July 2015

We took a trip to upstate NY for my cousin's graduation party. Our sheltered children thought staying in a hotel was super cool. It was really nice to see all my cousins, aunts, and uncles.

We headed to VA for 4th of July weekend. While Mark was at Camp Nonna (for the first time!!), Grandma, Grandpa, Gianna, Joe and I had a fun time. The highlight was taking the "train" (metro) to the mall...a trip that would take a fraction of the time by car!

Reunited with Mark, we hit the air and space museum before heading to Aunt Jenny's annual 4th of July party.

While the girls had their Camp Nonna, the boys and I came back to NJ. We took Jack with us to a laser light show!

 All reunited! What is summer without popsicles, ninja turtles, headbands, and corn on the cob?

June 2015

It's time to get summer started! First, Doug had to get a quiot court made. Thanks to Nick and Josh's help, this was just a one day job. It's nice to have a dedicated place for Doug's favorite game!

School finished up too. Mark "graduated" from pre-K. It was such a cute little ceremony. It is a lovely school, I will miss it and the wonderful teachers there...but Joe won't be far behind!

Gianna finished 2nd grade as well. Where is the time going?!

We had a fun Father's Day dinner at a local German place. The ambiance left much to be desired (think: Pizza Hut circa 1984 with 90's pop music), but the food was excellent! Mark thoroughly enjoyed himself as you can see.

I made this banner for Doug. He wants to know when I'm opening my Etsy shop. 

Helping the little guy ride bikes in the driveway. How cute are they?!

A little of this, a little of that

I had a lovely Mother's Day with Doug and the kids. We went back to the area we moved from and met up with old friends for the azalea festival which we attended every year when we lived there. The azaleas being in bloom is not always a guarantee but this year they were so that was a pretty addition. 

In the above picture you can't see Joe's mother's day gift to me, which was a giant scrape on the nose from doing a header in the garage. The rest of the photos basically capture the wound's progression. It was a major topic of conversation for the ensuing week. Everyone we saw (even strangers) would say something like, "Oh no! What happened?!" And he would say, in a caveman-esque way, "Scrape. Nose." Facial wounds always look much worse than they are. Luckily he was pretty unfazed by it after the first day. 

I know there have been way too many "Joe in goggles" pictures on this blog, but it's just so ridiculous I can't help myself. 

There have also been quite a few headband pictures, but this one is to show how much he looks like John McEnroe circa 1980. 

Gianna's First Holy Communion

Gianna celebrated her First Holy Communion on April 2. It was a beautiful day and a lovely ceremony. She looked so beautiful and was so excited for this milestone. It was a joy to see her excitement and to be a part of it with her. Her cousin Bella celebrated at the same time, making the day even more special for the whole family. My parents and my in-laws were here, as well as Aunt Jenny and Uncle Steve. We are so proud of the young lady she is becoming!

April Happenings

Ah, the joys of home ownership! We celebrated one year in this house a couple weeks ago. We love it still! Unfortunately, we don't love having to call Roto-rooter at 10pm every 5 months to unclog our sewer line. So we decided to bite the bullet and have a new line put in. Luckily the insane cost bought us peace of mind in addition to a beautiful new pipe. It also bought us a morning of entertainment for Joe, who absolutely loved watching the backhoes at work and started out the window most of the morning.

In other news, Joe likes to wear Gianna's headbands as sweatbands. He also will pull them over his eyes like the ninja turtles (except the headbands don't have holes, so he can't see; this is both entertaining and dangerous).

One rainy day, the boys and I did a fun painting craft. Joe made a mess; Mark made a cool design.

Soccer is upon us and rather than run back and forth to practices and rather than get bored out at the fields, sometimes we play in the car. 

Gianna's class had a poetry reading at school. Her poetry was quite amazing...in my opinion of course. All the kids were adorable and the boys loved the snacks. Gianna's teacher is amazing and extracts great work from her students. We're going to miss her next year!

And sometimes we just lounged around. I wish Joey was more visible in this picture because he truly looked like a blob. 

Joseph is 2!!!

This cake has been nothing but trouble, first I smudge the writing seconds after finishing it and then I can't post the picture in the right direction. A fitting display, I suppose. Anyway, our baby Joe turned 2 on April 22. When your third child turns two (well, when ours does anyway) there's not a lot of hoopla. We invited the cousins over for a celebratory lunch on the Saturday beforehand (which was only different from a usual afternoon with them in that it had cake and a present). On his actually birthday we just had more of the same cake and some more presents. Despite it's simplicity, he loved it! We celebrated a few other birthday shortly thereafter and he seemed truly disappointed that all the fuss wasn't for him anymore!

He's our curly-haired doll! Lovable and charming, but also mischievous! He loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. He also loves to rough-house. Flopping around on Mark's bed is a favorite activity. He repeats everything. He eats everything. He makes friends wherever we go, usually sparked by his hair and winning smile. His brother and sister adore him and want everyone they meet to adore him as much as they do. We love you Joseph! Happy 2nd Birthday!