OFF TO GET OUR TREE!

Well we are off to buy a real Christmas tree this year! Last year we did have an artificial one but when we stored it, mice got into it, or should I say they made the poor tree into their bedding. Yuck!

So we had to throw it out. Instead Stefan said we should just go ahead and purchase a real tree this year! Fun, Fun!
Then it's off to Dunkin Donuts for a sprinkled treat, but for me i have to resort to plain old black coffee. Yet, its the simple things like having fun traditions like this with the family that make it all worth it! :) You know for some reason it took me a while longer to get into the Christmas mood. God is kind to allow us these moments to really reflect on His goodness...I can so easily get stressed out with the planning/thinking that goes into the Christmas season. God in His kindness is reminding me of what He desires for us as a family for this season, and maybe not seasons to come, but this one. I am taking one Christmas at a time...:)

Our Little Girl Is Growing Up...

Today Kayla had a friend over to spend the night, actually I would say they are best friends. What a joy it has been to watch their friendship flourish! The Lord has been so kind to bless her with such a good friend. Today the girls had asked if they could go together to the movies...(without Mom)...hmmm.
What do I say to that? This was a "big girl" request, one that did not take me by surprise at all-but immediately flooded back memories of being almost 13 (a teenager) and the exciting opportunities that were at hand. Not at all concerned with the agenda of the day, which I guess there really wasn't one...that helped. Yet, I calmly said, "let me talk to Dad and see what he thinks." Once Stefan and I were able to chat about it-I asked him-immediately he thought it was a fine idea. He had some suggestions and laid out an excellent plan so that all involved would have fun either way!
It worked out great! Not only of course did Kayla's friend check with her parents-we all agreed it would be fine. What a fantastic time the girls had while the rest of us ate a nice lunch together (very near to the theater). Then we all went shopping just a tad in the music store nearby...so this helped us to kill some time while waiting for the girls to finish their movie.
Oh by the way...Kayla also asked "Dad can have some money?"
Oh yes, here it comes I thought!!
Though I was smiling quite big!
What a joy to watch our little girlie grow up!!



This is not a great picture of the two together but they are in the same photo...this photo was taken when they both planned together the girlfriends wedding reception...I must get a good picture of them together!

Thank Heaven For Little Girls...Thank Heaven They Are My Babies!

I took these pictures for the sake of a Gap add...where you can submit your child's picture and whoever wins gets a bunch of prizes and gets to be posted as one of Gaps little models...and no i have not submitted anything yet...
So here are some recent photos of my wonderful girls!

PLEASE be in prayer for Bill...BILL DEGENNARO

My cousin Bill, who is the same age as I, is currently in a coma. There is a HUGE prayer chain that has been formed thanks to Facebook. It has been amazing to see the prayers that have been offered to the heavens on behalf of my cousin. How we are praying for him to be healed miraculously. Below is a synopsis that my cousin Jim, Bill's brother has put together, so that people are informed of what happened.

Bill DeGennaro wasn't expected to make it home from the hospital when he was born back in '77. Of course the Docs who said that didn't quite realize the warrior spirit in the babe. Bill grew up in Adelphi, Md. He attended St. Mark's, High Point High School, and the University of Maryland. Within a week of 9/11/2001, Bill joined the US Navy with the goal of joining the elite SEAL teams. Failure was never an option. From 2002-2008, Bill was an operator in SEAL Team 3. Bill was released from active duty in 2008. Bill continued to work in Afghanistan as he truly believed in the mission there.

On 10/8/2009 in Bagram, Afghanistan while working on a detail that was training Afghanis to be self-sufficient, Bill DeGennaro was found choking on his own vomit from a stress induced seizure. He is now in a coma in the ICU at Lundstuhl Army Hospital, and will be transported to the DC area in the coming days. Bill's status is very much up in the air. His brain and lungs show substantial damage. However, a full recovery is quite possible with God’s grace.

This page is dedicated to Bill, his life and times, and to giving all his friends and family a place to share how we are storming heaven and earth with prayers and positive mojo with the same warrior tenacity that Bill will when his recovery is in his own hands. Feel free to share anything positive for or about Bill.

God Bless. I'll see all of you at the party we throw when Bill gets up and walks out of the hospital on his own power!

LOVE YOU BILL! In faith and MANY prayers!!

Are YOU still there??

My poor blog fans...My poor,poor fans...
how i am sorry i have not posted-i am guilty of neglecting my poor blog...if you are still a fan and still reading-thank you. How life seems to be taking me on a roll, not enough time to post (or so it seems). So many things going on not knowing what to post. I do have a few things, that i would like to post about. First being my cousin Bill who has been in a coma for the past week. Second is my trip to Charleston, SC. What a wonderful time I had with my Mom!! How I would love to go again! I will I am sure. Stefan wants to go with me next time!! Fun, fun!! I believe next year we are going to Georgia, Paula Dean's restaurant, what's the city-it has totally slipped my mind :). Can anyone remind me? Anyway...on with the posting.

Ava's First Day of School!!

Ava's first Day at School!! She loved it and did a great job...:)
(sniff, sniff)

Here is Nana peaking in to make sure Ava was OK!!

(I love this picture!!)
Thank you Mom for going with me!!

Pressing On...

We have enjoyed loved doing Classical. It has definitely been a new experience this year. Our Kayla Bay is in Challenge A which is 7^th grade. Her teacher is fantastic, very gracious; you really know she wants the best for all the kids. Her work load is A LOT and challenging for the both of us. Yet, it is stretching us to become more diligent in our school work and me with my days at home. Kayla is doing very well learning to adjust! The Lord is blessing us tremendously, allowing all of us to make friendships that are very encouraging and that point us to what is really important (Christ), and also how to balance Home-School with everyday life. It is so neat to be a part of a group of Moms who are walking along and experiencing the same things/feelings you are as a Home-School. This has been such an aid in teaching them Classical. No matter, what I know all the kids are really going to bear fruit this year, academically but more importantly spiritually, and good character. As I stated previously in my “Growing Pains” post-I am learning to balance what the Lord has called me to. One of those things being a Home-School Mom to various ages of children. There have been times lately where I have thought-can I really do this? At times I have wanted to just send them to school. For now/today…we believe that in this season God has called us to HS. This may change one day/maybe next year, maybe not ? We shall see.

God’s grace is there to help me through. The is Lord is at work in all of us.

We are learning not to fear academics, learning boldness, learning how not fear man, doing the best we can even if we have a bad week where we didn’t get all of our work done, learning how to be faithful at home-where its been easy for us to slack back over the past years of Home-schooling.

God knows the exact areas where we really need to be stretched! He is good!

As for the boys-I do have more of a handle on what they need to do because we did the same things last year.

Carson is doing well. Though he isn’t used to the intensity of the work he has to do in Grammar-that's OK. We are working on that together and his teacher is FANTASTIC! We LOVE her! She is so encouraging to him-she wrote him a letter encouraging him and Carson was so blessed by that. It made him feel soo much better!

As for Gavin-he is doing great too! He learns very well in a teacher taught kind of setting. He learns quickly which is great because for him, I can leave him to listen and participate in class and he is fine. So that is a help so I can work with the other kids. We also work together on presentations and grammar too.

We are grateful for this time spent as a family and looking forward to seeing what God has for us in the future!

We must Press on!