Happy 'Ween!

G-Ville enjoying our annual tradition of "Boo Stew" (recipe thanks to our very own Hallow-Mimi)

Happy Halloween all!!

I know the Ohio grandparents are falling out of their seats with great Halloween costume anticipation... So here you have it, the 2010 G-Ville unveiling of the bugs and arachnids.

First we have the deadly black widow :

(spider costumes hand-made with love by Mimi!)

Followed by the Goliath Tarantula (largest spider in the world, FYI):
And then the sweet bee:
And of course our little ladybug (lower left):
We even captured the theme in some of our pumpkins...
And here's a shot of the whole clan:
GG and I never procured costumes for ourselves. I got as far as last-minute, homemade antennae for my butterfly get-up, but never found wings. It just had to do to get us out the door in time!

J barely made it out of the house before being scared by a Scream mask. He high-tailed it inside and was happy to hang with Mimi and Papa sans costume. Oh well--at least we got a few photos, right? He kept saying, "I stay here" over and over again to ensure no one would take him outside for the rest of the night. Poor, traumatized little fella! The big boys seemed to have a great time, though they lost steam pretty quickly after running up and down nearby driveways. Our little ladybug petered out quickly and slept in her daddy's arms as we traveled. Too cute. We were thankful their little candy buckets got full fast, which meant it was time to go home!! Yahoo!!

Halloween--check!

I look forward to getting the candy out of the house as quickly as possible...

"Why?" You ask.

Well because today I've consumed the following: 2 K.K. donuts, 2 Kit Kats, 1 small Snickers, 1 pouch of Sour Patch Kids, and 1 Reeses PB Cup. Ugh. Talk to me tomorrow about my postpartum fitness plan. lol. :) And here today is supposed to be the day when I should be worrying about my children's sugar consumption, not mine! Oh well!!

Cheers to a Happy Halloween and a wonderful day of aftermath tomorrow!

God bless the teachers.

God bless you,

The T-Bone

These shots came home just yesterday. Can you blame me for wanting to buy every one of them?! Sweet T, we love you!

On Creators

M: Mom, why does MG have all this chub on her legs?

B-mama: Because that's the way God made her.

In the next breath...

T: Mom, why is Mickey a mouse?

B-mama: Because that's the way his creator made him.

lol. How I love our coincidental randomness.

Start Spreading the News

GG and I enjoyed a wonderful (albeit brief) trip up to Philadelphia this past weekend! So why the title from a Frank Sinatra singing about New York?? This is thanks to an 80's commercial playing "Start Spreading the News" while advertising Philadelphia Cream Cheese. lol. Now whenever I hear/see one, I think of the other. Advertising at its best.

In any event, we attended the lovely wedding of a PU friend of ours and fellow Camp Winona camper of GG's. It was a grand time and we basked in the fellowship of many great Catholic pals of ours. Most fun was seeing Red and Texas Mommy and getting to hang with them for the night! Red wrote a beautiful reflection of the evening here. Little MG was along for the ride and was the most perfect wedding guest (if I do say so myself). Look cute and you win BIG points at a Catholic wedding! lol. :) Even better was getting to spend the hours with GG in the car talking and planning and connecting... Gosh, do we need time like that as a married couple!

GG and PU buddy, Matt

Red, Tex, and me! Amazing that we got Red to smile here--she was so distraught over the Phillies' loss!

With my adorable godson, Gus

The babies unite--MG and Claire!

Blessings on a Wednesday,

Friday Shorts

Happy Friday, dear ones...

These are the morning tidbits from our little world (published much, much later because I got pulled away from the computer...)

1) It is chilly and wonderful this morning. The air has a crisp feel to it. Very autumn; very thrilling. MG is napping. I'm computering. And J is playing/watching Mickey Mouse club (his morning fix). Soon we will be heading off on a run and finishing up with errands to the craft store. I am making the little invites for MG's baptism coming up in a couple weeks (the rush order was way too expensive to order online...) Trust me, I normally wouldn't choose to be so crafty; money and time are definitely fueling this venture! :)

2) Today marks our annual MOPS Trunk or Treat, where my little munchkins will be scurrying from one mother's car trunk to another in the church parking lot. Too cute!! You bet our "Hallow-Mimi" has been hard at work this week creating our little arachnid get-ups. We had a sneak peek this morning and THEY ARE AWESOME. She's so talented!! I can't wait to show you! (We had the event tonight and it was much fun. The boys and MG looked great...)

3) I've informally started half marathon training! When will I be running one??? Not sure yet, but at least this is giving me a running schedule and easing me back into miles. I'm using the program I followed for my Leukemia and Lymphoma half two years ago. Good stuff. Part of this will be useful when I help my friend finish the last 8 of her marathon coming up in November. I'm really looking forward to it--I had a friend do the same for me when I ran the Columbus Marathon back in '03 and it was uber-helpful! Hopefully some fresh legs and a little encouragement can do the trick for her too.

4) I did Jillian's (Biggest Loser) Shredded 1 workout on Wednesday (thanks to FIOS On Demand) and *boy* am I sore!! I actually took yesterday off to recover more and then am going to try to get in some miles today. Gotta get these old legs going. ;)

5) Speaking of running, M's school had a running competition earlier in the week to help raise canned goods for a local charity. Each child ran 6 minutes during gym class and the parents then pledged a can per lap. Suffice it to say, we are now paying up! M did awesome!! J, MG, and I were able to head down to cheer for him... He strategized Tuesday morning, "Mom, I'm going to run 19 laps!!" We had to talk him down, reminding him it was only 6 minutes. "Pace yourself," I told him, "You'll see a lot of classmates starting off sprinting and then they won't be able to keep running. Just run a strong pace." (Yes, yes, I was that competitive, scheming parent! haha but only because my kid was into it, I swear!) M made it almost 5 and 1/2 laps for the effort, a good 3/4 lap farther than anyone in his class. The lady even said he went farther than some second graders. He charged the whole time and didn't seem to be winded at the end (oh youth!) That's our boy! :) You know the runner mama in me was so proud. We are still waiting to hear the outcome of the Golden Shoe Award--the class with the highest yards/child average. We'll keep you posted... (I know you'll be on the edge of your seats! lol)

Strong stride!

Afterward, being congratulated by friends.

We are headed into the weekend full steam ahead. To end, I leave with some pics from our pumpkin patch trip last weekend... Blessings all!

Halloween 2010 Preview

Can you guess our family theme?

No question--we will be CUTE! :)

The Soccer Skinny

Basking in the sun amidst fields of soggy soccer

It was a glorious weekend to call oneself a Virginian. We undoubtedly lived up every ray of sunshine along with the 70 degree temps. Glorious! This is our reward for surviving such a brutal summer. If heaven promises to be beyond anything like this, sign me up, baby!!

As per usual, our weekend commenced Saturday morning with soccer. The boys were raring to go... M had a fun game and seemed to enjoy himself immensely. "I love Saturday because that's when I have soccer!" Fantastic. We can't argue with his spirit, exuberance, and enjoyment of the game. He is everywhere on the field--forward, mid, defense--whatever is needed!! Cute, cute!

Coach extraordinaire and son pupil

Going in for the kill

T's game was enjoyable as well, especially because 4yo's move a little slower and are a little less intense. Ahh... The perfect way to finish off the soccer morning. T played great and had some great dribble breakaways up the field only to be squelched by some ringers on the other team. Two little girls dominated and happened to be on the same rotation as T! Bummer! But hey, he had a wonderful time and really seemed to enjoy himself. That's what counts!

T's coach was really excited about his game last week. What a great guy--his wife just had a baby a week ago (their third) and here he is coaching!! Congratulations Hughes family.

We capped the weekend yesterday with the start of our at-home Catechesis with another family from church and a trip to the pumpkin patch. Pics to come! Have a blessed Monday!!

Cozy Wake-ups

There are few things in my world that top the coziness of a thunderstorm. At night, in the afternoon, even in the morning like today.

MG awoke first and made sure she'd had her fill before the rest of the gang arose. Add a cute, squishy baby to a thunderstorm setting and I'm pretty much over the top. Our first moments together were blissful.

I dressed her in pink and ruffles and we headed to wake M for school. He, too, was excited by the thunder... and by the little energetic pink bundle wriggling on the floor of his bedroom. Boy, does he love his sister!! He would rather have entertained her all morning than get any of his morning tasks done.

Soon T was awake and in on the action. "We can't go to school today because of the storm!" he reported. I assured him that all would be well.

And it was. By the time Papa pulled up to pick him up for preschool the storm had passed and he declared, "The storm's over. Now I can go to school." Good boy.

We are well this morning.

Cozy in our house, thanks be to God.

Wishing you cozy blessings on this Thursday,

What Happens When...

A mama offers dessert before a certain child is done eating his sandwich?

He shoves the whole thing in his mouth, can't chew, spits it out, and then cries because he doesn't want to eat it any more!

But you'd better believe he still wants a lollipop! lol.

Over the river and through the woods

To grandmother's house we went...

To introduce our little lady to her great grandma and grandpa! What a special day!!

We followed the visit with fun times at my first cousin's wedding in PA/NJ. Can you guess who spent most of the night on the dance floor? While I missed my most favorite dancing partner, GG (who was back at the hotel taking care of the baby--what an absolute gem!), I so enjoyed seeing my extended family and dancing the night away! Good for the soul.

Meanwhile, the boys had an awesome weekend with Mimi and Papa back here in Virginia. T scored 2(!!!) goals in his game on Saturday. We were so proud to hear this news and so sad we missed seeing it in person! So proud of that little guy! :) M had a great game too (6? goals), so I'm pretty sure the boys walked away feeling really great about the day. Thank you to our wonderful Mim/Pop duo, who take such amazing care of our gents while we're away...

And wouldn't you know it, with all this fun happening, my camera battery went after a few pics! :( I'm at the mercy of my mom and Mimi for shots of the weekend. I'll update with more pics soon!

Today we're getting back into the swing of things. M is off of school for Columbus Day/teachers' inservice, so we're laying low and getting organized. Thank goodness for a free day!!! I'm so glad to have it.

Blessings,

Holy Cheeks!

It's no secret that in Gasperini-Ville we breed 'em cheeky.

It all started off with this cheeky wonder:

I remember taking M into school to meet some fellow teachers and having one of the ladies exclaim, "What are you feeding that baby? Cream?!" lol. A little mama milk and bam! Cheeks!

Next we had this little cheeky gent join our ranks:

We lovingly called baby T, "Uncle Fester" thanks to his round cheeks and bald head. What a sweetie cheeky one! :)

And then it was on to cheeky baby boy #3:

Never before had Gasperini baby cheeks been kissed so much. Now there were two parents and two exceedingly loving brothers! J's emotional tank has always been full (many thanks to the cheeks!)

Which is why it's really no surprise that our little lady showed up with such kissable, edible cheeks...
Her cheeks are setting new records for plumpness, girth, and # of kisses given. Welcome to the world of cheeks, my sweet one. You fit right in. You are, without a doubt, 100% Gasperini.

Humbled

This morning I am humbled...

by a knowledgeable kindergartner

who's mama doubted him this morning.

Feeling this big.

Thank goodness I'm not getting graded on this one!

Lord, bless me,

Update 10/7:
God is good. A little humility goes a long way. The short of the story was that yesterday before school M insisted (to the point of tears) that his homework (which he had already completed) wasn't due until Friday. GG and I thought that he should take it in just in case. M was adamant, so I quickly checked some old docs the teacher gave us about homework, finding nothing. Alas, we sent a crying M off to school with his work... Moments later I found info that homework wasn't due until Friday when they do homework circle. Poor M! I quickly emailed the teacher and told her to pass along how proud we were of our boy and his keeping track of assignments. She was so sweet about it and gave M a marble (to go toward the class jar). All's well that ends well. Love that little guy!! What a big kid he's becoming.

Golly Jeepers

Golly Jeepers, I've been neglecting you all over here.

My deepest apologies! :)

I could go on and on with excuses, but the bottom line is that I know you understand.

Thanks.

I know you know that I am a busy mama with a lot of demands.

I know you know when I'm absent from the computer it actually means good things. Really good things in our small little world.

Good things... like soccer playing (GO T!! First time out on the field, he gets the ball and dribbles it down to the goal to miss it by a hair! So proud, we were!!) And then more soccer fun later that day for older brother (complete with 5 goals--woot!) More importantly, fun was had by all... participant and spectator, alike. Gramz and Pappy (our weekend visitors) got a great show, thank goodness!

... like hugs and snuggles and kisses on smushy cheeks.

... like fun playtime with Pappy and crafting dinosaur bones with chisel from stone!

And even more good things, like fun times with old college friends in DC and a date night for GG and I. Woot Woot!! So fun!!

Good times, good times.

I promise to check in here more frequently... You can hold me to it!

God bless you!!!