home sweet home!

So glad to finally be home. I am such a homebody!! Love to be here! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I am excited for a brand new year. May yours be full of joy and blessings!
xoxo

winter wonderland!

Tomorrow we are off to one of the prettiest places I've ever been...

Lake Chelan!

This is the view from the deck of my inlaws' house. It will take us two days to get there because of all this crazy winter weather. Say a prayer for our safe travels. We are already guaranteed a very white Christmas because of all the snow that has fallen. The boys are going to be thrilled! The whole family will be gathering at Mom and Dads and now we have a little girl (my niece) thrown into the mix. Should be wild times. I can't wait!

I'll be stealing a tradition from Stacey and her sisters...

I bought matching pajamas for my sister-in-law and me! I'll be sure to get lots of photos to post here post holiday! I'm already thinking of my quiet days in January scrapbooking in my little room, ahhhhhhh!

Make sure you all take tons of photos, you just can't go back and recapture those memories!

What are your holiday traditions? What new traditions will you start this year if any? I'd love to know!

Take this quiz!

Thanks!

Reading your comments is really making me smile! Keep them coming!

p.s. Kim, YES and YES. I'll help with the cards and we will work on our Mom's memories! Sounds like we've got some get togethers to plan! Who is in? :0)

hey...

I've got an idea! Let's focus on just the positive today... just the good stuff. 2007 was a pretty good year for us! I want you to randomly name ten good things about 2007 as it is coming to a close. Do not put too much thought into it just think fast! Here are mine:

1. We didn't have to move to Minnesota!
2. Kirk got to take 6 months off to be home with us!
3. Nate made lots of progress with Cristina.
4. Joe and Nick are having a great year at school.
5. The Red Sox won the World Series!
6. The Red Sox re-signed Mike Lowell!
7. I created 150 scrapbook pages!
8. I got to go to Arizona twice and spend time with friends!
9. The Patriots are 14-0!
10. I'm blessed with the very BEST friends a gal could ask for!

Your turn! List them here or on your blog.
Happy Tuesday (one week 'til Christmas!)

because of her...

 

I know what love is. For the last nine days, I have thought of nothing but the pain and the loss of the family of Carrie Ann Cascarano Schmidt. I just can't get her and her family out of my mind and my thoughts.

Today I woke up at 6 am like most days (thankfully Nate did not wake up bouncing at 2 or 3 or 4) and I thought of nothing but cooking. To my family, Italian food is not just food, it is love. My Mom left a legacy to me of the love of cooking. When she spent a day cooking for you, you knew she loved you, really loved you. Today, I made tons of sauce, meatballs, sausage and lasagna to share with Stacey's family and also my family. While I was chopping this morning, my son Nick came downstairs and asked me what I was doing. I told him I was making Nana Pat's Italian food to give to our friends, to comfort them. The first thing he said was, how can I help? This touched me more than I can say. I put him in charge of finely grating the Pecorino Romano and the Parmigianno Regianno cheeses, making sure he knew that not just any "cheese" would do. Nana insisted on only the BEST! We will carry on her legacy of love by cooking like she did and letting everyone know that it's not just food, it's love that goes into these dishes.

This picture of my Mom is priceless to me. I have it enlarged in my kitchen so she is with me always. I took this picture the last time she visited us in Arizona. Less than a year later she died. I will miss her everyday for the rest of my life.

tomorrows...

...are not promised to us. they are given to us, each one as a gift.

Today I attended the funeral of the sister of a dear friend of mine. If you have ever lost a loved one, I'm sure you have realized there are so many unanswered questions that are asked, tears that are shed and pain to be felt. I would give anything to be able to wipe away that pain for her.

Please pray for this family. For their comfort and their strength.


Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life. ~Albert Einstein

amazing!

The other day we discovered that Nate, who just turned four, can read! We write words on the board and he says them! So far he has identified about ten words but we are working on more daily! This kid truly amazes me!