For the love of the game....

For the better part of this football season we have been watching games with our friends Daryl & Andre...we have Direct TV and the football package and we really wanted to make the most of it. Andre is off every Sunday and Daryl is off some. Thrown in the mix have been our weekly calls with Tom to discuss all the games for that weekend - and the occasional larger crowd on Sunday's.

Key info - Me & Joe - VIKINGS FANS - Andre - JETS Fan - Daryl - GIANTS Fan - Tom & Lisa - COWBOYS FANS.

We are all suited up each weekend.

This weekend was full throttle all out football for us...

Tom & Lisa live in Havelock but all week we have been receiving text messages from Tom about the Cowboys/Vikings Game.

Andre called a few days ago and said even though I would be out at a mother/son event with Joseph's school him and Daryl were coming to the house to watch the game with Joe and they would have dinner here for when Joseph and I got home.

The day started with the entire Marsicano Family suited up for church - Farve, Allen and Peterson Jersey's...then before Joseph and I even left the house the score was 7-3 Vikings and I had screamed myself into a headache!!!

I received text after text with score and play updates...I even received a "good game" text from Tom while I was out. Joseph and I made it home for the second half of the J E T S Game - I was thrilled to have some more screaming to do. (OK so I do have male like tendencies when watching football)

We are very excited that both the VIKINGS AND JETS are going to Championship Games next week and we will ALL be thrilled if one of them goes to the Superbowl.

Prep for next Sunday has already begun...

In the mean time here are a few shots of us during football season and the house when we prep for games.



Rashad and Peterson Jersey's hanging from the surround sound.

The blow up chair with speakers so the action is right in your ears.

The count down clock.

Big Alex gave us this candle and we didn't light it until just before the game this past Sunday.

Team Throw.

Andre & Daryl supporting their respective teams.

Sporting the 2 winning teams gear.

Team Marsicano...all about AD.

Remember these things about prayer...

Prayer is your highest appeal, not your last resort.

When we seek the Lord together, it multiplies our power.

Prayer is a conversation in the courts of a King.

Build your prayer on the solid foundation of God's Sovereignty.

Whatever you do, don't build your case based on what you think you deserve.

Build a case based on God's agenda, not your own.

Remind God of what He's done for others and what He's promised to do for you.

Don't always pray for God to make things better...pray for Him to make you BOLDER.

Expect God to move in response to your prayer.

If you are going to ask, be ready to act.

Dog Sitting for Toby

My brother Danny has no children, his pets are his children. Until about 6 months ago he had 3 dogs and 2 cats. 2 of the dogs have gone to Heaven, so he is down to one dog (Toby) and the 2 cats. I have been there with him when the dogs passed and it was heartbreaking.

Ever since we were LITTLE my brother has been a Dr. Doolittle of sorts. He loves animals and would spend hours training our dogs to do tricks or just playing with them. He once stood out in our yard with his finger in the air whistling for a parakeet that had gotten out of his cage and in turn out of the house - he was out there for hours just hoping he would fly home.

This Christmas my brother went to NY, he asked us if we would dog sit for Toby at our house. We normally take care of the dogs for him, but at his house. Since there is only one dog now he didn't want Toby to be home alone for such an extended period of time. We agreed to keep him and thought it would be a good way to teach Danielle and Joseph all the responsibility of having a pet.

Toby came on 12/23 - with a milk crate full of food, snacks, toys etc... as well as 2 nice dog beds. Sort of like someone dropping their very young child off for a weekend. We listened closely to all the instructions (there weren't many) and were all set to be the best dog sitters ever...

Toby is a young playful dog and we loved having him. HOWEVER being in my brother's care has certainly spoiled him, a few examples:

We had to carry him up and down the stairs in the house as well as the steps into the yard...apparently his paws were not used to our carpet or wood steps.

We tried oh at least 3 or 4 different plates, bowls etc... to get him to eat (my brother had forgotten his plates) He really didn't care for them and was not eating much. We even put his dry food right on our leather couch and he did eat from there - apparently his tongue is use to the finer things in life and my styrofoam plate was not cutting it. After 2 days my mom went to my brothers house and got the dogs plates (seemed like CHINA to me) so that he would eat!!!

He would take his dog treat from the kitchen into the dining room and rest in on the area rug in there - not sure if he wanted to be formal or if being on the rug was more comfortable for the little prince.

Each time my brother would call to check on Toby he would be hysterical laughing at how this little dog had us doing all these things for him.

It was actually a lot of fun to have the dog - the kids loved playing with him and he really was no trouble at all, high maintenance, but no trouble...


Mr. Toby in our family room on Christmas Eve


Toby on the couch on Christmas Morning


The fine china he prefers to eat from

Our Family Christmas

Knowing we would be hosting 28 people on Christmas Eve, Joe and I decided to plan for a quiet Christmas Day. It would be us, Danielle, Joseph and my mom. Joe's mom spent the night also but went home before lunch on Christmas Day to get ready for company she was expecting. So our kids woke up with both of their grandmothers to open their presents with - the first and most important gift.

Danielle just had her room redone and this was a lamp she got to match the room.

Joseph with a "big" football. And he was ready to go right outside and play.

Nerf dart tag!!! We all have a good time with this gift.

After opening gifts we all had a big breakfast together and then started opening and helping with any toys or games that needed batteries.

When Joe got back from taking his mom home we went to the movies to see the new Alvin and The Chipmunks. For me the first one was better but the kids thought it was cute.

Since it was just the 5 of us for dinner I was able to use my Christmas China and we ate in the dining room. We do use our dining room often but there are usually so many people that there is an adult table and a kids table so for Danielle and Joseph this was a BIG treat.

Here is a shot of my china. Joe's Uncle bought it for us years ago and we have service for 8. When he gave it to us he told us he wanted all of us to be able to think of him each time we set the table with these plates. (Both of my sister-in-laws got sets as well) And a few years back my mom expanded the set for us by getting us all of the serving platters and bowls.

Here is the table right before we sat down. We let the kids drink their soda from the wine glasses and they were so excited!!! Little Joe made a toast - Here is to the first time we are using all of this fancy stuff and eating in the dinning room!!!

The little things in life....we also decided that for Birthday's, Anniversaries and other special occasions we will make a point of using the dining room and the "good" plates.

It was a wonderful 2 days at our house and I hope it was at yours as well.






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Big Family Christmas

For both mine and Joe's family, Christmas Eve is the day/night to celebrate the Christmas Holiday. This year it was our turn to host the celebration. My brother and Matt went to NY but everyone else came - so in total we had 27 family members and then we got a very pleasant surprise when Alissa (Amber & Alex's sister) came to join us - so the final number was 28.

In the early stages I was thinking, wow, how are we going to do this...then I decided during the first week of December that I was going to have a great Christmas and I was not going to stress out and I focused on how blessed we are to have such large families - who love each other and can get together like this.

Everyone helped by cooking, baking, providing beverages etc... so the work load was not completely on us.

In my eyes it was a perfect night. We had all 15 of our nieces and nephews, our siblings, our moms and our 2 children all under one roof having a great time. The kids range in age from 3 to 17 and they all get along well and enjoy "hanging out" with each other. Same for the adults - only our age range is a little different...

Joe gave me my new camera before everyone came over...I certainly made the most of it. However, somehow there is no picture of me, Joe and the kids and while I managed to get the cousins by family I did not get one shot with all 17 kids. NEXT TIME!!!


We moved our living room furniture so we could all eat on the same side of the house and not be separated.

Steve, Regina, Christina, Kayla and Brianna (Joe's brother & family)

Jimmie, Maria, Taylor & Blake (Joe's sister & family)

Dan, Pattie, Devin, Isaiah, Mackenzie, Noah & Logan (My sister and her family)

Robert, Colleen, Taylor, Amber & Alex (My sister and her family)

All The Marsicano kids
Back row: Christina, Kayla, Taylor, Blake
Front row: Danielle, Joseph, Brianna

All The Corbett Kids
Back Row: Isaiah, Devin, Taylor
Middle Row: Mackenzie, Amber, Danielle, Joseph
Front Row: Noah, Alex and Logan


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Our family room "before"


All the kids during the gift exchange

I'm Back

I had not intended to take such a long break from blogging but I guess I got caught up in the Holiday's and we traveled to see friends for the New Year etc....


Well I am ready to get back at it and share with you the awesome Holiday Season we had.


Each day I will give a little story of what my favorite moments were with some photos to illustrate.


By the way, I received an AWESOME Christmas gift from Joe this year (even though we were not supposed to exchange gifts!!!) He got me a Nikon 3000 Camera!!! Those closest to me understand this is the best gift ever for me - I am never without my camera and I really do my best to capture our life and our families and friends lives on film.


The first story I would like to share with you is about my nephew Isaiah. Isaiah is 13 - he will be 14 on Easter Sunday. On Christmas Eve both sides of our families came to our house for a celebration!!! (28 people in total...a whole other post) Each kid received one gift from another kid in the family and adults did not have a gift exchange. Well Isaiah decided he would "make" gifts for the adults - he is very artistic and loves to draw, act, dance etc...


The shots show you the gift that Joe and I received from him - each couple got one and my mom and mother-in-law each got their own. I hope you see that the gift itself is not elaborate - but the time it must have taken him to make 7 of these is what I thought was heart warming.

He hand decorated this bag and added the ribbon and bow and stickers on his own...no two bags were alike.

In the bag was a Starbucks beverage, 2 packages of hot cocoa and 2 pieces of chocolate.

Our bag is safely tucked away in a memory box that I keep all the things our nieces and nephews made for us.

I hope he continues to realize that the dollar value of a gift is not important - it is the thought behind it.