so part of the Catholic religion is the belief and reverence of saints. there are many. no really there are a lot. in fact there is pretty much a saint for anything you can think of. two of these saints have been called upon and prayed to for help. One REALLY answered the call, and the other... well not so much...YET!!!

the belief in St. Joseph, patron saint of homes, is that if you bury a statue of him, in your front yard while trying to sell your home, he will help it see faster. the key here is that you really have to believe in it. well, it absolutely is true. my sister did this and sold her house in one week. ONE WEEK people!!! with this housing market that is practically unheard of.



next we have St. Anthony, patron saint of lost things, or as my mother in love likes to call him "Don Cucofato" (i don't know where this comes from). Anyway, what we do, is when we have lost something and are in desperate search for it we pray to St. Anthony, and he typically finds it, or rather, helps us find it pretty quickly. Well... we are still looking, and waiting. Alex lost his keys, we think on Friday, and we can't find them anywhere. We think they are in the house, but can't find them anywhere. so our beloved Don Cucofato is tied up in a pretty red ribbon waiting to be released when our keys are found.

i think i need to pray to St. Pasqual, patron saint of cooks to help me figure out what to make for dinner tonight. any ideas???

Have a good evening.
*ciao*
deb

walking through Grand Central Station in NYC and suddenly seeing this...


those people who are just waiting for the end of the world would surely think the sky was about to fall next. too funny.

working on a project for Belle's class. her teacher is so creative and hard working. love her. anyway, she is having them write poetry and they are having a Coffee House Poetry reading next week. Can't wait!!! I'll post the poems and pics after it all happens. But for now, got to get back to the project.

Have a great evening.
*ciao*
deb

happy birthday to me, happy birthday to meeeeeeeee....... happy birthday... tooooooo.... meeeeeee!!!! we celebrated my 29th birthday for the 7th year in a row yesterday and we had such a great day. it was beautiful outside, no one was sick, we were all together, it just doesn't get any better.

so my day started off with hugs and kisses and tori asking what time the party was at... what party? "mom, hello, it's your birthday, so you have to have a party." oh, DUH???? apparently, anyone who has a birthday, automatically is also suppose to have a party in her eyes. sorry, tori, not this year. so we all got ready and went off to church, where we then proceeded to get squished. (OKAY, just one little COMPLAINT - don't you just hate it when you get to somewhere early, or on time, so that you can get a seat and not have to deal with a crowd, and then someone comes in at the last minute and is determined to sit in that 6 inch space that is left on the pew, therefore inconveniencing everyone else that is already sitting there and has been for at least 15 minutes already? well i do. i was totally annoyed by the woman who had to squeeze herself next to my husband. i swear every time we stood during mass alex and I literally had to stand sideways.)

now that that is off my chest, we then went to eat the yummiest, best tasting, Thai food in the metroplex. it is called Banana Leaf, and i know i have raved about it before, but seriously people, you haven't had Thai food till you have had it there... FA-BU-LOUS!!! we then went to see The Spiderwick Chronicles. Why? Well some guy on the news who was reviewing the movie claimed that it was a great family movie... WRONG!!! don't get me wrong, it was a good movie, and maybe it is a good family movie... if your family is one of teenagers. way too dark for my girls. i thought for sure that Tori would be freaked out, but at one point she tells me, "Mom, (sarcastic tone and right eyebrow raised) remember, I'm Supergirl. Supergirl doesn't get scared." alrighty then!!! after the movie we went to IKEA so that i could show my very handy husband what kind of desk i wanted... he is making me my desk for my birthday... I LOVE MY HUSBAND!!! by the time we were done there, everyone was hungry again. my husband insisted that we grab something else to eat because, "You're not suppose to cook on your birthday." I LOVE MY HUSBAND!!! so WhichWich it was... love that place. and that was my day. here is the best part, we get to do it all over again on Thursday cause my husband is taking the day off and we are going to the movies again, and to have a lobster dinner... did i happen to mention that I LOVE MY HUSBAND!!!

Thank you to everyone who called and for all the birthday wishes. Thank you also to my mom, my mom in love, my sister and her family, and my sisters in love and their families for my present. I can't wait to use it. There are some seriously awesome thing you can do with this. I think I am most looking forward to cutting vinyl saying out with this and working on some projects.

Okay, I am off to watch John and Kate plus 8. Have a great evening.

*ciao*
deb

so Alex and i were talking the other day about something he heard on the radio. the dj was talking about how doctors have found that a woman loses a lot of her memory after she has kids. i mentioned to him that i lost major brain cells with the birth of each of the girls. when we first got married i was sharp as a tack. i never forgot anything... not so much anymore. oh i still know lots of useless information, but its the day to day things that i forget. a list of to do items, literally needs to be written down or i will forget... sometimes i just forget the written list all together. and i find that i do the goofiest things sometimes. i will be washing the dishes and i will see a towel that needs to be put in the laundry so i walk to the laundry room to put it in the washing machine and remember there are towels in the dryer to be folded. i take the towels out and carry them to the den and begin to fold. i take the towels to the bathroom and find that the mirror needs to be cleaned, and proceed to clean the rest of the bathroom. when i'm done, i return to the kitchen to find the dishwasher open, the trashcan pulled out and dishes still in the sink. i get side tracked really easily and totally forget to finish what i first started. that is called LOSS OF BRAIN CELLS. lately i've been watching John and Kate plus 8, and i explained to alex that it makes me feel better because i know she has lost more brain cells than i have with 8 kids.

so i have finally continued the process of painting the kitchen cabinets, and i have to say they are looking FABULOUS!!! I can hardly wait to finish. I have been doing a section a day, and am almost done with all of the cabinets on the bottom part of the kitchen. I have to admit that i am not exactly looking forward to doing the top section and standing on a ladder in the kitchen, but you do what you gotta do. I will post pics when the transformation is complete.

now that the holidays are over, i am also in the process of planning our vacations this summer. this will be the first major family vacation we have taken since we have had the girls. my dad has been telling us for the last couple of years that we NEED to get down to visit them in Orlando. the major bonus is that he works for one of the Disney resorts and as an employee he can get us into all the theme parks for free. FOR FREE people!!! how awesome is that. so really all we have to worry about is plane tickets, which i am currently in search of. the girls are totally pumped about it all and tori keeps asking if she can sleep over at Cinderella's castle... ummmm? NO!!! apparently it is way, way, way expensive to do that. but we can visit. the cutest part is that every time we see a commercial for Disney World the girls both yell,"Look mama, that's where grandpa works, and we're going for free." Belle especially seems to have an obsession about the whole thing and is constantly asking,"Mom, so grandpa gets us in for free?" "Yes Belle". "For free?" "Yes Belle." i don't get it.

okay, i'm off to prepare lunches and backpacks for tomorrow. Night, night, don't let the bed bugs bite.

*ciao*
deb

so i got my new phone and i love it, love it, love it!!! it has so many cool features, and i have to admit that right now one of my favorites is the "bubble breaker" game that it came with. that is the best way to pass the time as i am waiting for the girls to get out of school. it is actually quite addicting really, so i have to be careful with that. speaking of addicting, am i the only one who has noticed how many people are checking themselves into rehab. i guess heath ledger scared the crap out of people and they are realizing they need some help.

anywhoo, i got some plastic baskets that i read about on this blog. i found them at walmart for about $4, and they fit perfectly into the square wire cubes that you can get at target. i have these in the craft room closet. i thought these would be perfect for stamps, idea magazines, ribbon, and an all around craft box for the girls. now all they have to do is pull out the craft box from the closet and all they need is right there. this has also given me the chance to throw out a lot of stuff that i just really don't use and don't need. i feel a spring cleaning (purging) in the works.

so we totally dodged a huge bullet this week. those awful storms that hit arkansas, tennessee, mississippi and alabama, actually started in our area. there was a pretty scary storm brewing tuesday afternoon when i went to pick up tori, and it looks like it was that storm that dropped the twisters in arkansas. i am totally not looking forward to the spring time here, since it looks like it may be pretty active. i think i may be asking for a weather radio for my birthday.

ah, my birthday... so since i refuse to go anywhere past 29, i will celebrate my 29th for the 7th year this year, and i totally am seeing some Banana Leaf in my future. just the thought of their spring rolls...mmmmmmmmm!!! so i am going to totally be milking my birthday month for the next few weeks. i'm hoping i can convince alex to take a tuesday or thursday off so that we can go to the movies while the girls are at school, and since it is MY BIRTHDAY MONTH... we will be seeing a chick flick which i normally only see on video or with my girlfriends. hmmmm, what will i choose...?

so tomorrow, we begin the continuing project of the kitchen cabinets. i am set and so excited. i just want to get it done. i am in the mood for a change. and my inspiration must be rubbing off because i have convinced my sister to paint her cabinets black too. i can't wait to see how those come out. i think i want one of those paint swatch thingies from the paint store. you know the ones that have all the different paint colors neatly put together. maybe it will inspire me to get a move on with the other rooms. i just have so much trouble choosing colors at the paint store when i can't picture the color up against my furniture. i may have to look into one of those things.

okay, i am off to give my belle a breathing treatment (she has asthma again... this darn weather), and then it is off to bed for them, and the new Survivor for me. woohoo!!!

*ciao*
deb

oh, almost forgot to congratulate my niece Ale... she scored 6 baskets during her game tonight. so proud of you Ale!!!