Thankful

I'm thankful for so many things this year, but here's a few:
-My children, who are the most amazing boys in the entire world. They are all 3 so different:
--my oldest, the wise old soul with his mom's soft heart, smart as a whip, generous, loving, and such a good big brother
--my middle son, my little ball of fire, who loves and gets angry to the extreme. Not everything comes easy but he'll work his tail off if he wants it. Ladies man, goof ball, loves all things army
--my youngest, my baby. 3 years old and thinks he can do everything his brothers do. So headstrong, so bullheaded, quite the dancer (he can do the white man boogie, I'll tell you). Perhaps I baby him too much because I'll never have more, but too bad.
-My husband, who of course gave me my 3 amazing boys. Who's loved me, and grown up with me, for the last 20 years. My best friend, the love of my life
-My house. Its great to be in here finally even as I type in a sea of boxes because my office is the last room to be unpacked. My hubby did an amazing job w/the lights out front and I'm getting started inside. Its going to be beautiful.
-A very uneventful, lazy Thanksgiving day. It was so low key, and delicious. No stress, good food, good family.
-A healthy family. More surgeries this year for my Pop, but looks better than in a long time. My mom's doing well. Brother's & sister's families all good. We had a great Thanksgiving on Saturday w/my family & I really enjoyed it, my nieces are getting so big. Also, my family on hubby's side, I have a great mother in law & her family has embraced me as one of their own.
-Hope for a better financial future. I have a gut feeling there's light at the end of the horizon.
-A great parish and school for my kids, fun for ourselves w/families we're friends with.

Just a glimpse, for sure. I'm thankful for so much more.
Happy Thanksgiving

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas!

The process has begun. Yes, my friend, we have started decorating this large house. This morning I went with the guys that work for us into our storage and found several, actually over a truck full, of decorations. And, since it was a sunny day (but extremely cold), we started on the outside. My hubby could easily be called Clark Griswald, of the Christmas Vacation fame.
Also, I have to say, this house is beautiful. It is old, and Victorian, and looks amazing with Christmas lights outlining the exterior. And, we have a Santa sleigh and reindeer parked on the side roof. And the entire widow's walk is lined with light up 3 foot candy canes. It gives me chills that this is actually where we call home after all of these years. We have owned this house for 8 years, and this is our first Christmas in it.
Tonight, I went through several of the totes with inside decorations. I have a pretty cool collection of Santa Clauses, I must say. I have a thing for unusual Santa's. And I love snowglobes. Of course, 1 was broken. It never fails because we have so many things stacked up in the storage area.
My 3 year old is totally getting into the whole Christmas thing. He told me Merry Christmas several times as we were outside, watching Daddy on the roof. And, as I was opening things, his excitement was wonderful. This is what its all about. The wonderment and awe in a child during Christmas time is so cool. My 7 year old was walking around with his Santa hat, as cute as ever.
Last year I purchased our first ever fake tree. So, I can actually get my tree up over the next few days and it will still look amazing on Christmas day! I do love a real tree, but the ease of a fake one is just too much to fight with anymore.
So, Happy Christmas season, ye ol' blog. May the good times roll.

My Son, the Musician

My oldest son's class has started learning how to play the recorder. Its a small wind instrument that is often the starting point for music lessons for children. So, for the last week or so he's been bringing it home to practice. Now, don't get me wrong. I love the fact that he's taking up an instrument, the best I can do is pretend to hum a few lines of a song. And, even that's not on the right key. So, he's now learned 3 notes. And, he plays those 3 notes over. And over. And over. I would never say anything negative to him about it. But, I'm going to crack. Thank goodness bedtime is in an hour.
Now, onto other business. Before I get too interrupted, I realize that its been quite some time since I've last posted (sorry, Mom, even though you're my only reader). We actually finally moved into our big house. Its not a mansion or even as big as my sister's house, buts its bigger for us. It has 3 floors, so you can bet my butt is starting to improve. And, until Friday, my washer & dryer were still across the street at the other house. For a family of 5, thats alot of trips across the street for me to do laundry. Often, at 8 or 9 at night, none the less. But, tonight I put my first load of laundry in the basement here and I have to tell you it was bliss. Pure and simple. Crazy that something as simple as going into the basement to do laundry vs running across the street in 30 degree weather can make me so happy, but it does. So, now that I can do laundry and cook here, life is good. Which is a stretch for me to say, sometimes I have a hard time with day to day life. But, we went to breakfast w/my mom & dad (today my dad is 69 years old, and you can bet thats not being lost w/my dad. My mom's going to be hearing about that for the next 12 months), then to an awful Rams game, then to my middle son's soccer game, then home to filets that hubby grilled. Not bad, I must say myself.
do, do, do, do, do, do, do....(thats the best I can say for the sounds coming out of my son's instrument right now)....I'm going to be hearing that in my dreams.

Sunday Night

I have learned that Sunday nights are not an easy time. With young boys that have the spirit of their father, I have to corral everyone and get them calmed down after weekend crazy people time. I would love to be a fly on the wall on one of these evenings, as I seem to become the crabby mom from H-E-double hockey sticks and my family unravels in front of me. Hubby is usually part of the problem, mind you. Wrestling the boys is all their fault, don't you know? So, they will be in a jumble on the couch, arms and legs flying, until I interrupt. Then, getting them into the shower and in bed in time..good luck. How will 3 boys calm down enough by bedtime? Somehow, they all end up in their respective areas. For now.
But, there's a strange smell coming from my kitchen, trash maybe? And the floor, is it supposed to be speckled? Doesn't everyone's toilet area smell like everyone misses at least half of the time? And, did I even think about breakfast for the morning (please, oh please let there be enough milk) or lunch to pack for the big boy? What about clothes, are there uniforms clean? Or, do I need to do a load of laundry before bed (or get the detergent out of the back of my van because I'm out....)....
Whew, and its only quarter to nine. I can do it....

Just a Little Rambling

So often throughout the day I think "ooo, that's something I could write about". I even will play with it in my head, kindof writing it ahead of time. Then, by the time I get by the computer, forgetaboutit. I can't think of a thing that I had gone over. The oh-so cleaver lines, the witty remarks. All gone.
Then, life gets in the way again. As I'm writing this, I'm on hold with the utility company because they started service in the wrong apartment for a tenant who speaks very poor English. Now, the city thinks I put someone into an apartment without a proper inspection because of a clerical error. Which is of course what happened.
My house is a mess. My laundry is piling up. There's too much for 1 human to do everyday. I admire women who keep their house, children, and husbands happy at all times, but I can honestly say that I have no idea how it could be possible. Do the just not sleep? Because, I barely sleep and still can't get done. Do they clean/cook/have sex all at the same time? They must. And, to top it off, these women also look good. Like, not 50 lbs over weight and fix their hair kind of good. I'd love it if they'd just whisper their secret to me. I promise, I won't tell...

LaFesta!

Today was our annual fall festival at our parish called LaFesta. Yes, its Italian. No,, we are not Italian. My children are totally what you would call "Heines 57": a little bit of this, a little bit of that. But, I'm pretty sure that no where in that mix is anything from Italy.
It was an amazingly beautiful day for October in St. Louis. Almost too hot, actually. We started with the large plate of fried foods, toasted ravioli (a St. Louis original), mushrooms, and arancini (rice ball filled with meat sauce & peas). After that, we started on the game booths. Its amazing how fast a family of five can spend money at game booths. From the duck pond to the poker game, you can bet we were having a great time.
My 3 year old crashed out midway, in the middle of all of the hub-bub, and I sat out the festivities for a little while so he could snooze. Its amazing how a sleeping kid can make people stop and smile, but that same child going crazy & hollerin' can make them cringe. I left a little while later with that same 3 year old, now yelling that he wanted to stay at "festa" and my oldest, who has a fever now and a sore throat. Hubby & boy #2 stayed behind for a few more hours of LaFesta fun.
I have to say how much I enjoy our little neighborhood. When we first started here, I thought that it was going to be hard to fit in and make friends. Now, we have so many friends here that I think nothing of letting the reins a little looser and allowing my boys to run around the games with their friends, just like we did when we were kids. Hubby & I both walk around, talking to people, playing games, and just enjoying ourselves at these events. It feels very "old school", just like when I was a kid growing up in good ol' Dogtown. I remember my mom & dad having lots of friends like we have now. I know that if my boys needed something or got hurt, there's 20 people nearby them that would gladly help. Its a nice feeling. Its like home.

Twenty Year Reunion

This weekend was my husband's 20 year high school reunion. I graduated the year after him from the same school & we were high school sweethearts, so I went with him. We had an evening out at a bar on Friday night and an event at our school on Saturday night.
Friday night at the bar was fun. We were with the 3 other guys that we have stayed close with through the years & their spouses, and then many old friends strolled in. It was alot of fun to see so many people we had been friends with back in school. He of course knew many that I didn't, isn't that funny being just 1 year apart in school? But, our school was big for a Catholic school, I think his class had 350 & my class had about the same. I left around 12 & he came home about 3am, then I got up & we talked about so many of our old friends.
Saturday night was fun. The event location was a bummer, $50 a head for crappy appetizers and drinks. They closed the place down at 10:45. The people more than made up for the fact that we were in our school, it was really great to see old friends. And to make new friends. We became friendly with a couple that the wife was hubby's classmate. They are also in the Disney Vacation Club and we really enjoyed swapping Disney stories. Then, turned out he was Greek, too so that was also a fun topic. One girl in particular was great for me to see, her & I became friends I think as a result of my relationship w/hubby, but not dependent upon it. I sometimes forget that I had a life before him/apart from him back then, its all so blurry now. She reminded me of some very fun times that we used to have together. Gosh, I can't express how much I enjoyed being a teenager. I'll be honest, we were not the best kids but boy did we have a good time.
So, 20 years down, 20 more to go. Its amazing that we've been through this path together and exciting to think about the future.
Oh, and by the way, he was still the best looking guy in the room!