A Thankful Moment

There are days when you just know that it is a good day, when your family is healthy, your friends make you laugh, and you have a warmth in your heart. Yeah, I know that i sound pretty cheesy but I am living in this moment.....and I must brag, for just a moment.
At this time: my family is healthy and happy, I have a beautiful home, wonderful neighbors, I am loving my job, my patients are loving me and I was offered a day shift position at work. Only a nurse that has worked 12 hour night shifts can truly appreciate this. It is a wonderful opportunity and it's my time.
ahhh, that's it now it's time to enjoy the rest of my day with my happy little family. ;)

40 days and 40 nights.....

Lent is a special time when you can share the concepts of prayer and giving with everyone around you. Taking time each day to offer devotional prayers, helping others in need by giving of your time or resources. Even as young children, my kids have enjoyed participating in this process.
As a mother, I carve out time in my busy day for special prayer time and recalling on lessons learned.
Some things that I have done differently for Lent are suggestions I have gotten from Dr Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Catholic theologian and speaker. He has come up with many great ideas for making the most out of the Lenten season.
He says:
Spend some focused time with your spouse, strengthening your marriage.
Start praying together, or make praying together a more frequent occurrence.
Spend some focused time together with each of your children. Take time to listen. Pray and maybe even have fun.
When Easter comes, don’t drop the new practice you’ve begun during the Season Lent!
Make a permanent feature of a deeper Christian life!
Family values are a big part of the Tubiolo house and with every passing year, I can see where our faith and family has grown stronger.

TGIF

Every Friday, no matter how hectic or stressful the week has been, my family has a tradition to celebrate the weekend’s start. I crack open a bottle of wine and we all roll up our sleeves in the kitchen. Everyone likes homemade pizza: I make/buy fresh dough for the pizza crust, and my husband chops, sautés, and grates the toppings and, the kids have fun making their own special pizzas.
On good weeks I’d make home-made sauce and we have fresh mozzarella. But, over the last year it went from rolling dough to buying premade pizza dough to getting the entire pizza delivered, hot n’ ready. But, when we then sit down to eat, either at the dining table, or on the porch, it’s our family time that matters. So, none the less, our tradition is still alive. It’s a great start to the weekend.
This little tradition of ours isn’t complex or costly, and it takes no advanced planning. It's just something we all look forward to, and it’s become a little something that says “home” to us.

My cup runneth over

I am overwhelmed with emotions right now and I am going to attempt to put them into words so, here goes......

Yesterday, we felt the wonderful effects of a cold front that is traveling thru the north. And in the midst of the wonderful weather; last night my husband, kids, and friends hosted a congratulatory celebration in our neighborhood park for me. It was so nice to drive through my neighborhood and see people just casually enjoying the beautiful evening and also giving me hugs, presents, and congratulations. It is wonderful to know that I am surrounded by such caring people.

I didn't say very much because I knew I would cry. But I want to share what I wanted to say last night:

The last year has been the most difficult year of my life. At a time in my life when my cup seems to have so many holes in it, people around me just kept coming forward and pouring and pouring to fill it back up, when I felt at a loss. There were so many times that I wondered why I was in school so late in life. I know that it was my decision to start a family early and although I really enjoy being a mother, I felt the need to accomplish my life long goal of becoming a nurse. And I have painfully missed soccer games, school activities and birthday parties that I can never take back. Ours lives are filled with so many hard decisions these days. The emotional weight of it all has been wearing us down, but we can keep putting one foot in front of the other because we are surrounded by such loving friends and family.
Mike, kids, family, and friends: I have survived this year because of all of you. Thank you' doesn't seem like enough but I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

I don't know what I ever did to be worthy of such an outpouring of affection but it sustains me.

Thank you.

they're falling all over

After a month in our neighborhood, we've come to the conclusion that you either have to learn to love the leaves each fall, or you'll go absolutely crazy trying to get rid of them. We live in an older neighborhood, with tons of mature trees all around us--a wonderful thing in the summer when you want to sit on your shaded front porch and sip lemonade, but not such a wonderful thing come this time of the year when you have to wade through piles of leaves to get to your front door.

All you have to do in our neighborhood to find the houses with kids is drive along the streets during November. The houses with kids in them always have front yards covered by the enormous eruptions of strangely shaped leaf piles that look like messy molehills. There might be an odd bicycle or scooter left in the middle of the leaves, or Ethan's soccer ball perched on the biggest pile and you can usually can find a rake or two somewhere in the mix.
When you have kids it's easy to make fun out of the leaves. We've learned to take a no stress approach, and while we'll rake and load the leaves to the curb, we've conditioned ourselves not to mind when five minutes later one child has scattered the same neat pile of leaves in every direction. And every time the front door opens and the wind blows in a stray handful of leaves across the wood floor in the entryway, I'll just go with the flow.
For now, though, we'll just let them fall, and fall, and fall.

A Good Day

It’s hot, humid, and horribly sticky.
Just packed clothes for vacation.
While sitting on the porch, sipping on coffee..... I count my blessings:
1) quiet morning
2) Mike had two days off in a row
3) A clean house
4) A clean heart
5) A clean slate
6) A long, long talk with Lisa, where, among other things, she shared with me some lessons on criticism, perfectionism, and friendship. Our long distance relationship has grown such much and I am ever grateful for her in my life.
7) I've made a haven at home, one that welcomes big kids and little kids, both my own and the ones that come my way for a just a little while
8) Life is Good!

s(NO)w fun

Today was the third time it snowed this month. The snow gives us good reason to bundle up as a family to watch a movie, turn on the fireplace, and have hot drinks. I love this time of year. Although the cold and snow is nice, personally, I miss living in Florida. I miss being able to wear flip flops all year, wearing only a light jacket over a t-shirt, and not having to warm the car in the morning. I tortured myself and looked up their weather today...high of 66, low of 55. I could really use some of that right now.
Don't get me wrong, I love having seasons but I don't like the cold! If the wind hits you just right, it stings. Not to mention the layers of clothes I have to put on and the pile of cold wet clothes that get piled by the door as the kids come in and out. I would much rather take a hot and humid summer day over this!
But my kids love it. The minute they see a fresh snowfall, they bundle up and head outside. I've appointed myself the official hot chocolate maker which is an indoor job.

Here are some photos of today.......

Merry Christmas

Today could not have been any better.

We had our first white Christmas and it was wonderful.

We woke up this morning to the kids running down the stairs with excitement. Santa had come and they were ready to tear open the gifts that I so carefully wrapped.

We had a big family breakfast in our pajamas.

Then we went to my sisters house where the kids spent the day playing with all their new things and the adults tried to relax from all the pre-Christmas activities.

I talked to my parents and in-laws, it really made me miss Florida. I wish I could be with everyone back home this time of year.

Let it snow......

It's Christmas Eve and it's snowing outside!!!!
If you happen to live in a part of the country that isn’t blessed with this powdery, white miracle, (like us) you know why I am so excited. And of course, snow this time of year is always the best!

I have been anticipating its arrival since I first saw the forecast and there I sat, in the living room by the window just waiting, and waiting. By the time the first few flakes started floating down it was well past 11am and the kids had already accepted the fact that it may not snow.

Today would have been a perfect day for me to bake cookies and stay in my jammies, but I just couldn't, I had to enjoy this wonderfulness.
Me and Melissa had Carmel lattes at Starbucks while the snow fell. Coffee with a great friend is always a good thing. Thanks, Melissa.
The kids loved playing outside as the snow piled on their heads and kissed their noses, it was a lot of fun!
We had Christmas Eve dinner at my sisters house,made by the hubbies who did a really good job, we all left the table absolutely stuffed.
It was still snowing outside.....so we let the kids play in the snow again at night, since it could be gone by morning.

Brrr, it was sooo cold!!!! The kids little fingers and ears were rosy and chilly.
Coffee and dessert by the fireplace wrapped up a beautiful day!
I know I often complain that Texas is a never ending land of cornfields and cows, but it's changing seasons and my great friends are things that make it worth living here.
It's been snowing for more than 10 hours now and we have a couple inches of snow. No signs of it stopping anytime soon.
Today was a great day, I wouldnt change a thing!

Happy Birthday, Little Man

Today is Ethan's birthday!

He is 6 years old and feels like such a big boy.

Ethan has played t-ball, soccer, and football in all his six years and has done great in all of it. I don't push him by any means, I would NEVER be one of those parents but, I am glad to see that he is quite the athlete.
Truly life is flying by at such a fast rate the past few years I feel like I can't keep up. I just ordered our Christmas photos yesterday and I still haven't put last years photos in our Christmas album yet and I didn't put those in the album yet because the year before's aren't completely done yet! (Insert scream here.)
I just put away the Halloween stuff and now I am digging through the attic getting all my Christmas decorations out.

I still have shopping to do and even though Christmas is weeks away, I am way behind.

I am looking down at my calendar as I type and there is not ONE day for the rest of December that we don't have something scheduled. Then I flip to January and it isn't much better!
I am overwhelmed! I am behind the game and the game hasn't even started yet.
So, I just wanted to sneak on the computer and acknowledge my little man's birthday!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Thank You

I am grateful for many things this Thanksgiving...
Especially my own little turkeys, who have brought me so much joy this year.
Since moving to Texas I had to get used to not having the traditional house full of family and friends, moms good cooking, and watching my cousins burn off that dressing with a little afternoon football.
Nope, the past few years have been a bit less eventful.
But, I try my best.
This year was probably the best (Texas) Thankgiving yet.
We had Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night at a good friend & neighbor's house. She invited all of her friends and families over for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Gwen made mulled wine, I made the green bean casserole, and Melissa brought stuffing. The kids watched Harry Potter and the adults had time to unwind. It was very nice.
Today I spent Thanksgiving at my sisters house. We made everything from scratch. The kitchen was a mess but the food and company were great!
Ethan & Jacob are old enough now to enjoy a game of footbal, and so they did. They played for hours.
We had plenty of leftovers enough to feed us thru the weekend.
It was a wonderful day.

In Thanksgivings past, I used to be thankful that I had great children, a wonderful healthy family, and really good friends.

This Thanksgiving, I want to say thanks to everyone in my life for giving me something to be thankful for =)

Cookie Time

Whether it's a holiday, special occasion, or just a long, boring afternoon and a way to pass the time is needed, baking cookies is a great activity anytime. It is also one of the easiest ways I spend quality time with my children. Baking cookies gives them the chance to get their hands dirty while making something fun, and tasty together and cherish some irreplaceable moments in the kitchen.

The kids are home this week for Thanksgiving break. I try to keep them busy so, today we made cookies. The kids each had friends over and I needed something to keep them all from getting bored. I made gingerbread cookie dough last night so it was ready for rolling and cutting. My kids love to cut the dough into fun shapes, and later cover the cookies in colored frosting or sprinkles.


Baking together has become a tradition in our home. Not only is it a sweet treat, but baking together is always makes fun filled happy memories and simple math lessons for children.
We all had a great time.

Hello There...neighbor

You know how it usually happens. The moving van pulls up across the street. You peer through the slats of the window blinds. You don't want them to see you checking out the new neighbors. Who are they? In goes the fancy furniture...as I wonder, will we be friends and share dinners? In goes a child-size bike...and I wonder how many kids they have?
New neighbors are always fascinating.
I hope they forgive me for disrupting their moving process to run over and meet them but, the worry of who our new neighbors would be, was still pondering. I have had my share of BAD neighbors and could not handle another but, what a relief that a lovely family has moved in.
And the kids.....three girls!!!! YAY!
How wonderful for my girls to have new friends on the street.

It's the Great Pumpkin tradition

Sunday was our annual pumpkin carving party.
The kids were so excited and wild all afternoon waiting for people to get here.
We had a good turn out. Our friends and neighbors were here.
Ethan didn't stop running around all day.
This year we added a Halloween pinata to our festivities.
The kids lined up and were so excited!!!
That poor little ghost pinata didn't stand a chance when the kids started in.
Shortly after, it was in two big pieces. the kids looked like chickens pecking all over the ground for candy.
How FUN!
After all was said and done, it was a great success.
I wanted to take so many more pictures, but instead just enjoyed the beautiful weather with our friends.
We had a really good time.

A big thanks to everyone who came and helped us continue our tradition.
We enjoyed every minute of it.
Happy fall y'all.

Home Sweet Home

I came across some old photos of our last house. I can still remember buying it just to totally remodel it. Unfortunately I have no before pics, just the after ones. It was everything Mike and I wanted.....

This was my home, and I loved it.

It’s where all the people I love are.

I loved my red door, that many friends have entered, I love my flowers, and I even love that old graveled driveway that held the smell of rain.

This was the first house Mike and I remodeled together.

This was the house my kids couldn’t wait to “explore” when we finally got to move in.

This is the home where we laughed, talked, and played.

This is the house that has seen more tears than any other and the one where hearts have been mended.

This is where I feel at peace. When I see my old house I don’t just see a house, I see my home. I see my family… I see the man that I love and our three amazing children. We live in Texas now and we are loving it but, every now and then, I wish I was back home.

Fall Days

October brings shorter days and a chill to the air along with many fun family moments.
I look forward to every year with great anticipation:
1) pumpkins! Yes, pumpkins are everywhere. Every year I gear up for the one day I get to practice my hand at a fleeting but wonderful art form – Halloween pumpkin carving! It will be a blast!
2) Hot apple cider has become my drink of choice this Fall.
3)Cold weather. Our move to Texas made me realize how nice it is to actually have the changing seasons. All the leaves on the trees are changing color and falling off and I love to turn the fireplace on.
4) watching Fall family movies together and watching scary movies with Mike, when the kids get to bed.

When the leaves are golden rolling down my street, it marks my favorite time of year.
Fall is the time when one sheds tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is chicken soup for the battered spirit.
When the air is cool, we spend time with family and friends, and every moment when my little family is gathered indoors to play board games and watch old movies.
A few of those days and all is well in the land of Tubiolo.
I feel like the future is wide open and filled with sun-dappled possibilities.
HAPPY FALL EVERYONE :)

NOT an Easy Bake Oven

I knew this day would come. After years of making the kids stay out of the kitchen while I am cooking and making them stay at least 200 feet from ANY flames, here I am teaching my kids to cook.

YIKES!

My kids love helping out in the kitchen: pouring and mixing ingredients. But, once the oven or stove goes on, the kitchen is off limits.

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day who informed me that her 11-year-old makes herself scrambled eggs in the morning and makes cakes, start to finish all the time. Well, Sydney is ten and a half. And I remember cooking all by myself when I was twelve. I realized that I needed to start sometime and now is as good time as any.

After much thought, I decided that teaching my kids how to use the oven first would be much easier than going right for the stove, and cookie baking season is coming up so, I went for oven lessons!!! I cheated, I had them bake their own pot pies. I needed to start out as basic as I could for my own sanity.

I didn't realize how many buttons are on my oven and the preheating process, which takes 6 minutes.... took ALL of that to explain why we preheat. What an ordeal!!!

So once we get passed that, the kids put their pot pies in the oven and set the timer according to the package.

30 minutes later, when the timer goes off, they all run for the oven. This could be a problem!

Finally, pot pies ready.

I was happy to see that they each were very careful and remembered their oven mits!

The kids were so proud and no one got burned!!!


At first I felt like I cheated them out of a REAL cooking lesson, but pot pies are not always easy to make.

Just click here to read my crazy pot pie story!!!

It's worth a good laugh!

We Got Boo'ed

A Halloween tradition is spreading rapidly throughout the culture. Called "Getting Booed," it involves a family making a Halloween gift basket and leaving it anonymously on a neighbor's door step with a sign "You Got Booed." The receiving family's job, then, is to make up another gift basket and play the trick on another family in the neighborhood who doesn't have a 'got booed' sign on their door.

Last night we had a mysterious knock on the door. When the kids opened the front door, they found a bag of sweet treats along with a paper ghost and poem instructing them to do the same to two other neighbors.
My kids love this part of our Halloween tradition.

But there's been a little debate about whether or not this booing business is plain fun or plain inconsiderate. Is it spreading the Halloween spirit or just a glorified chain letter?

The truth is that it's both.

I still dig it, but I don't want other parents with children on the receiving end of a "You've been boo'ed" ghost to feel pressured to participate. It's hard enough to get Halloween costumes together and prepare for school parties. This I know. But since we ‘got booed’, it’s on!

Here is a BOO basket I found, made by Jennifer at The Buck Stamps Here

that I want to make.

I am MOM

Everything about life changes when you become 'mom'.
You become last, your children are first and your spouse is second.
The unconditional love and chaos that you experience as a mother has to be one of the greatest joys of life. Just like, saying 'mama' for the first time, huge hugs, and when they tell you that they love you...... those are moments you will never, ever forget.
Watching your children grow to become a contributing member of society is lifes way of showing you-you done good.
I miss sleeping in and having alone time with my husband.
But regrets, I will never have any.

Falling for Fall

Living in Florida for so long, I never knew what seasons were.
We had rain or sun, and humidity all year around.
I remember my first Fall season in Texas. It was so nice to see leaves that turned colors and scattered down the street, meeting new people and being able to open windows in the house!!!! It was amazing.
Now, I have lived here for three years and Fall is still my favorite time of year here. This fall I have a lot to look forward to:

Oktoberfest
Kids Fall Sports
Pumpkins on the porch
Making Smores with the neighbors
Getting caught up on my scrap booking on those chilly days
Warm apple cider

Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks
putting away my flip-flops
wearing sweaters
New Fall Season of Desperate Housewives
Movies: New Moon, Where the Wild Things Are and,

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
Cuddling on the couch with the kids
I just love this time of year!