Moving on!

January is almost over and I have been so blessed already this year that I know GOD has great plans for our family this year. I am putting 2008 in the past, all the money problems, health issues and the very painful realization that there are people that we love and care about that just pretend to be our friends but really want nothing to do with us.

While all these things have been painful and a struggle to get through, I am reminded everyday that God is here and very present in my life. He has allowed us to move to a new place where I have an amazing job, my children are the happiest I have ever seen them and my husband is loving life. I am so proud of him and know that God smiles bigtime at what he is doing in his life and the life of others. God has given him the opportunity to teach,coach and witness to teenagers everyday. He leads the FCA at school and the kids love him. Recently the whole school was asked to pick one staff member who has made a positive impact on their life and explain why. While I had a handfull, my husband was in the top 3 of staff members to get the most letters. The most amazing thing was that almost all the kids mentioned that "Coach Sly cares about us and is not afraid to show his faith, he is a Godly man"! Wow, how did I get so lucky?

God has gotten us through so much and I know he is not done working in our lifes yet! We have made wonderful friends here, found an amazing church and while we still haven't sold our house in Florida and have some other issues that we are struggling with, we know GOD is here. My friend Heather has a blog and named it Moving Forward, I won't copy her but that is what the "Sly family" is doing. We are not looking back, we are pressing on toward the goal which God has for us!

I hope you all have a great week!! And before I close I have one more thing to say...

GO STEELERS!!!!!

Down Time

I finally have time to write to you all again, sad to say because I am stuck in bed for a week. After watching a cyst on my ovary they decided that it was "abnormal" and thought it would be best if they just took everything out... So, I was gutted!! I had a total hysterectomy on Wednesday, came home from the hospital on Thursday and have been in bed ever since.. They say it will take a couple weeks to get totally back on my feet but praying all goes well I plan on returning to work next week sometime. So, since I had some downtime I figured I would catch up on my blogging.

Everyone here is doing great. Vinny finished his football season 6-1 and he played really well. The Varsity team finished 8-2 which is amazing for a first year varsity program. Gary was very pleased with the way the teams ended up. Dominique just finished her winter season of soccer and will play a tournament in December before her indoor season starts. Vincent went to his first homecoming and had a great time. Of course I can't believe he is in high school and dating....

Mom was hoping to head back to Florida before the cool weather came in but decided to suck it up and stay here till I am back on my feet. Danielle will be heading up here for Thanksgiving and will be able to spend a week with us. I can't wait to see her and have her do my hair! She is now officially unengaged and is very happy and enjoying her life. Nick is going to try and make it here for Christmas but is loving being back in the states and goes back to South Florida for weekend visits alot.

We still have not sold the house in Florida but are confident that God has a plan. Of course we just wish he would get on with it in our time!

We are busy preparing for Turkey Bowl 2 and will send pictures and updates after Thanksgiving... I hope you all have a great holiday, we all have so much to be Thankful for.

Its been a long time!

Wow, I just realized that it has been 4 months since I have updated you all on the Sly family! Where to begin... Well, we still haven't sold our house in Florida yet but we are still faithful that God will bring someone to buy it soon! This summer turned out to be a little crazy for me. I had my FINAL breast reconstruction surgery in July and while still recovering my friend came to get me out of the house and drive me to watch our girls at soccer when a lady decided to run a red light and hit us at 60mph! God was watching over us and we thank HIM that we are alive today! Of course I gave the paramedics and fireman a good laugh. As soon as they arrived and got to my side of the vehicle (I couldn't move to get out) all I could think to ask them was if my boobs fell out!! Of course they all looked at me like I was crazy but Gary was right there (he and Vinny had been behind us in our car on their way to football practice) to tell them about my recent surgery from breast cancer.. Then they laughed and told me to rest assured they were still there and hadn't fallen out!! They put my friend and I in the same ambulance and that was some ride, I don't think the paramedics will ever be the same!! Of course I couldn't stop there, last week I fell off a curb in front of 250 juniors and seniors on the way to a field trip and broke my ankle!!! Other than that I am doing wonderful!

The kids are back in school and back to their routine. Vinny is in high school now and loving it. He is playing safety for the freshman football team and doing great. Dominique is still playing soccer and in the 7th grade. Of course she thinks she should just skip middle school and come to High School. She turned "13" yesterday and we had a little get together for her over the weekend. Do you think she had alot of her girlfriends over, oh no, my house was full of the high school football players!! Good thing her dad is the coach and they are all very afraid of him!!!
Gary is doing awesome, his classes were the first ones to fill up and all the kids rave about him. This is West Forsyth's first year with a Varsity football team and we are 5-0!! Mom has been here for a few months but the weather is starting to turn a little cooler so I have a feeling she will be heading to Florida soon!! Nick is now stationed in Tampa and glad to be back in the States. He was just up for a long weekend and it was awesome to get to spend time with him. Danielle is doing great and just got engaged!!! Her and Jesse are planning a 2010 wedding and we are very excited for them!

We miss all our friends and family in Florida and are waiting for you all to visit. I have to tell you that while I miss you all, I know we have truly found our home here! We have met the most incredible people who have blessed us in so many ways. This is truly God's country and we are so thankful that we are here!!

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!

Well we all made it through our first year of school here in Georgia! Vincent will be heading to West next year for his first year of high school and Dominique will be left by herself in middle school! This year flew, I can't believe that it is over. Of course we still haven't sold the house in Florida yet but we are confident that God has a plan and it will sell soon!! Danielle was up a few weeks ago and had the opportunity to participate in Gary's FCA Dodgeball Tournament! It was a blast, of course the Sylvestri kids really got into the spirit and made shirts, blacked out their eyes and went ready to dodge,dip,dive,duck and dodge!!! Danielle went back to Florida (we are still hoping that she moves up here soon) and just last week we were able to pick Nick up at the airport!! We haven't seen him in 15 months while he has been serving our country in the Air Force over in Turkey! Of course I almost got arrested at the airport for running through the "secured area". But who can blame a mom who hasn't seen her son in that long???? My sister was in Hotlanta for her new position at work and got to come spend the weekend with us! Nick is here with us for 10 days and then he will go to South Florida for a week or two and report to his new base in Tampa! Summer is here and we are ready for football, soccer, sun and fun!!

If any of you get up this way this summer, give us a call!!

Warm Weather Again

Finally the cold weather is gone...I think. We survived our first real winter because winter for us was usually 50 degrees. We saw snow, ice, sleet, hail, had to go to the basement twice for tornado warnings and we are in a drought! I thought hurricanes were bad!

To catch everyone up, we still have not sold our house in Florida but are hopefully that it will happen soon. Gary's parents came up to visit and we had a great time with them. My mom is back up here now that the weather has warmed up and she will stay till June then head to Ohio and then back here for football season! Vinny is growing like a weed, 5'10 150lbs and has started working out with the high school football team. Dominique is kicking butt in soccer, we were just at a tournament in TN and they made it to the semi-finals. Nick comes home from Turkey next month and Danielle is actually flying up for a visit tomorrow! Soccer is in full swing and Spring football starts soon.

We miss everyone back home in South FLA but we do love it up here and have made some great friends. If any of you make it up this way, come visit....

Girls Gone Wild!

I can't remember any time before that Dominique and I have been alone without the rest of the family! Gary and Vinny are out in Oklahoma with my brother Mike and his family for the Jim Thorpe Awards Banquet. For those of you who don't know about that award, it is given out to the best defensive back college football player. My brother happens to be the Director of the Committee and invited Gary and Vinny to go out and be a part of it with him. So that leaves Dominique and I home alone together for the very first time just the two of us. We dropped the boys off at the airport on Sunday and then headed back to Cumming for Dominique's soccer game, which of course they won!! Coach Hepler, Heidi and Frankie came by the game to cheer her on! Our good friends invited over to their house for dinner after the game and then we came home to a very quiet, large and dark house! Of course Dominique slept with me and we tried to stay awake to watch the Grammys but passed out I think as soon as our head hit the pillow. We got up yesterday and went to school and work. After work we went to dinner at a place called Cinco's (great mexican) and then returned the cheering and went and watched Frankie play soccer against North Forsyth. Frankie's team (West Forsyth) beat North 1-0. We came home and again had all intentions of playing DDR, laying in bed, snacking and watching TV and I think we were both asleep within 10 mintues. Tonight Dominique has soccer practice and then we will grab a bite to eat and hopefully be able to stay awake to at least see the rerun of General Hospital on Soapnet! Gary and Vinny come back tomorrow so I guess we will have to settle down a little!! Even though we haven't had the Party Time we thought we would, it has been so nice to get some girl time with my baby! She is growing up way too fast!!

SNOW DAY!

Its Thursday at 1:00 and we are HOME from school and work! Today was our first official "snow day"! Yesterday afternoon about 4:00 we started seeing little snow flurries while we were driving home from school. We got home and within the hour it was really coming down. The funny part was you would have thought there was a Hurricane coming! We ended up with 1.5 inches but when you turned on the TV the newscasters where all over the metro Atlanta area talking about the snow and there were "closings" running across the bottom of the TV screen. I thought "this is it, we moved from Florida to get away from hurricanes and now there must be a blizzard coming"! They closed all the schools in the county for today all of 1.5 inches!

It was awesome though, the kids, Gary and I all went out and had a snow ball fight, made snow angels, we even did hamburgs and hot dogs outside on the grill in the snow!!! I think our neighbors thought we were nuts but we had fun. The kids were so excited because this was their first time seeing snow (we had a few flurries on New Years Day but nothing that stuck) and being able to play in it.

Enjoy some of the pics!

Love and miss you all!

Happy Holidays

Sorry that I haven't updated my blog in awhile, things have been kinda crazy! Gary's grandma, after 90 great years went home to Jesus! We packed up the car and headed back to Florida for her "celebration". It was a sad reason that we made the trip but Mema had her way of getting the family together around the holidays! It was great to see everyone and spend time family!

We headed back to Georgia and tried to carry on Mema's (and Grandma Sylvestri's) Christmas Eve tradition. I even bought a pizzelle maker and attempted to make Mema's cookies. Dominique and I followed Mema's receipe and I think that they came out pretty good! We had some close friends come over Christmas Eve and had the Italian Christmas dinner, Chicken Parm, Sausage & Peppers, Baked Ziti, Ziti with Broccoli, garlic and oil, artichoke hearts, caprese, fresh bread, etc.... I even made Aunt Donna's famous chocolate truffle for dessert!

Christmas Day was a little weird without Danielle, Nicholas and Grandma James with us in the morning. It was though the first really cold Christmas that I can remember in a long time, it actually felt like Christmas. We did Christmas morning with just the 4 of us and then headed over to our good friends Tammy and Damir's for Christmas dinner. They had a typical "California" Christmas dinner, grilled asparagus wrapped in bacon, TriTip (a select cut of meat that is very popular in California but hard to find anywhere else), baked potato's and salad! We missed all of our family very much but are very grateful to have meet such great friends!

I hope that you Christmas was wonderful and I hope that you all have a Great New Year!

TGIF - I MISS MY GIRLS

I am so glad that this week is over! I woke up Monday with a sore throat and feeling achy, Dominique wasn't feeling well and it Vinny's allergies were acting up! Ended up at the Doctor with Dominique who turned out to have a sinus infection, so we started medicating her to get her better. I let her and Vinny play hooky today and stay home to be spoiled by Grandma! I wanted to stay home and be spoiled to but of course that didn't happen!

Of course they stayed home from school today but tonight we are going to the school to watch Gary coach the wrestling match and then we are going to Sal's for pizza. Thank goodness we found an authentic Italian, making real pizza in Cumming, Ga. Dominique has her last soccer tournament this weekend so I will make sure she gets to bed at a decent time tonight, takes her medicine and has alot of vitamin C so she can "suck it up" and finish her soccer season strong!

We are slowly trying to get the house decorated for Christmas. Its bittersweet, I love the change of season here and the cold really makes it feel like the holidays but I miss all of my buds in sunny south florida! I was looking at pics from our night out before I left and wished that we could all go do it again! I hope to get down there to visit with everyone soon!

Well better to get wrestling! I hope you all have a great weekend!

I'm Stuffed!

What a great Thanksgiving Day we had! Aside from the fact that we miss all of our family and friends back in South Florida, our first official Thanksgiving in Georgia was a great time! We got up this morning and headed to the football field to play our 1st Annual Turkey Bowl. Of course we haven't had rain here in months, we are in the biggest drought ever, they say we only have like 80 days of water left and wouldn't you know it poured all night long and was still raining this morning when we woke up!! Thankfully the rain stopped before we started our football game. The game was played and no one was injured, well not enough to were we had to go to the ER. After the football game we all went our separate ways to clean up and then all of us headed over and met up at Coach Hepler's house. We roasted a turkey, fried a turkey, had ham and all the southern fixins! I am so full I am about to burst!

We have so much to be thankful for this year, God has truly blessed us with a great place to live and work and a wonderful group of new friends. We miss you all that aren't with us very much and hope that we will get to see you soon!

First Annual Turkey Bowl

'Twas the night before the Turkey Bowl and all through the south
the referees weren't stirring - too busy stuffing their mouth.
Their flags were hung in their lockers with care,
In hopes that a bonus check soon would be there.

The fans were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of replays danced in their heads.
But way up in Cumming old football players were strapping on pads,
with the hope of reliving the dreams they once had.

When out in the locker room there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter.
Away past the training room I flew like a flash,
and ran past a man requesting Turkey Bowl tickets with cash.

The bright moon shown on the newly mown field
And in the middle was that intimidating West Shield.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
but and eager lot of football players with very little fear.
And a little old QB so agile and strong,
I knew in a moment it must be Coach Tjong.

More rapid than Bulldogs in red and black they came,
He whistled and shouted and called them by name.
Now Frankie! Now Coral! Now Josh, Robert and Coach Frank!
On Vinny! On Dom! On Dalton, Elizabeth and Hank!

Run faster Cole, Caroline, Josh, Jason, Kyle and Dan!
Jump higher Hannah, Adam and Addison! said Stan.

To the top of the bleachers they ran to get psyched,
Eagerly anticipating the first Turkey Bowl hike.
Like the TD passes the West Wolverines let fly,
This group's QBs planned to command all the sky.

So down to the field the whole wild group flew,
with a ton of bravado and a trick play or two.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the track
the prancing and stomping of their Under Armor, click clack.

As I closed up my mouth and was turning around,
Down from the press box came Gary with a bound.
He was dressed in Steeler colors all gold and black,
and Alisha followed, saying "Me and Hines got your back!"

Behind him was Heidi with a star on her chest,
She dressed like the Cowboys, who she thinks is the best!
Matt and Meredeth they followed all ready for the game,
Bringing with them big hopes for a shot at Turkey Bowl fame.

Soon after that came our cheerleader, Tricia, her hair in a bow,
Followed by Jennifer with her two kids in tow.
Paige came next, bubble gum in her mouth,
wearing a jersey she got from Hannah's big game at South.

John and Juli were all ready to plan and scheme,
Hoping to claim a victory for their Turkey Bowl team.
Last to pull in were Ken and Becky from that state to our west,
where their hopes for a #1 Bama ranked team just won't let them rest.

A wink of my eye and a twist of my head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
My team was all ready - eleven brave, strong and sleek.
The others were no match - wimpy, tiny and weak.

I sprang to my huddle, to my team gave a play's name
and away they all flew to start this first Turkey Bowl Game!

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! I will take lots of pictures of our game to share with all of you. We miss everyone so much and can't wait till we can be together again!

Soccer South Carolina Style

We had a great weekend in Greenville, South Carolina. Dominique played in the CESA Tournament there and we took the two hour drive over on Friday night. It was a busy soccer weekend, but was a mini reunion of sorts! Mom was with us and Auntie, Uncle Don and Chris drove over to spend the weekend as well. Dominique came away with no injuries and a good time was had by all!! Enjoy some of the pictures...

Its a God Thing!

Before we left Florida, Gary was on the board of FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and worked with a girl named Jeanine Davis. When we got the job in Georgia, Gary went to the FCA board and told them that we were moving and thanked Jeanine for everything she had done and told her that he was going to head up FCA at West Forsyth High School. Once here in Georgia, Gary met with Davey Bales who is the Area Director for FCA in northeast Atlanta. Davey is a great guy who has helped us get rolling at West and has been there for us whenever we need him. Last week Gary got a phone call from Davey asking him if he knew a Jeanine Davis. Gary kinda laughed and said "know her, we worked together in South Florida, why?" Davey told Gary that he had posted a job on the FCA website for a female director in our area and Jeanine had answered the ad. While Davey was talking with Jeanine she asked him if he by any chance knew Gary Sylvestri that she knew he had moved to Georgia but not quite sure where. Davey said "are you kidding, he and I have been working together at the new high school". Long story short, Jeanine, her husband Josh and their beautiful baby girl Gracie came up this past weekend to take a look around the area, they came over our house last night and Jeanine had her interview with Davey this morning. Davey brought Jeanine over to the school so she could check it out and of course when he brought her into my office I asked him if he offered her the job yet!!! I think she is in...
Last night we sat around talking about how God always has a plan and it amazing to see what God has in store for all of us. I will keep you all posted but I really think we will have another Florida family up here with us very soon!

What a Season!

Well it is about 35 degrees outside and my fingers are almost frozen but I couldn't wait to thaw out before I told you all how the game against East Jackson ended up! Of course it was our last game of the season and we had been spoiled all year with all home games except for this one. Can I just tell you we headed out to the game at 4:35pm and got there right before kickoff at 7:30pm talk about an away game! We were way out in the middle of no where but you would never know it by the amount of fans we had on our side of the field! OK, the score Wolverines 40 - East Jackson 21!!! That ended our first ever football season at West Forsyth and what a great first season it was. We ended up 9-1 when everyone thought that we would probably go 1-9 the first year! The kids up here are great and it was so nice to be back together with all the Florida coaches at the same school! Gary also is in charge of FCA at our school and has an average of 150 kids at every meeting. We hosted the national FCA "Fields of Faith" and had over 350 kids come and at the end of the night 31 came forward and accepted Christ! It was awesome!

Vincent's middle school football team "Vickery Vipers" finished their season undefeated and won the county championship! Overall a great first football season for the whole family here in Forsyth County! I am sad that football season here has come to an end but was ready to have my husband back for awhile......unfortunately the wrestling schedule just came out and they start practice on Monday... yep that's right Coach Sly is coaching wrestling as well!!!! GO WOLVERINES!!!!

Lets Do It!!

Sounds like a nike comercial but that is what our life has been like for the past year. We left everything we know in Florida and moved to Georgia to start all over again. I am trying hard to keep in touch with everyone but it is very difficult, especially when cell service isn't that great here! So, I figured what the heck, everyone else is blogging why not DO IT! I figure I this might be the only way to communicate while sitting in jail if HRS ( they call it DEFACS here in Georgia) comes to get me. You all know the favorite saying in our house when it comes to thinking you are hurt right, "suck it up"! After weeks of complaining that her toe hurt and Gary and I telling her to "suck it up" she took her sock off after a soccer game and her big toe looked groser than anything I could ever explain. I take her to the podiatrist the next day, he asks me how long as her toe been bothering her, "ughhhh I am not sure a while now I guess, but she has been playing soccer fine" he gives me a look, pulls out a needle and a knife and procedes to cut out a huge ingrown infected toenail! Ok so maybe I should have checked it sooner but at least I did take her in after I looked at it!!! Two weeks later at yet another soccer game she gets slide tackled and I see her head bounce off the ground but she got back up and continued playing. I did notice that she was a little slower than normal the rest of the game but she "sucked it up" and kept on playing. After the game she said her head hurt and she was a little nauseas so I put ice on her face, gave her motrin and told her to "suck it up".... She woke up the next morning and I asked her how she felt and she said that her head still ached a little but she felt better so I gave her more motrin, told her to "suck it up" and sent her on to school. Well wouldn't you know the school nurse calls me a few hours later to tell me that she is in the clinic, dizzy, nauseas, headache and a little foggy she thinks she might have a concussion and I should probably take her to the doctor. Guess what, the doctor confirmed that she if fact did have a concussion and wondered if it had just happened while she was at school. Imagine the look on his face when I told him "oh no, it happened last night and took her home, gave her motrin and put her to bed".... That's it I am going down!!!!! I am happy to report that she is feeling much better and is going to be able to play in the soccer tournament next weekend in South Carolina!