January 2015 in Review

Kids started their "Aruba" Savings Jars

I had such a GREAT birthday with my favorite people! I was surprised at 5am with balloons on my bike at RPM! (Thanks Kim!)

Cutest gift was this fruit basket Sofia made for me. I LOVE them at this age when they like to take a bag or basket and create your gift from things around the house! These are my favorite gifts!

Photo bombed by big sis, I love to watch Fifi play. She will sit and pretend play for HOURS!!!

Another favorite bday gift was my first fireplace set after all these years!!! Thanks mom!!!

A peek at our day

Anna was working on drawing out advertisements for swim companies for fun!

We celebrated my love's birthday out to eat at Saltgrass, mom's treat and it was delish!!!!

Library with Homeschool Group. Sofia is really into writing and drawing lately, more than usual!

Excited fir their Spring Swimsuits!

My little scientist!

She created a clothesline for her babies' clothes, LOVE her creativity!

FAVORITE January moment caught by camera!

"My Boy"

Questions That Will Save Your Relationships

I read ALOT of stuff on Facebook, I mean ALOT! From all my "friends", the bloggers I follow, the homeschool pages I subscribe to, the fitness and "wellness" pages I follow and on and on and on!  Hey, it's my "Newspaper"!! LOL

Anyway, today I read an article that profoundly touched me and I want to practice daily at better communication so I'm sharing it on my blog for a quick resource!

Questions That Will Save Your Relationships

GREAT questions to ask DAILY, besides the mundane "How was your day?" question for sure! Just because I talk, ALOT, doesn't mean I am the best "communicator", it's an area I'm working on getting better at. 

Go check the post out here for better communicating with your spouse, children and friends.

I loved when she said, "Questions are like gifts -- it's the thought behind them that the receiver really FEELS."

Good Stuff!

Sofia:  "Mama, can I go ask Holland to come over and play?"

Me:  "No sweetie, her mommy just had a baby so let's give them some quiet time"


....silence.....I don't hear her in the house so I go outside to Chris and ask where she is....

Chris: "She told me that you said she can go ask Holland to play if Christopher walks down to her house with her."

WHAT???!!!!  I am in SUCH trouble with this little girl and my mom just sits and laughs while saying,

"She's her mother's daughter! Ha, just wait Gina!"

Lord, help me.

Happy Birthday My Love!

Happy Birthday to my Main Squeeze!  Today, we celebrate YOU! You are the glue that holds this family together! You are my best friend, the love of my life, my soul mate.

You are a loving, "good" son to your parents......a big brother that your younger brothers look up to......you are a thoughtful, giving, kind friend .....you lead and support the people you work with day after day .......but most of all, the special gift that makes me fall in love with you over and over again, is your gift of "fatherhood".  You are one a kind! Compassionate, supportive, loving, tender, funny, intuitive and generous beyond what I think a human being is capable of!  This family is beyond blessed to have you lead us!  We adore you Chris Auditore!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

You know ALL the right things to do and say to make me happy! (My birthday this year, thanks for the photo bomb Rebecca! LOL)

You are always looking for ways to have fun family times together!

You teach our girls SO much and show them exactly what they will look for in a man someday!

You are our son's role model.....he completely adores and looks up to you!

You bring the peace in this CRAZY life we live!!  I don't know what I would do without you!

Day 1 SUCCESS!

Yesterday was our first official day going gluten free! And yes, we are still alive! Breakfast was easy, new protein powder was great in the smoothie, lunch was fun and colorful and dinner was delish! Coffee has been slowly decreased over the last two weeks so my one cup in the morning was fine.....no headaches or afternoon crashes (thanks Yogi Perfect Energy tea!). Started the morning off with hot water and lemon and drank a few more during the chilly day too!

My challenge was snacks for the kids. They will eat all my fruit in one day if I don't get creative!!!! We are making a gluten free baked popcorn snack today and will work on chex mix as well because store bought gluten free stuff is EXPENSIVE!!!! Way out of my $125 weekly budget for sure!

The kids don't realize I'm doing dairy free with them too and a MAJOR sugar decrease as well!  We all need a reset sometimes, EVEN the kids!! Healthy Mind, body, and spirit......our goals for 2014!

Weekly Menu Plan 1/6/14

The Auditore family has accepted the Gluten/Dairy Free challenge!! Lots of inflammation between the asthma and excema.....we are SO ready!!!! My sister in law helped me get a plan together and we will be holding each other accountable.

I'll be adding in a detox tea for kidney/liver detox along with my daily green smoothies and green tea! I am ready to start 38 off with a bang!

2013 Family Photos

Pictures say it all!  I have what I've always dreamed of "A Family", one that's all mine!  They may drive me batty at times, but I wouldn't change a thing about any of them!!! HUGE thanks to my Sister-in-law Ruth, over at Bella Angelo Photography for these beautiful shots!

13 *almost* PERFECT Years!

13 years of marriage.....longer than either of our parents made it, that alone is success!  Chris and I both come from broken homes, heartache and painful childhood memories, BUT we are making our *own* story, moment by moment, forgiving during the tough seasons, growing TOGETHER as ONE, and celebrating each year that passes by (often way too quickly!).

Life is busy, kids grow too fast, time FLIES, and while we do the best we can to be still in the moments, appreciate them while we can, marriage is still HARD.  It is a sacrifice, it is learning to love SELFLESSLY and GIVE without expecting anything in return.  We vowed 13 years ago to honor and cherish each other through it ALL and today I am every so grateful that in spite of the breakdowns, the temper tantrums, the frustrating/emotional moments (I'm talking about myself and not the kids, LOL), he is still here, loving and supporting me, NEVER walking away.  I thank God for him!!! 14 years ago Chris came into my life like a true night in shining armor and rescued me, no doubt. 

Today, I celebrate the love of my life.  He truly is my better half.  The LOVE given to me has QUADRUPLED since I met him over 14 years ago!  I never imagined the love I felt that was given to me would be x4 13 years later! We have a beautiful family together and while life is HARD, this family we made keeps me joy filled!

Thank you for the life you've given me Chris!!!!!

Happy Anniversary my Love!!!!

My DREAM come true!

We celebrated thanks to my sister in law and brother in law watching the kids on Saturday, and Chris's Marriott points!!!!  We went to what was THE most GORGEOUS resort we've been to so far (well, besides our honeymoon!) J.W. Marriott in San Antonio!  Dinner, coffee, snacks, a relaxing go around the lazy river over and over WITHOUT kids!!!!  I even snuck in a nap by the pool!!! The gorgeous weather held out for us, cold front came in that evening while we were having coffee!  It was PERFECT!!!!!!!!

I'm looking forward to MANY more anniversaries and am excited at the possibilities our future holds!!

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

WOW!!!!!!  I just realized I have been blogging for 6 YEARS now, off and on of course!  I was looking through some old posts and am sad that the other blog I had hosted is gone....bye, bye! :o(  Boo!  RunGinaRun.com was dropped and I can't find it any longer. It makes me so sad because I had lots of photos and "life" written there since Fifi was born.  Lesson learned.  Do what I need to do MYSELF. Grrrr...


Anyway, I went back and read my very first post written August 12, 2007 and am just BLOWN away at how much my life has changed in only 6 years!!

I went from a "Non-Believer" to a woman with a heart for God, His message, His "way".

I went from a mom of 1 plus an infant to a mom of 3!

I went from a lonely girl living in a strange, VERY foreign place to a woman with lots of people surrounding me, living in a little town I call home.

I went from living in a small apartment to buying our first very small home to now renting that home out and renting a very large home, capacity full!

Over the 6 years my sister moved here with us and my mother followed not too long after as well.

I learned how to put my servant's heart to work out in the community around us.

I learned all about church politics and many, many, many, many lessons from it all. (remember, I was never a church goer!)

I've done all sorts of crafty things to bring in extra money from birthday invitations on little magnets to sewing!

I've witnessed all three of my babies go from itty bitty to beautiful "little people" in what seems like a FLASH! (How are they 10,7 and 4??!!!!)

I became a runner, a triathlete and a marathoner and have the medals to prove it! LOL  (I sometimes don't believe I even did any of it!  Haven't done more than 4 miles in forever!!!)

I developed a green thumb, while a little brown this season, LOL, and enjoyed many fruits of my labor over the past 3 seasons!

I guess what I'm getting at, is that at 37 years old, I've truly started to come into my own, especially the past year when I decided to just BE STILL.

What other reason could there be that I became a HOMESCHOOLING MOM!!!  It *must* be just me, figuring out "ME", taking a deep breath, being brave for just a minute to make the decision and jumping right in!

I am in my element.

The desires of my heart, fullfilled......even when I want to pull my hair out, I am JOY FILLED!

There is SUCH a difference between happiness and JOY.  I've always been a "happy" person, the "glass is half full girl", but being "joyful", well that is something so very different.

As I pull my school stuff together for the year and enjoy the last week of summer with my babies, family and friends, I'm FULL of JOY!

Adrianna's First Track Practice

"Now that I am a great runner, I can ride at least 6 miles without being tired and Daddy can train me to swim, I can totally do a triathlon and even a marathon" 

- Adrianna 10yrs old (right after her first track practice today)

Hurdles!

Anna and Lulu

Little Rockstar Runners!

My baby girl has watched me running for the past few years and has always encouraged me, shown interest in an active lifestyle, but has been intimidated with it all, especially with having asthma.  I signed her up for Summer Track last year and after the first practice, we left with her crying because she was out of breath and thought she just couldn't "do it".  I didn't push her and set it aside.  Today, while my friend Martha was over, Adrianna went over to her (she is the fastest woman I know, a true *runner* goddess!) and asked if she could go with her and her daughter Lulu to their next practice which happened to be tonight.

These were some pics from her first practice. She came home PUMPED up and FULL of confidence and excitement in what she achieved tonight!  This meant SO much to me.  I am so so SO very proud of my girl!!    I can't wait to run with her!  Soon enough, she will only ask me to run with her on HER recovery days...LOL!

"Mom, I can't wait for Ms. Martha to pick me up. I am going to do great!"

It all started with the Cabbage Patch Kid

I was thrifting with two girlfriends last week and I came across a Cabbage Patch Kid from the 80's.

I had one just like the one above!  My mom will always remind me of the hell she went through getting me one of these (even though I wanted a bald newborn one!) and it makes me laugh all the time the things we do to see a smile on our kids' faces!

Anyway, it got me thinking about motherhood......yes I played "mommy" with my babies just like any other kid. But being a "Mommy" wasn't exactly what I wanted to "Be" when I grew up.  I knew pretty early on I wanted to be a leader.  I wanted to be in charge. I wanted to take care of sick people, which led to some of my early writing assignments "What do you want to be when you grow up?".  There were various things but they were all pretty similiar except for the "astronaut thing" that lasted a minute.  I wanted to be a doctor, find a cure for AIDS, join the Peace Corps......tried to join the army, took ASVAB and everything but medical issues kept me from being able to go and not having the support of my dad and stepmom at the time really put a kink on plans and those years of my life destroyed my self esteem as a teen.

I took that cabbage patch kid that I played "mommy" to and cut her open, yes, and mom about killed me!  Stay with me here, I'm not crazy.  I cut her open to put play dough organs inside her, LOL!  She always had homemade bandages and bandaids on her.  This is when I was 6 or 7...I wanted to be a surgeon, take care of people.

Little did I know that my entire life, I DID want to be a mom.  When I met my hubby, I was 22, struggling to put myself in nursing school and work full time.  I gave up on the dreams of being a doctor and figured if I was a nurse first I could work on furthering my education later.  Deep down what I wanted MOST was a family. I wanted to LOVE and be LOVED so deeply, so completely.  I found that when I met Chris and soon realized that it wasn't the "career" I necessarily wanted, it was a family.

Fast forward 15 years and 3 babies, looking at that cabbage patch kid in the thrift shop made me realize I was LIVING MY DREAM.  I am the CEO of my home. I support my husband while he works so hard to provide for us all, including my mom that lives with us.  I take care of the finances (working on doing a better job at that!), I keep the household clean and running as smooth as possible considering, I educate my children completely now, I ensure their safety, well being, and give them the best memories and childhood experience I possibly can.

THIS IS WHAT I DO.
THIS IS WHAT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED.

I don't have as much time in this season for all the "other stuff" that I so love as well and have come to terms of accepting that I can't do it ALL. I can say for the first time, while I've said it in the past I didn't "really" believe it, but now I can say....I'm OKAY WITH THAT!

I've had to walk away from some stuff and some people, but I know that it's what had to be done for my family, for ME.

I am the leader I wanted to be when I was a little girl.  I lead my family, with the most supportive, loving and giving husband a woman could have.  He leads in the areas he needs to and I pick up where I need to.  Like my friend Kim says, he IS the Ying to my Yang. He is my soul mate.  I can't imagine what life would look like had I not met him.

I don't remember much of my childhood AT ALL, but am able to re-experience childhood every moment, every day with my three and THANK GOD for the opportunity to be their mommy, their teacher, their confidant, their biggest fan!

Who would have thought a beat up doll in the thrift shop would be THAT MOMENT for me? :o)

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY ADRIANNA!

My heart aches when I realize my first born baby girl is officially entering "Double Digits" today!

How is it possible???!!!! She isn't a "baby" anymore! Having the opportunity to homeschool her this year is allowing me to spend all day with her and watch her in admiration and adoration at the little lady she is becoming. She's smart, sensitive, creative, gentle, caring, helpful, responsible, resourceful, so loving and still my cuddlebug! She is beautiful INSIDE and OUT!
God sure knew what he was doing when he sent me this little angel. I'm learning so much from being her mom!

 Happy 10th Birthday my sweet girl!!! I love you so much and am so proud of all for who you are and all you do!

Fall Festival Fun

Sofia and I met up with some moms yesterday from a Hutto Mom's Group and had a blast!  This was my first time meeting most of the moms though we comment on each others stuff on Facebook all the time we had yet to meet in person, LOL!  Sofia was the oldest in this group today since most of them were around 2 so that was definitely weird for me.  I'm so used to her being the "baby" not the big girl!!

Something really cool happened for me yesterday.  I was completely affirmed in my "people loving", if that makes sense.  I have been hurt alot over the past few months but yesterday gave me hope and reminded me that I "DO" make friends easily, I'm relaxed and in my element when it comes to meeting people and being social and so were those other moms too! It was awesome!

Facebook can be great for meeting and getting to know people, especially moms since we don't have the opportunity in a group setting with toddlers to TRULY have a conversation! Ha!  BUT it can also "show" a life that isn't completely what it "IS" for real.  I heard the phrase "Super Mom" and was told how great I do this or that so you know I had to correct that on the spot.  I LOVE TO CRAFT, am always on the go, and love to have fun with my kids, yes. BUT, I"m also way hyper and have problems sitting still! The thing that I explained they don't see is what I DON'T post. Locking myself in the bathroom away from screaming kids to have a "mommy time out" and wash my face for a couple minutes so I don't lose my shit on them!  Taking an impromptu nap because I JUST. CAN'T. DO. ANYMORE.  My kids yelling and fighting and me sending them up to their rooms stomping and screaming....my foul language....yeah the REAL stuff that people don't see but we all go through it at some level.....WE ARE MOMS and have CHILDREN.  It's reality.  My hope is with my transparency and "what you see is what you get" way I am will benefit others!

Anyway, spending the morning with new friends and Fifi then a Halloween potluck with a few of my "old" friends, LOL.....turned out to be a great day!

Peaceful.

My life right now feels peaceful.

Thank God!

My and my Baby Girl!!! Meow!

Yes, my big kids had to be "scary"...LOL  Vampire, Zombie Cheerleader and Kitty!

8 Beautiful Years....

My BEAUTIFUL 8 year old baby girl!!!


Where does the time go??!!
It seemed like she was JUST born!


I've been trying to get blogging but just have NOT had the time to this week and that's okay. What I did have time for was an amazing birthday party on Saturday that Adrianna simply LOVED along with her special birthday breakfast (thanks Erika for the plate we will cherish forever and for all our birthdays!), mommy, daddy and Sofia eating lunch at school with her, cupcakes at school, her special birthday dinner and an Ice Cream Sundae bar for her birthday dessert! It was all just perfect! (pics to come!)

This birthday was a very important one for me. My whole world seemed to come tumbling down when I was her age since that's when my parents split up and although I don't remember much from my childhood I "do" remember how deeply I felt during her age. It's so important, not only on birthdays of course, but it's so important to make our babies feel like they are SO SPECIAL, SO IMPORTANT, SO LOVED. I live for my family. I will do everything and anything I can for them to love, support, encourage and CELEBRATE them!

Sure, I sometimes go overboard with the parties but until one of them tells me "Enough is enough Mom, I don't like this stuff" I will continue on. Adrianna for one LOVES parties, planning them, fascilitating them, EVERYTHING....ahhh she's my little mini me in so many ways!!! :o)

This entire past week we've celbrated our sweet little Adrianna!
My first born child.

The gentle, patient and EASY baby that helped me figure out how to be a "Mommy". My precious little angel that ALWAYS slept with me, between Chris and I, holding on to my ear lobe and later on searching in her sleep with her tiny little hand for a "cold spot" on our body to touch (and STILL DOES!).

She is smart.
She is sensitive.
She is loving.
She is caring.
She is a natural "Mommy".
She is considerate.
She is responsible.
She is imaginative.
She is always concerned for others.

She has loved dressing up since she was first able to.

She LOVES sweets.

She is a pasta and bread girl for sure.

She loves to laugh.
I love to hear her laugh.
It's contagious.
It's unique.

I treasure our quiet conversations, just her and I.

I love to dream with her.

I adore her.

I will fight for her.
I will protect her.
I will nurture her.
I will ALWAYS make her feel like she is THE BEST!

Thank you God for giving me my sweet Adrianna. She is the first of 3 very special gifts I absolutely treasure!!

I truly am blessed.