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!!!