught M and whose sons were taught in confirmation by Mimi and Papa many moons ago!  She is the best and offers me such encouragement! ;)

Here we all are, in various forms of togetherness.  I wish I would have gotten a shot with just T--oh well!!  Sick babies don't like to be put down in strollers!

If only the fun ended there...  Later that day, M, T, and J all came home from school and withered into a heap of viral illness.  It was a sad night in G-Ville, but made exponentially easier thanks to movies!  When we're sick, we're going to the dogs completely by rotting our brains too!  Just get me through it, dear Lord.  In addition to movie time, another perk to stomach viruses is that they go easy on the kitchen because nobody wants to eat.  My kitchen had a day or two breather, which it really appreciated.  It hasn't been that clean since! ha!

The older two boys unfortunately had to miss their piano recital the next day, but instead, we held one here at the house--great idea, Papa!  Mimi and Papa returned from their trip and breathed new life into our home on Saturday morning.  We needed it desperately--thank you!  They took care of us and ran out to buy various things.  The boys mustered stomach juices to eat a donut.  I "managed" a tall Americano from Sbucks--isn't coffee the wellspring of health and wellness?  ;)

The boys performed beautifully at their home recital--M even added some of his own touches that made his piece extra emotive.  Pretty cool that he's starting to sense the music and use it as a form of expression!  If only he could latch onto that for weekly practice... Both boys are disliking daily practice something fierce these days.  It is a battle and I dislike fighting it.  They know, though, its a battle that will wage on through middle school.  End. of. story.  I need to step up the consequences for whining.  But, back to the home recital.  Here we were in our (still) unfurnished piano room...

J was still in his jammies at 3pm.

Our recital crowd--a sell-out.

The sick boys, not looking too worse for the wear.  We made them get dressed for the "event".

After the recital, we celebrated the Kentucky Derby with mint juleps and some good, old betting on horses.  Mimi's horse won (legitimately) and T's horse took second in the family pool.  GG's horse was last, but he wasn't even there to choose.  We picked for him.  ;)  The kids ate a few bites of pizza and we enjoyed getting our minds off of nausea!

Derby-focused!

Thanks to Mimi extraordinaire!

This little lady was mustering an appetite that night, but didn't really rebound until days later thanks to an additional double ear infection, poor thing.  We are grateful she is back in the land of the eating and healthy!

That's all, folks!
God bless,

Honey, We Didn't

Last night GG and I were so bushed after a busy day, we crashed almost immediately after putting everyone to bed.  Waking up this morning, it was quite apparent how tired we really were! :)
Here's a list of all the things we didn't do last night...

*We didn't turn out the lights downstairs
*We didn't clean the kitchen
*We didn't shut the garage door
*We didn't put away any of the leftovers (GG found them on the stove with the lid off the pot!)
*I didn't put the baby's milk or medicine in the fridge.
*I didn't fold the 4 loads of laundry in the hallway
*I didn't blog

What a lovely way to start the day!
Don't you feel better reading about all the things we didn't do?? :)
Here to give you encouragement...

God bless for a productive turnaround,

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and Mimi and all the wonderful mothers out there.  It is certainly one of my favorite holidays of the year.  Coupled with our anniversary and thanks to a special "Mother's Day Tea" with J and his class on Friday, it feels like I've been spoiled all weekend long!

J and his class started off by singing two songs for the mothers followed by yummy treats for all!  

Here's a nice shot of me and my boy--please overlook the full mouth! 

This is how we roll--all 3 youngest got to celebrate! :)  

For the real Mother's Day today, I was serenaded by all the kids as they brought me cards, flowers, and gifts this morning.  It was really sweet to see all the effort they had put forth into making things for me. ;)  I'll have to get a few shots to show you...  My favorite line on M's card was "Some clone loves you... some droid loves you..."  lol  We then headed to Mass and then later met Mimi and Papa for a lovely picnic at a local park.  We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather.  The food was delicious (thanks Papa!), the grounds were beautiful, and everyone enjoyed our time together.

Our monkey T burned some climbing energy while the rest of us enjoyed the lower branches.

Mimi was an ever-present help, as always.  Doesn't she look fab? ;)  

These two were knit from the same cloth, I'm convinced.  Here they are stomping on a rock together...

And after seeing me snap my first shot, they immediately got together and posed.  So cute! 

GG and I hiked with the middle three down to some koi ponds while Mimi, Papa, baby G, and M lounged at the picnic site.  I was so proud of how tough the middle two boys were hiking around--little whining and lots of smiles.  :)

All in all it was a day equaling perfection.
Thank you, dear Lord, for this day and the ones to come.

God bless,

Numero Once

Eleven years (plus 3 dating) and we still (really) like each other.  :)  God is good!

It has been an amazing whirlwind eleven years married to my beloved, GG.  I feel so blessed I am making this journey of life together with him.  We celebrated Friday night with dinner at a new'ish restaurant we've been wanting to try and it was delicious!  What a special time with my wonderful hub--we ate ourselves silly, capping the night with a tiramisu sundae.  Afterward, we drove to a nearby mall and strolled off our dinner.  We ended up getting snagged by a shoe store (love!) and each walked away with a pair of sandals.  You need to understand, such a spontaneous shopping trip never happens in G-Ville, so it was nice to treat one another and feel good about our feet.  Ha!  I really am happy when my feet are happy.  More so, I am happy when I know we are providing well for the needs of our family, feet included. ;)

We finished the anniversary with our second-to-last soccer Saturday.  Here are a few shots of the older boys...  (I'll get J next week!)

T and his newest love, the Rubik's Cube, purchased with his own money.  Guess who learned how to solve it?  Moi! (albeit staying up until 1am to do so! :)  Now I'm working on getting faster.

This little angel stayed perched in her seat, watching all the fun.  Big news: Mama weaned her yesterday :( :) (bittersweet)

M played well and got the team's only goal in a 3-1 loss.

T hustled nicely, red cheeks and all, and logged a couple goals too!

11 years and counting...
So blessed to live each day.

2013 Spring Carnival

The weather this year was beyond ideal for the boys' school carnival held two weeks ago.  We've never attended this event before, but decided to take the plunge this year.  Heck, we max out the ticket price and don't have to pay for our last two kids--what could beat that?!  (perk of being a large family :)

It was behind the boys' school, which meant it was a short walk for all of us.  Daddy came home from work early and we headed over to the event...  There were games galore of every shape and size, lollipops for the taking, cotton candy (the kids' dessert, greatly enjoyed), a bouncy obstacle course and slide (can you guess where MG wanted to be all night?), and food and ice cream vendors.  All in all, it was a great event and we were happy to be there, sharing in the culture of our school and community.  We feel very lucky to live so close to a wonderful, close-knit public school that sits right in our neighborhood.

Games are fun when you're guaranteed a lolly!

All three boys attempted the soccer shoot-out--none made it in, but the consolation was Fun Dip.  They were thrilled!

And here she is again--baby extraordinaire--who takes on the world via stroller.  She's the best and we so appreciate her patience and willingness to be up past bedtime. ;)

J's Art Show

Two weeks ago, MG, baby G, and I had the honor of attending J's preschool chapel and art show!  So sweet, it was.  J even volunteered to go on stage and assist in a re-enactment of the Bible story they were sharing that day.  His teacher later commented that this showed such growth for him.  At the beginning of the year, he was so shy and would never have had the confidence to step forward and volunteer.  We are thrilled to see our littlest man coming out of his shell and growing confident in who he is... *and hopefully assured in who he is in the eyes of God too!!  Our worth in Him can never be measured, it is beyond comprehension!

What a great year this has been for him...  Growth in many areas, lots of learning, good speech development (thought he still says his "l" as a "w"--so cute its hard to correct!)   He is gearing up for another year in pre-k next year, which will be fabulous for our little man with the August birthday.  Come kindergarten time a year from now, I know he will be more than ready...  Love you, bud!

After chapel, J and his buddy, Cooper, showed us their class' masterpieces.

All the singing and showing off makes for some thirsty boys--so cute!

Baby sisters get to indulge in the fun too!

Keeping my promise--be back tomorrow! ;)
God bless,