Turkey-ville

Here are a few more shots from my camera...

My handsome man, assuming his father's role of turkey carver.

He did a fine job!

Look at that pretty bird! Disregarding the fact that I did not remove the giblet packet (I swear, I couldn't find it! GG found it while cutting--lol!) and did not know I was supposed to cook it on a rack in the pan (oops!), I thought everything turned out well... which is awesome because I had images of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation while getting the turkey ready. Thankfully no one had to gnaw on their meat to get it down! lol

MG's baby whisperers, Alison and Claren

My sweet pilgrim and indian, all smiles... for now! :)

As you can see above and below, we had a wonderful holiday and reveled in our time together as a family. Turkey day went off without a hitch and we had a great time seeing family from the north and west! They were awesome to drive in, cars full of people and food, and celebrate the day with us. Our feast was delicious and my potato filling turned out better than it ever has before. Thank you to my GG, who encouraged me with all of his wonderful, positive feedback!

The only thing missing was our beloved Mimi and Papa (and of course ALL the family we were not able to be with!) We missed them so much, we celebrated the event at their house! lol. Aren't they a gracious bunch, hosting us while away?! Mimi had even set the tables and created a beautiful ambiance ahead of time for our enjoyment. It was awesome. Thank you, Mim/Pop! We did get to talk to them on turkey day--they were in Italy visiting CG, GG's bro, who has just returned from Afghanistan! Yahoo!! Congratulations CG and we're so thankful to have you home safely!!!! Now, if only we could find Papa's money clip that fell out while they were in Rome, all of us will be truly thankful!

Add onto the fun weekend a visit with a girlfriend of mine from high school who was in town visiting family. We so enjoyed watching the kids play and getting to hang out with her and her wonderful hub for a bit. I had never met her girls before --they are adorable and so sweet. Good times... :)

The crew minus T. Can you guess who had the stinkiest dipe while this photo was taken? Think stripes. Gold ones. :)

A blessed Advent to you!

T-giving Pic Recap

Enjoy these kiddo snapshots from our Thanksgiving, courtesy of GG's cousin, Alison! She's only a high school sophomore and already so talented! Thanks A!

Feeling Like Turkey

As if on cue, the weather took a brisk turn today.

Cue 50 degree temps. Cue subtle, leaf-rustling wind. Cue cozy setting.

Cue adorable children (bias) jumping in leaves.

The potato filling is done. The corn casseroles are done. The stuffing is done. Now for the birds--one breast and one whole. To be conquered tonight.

What a joy to have what we need and what we don't.

There is so much for which to be thankful.

One last thing I keep meaning to mention. The other morning I was greeted by my oldest, who stood looking over his sister who lay in her crib--"Mommy, come and say good morning to the most precious star of the family, MG!" lol. I approached to see "the star" gazing up at her big brother in awe. Mutual admiration. I just about fell over, it was so cute.

Blessings as you prepare,

What We Live For

When trouble is near, no fear! The G boys are here!

A smiley damsel in "distress"

Tonight while eating dinner...

M: "Do you know who are the best mommy and daddy in the world?"

... YOU guys." (pointing at us)

We melt.

T (after seeing our happy response):"You are the best mommy and daddy in the world."

We continue to melt.

J: "Yook, I have bread."

lol. We laugh.

Thank you, Lord, for these precious moments.

They not only get us through, they're what we live for.

A Morning Mystery

Where is the forlorn "starfish" library book this morning?

We haven't the slightest clue.

Here are the clues we do know (according to our most clever kindergartner, M):

*the book was in the big boys' room (we've been reading it all week)

*M then carried it to J's room

*it was given to J to appease him in his crib

*it was then taken away because J started to tear pages

*afterward it found its way to "the closet by the flowers in Mommy and Daddy's room between the black and brown pants" (??)

*he then moved it to the 3rd floor "under Gramz and Pappy's bed"

*from there, we get a little murky... as if things were crystal clear to begin with! :) lol

Are you imagining us this morning running around the house to all these hiding places?

Classic parenthood at its greatest.

"Try to remember where you hid it after there," we urged.

"I can't remember because it was so many days ago" he replied.

Then GG and I had to quell the tears of a most sad little kindergartner, who went off to school while mommy continues to search and he attempts to remember...

Alas, I'm fearing the worst for the poor starfish. lol.

It is a true G-Ville mystery.

If only we had Gramz here--she can find anything! :)

St. Anthony, patron saint of lost things (who Mimi says has given her a "do not disturb" warning for all of her pestering--lol), pray for us!

Blessings on a Thursday,

Afloat

As usual, I'm in my usual Tuesday night stance, pondering: "How in the world did it get to be Wednesday already?"

Such is life these days--a life I love, no doubt, but a life that is exhausting. It is a life where the days, hours, minutes whir by. It feels like the entire day is me sprinting to each and every new task. And if I stop to breathe, I only get further behind. Ahh... I'm tired!

We are keeping our heads above water... yet I can't help but feel like we're one hiccup, illness, dropped ball away from catastrophe! I can't help but think back to my bout with Mono two years ago and quiver with fear. We CANNOT go there again! Pray for a healthy winter for G-ville! :)

Here's a glimpse of a crazy (but somewhat typical) evening last night. I shared this with a friend today and she begged me to write it down for posterity. "You need to remember how busy life was with four young kids!" My response, "Do you think I'll ever forget?" :) haha

So yesterday I had a friend swing by and deliver a gift for MG for her baptism. It was so sweet. I greeted her at the door with all four kids and she remarked how cute they all were. As we stood there and talked, Custer, our wonderful yellow lab bounded out the door to greet her and sniff in the bushes. We chatted for just a bit before she was on her way with her own crew in tow. Fast forward two hours later as the kids and I are sitting eating dinner. "Has anyone seen Custer?" I asked. No one had. The pup had not come down for dinner (highly unusual) though I thought it was due to the fact he had an ear infection and wasn't feeling well (yes, I know he's just a dog, but dogs feel pain too! :) We all started calling for him and then remembered the visit from our friend earlier... I proceeded to yell out into the darkness for our boy. The kids were starting to get upset. MG was crying, needing to go to bed. We were still battling dinner and the boys needing to eat something of the (delicious) pasta carbonara I made. It wasn't going well. GG was on his way home, but wasn't answering his cell. I was about to lose it.

Then the phone rang. A neighbor had Custer! Yahoo!! This was a neighbor far down the street, so I loaded MG in her seat and the boys in the car and headed down to get him. OMG--he reeked!!! Must have rolled in something dead (typical) because he had BLACK worked into his coat and he smelled atrocious. The boys and I were dying (and dying laughing) on the way home in the car. They were plugging their noses and we were all about to pass out, it smelled so bad.

We unloaded and I ran to get towels. I sat the boys in front of the TV to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (because that's what crazy moms do in times of trial!) I was in the midst of scrubbing the dog when GG pulled up. Baby was crying, still needing to go to bed. Car doors were open to air out from the smell. I finished. The dog smelled MUCH better. Nursed the baby down to sleep. Helped GG with the boys' bedtime. Proceeded with GG to clean an INSANELY messy house (we both get more stressed by mess, so this was really the only option.) Then, we collapsed into bed.

This morning we awoke

to find the van doors still open.

It had rained all night.

O Lord, help me! lol

Date Night

Good Chinese food, a bottle of Cabernet, cozy (recently recovered) chairs, a freshly cleaned house (thanks to my cleaning team), and of course, my #1 guy... is our version of a date night tonight.

We'll take it however we can conjure it!

I Just Had to Laugh Today

... when exclaiming with real excitement over the fact that a dear friend (I won't reveal her identity) has showered for the past 5 days-in-a-row. This is a real motherly achievement!! lol.

Hysterical.

We both had a good chuckle talking about how great this was. I'm still laughing about it.

I often will try to tell myself that not showering every day is actually a good thing because I don't dry out my skin... or cause excess oil production for my hair.

But the real truth is that I'm only lying to make myself feel better.

I really would rather shower daily. lol.

(I write this with a sneaking suspicion Red is going to comment here about the two of us signing a showering contract in college to ensure we (both D. 1 athletes at the time) were showering regularly. So I guess you could say I've always been shower-challenged... Motherhood is just a convenient excuse! lol :)

God bless, ;)

Blessed

Waiting for the event to begin...

Our little MG was baptized in Christ this weekend. We had reason to celebrate and sing praises to our God for her life. It was joyous. This morning I've had the wonderful opportunity to sit back and reflect on God's overwhelming blessings in our lives, blessings made completely apparent by an event like this one.

We are blessed by family, who give endlessly and with whole hearts. They love us generously and are sure to encourage us every step of the way (often over the phone!) We are so blessed by family.

We are blessed beyond measure with the greatest of people to support us on this journey of life. Some are near; many are far. But all are close to the heart. We are so blessed by friends.

We are blessed to know our Lord and feel his closeness on days like yesterday. To listen to the cantor at the baptism would have turned the hardest heart toward God, undoubtedly. His song lifted my heart and helped grant me peace. It was beyond lovely.

Thank to the many folks to who traveled to be present. I was fortunate to have an "appetizer" to the weekend, getting to hang with this great gal (check out her awesome pics!) and this one. Then we had the blessed chance to commune with this awesome family and their *adorable* little girls (who I'd love to have as daughter-in-laws someday--gotta keep working on the princes). They were a wonderful lead-up to the baptism, helping to keep us laughing, talking, and enjoying ourselves amidst the busyness of preparing for the event. Thank you, Moss family. We think the world of you!!

The post-baptism party was great fun--we give kudos to our Mimi & Papa who came through in the clutch to make our home beautiful and efficient. Thank you so much. To my beloved, thank you for always being the icing to my cupcake--you complete me in every way. I love you!

Funniest moment of the day was when GG decided to move one of the couches to provide greater flow... only to expose months of crumbs, popcorn kernels, and 7? different colored balls from various toys that had been stuck underneath. lol. You can imagine my momentary humiliation before I had to laugh it off with everyone around. It was pretty funny!! :) Such is life with four children.

A life I wouldn't trade for the world.

Welcome to your journey with God, dear baby girl.

With a full heart,

G-Ville's Newest Pet

Is it a Chihuahua? Is it a Pomeranian?

No, it's "Fifi", Gasperini-Ville's newest "addition"!!

(Breathe easy. G-Ville has NOT added any more living, breathing creatures to our community. --Only this bag full of hair, removed from our beloved Custer, who was blowing his summer coat. Ugh! Hair ball and then some!!)

(Even sadder is Custer's owner, who saved said bag of hair just for your viewing enjoyment!! I am a sick, sick person! lol :)

(If only I could take Cus' hair and glue it to my own head. I seem to be at the point in my postpartum rebound where I lose an unbelievable amount of hair. Everywhere. Tons. It's getting ridiculous.)

(All right, this is the end.)

Blessings from the land of hair,