Home: where our story begins....

First Day of Pre-school and some biking pictures

2010-09-14T10:10:00.002-05:00

Bell looks mad in this picture, but really she was happy - not sure what the look was about?
Anyway, Bell started school yesterday and Lina today (on Tuesdays they both go - WOO HOO, 2.5 hours free for me - that is why the blog is getting updated :)). Bell also goes M and W and Lina goes by herself on Thurs - so everyone gets some one on one time with mommy.
We started last week setting the alarm clock in the morning, putting out clothes for the week in the hanging cubbies in their closet (they can pick any outfit from the cubbies each day) and having breakfast as soon as we get up to get ready for school. Yesterday I had a few tears with Lina about clothes, but today was smooth. Bell was mad when she got up that "the alarm clock never went off mommy!". Until I explained to her it was 6:50 and her clock was set for 7:25, so it was still to early for it to go off!!!

Well Lina was happy here..........

and proud to show off their backpacks..........

But not so happy actually going in........... but she must have stopped crying at some point becasue they did not call me to come get her............

I thought Bell was going to be able to walk her in and walk her to her classroom, but they changed how they got the kids this year. The teachers came out and split up the two classes. So much for trying to prepare her, I think that glitch got her upset, although truthfully I did expect some tears from her - that is just Lina! Both my little girls in school.........WOW.

Bell is doing things in leaps and bounds! She is loving riding her bike and doing a great job at it.

Gravy.............. first time in about two years!!!

2010-09-14T10:06:00.003-05:00

Hot sausage, sweet sausage, meatballs, bracciole and ox tails!! I was actually ALLOWED to help with the browning of hte meat, usually I am banned from the kitchen. This is Dons once (maybe twice if I am lucky) cooking weekend!! YUMMMMM.....

And LOTS of sauce - in Grandma's pots of course!!!

My freeze is full and am hoping for a lasagna baking maybe this weekend??

Mini vacation in Delaware..........

2010-09-14T09:53:00.004-05:00

Don was on vacation all last week. We started off on Labor Day weekend with a 3 day trip down to Delaware and had a blast! (Then he came home and made sauce, set up the stereo, worked on his car and watched football!!)
We spent Satruday at the beach in Rehobooth with the Felkers (when I forgot my camera and have no pics), fun day and then went back to their house for dinner and cards (until 2 AM!!).
Sunday we went to Saint Bernadette's for church and saw lots of old friends. It is nice when you go up to communion and the preist says "hi, how are you doing" before giving you communion! We really miss that parish! Then off to Browns Branch park for a BBQ with the Felkers nad Pinders.
We brought lots of food ,but no BBQ untensils (BRAD!).

So the brand new set of wrenches in Don's car got put to use!

You know you are redneck when you BBQ with the same tools you use to fix your car!!

And they made a ahndy fork as well (we did have plastic forks).

On monday the Felkers came over to the hotel to swim and hang out with us before we drove home. The hotel was practically empty and we had the pool all to ourselves.

dalton and Maddox.

Mommy and Lina (I gave Don hte camera to take some pics, you don't get to see many pics of me becasue I am always taking them).

The dry crew, Heather and Don (oh, Don pulled a muscle REALLY bad in the waves at the beach on Saturday and was hurting all weekend).

Austins complaint, the pool towels are TOO small!!

Brad helping Jason agree to get his picture taken :)

Great weekend with AWESOME friends........ hopefully we will be seeing them here for the Saints - Cowboys game in november!!

Bell was being SOOO persistent! There was a bunny in a cage at the hotel (behind Bell and Phoenix in the picture) Bell wanted each of the kids to get out of hte pool and see it with her, and she kept at htem until they did!!

Ye Olde Renaissance Faire

2010-09-14T09:47:00.002-05:00

Hang the Treasonous Creatin!!

But don't hang us..........

The girls dressed at little princesses and had a fun time (but we did pick a REALLY hot day to go!).

Hmmm, not sure they had Italian Ices back then?

Cheyenne painted the girls faces at home and we wore our own wreaths on hteir heads so as not to spend too much money there.

Bell can tie her shoes!!

2010-09-10T16:20:00.000-05:00

More pictures from Nell's Memorial / Party

2010-08-26T10:49:00.005-05:00

Bell had a wonderful time singing and playing the drums!

Don and his cousin Robert, who lives in Germany.

Nell's Memorial

2010-08-26T09:43:00.004-05:00

On a beautiful July day, family from around the country and across the globe, gathered to remember the life of Nell Cimino.
The memorial was a beautiful memory of her life, with Hazel (Don's mom) reading a poem and Nancy sharing a very stirring letter, to Robert singing a song he wrote for his mom and all the children singing and playing music in her honor. A prayer was said, memories of Grandma shared, a video montage was met by smiles and tears, and she was off with a balloon farewell (she decided to stick around in hte trees and enjoy the party!!).
Lisa and Steve opened their beautiful home so that all could enjoy the laughter of friends and family, share the gift of music together, play games, come together over a wonderful meal and most of all...........cherish the memory of a wonderful woman!!

The grandkids releasing the balloons.

Robert, Lisa, Nancy and Steve (Lisa's husband) playing in memory of their mom.

Nancy reading a letter from her mom's social worker.

Robert wrote a song in memory of his mom.

Don's mom reading poem (Nell was her Godmother).

Uncle Jim's at the Cape

2010-07-28T16:34:00.002-05:00

Hi Mom and Dad,
Here are some pics of the house in Chatham. You can see over the garage and kitchen where they bumped up to add the upstairs. The door (really a center door flanked by long windows) go out from the room upstairs onto the balcony. Sat out there in the evening (Don and Austin were watching some guy flick) and in the mornings before everyone got up, beautiful and peaceful!!

The girls out in front of the house.

The kitchen is all white and stainless, really bright and easy to keep clean. Love the new wood floors throughout the house!

The hall when you come in the front door. This whole part of the house really has not changed except for the floors.

A pocket door seperates the kitchen from the back entryway. Washer and drier are out there, and they added the stairs.

Nice big open room, all white with blue couches. Lots of storage with the trunks as end tables, and dressers on each end. Both couch and loveseat pull out for sleeping (couch is blow up bed, VERY comfy!). Pretty bathroom with sloped ceiling (but nice big shower) right to hte left when you come up the stairs. Up here and in the one bedroom downstairs they use they put in wall mounted central AC units (the compressor is outside and the units just hang on the wall). Nice and quiet.

Pic is kind of dark. Small table and chairs in center of room and loveseat, trucks and armoire across room from couch. Very bright and open. Balcony is off that door.

Oh, this is a better pic of that side of the room.

This is the new driveway they added to the back of hte house, so you could go right from here into back door and upstairs.

Cape Cod

2010-07-28T16:08:00.007-05:00

We had a great, although short, vacation in Cap Cod last week - around a one day trip Don needed to make to MA for work.

Austin and Lina playing at the park

Daddy and Bell with squirt guns at the beach.

Lina playing in the sand

Bell had a great time in hte water, she is really becoming a water rat!

Still a kid at heart....

Checking out the fiddler crabs daddy caught

Late afternoon at the beach - the girls and Austins sand castle

Love them!

Andrew our guide showing us some of the crabs and fish we found in hte tidal flats at the Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellfleet. Lina conked out, so it was a good thing we had carriers.

All the kids got nets and Bell had a great time wading around catching fish and crabs.

Checking out the horseshoe crabs

The girls had a great time...

Look what I found mom.. she was not very happy when I told her it was a sancutary, so she had to leave the shells at the beach.

Uncle Jim and Aunt Loretta's house in Chatham, beautiful!!

The girls.

Of course we could not miss the Cape Cod potato chip factory tour!

Enjoying the free chips :)

Such a teenager

The girl entertaining us on hte way home with vacation bible school songs!!

Hanging in the jacuzzi tub after swimming at the hotel. We got upgraded to a "suite" becasue of Priority Club, nice!!

Lina swimming on the steps at the pool, it was a saltwater pool. It was great really, you could barely tell it was saltwater and no chlorine burn. We were in the pool 3 times, for TWO hours each time!!

Bell had a blast! She loves jumping in the pool and was swimming 4 or 5 strokes at a time by teh end of the trip!! I will try and post a video of her swimming.

One reason why I should listen to my mom and wear slippers!!

2010-07-14T20:05:00.002-05:00

Both the nurse and Doctor could not find where it went in, but I ASSURED them it WAS in there and hitting a nerve! Sure enough the xray confirmed, the needle went all the way in, at least the 2/3 that didn't get left behind in the rug :)

And THIS is what it looks like when the Doctor says "I can feel it in there with the tweezers, but can't get it, lets take another xray with the tweezers in as a guide". He was close, just pulling in the wrong direction, so after 45 minutes of trying out it came!!

So this was my Monday:

1.5 hours at the dentist in the AM getting a scaling on right side, about 6 shots of novicane to numb me.

11:30 at night, needle in the toe, a bunch of shots in the toe to numb it (and more when he was still working on it and it was wearing off), a tetnis shot in the arm to be safe and an anti -inflammitory shot in the butt, oh.. and stitches to close up my toe.

NOT a good Monday....... I don't think Don has seen me cry that much combined in all the time he has known me (including two births!!), that sucker HURT!!

VBS

2010-07-14T20:04:00.001-05:00

Some pics of Bell here from Vacation Bible School this week, more will post in the next 2 days.
www.warwickvbs.com

Tree cutting day

2010-05-17T21:53:00.003-05:00

Sunday was tree cutting day! The big tree that fell over hte winter needed to go!! Dons parents and Uncle Ed came to help, and what a HUGE help they were!! THANK YOU, mom, dad and Unc!!!

Don with his new tool he got for Christmas, just in time for a huge tree to fall in the yard!! Ready to cut up some firewood!!

And cut,

And cut some more!! Unc, Dad and Mom were great wood movers and pilers.

Can you say "SUPERVISE" Uncle Ed :)

The girls had a picnic and watched with their new Fancy Nancy Tea Party book, thanks to Grandma!!

Babywearing

2010-05-17T21:43:00.002-05:00

Not much babywearing goes on in our house these days, but Saturday Lina was SUPER cranky right when daddy was going to mow, so up she went (very happily I might add!). Don used to ride Bell on his back mowing all the time in DE. Bell of course had to get in on hte action, so daddy kept both girls busy while being productive.

Daddy, Lina and Bell

Sleeping girl!!

Peek a boo!

Chyenne had the dool home from school that cries, so Austim wore him while taking the dogs for a walk! I think someday he will be a babywearing dad (a LONG, LONG time from now!)

Nice hair man!

Hanging out with Emma

2010-05-17T21:27:00.002-05:00

Last week we (the girls) went down to DE for hte weekend. Mommy got to go on a Scanverger Hunt and Massage/Wine/Dessert nights out with my friends!! While the GREAT dads (Brad and Bill) each watched the girls one evening. The girls had a great time seeing their friend Landon and hte gang at the Felkers on Friday night while Heather and I went out, while they spent time with Emma Saturday and Sunday while Virginia and I went out Saturday night. GREAT weekend had by all!!

Emma, Lina and Bell on the trampoline

Nice hair Lina!

My beautiful girls!

Playdough, have to love it...........

Pepe taking a nap on napping Lina!!

Feet............

2010-05-17T21:22:00.002-05:00

LOVE this pic!! Totally unplanned, just sitting on the bench outside of church.

Making funny faces ;<)

And giving hugs

Last dat of Religion class for Bell, they had a May Day procession and sang songs, very cute! Of course I missed most of hte procession because htey did not tell us ahead of time this was happening and I chose that day to spend extra time in church...........

OK, so some of the kids got the songs :)

PINKALICIOUS - what a great time!!

2010-05-17T21:17:00.002-05:00

The girls just LOVE hte Pinkilicious book that Grandma gave them (thanks Grandma T!!). So when I saw it was being produced by hte local college theater group, we just had to go. It was so much fun, for hte kids and grown ups alike!! No photos during hte show, but here are some before.

They wore their pink dresses!!

Lina sat on the egde of her seat the whole show!

In the flower garden !!

Our walk by the pond

2010-05-17T21:13:00.003-05:00

Early April we took an Explorer walk by a nearby pond.

The girls had a great time examing the pond,

walking the boardwalk,

and we found ant hills,

and clover,

and had a snack.

THEN we picked off ticks! Not a good place to go in shorts and skirts, note for next time!

2010-05-17T21:08:00.002-05:00

OK, so I am a little behind.............
Easter egg hunt in 36 degree weather!! BRRRRR......

The Barry Grandkids :)

Proof of the 2010 egg contest winner (because we can never remember who won the year before) - Uncle Dan!!!

My little bunnies

And my big one too :)

A beautiful day

2010-03-16T23:39:00.002-05:00

The hose that runs into the back yard from the continuously running pump in the basement :(

Today was a weird day. About 4 pm it was 64 degrees out, yet the girls are STILL wearing snowboots! After 4 days of rain, we still have snow. And what is not snow is MUD! Lina decided to play in hte snow, while Bell took the muddy swingset route today.

Ballet and drawing..........

2010-03-16T23:34:00.002-05:00

The girls doing their "bar" work using chairs.

Lina gave up, but Bell continues on, she loves the Ballet DVD!!

And then on to artowrk in the kitchen. Notice the line down the center so they don't fight about drawing on each others pictures. Lina loves to draw people, but it is so funny becasue she makes huge circles for eyes that take up the whole face :)

SNOW

2010-03-11T14:14:00.004-05:00

The next few days are forcast for rain (which will hopefully wash away the snow, but means lots of indoor time!!). So today we put on our snowsuits and went to the park for 2 hours :) We had the whole park to ourselves!

Lina and Bell playing horse on the swings.

Sisters :)

"Fishing" with willow branches down by the stream.

Bell taking a rest.

Our smiley girls on the tire swing.

ledding after the first big snow two weeks ago..........

Bell pulling Lina.

Bell and Chyenne.

Austin and Lina.

It is great to have teenagers who can run up and down the hill again, and again with the little ones!!!

Lina gave up sledding and just sat eating snow :)

It finally has a home....................

2010-03-11T14:11:00.000-05:00

TOO FUNNY !!!!!!!!!

2010-03-11T14:06:00.004-05:00

We were playing chalk in the driveway yesterday. The weather was beautiful, the yard is still full of snow and mommy had to go put back up the mailbox the plows knocked down!!
We made a sign for daddy.........

Then Bell drew a picture of daddy next to it, and INSISTED it be anatomically correct.........

But mommy, I HAVE to draw a penis. I tried to say daddy was wearing clothes, but that did not go over.

TOO FUNNY!!!!!

No wonder he has a BIG smile on his face :)

Every kid does it once.............

2010-03-03T00:58:00.003-05:00

OK, as a disclaimer, Grandma Tuscano, you are NOT going to want to look at these pictures!!

The little kids scissors, the ones that barely cut paper............they cut hair GREAT apparently!

Daddy trimmed the girls hair yesterday and apparently today Isabella decided to go shorter! (Bad pics, from the phone). She had a big smile when Austin and Chy caught her and said "I am cutting my hair!".

Which prompted her first visit to the salon, because there was no way I could fix it! The right side and back was cut almost to her neck!

Well she had fun and got a lollipop - although she did cry on the way home becasue she did not want "everyone" to be mad at her!

Her pixi cut is cute on her, but it is going to take FOREVER to grow out!!

Just a dusting

2010-02-03T15:57:00.002-05:00

Today we got maybe an inch of snow and about the same one day last week. Seems our freinds in Delaware are getting all of our snow this winter!

Our sonw lady was about 8" tall.............

with funky pine neddle hair :)

Next years firewood :)

2010-02-03T15:50:00.002-05:00

We lost a tree in our yard in last weeks wind / rain storm. It was partially dead already, which I am sure helped the process. Thank goodness it fell left instead of right (into the Tiki Hut) or forward (the house!!).

And another tree lost a branch which torpedoed into the shed roof...........

and made a bit of a WHOLE!!

The tree.

It was a BIG one!

OK, how do we get rid of that root??

Looks like it took out hte light on the tree next to it - the one set up to play horseshoes at night :)

And it took out hte top half of the Holly bush / tree.

Good thing Don got a ChainSaw from Christmas - it will be put to good use come spring!!

NEW ORLEANS NFC Championship Game!!!

2010-02-03T15:43:00.005-05:00

Don went down to New Orleans last week for the NFC Championship game - and the SAINTS are going to hte Superbowl for the first time ever!!!!!!!! Boy did he have a great time!!!

Don decked out New Orleans style!!

THE dome.........

THE game!

The game from the nosebleeds :)

GO Saints!!

The celebration after!!

PARTY!

SUPERBOWL BOUND!!!

The FANCY bedroom

2010-01-12T12:34:00.002-05:00

The girls are LOVING the Fancy Nancy books Grandma T has gotten for them!! Well, Fancy Nancy has a canopy over her bed, and Bell really wanted one. So the curtians hanging on the sides of the Art Gallery Frame have become canopies for their beds, with a little help from my mops and brooms, as well as our collection of silk scarves - very FANCY!!
This was a week ago, the brooms have since been replaced with tent poles, as I do need to occasionally clean :)

Christmas

2010-01-10T08:38:00.004-05:00

We were so blessed this Christmas. The girls are old enough to really begin to understand the true meaning of the holiday. We bought toys and food to give to others who have less than us, and kept our spending on each other less out of control. Something we began this year that I think we will continue is three presents per child on Christmas morning, as the wisemen brought to Jesus.
We had a fun Chrsitmas eve and Steve and Gina's house with the Barry's, we opened gifts and had a delicious dinner! The kids really enjoyed playing together!
Christmas morning we opened gifts at home and then went to a beautiful service at Saint Stephens. In the afternoon Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Ed came over for Christmas dinner and gifts. It was so nice to have family for the holiday in our new home, something we were not really able to do in Delaware because we were to far away. I thought I left me camera at Steves, and did not find out until Christmas night it was in the bottom of my bag!!
The biggest dissapointment was that daddy eneded up working so much over Christmas. He missed Christmas Eve on Long Island, but did go in at 4 AM on Chriatmas morning and got home just as we were opening our stockings!!! He missed church to sleep, and fell asleep after we opened presents in the evening. Poor daddy, our new years wish is that the job calms down so he can spend more time home and with his family!! As I write this he actaully has the whole weekend off, his boss told him he HAD to take both days unless it was an emergency, yeah!

Lina opening presents.

And Bell.........in their clothes before the dress up gifts.............

Katie and Emily helping the girls open their gift from the girls.........and it is............

A whole box of dress up clothes!!! The cheer leader...............

The singer...........

The movie star............

We are in trouble in a few years............

Gianna read the Night Before Christmas to the girls (a gift from daddy, but he was not there to read it).

And we can't leave out AUSTIN!!!!!! No dress up clothes for him, just gift cards and money, his favorites!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-10T08:26:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year to our family and friends!!
We had a VERY busy, hectic, crazy 2009 with the job change and move!! We are hoping for a more peaceful new year :)

we had a fun New Years Eve and Nick and Mandy's house (Nick and Linda's neighbors). The kids had a blast, Mandy had a ton of hats and horns for them to play with!!

Kyrsten was so good playing with the girls, Morgan, Bell and Lina.

Morgan and Bell.

Lina blowing her horn!

Happy girl :)

Another hat and horn.............

Daddy got into the action as well!!

Yet another hat.

Nick and Morgan

Daddy with his girls, Lina, Bell and Morgan (his God daughter).

The entertainment for hte evening, Kyrsten and Nick.

Daddy getting a new years kiss from his Belly............

Happy New Year.

2009-12-17T11:09:00.003-05:00

Isabella and Grandma at her Pre K Christmas Concert.

She was SOOO cute!!

Grandma and Lina waiting for the singing to start...........

I think that is kind of a smile????

They were very cute, will post video when it finishes loading!!

SANTA

2009-12-13T11:50:00.003-05:00

This morning we went to breakfast with Santa at Saint Stephens after Mass. Santa spent time with each child talking to them before they sat on his lap so they would be comfortable. Both girls sat on his lap (with me there of course!!).

Lina got a little scared when Santa asked her what she wanted :)

Bell was more than happy to tell him "A pillow pet, UNICORN please". to which Lina piped up and said "ME TOO"!!!

Very sad daddy had to work this morning and missed Santa :(

The wood PILE

2009-12-06T21:45:00.002-05:00

The wood was supposed to come on Saturday, but the guy delivering it lives down the mountian and got stuck on the way up!! I guess I would rather have it on top of the snow than covered by it!! So this is the original pile...........

I stacked a bunch today............

But the pile does not seem to be getting much smaller!!! Guess we will be working on it this week, since my "supposed to be helper" was sick today :(

Roses and stained glass - THANK YOU

2009-12-05T22:35:00.003-05:00

Thanks mom for the beautiful piece of stained galss for the transom in our bedroom!! As you can see it works perfect in this spot. It looks so pretty when the light is on behind it - THANK YOU!!
And thanks Mom and Dad Tuscano for the beautiful roses for our anniversary!! They look and small so nice - THANK YOU!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.............

2009-12-05T22:20:00.003-05:00

Today we had our first big snowfall at our new "mountianside" home!! We are def on the mountian, they predicted 1-2 inches and so far we have 8 and it is still snowing!! The girls had a blast outside today :)

Lina using our snow measuring stick - 2 inches at the time.

Our snowLADY! I have two snowman making kits somewhere (eyes, fake carrot nose, scarf and hat) but could I find them, NO of course not - we made due..........

Well, if I have to be outside in the cold, might as well warm up and toast marshmellows!!!

The girls taking a break from the snow in the Tiki Hut, eating marshmellows and watching a cartoon. LOVE our Tiki Hut!!! So glad I got the girls snow pants & boots (at the Thrift shop!!), we are going to get a LOT of use out of them!!

She had so much fun in the snow!!!

Bell and Frosty.

Our stream in the snow, very pretty.

My angel making a snow angel.

And we all know how much daddy loves the snow, NOT!!! This was as close as he got, looking out the mudroom door at his girls :) At least he was home and not working, yeah!!!

Even Austin ventured out to enjoy hte snow (and walk the dogs).

Isabella's version of Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T12:10:00.001-05:00

OK, how does Daddy get the credit for cooking the bird?????????

Turkeys and the Wedding Dress............

2009-11-24T19:27:00.005-05:00

We got some girls things from a firend and this white dress and shoes were in it. Bell plays bride almost daily now!! She decided she needed a flower girl, so got out Lina's "flower" dress and a basket, and insisted that a bride HAD to have WHITE flowers, so we made some makeshift ones with lace and ribbons :)

Yes, the blue bandaid really sets off the whole pose!

We even had to catch the flowers!

And the cute flower girls. Flash forward 25 years...............

We made turkeys as nameplace decorations for our Thanksgiving table. The girls LOVE to do crafts! But Bell is having a hard time with the concept of eating a Turkey for Thanksgiving. "Like the ones that run around in our backyard?". Ummm, yes. "But they live outside and go gobble, gobble, gobble, why would we eat them?". Ummmm

Of course we can't go a day without being dressed as ballerinas!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!1

R. I. P.

2009-11-15T21:58:00.002-05:00

Don was rear ended a few weeks ago at a red light. His poor Miata did not fair very well. The insurance called it a loss :( My husband bought it as a 30th birthday present to himself and is VERY upset about it. He is selling it to a local mechanic who works on Miatas, so it will live on as a "donor"........

May she rest in piece...................

Mommy, I need a haircut..........

2009-11-15T21:56:00.000-05:00

Don't worry Grandma, it is only the bangs :)

Cleaning up...................

2009-11-14T17:44:00.002-05:00

Have you figured out what the little white things are yet??

I was in on the computer (the next room!!) and they were watching TV (so I thought), and I hear, "lets get our vacuum and broom, we can clean it up before Mommy sees". So I peek out to take a look in the living room floor is covered in................. MARSHMELLOWS!! The little tiny ones you put in your hot chocolate (I miss Bylers!). The girls had gone into the pantry and took them out but could not get the bag open. When they tried they went ALL over the floor - I mean everywhere:) Looked like snow in our living room.

So they got to clean them up - with a little help from mom at the end!!

The other day we got a new (new to us anyway) carpet cleaner. Our old one died right before we left DE, and the carpets here needed cleaning SOOO bad! So I get a great one off Craigslist and had a fun Friday night cleaning the rugs and couches. I feel so much better now............

Kitchen, Swings and Ballerinas!!

2009-11-10T04:03:00.005-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa T gave Bell a beautiful kitchen (and lots of things to go in it!!) for her 4th birthday - THANKS Grandma and Grandpa - we love it!!!!

Lina making birthday cake............ with morning hair!!

The first morning it was put together, Bell and Lina came tight out and played with it in their jammies!! Made me breakfast, if only it were real :)

Toast and tea!!

We just got a new (new to us, pre-loved) swingset for the yard!! I have been looking on Craigslist for a great deal on one, because we have wanted one for the girls, but could not swing a new one now. I saw an add for this one with no pictures and no price. So I e-mailed the woman and she said "come get it, it is free, my kids have outgrown it"!! So Don and Austin trailered it home and after a few new bolts and one new piece of wood, the girls are loving it!! Daddy rocks, he missed part of his football game to finish putting it together!!

BTW, GO SAINTS 8 and 0 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It even has a glider and a set of rings that can go where one of the swings is.

My cuties!! Beautiful November day we were out in short sleeves, love it!!

Notice that the leaves still need to be done!! Today I blew leaves while the girls played and this weekend will be the big leaf cleanup!! Both neighbors on the sides of us started putting up Christmas lights this weekend (not on, just up). I guess you do it early up here cause it gets cold!! We still need to go through the basement and dig our stuff out, guess we will be out in the freezing cold Thanksgiving weekend doing ours:)

We live in Ballerina outfits around here these days!! Today they were ballerina princesses and were so very adorable I had to snap this picture!!

5 Little Pumpkins

2009-11-03T16:45:00.001-05:00

My little pumpkin!

The girls FORT

2009-11-03T16:37:00.002-05:00

We have a HUGE pine tree which makes a terriffic fort for the girls, and a home fo all the extra small chairs we had lying around!! We put down a big peice of plywood and it is their "dance stage" - so cute!!

Looking up.................

And the view from laying down :)

Halloween pics

2009-11-03T16:34:00.002-05:00

On Monday he says to me, I want to be Cookie Monster for halloween, wasn't easy to find blue fur on such short notice!! COOKIES!!!!

Our pretty butterflies playing party games at the Moms Group party

All the parents lined up and the kids trick or treated us :)

Checking out her stash!

DON's Birthday

2009-11-03T16:32:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday honey!!!

Isabella's first day of pre-school

2009-11-03T16:31:00.002-05:00

The house

2009-11-03T16:12:00.004-05:00

Some pics of the new house!!
Austin sweeping leaves off the roof (in between texts to his girlfreind!).

Our resident turkey family.

Front

Back of house and back deck

Stream that runs along hte whole back of our property

The stream is right behind the Tiki Hut!!!! Electric, TV, Stereo, fridge, and fire pit nnext to it!!

Don's TWO car garage :)

FALL FUN

2009-11-02T11:08:00.004-05:00

Lina shooting some hoops...........

Bell loves all the leaves here at our new home :)

Angelina, Bell and Landon. The girls were SO excited to see Landon when they came for hte weekend!! It was a full house, and a lot of fun! We can't wait for htem to come back again!!

Isabella is FOUR!!!!

2009-11-02T10:54:00.006-05:00

The pictures are backwards (forgot I need to load them last to first in blogger - erhhhh), and I can't move them :( Scroll down and work your way up............

Want a piece??

Playdooh birthday cake.

ELEFUN.............

Daddy is taking her FAVORITE present out of the box...........

New princess shoes from her little sister!

Blow!!

Cake and presents!

The birthday person gets to request what they want for dinner. Grilled Cheese and soup was teh birthday dinner request. So the girls made a sandwich making assembely line :)

I'm Back!!

2009-11-02T10:21:00.003-05:00

OK, after requests from a few people, I am back to blogging!!
It has been a crazy few months:
Don got a new job in April and lived in NJ M-F for MONTHS!!
We sold the house in July and move in with Mom and Dad for a few months (Thanks Mom and Dad!!).
We closed on our new house in Warwick, NY in Spetember - yeah!!
We are finally settled in (mostly), at least the boxes are gone from the house - the basement and gargage are a VERY different story :)

I will post at least weekly, so come back and catch up with us again!
Don, Karen and the Kids

TWO years old!!

2009-05-21T19:38:00.003-05:00

It is hard to believe Lina turned two today! She is getting so big and so smart!!!

We had a playdate with their friend Emma today that turned into a impromptu birthday party, the girls made birthday hats, we blew up some balloons, had spagetti for lunch and cupcakes with a candle for Lina. On Saturday we are going horseback riding (hopefully the weather will hold!) and will have cupcakes with her friends then too, as daddy is not home today to celebrate.

Our artists

2009-03-31T14:47:00.003-05:00

On Sunday we went out to breakfast after Mass. The restuaraunt (diner type) that we like to go to when we do go out has white paper placemats. And since mom always has crayons in hte diaper bag, we usually color. While I was teaching Bell how to color a sun and a person, Asutin was using his 60 second sketching he has been doing in Art class at school to color Bell. She was wearing her gold and black Saints jacket. Take a look.................

Cool, right?

Here is Bell's very first drawing on her own!!! I started the sun for her and she did the rest of it (the very straight lines are mine :)), and then she drew some flowers on the left, and Austin on the right. This is hte first time she has drawn a person!! (Proud mamma!!)
Here is a close up of Austin!!
Daddy drew a school bus on Lina's mat and she colored it purple.

My artists!!!

2009-03-29T06:16:00.003-05:00

I figure if daddy ever needs a part time job he can become a hairdresser. Last week he cut Bells hair and yesterday gave Lina some rockin ponies!!

OK, you can't see daddies smile in this pic, but you can see it goes right up to his eyes!! Boy, he loves his little girls.

Look what I got mom!!

2009-03-18T13:02:00.004-05:00

I finally got a table top sewing machine. The old in table Singer I had jsut never worked right!! I bought it at Goodwill for $20, and could bring it back in 10 days if it didn't work. I had a problem with it and tracked it down to the bobbin track. Don figured out it was in backwards and voila!! Works like a charm and is in great shape, so I made a cover for it and a bag for the foot pedal to refresh my sewing skills.

It is not a big name machine, but works great and does zig zag, overcasting and even button holes and buttons!

Happy Day

2009-03-17T13:50:00.000-05:00

HAPPY SAINT PATRICKS DAY!!!!!

Kids can be so funny!!

2009-03-17T13:37:00.002-05:00

Lina:
Lina was trying to get out of going to bed the other night by snuggling up to daddy!! She was all about mommy that night until I told her bedtime, then she said "I daddy" and went right into his arms!! Toddlers!

Bell:
We were in the car listening to a CD of kids songs and there is a song called "There's a present in the potty and it won't go down" (yep, about just what it sounds like!). Well the whole song played and when it was over and quiet, Bell says "Barack Obama". When I asked her what she was talking about she said " Barack Obama, he is the PRESENT, just like in the song". Austin and I were rolling on hte floor!! At least she knows who the president is!! Preschoolers!

Austin:
Last week track practice started, and they practice at the local public high school. The coach arranged for the older kids who drive to drive the younger ones over to practice, so I only need to pick him up after practice. So on the first day, my cell phone rings and it is Austin. Apparently there were 5 kids in the car and none of them knew how to actually GET to practice! They had been driving around and were lost. Teenagers!

Don:
So last Monday I went to bed and he was still up, and at 2 AM I feel him shaking me awake. Well he had just opened his e-mail and gotten his "Welcome Aboard - your offer letter is on the way" e-mail. And felt he needed to share at 2AM!! (But really I was VERY happy:) Daddies! - Yes they can be kids too.

I LOVE my family.

There are days, and then there are DAYS.....

2009-03-17T11:29:00.002-05:00

And yesterday was one of the DAYS kind!

Well Don got his official offer letter yesterday - Yeah!!! Start date of March 30th.

So he drove up to PA and gave his boss his resignation letter - another yeah!!

And then yesterday evening we bought a car (busy day). It is a 99 Chevy Suburban SLT, leather, power window,seat,locks, tow hitch, 3rd row, new tires and new exhaust. In great shape with very good mechanic history. If you want to know what kind of engine, or anything like that - you will need to talk to Don :)
We have been searching for awhile for one, and so with a lot of research we bought this sight unseen on Ebay !!! Yes, people do actually buy cars on Ebay. Don spoke with the man last night for an hour and we think it is going to be a good buy. Oh yeah, the car.... it is in Virginia!! So Don is going down Thursday to pick it up. Don turns in his work vehicle next Wednesday and we needed a car that would fit hte whole family!

And to round out our busy (and expensive!!) day, we had a trip to the emergency vet last night. But not for one of our dogs. Our neighbors just got a puppy, and JD came down to give something to Austin and brought the dog. Except it was late, dark and I was not expecting him to be knocking on the door, and didn't even think about the puppy!
So when JD knocked on the door, I could see him and opened the door to tell him to come in. Of course the dogs were excited (they are whenever anyone comes to the door) and went out. I did not know this was a problem until the puppy started yelping. Well apparently one of our dogs did not like going out and finding an unfamiliar animal right outside the door and took a bite out of the puppy (we don't know which one it was!).
So a ride to the vet with a dog that throws up in cars (and did in Don's), an emergency room visit, anasesia and stitches, we are $350 poorer!! Never mind that because it was a bite the hospital had to call animal control. So our dogs are quarintined for 10 days. They can not be around anyone but family, and have to be on a leash when outdoors for the whole 10 days, with someone over 18 years old!!! What a PITA!!!!!!!!!!!!! Austin looks 18, right?????

Maybe today will be less eventful.....................

Pics of the "burb"

2009-03-17T11:00:00.000-05:00

Our little Chef...

2009-03-12T19:51:00.005-05:00

Bell loves to cook! Sunday morning we were making waffles (in my waffle maker that I LOVE - THANKS Daddy) for the family and eggs for daddy - no waffles for daddy :(. Everytime I cook Bell wants to pull over a chair and play assistant chef, see for yourself.....

"Help, I can't reach the eggs"

"Got them"!! She was doing double duty filling up the batter mix cup for the next waffle and helping to break eggs - only a few shells to pick out :)

Bell is mixing the eggs, mide you, she didn't actually EAT any, look further......

Lina and Bell enjoying the waffles (you can just see Bells clownface in this picture).

And the red around the mouth (and watery eyes and sneezing) - just from scrabling daddies eggs!! No problem actually injesting them, but skin contact gets her but good!!! Peanut Butter too....

And then on to the tea party.

Bell lvoes her new tea set from Grandma Barry - of course it really is a "water only" set as there are lots of spills!! But so far the only dish that has been a casualty was the one Mommy broke - poor Bell she got so upset!

Grandma had been saving a little China tea set for her, and she had so much fun playing with Granma's cups when we were in NY, that Grandma gave it to her with a beautiful little tea pot to go with them. Thanks Grandma!!!!

The weather it is a changin'

2009-03-12T19:28:00.002-05:00

Bell and Lina with our freinds Brad and heathers granddaughter - OK I don't know how to spell her name Airiodni?? - we just call her "Rodney" for short!!

OK, so the last post was 10 inches of snow, and a few days later we were out on the deck (Saturday night) inshort sleves roasting marshmellows and making somores!! Wacky.

Like mother, like daughter, she loves marshmellows!!!

hte

2009-03-03T20:45:00.002-05:00

If you read my blog a lot you will see that I have a problem typing the word THE. I always forget to spell check the Blog as it is not automatic (when I type in word I ALWAYS have spell check on!!). They say our brains are trained to read right over words that are spelled wrong, so maybe no one notices it but me :)
hte end....

Snow day #2

2009-03-03T20:16:00.006-05:00

Delaware is a little slow in the snow removal department. So the kids got off again today from school!! So today was a good day to go sledding, though the hill was a little sparse by the time we got to it, but that was OK, the girls had a great time!! There are not many hills in flat DE to choose from in our area.

Bell tried sledding with Austin on his big sled, but got a face full of snow. So she and Lina rode together on the little sled, with mommy pulling them up the hill. It was pretty cold out, but they had a fun time.

Update on the job hunt....

2009-03-02T23:23:00.001-05:00

Don has a second interview with teh hiring manager for hte Rockland County job. Actually it is hte same man he already met with who asked him to come back up Thursday to meet with him and go to lunch, so we have hopes there is an offer coming........... as soon as we know anything we will share :))))

In like a Lion.....

2009-03-02T23:14:00.004-05:00

March 1st brought us the most snow we have seen since we have been here in Delaware!! In New York on Sunday we were watching the weather to see what was up. The snow was coming up the coast, and expected to start in DE about 4 pm, so I ended up having to skip going to Grandma and Grandpa Tuscanos on the way home to get home before the snow. We did well, as it just started snowing as we pulled onto our blcok. Good thing we did, as we ended up with about 10 inches here, and our electric was out for about 5 hours last night. No school today (or tomorrow for that matter) here, so Austin took the girls out to play in the snow. It probably took more time for us all to get dressed and undressed than we were out, because it was COLD out!!!

Danielle's Party

2009-03-02T22:55:00.006-05:00

We had a fun weekend in New York. My neice Danielle turned 21 and had a big party this weekend, so we traveled north for the weekend. It was great becasue we got to see everyone, which is rare. The kids ran around like crazy at the party with their cousins!! Bell and Grandpa playing with the balloons.

Emily, Bell, Katie and Lina.

Lina really took to Katie by the end of the night.

Austin sacking out at the end of the party while the girls were still going strong....

Bell conversing with the birthday girl (in her orange fuzzy slippers).

Bell wanted that birthday cake SOOOO bad!!

And would not leave it until she got the first piece!! And there is Lina in the bottom of the photo grabbing up some carrots. She is hysterical with raw carrots! She chews on one, and then spits out hte peices. Thyen she goes tright back and grabs another one and does it again, over and over!! She loves cooked carrots, but try as she may she just does not get the texture of raw ones.

Poor Aunt Denise, all she got into the picture was her arms!

Ahhh, there she is. The birthday girl with mom and dad. Wow is that almost a smile on Daves face, we can never get a picture of him smiling!!

Uncle Steve playing with Angelina at Grandma and Grandpas house.

Gianna, Lina and Grandpa hanging out.

Treasure Hunt

2009-03-02T22:51:00.002-05:00

While at Grandmas we went out on a treasure hunt. We took a basket and walked around the block collecting this and that. Bell had a great time picking up pinecones, acorns, leaves and stick with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa's foot is doing much better and he is back up and around, walking and driving - yeah!!

Wow, have the big kids gotten big!!

2009-03-02T22:43:00.003-05:00

Austin, Courtney, Robby and Sarah

MaryAnn, me, Michelle and Liz.

The whole gang!

We went to New York this weekend for my nieces 21st birthday party. Don ended up staying home to rest up his knee. He is doing well after the surgery, and is going back to work this week, so wanted to be as rested as possible. He ended up not feeling well alll weekend, so it worked out well!

While we were there we went out to dinner with our old friends. The kids (and moms!!) have been friends since kindergarden. It is hard to believe they are in High School now. Well we all went out to dinner and had a great time. It was so good to catch up, and we ended up the night playing telephone around the table, which lead to a lot of laughter by all..... I miss those guys :(

Campiing Indoors

2009-03-02T22:39:00.002-05:00

Bell was hiding under a blanketthe other day, so we decided to make a fort in the bedroom. They had a blast playing with flashlights and eating snacks under their "tent". Bell even had her nap under there. She thought it was so funny that Austin did not fit and his feet stuck out. Bell CRIED that night when I told her she could not sleep all night under it.

Helping out daddy

2009-02-16T23:29:00.001-05:00

2009-02-16T21:41:00.002-05:00

The girls hanging out with laid up daddy!! Don's knee surgery went well and he is managing just fine with the comfy recliner and Percoset!!!

Bell was "taking care of daddy" by covering him with towels. Of course they were the towels we had just used for their bath, so they were damp, but it is the thought that counts. She has been so good with daddy - she is his soda runner!

A COLD February day at the park....

2009-02-16T21:28:00.003-05:00

Our little climbers....

This wall is 9 feet tall and Bell can do it all by herself!!Victorious at the top!!!

Valentines Day

2009-02-16T21:20:00.004-05:00

The girls in their princess hats, neckleaces and wands they got for Valentines Day.

And the aftermath of the candy!!

Making Valentines hearts for the cards, they love to color!!

Our Valentine Superheros!! Super Lina and Super Bell love to run around the house in their capes!!

SNOW, finally!!

2009-01-27T20:54:00.003-05:00

Daddy and Bell playing Candyland before he went away to Arkansas. We called to tell him it snowed this AM, and he said they had a ice storm, he wins!! But Bell and Austin were SO excited about the snow.

Austin was let out of school early today, for 2 inches of snow!!

A pajama day !!!

2009-01-17T19:29:00.003-05:00

Today was so COLD out, and it was Saturday, so we stayed in all day!! The girls got to stay in their Pjs all day as well.....
We made an obsticle course in the living room this afternoon to keep from getting cabin fever! The girls hopped on their blow up horses down the living room, stopped to play the drums and maraccas, climbed over a two step ladder, and then in and out of the laundry basket. Daddy thought we were crazy, but admitted after watching hte girls do it over and over it was a good idea! We do obsticle courses made out of lots of different things when we need to excert some energy in our small house.
They also picniced on a towel in the kitchen.....
And daddy and the girls made dinner, pizza, yummmmmmm

And the end product, all over Linas face (piece number 2).

And now we are going to end off hte evening watching Alladin.

Hope you all stay warm this weekend!!

Karen

This and that (and Uncle Nicky)....

2009-01-17T19:19:00.002-05:00

Lina wearing mommys slippers, so funny!!

Uncle Nick came to stay over because he and Don were working together the next day. Bell had a great time playing with him. She was so excited he was coming back again this past week (when we took these pictures). We don't get to see the Fab's enough :((((

Our pretty girls in their matching shirts.

Bell's great Playdoh snake. Mommy helped shape the snake, and Bell made all the stripes and eyes. As I type, Austin is sitting in the kitchen playing playdoh with the girls :))

Double pony tails and the tounge move she inherited from daddy!!! With a dolly sleeping on her back as well....

Lina's new bed

2009-01-04T23:27:00.001-05:00

Lina got a Big Girl Bed this weekend!

2009-01-04T22:40:00.003-05:00

Our "little" girl is not so little anymore. It seems she is growing up more and more every day right before my eyes. She loves her new vacuum from Grandma and Grandpa from Christmas - both girls now get to help out at the same time now!!
This weekend we took down the crib and put together Lina's big girl bed - so sad - no crib in our house at the moment (OK, don't read anything into that!!). I was glad to get her in the bed, because she REALLY would not go to sleep awake in the crib, but it was very nostalgic as well - she is my baby :). Tonight was the 3rd night in the bed, and she went to sleep in it without needing to nurse, rock on moms back - so the decision was the right one - for all of us!!!

Lina trailing after mom to help vacuum

All the girls getting in on the act....

Lina learning the finer points of wiring from daddy - she sure as heck is not going to learn it from me. To set up teh Wii, Don move the entertainment Center and did some re-wiring. Good thing all that is hidden away behind the unit!!

My camera has a great flash - the room was completely dark for these pictures. Lina fast asleep in her new "Big Girl" toddler bed. I will post a cute video as well :)

And Bell sleeping too....

Aren't they just so cute (I know I say that alot!). It took a lot to figure out the best way to reconfigure their room. The beds side by side with a nightstand in between seems to work out well - both for the girls and the tiny room.

I happened to peek around the corner into the living room this afternoon to this. I was in the bedroom folding laundry and came out to find daddy reading with his girls - so beautiful!!!

No pics of Austin today, he has been hanging out with friends, enjoying his last few days before school starts again!! Yesterday he went to a friends in the AM, called to ask if he could stay over, they were going to church and bowling, and stayed up until 4 AM. Needless to say he crashed early tonight! School starts again on Tuesday, with a whole new set of classes: Science, Social Studies, English (his fav - yeah right!!), and Art - which I do think he will really like.

You teach them to be independent and then.....

2009-01-01T22:23:00.002-05:00

Well Bell is fully potty trained, and even dry most nights. So she loves to say "I have to go potty and need my privacy" and go into the bathroom. That great, until this week when we all have a stomach virus, including her. Try and convince an independent three year old to call mommy or daddy when she has to go to the bathroom to help - good luck, because I have not been able to master it (even putting her in a diaper to help). So, lots of laundry, sanitizing the bathrooms and a recently used carpet cleaning machine :). NO PICS to follow......

Practicing her ABCs

2009-01-01T22:12:00.003-05:00

Isabella is doing great with her alphabet, otehr than a few mix ups (B&D, M&N), she knows them all by site, and is learning lots of the sounds. We asked Grandma & Grandpa T to get her a toy called Roll A Dough for Christmas, and she LOVES IT!!! She has always been a big playdooh girl, and this gives you the template for all the letters and numbers to shape over with the playdooh. She has asked to use it everyday....

Look at that tounge sticking out in concentration.....

Lina also like playdooh, so she stays busy while Bell does letters. She is just exploding with words, phrases and things she can do, it amazes us everyday! She has a ton of short sentences like "close the door", I'm ______ (fill in the blank - running walking, jumping, climbing - she describes everything), I do that mommy, and so many more. Her new concepts:

Circle: anything that is a circle shape she traces and says "circle:

Yellow: Her first color she seems to regularly recognize "Lellow".

Bless You: No matter what bodily function you have, Lina says "Bless You". Very funny at times.

WELCOME 2009

2009-01-01T21:51:00.005-05:00

Happy NEW YEAR to all our family and friends!! We are looking forward to a wonderful new year, which will probably hold a lot of changes for our family! We wish you all a blessed and joyous new year ahead.

Our friends Brad and Heather and their kids (and 2 grandkids) spent New Years Eve with us. This is Ally (18) their only daughter. She is Dons "BFF" (a ongoing joke), and stopped in to wish us aHappy New Year before going off to spend it with her friends, and I snapped this great pic of the 2 of them.

Bell and I did a craft project during hte day and used construction paper and foam stickers to make party hats for everyone for New Years Eve. Here is a cute picture of her in her hat.

Austin was sick last night and ended up sleeping through New Years, and Lina was asleep on my back, so here are the hats of the sleepy kids! We have all been under the weather with a stomach virus in our house (started Tuesday and still continues!!), but Austin only got a major headache and fever - lucky him!! Our friends had just gotten over it in hteir house before coming over a few days before New Years, so we figure they gave it to us, so they could chance getting it back agani :)

From left to right: Landon, Jayson and Dalton

Brad (with grandson Phoenix on his back) and Heather (with Maddox on hers) just before midnight.

Landon and Bell.

Don and I before New Years. As you can see, there were lots of babies around and lots of babywearing going on!! After the New Year, all the kids crashed and we played cards until 3 AM!!

Bell was so excited it is hte new year.

Oh, after the ball dropped the silly string fight began (confined to hte kitchen, as it was freezing out!!). Jayson got tag teamed by Don and Brad.

And the boys getting them back.....

Isabella drinking her "Sparkling Cider" to toast in the new year.

All the kids toasting and shouting Happy New Year.

Brad and Don bringing in the new year.

Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Tuscano

2009-01-01T21:36:00.005-05:00

Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Ed drove down from NJ on Friday to spend the day with us. It was great for the kids (and us) to get to see them for Christmas. We had fun opening presents, having Dinner and Don and Mom ended the night playing bowling on my new Wii.
As you can see, the girls had to help everyone opening their presents.

Bell could barely lift her present!! In it were ALL the princess dolls - she loves it!!! Lina got a baby doll and loves her doll as well.

Grandma showing Bell her fairy necklace (Bell got a Tink necklace for Christmas).

The making of the trains

2009-01-01T21:29:00.002-05:00

Grandpa Tuscano gave teh girls Gingerbread trains to make for Christmas. They became a family project on Chriatmas night, and we had a load of fun!!
Don did one train, while Austin and I did the other with Bell (and a very little bit from Lina). As you can see, there was much less patience with our train, which got made a lot faster than Dons.

Daddys is on the left, ours is on the right. Thanks GRANDPA!!!! We think this will become a annual family tradition.

Christmas Morning

2009-01-01T15:47:00.005-05:00

Since we had a long Thanksgiving weekend up north and Don wanting to save his vacation time (he usually takes the week between Christmas and New years), we decided to stay home for Christmas this year. It was actually a very nice relaxing day. We opened presents for a few hours, went to Church and came home to play! I made a roast for dinner - it was a wonderful Christmas. Even though we did miss all our family and friends!!

Bell & Lina getting cookies and milk ready for Santa. They also left the reindeer foor and water on the porch.

Bell checking to see in the reindeer ate their food. Yes she insisted we should use the dogs bowls (and it turns out Lucky does like plain dry oatmeal!!).

Santa left our family a wounderful beautiflu Chriatmas morning. Below Austin is helping Bell read the note SAnta wrote thanking her for the milk, cookies and reindeer food. Santa laways left notes for Austin when he was little and we still have them all.

LIP BALM!!! Santa came through with lots of lip balm for Bell. It was the only thing she asked for. I will be reminding her of htat when she gets to be a teenager and her requests get really expensive!
And last, but certianly not least, Daddy got a Saints tie - yeah. He proceeded to wear it to church - it was a big hit :)

Merry Christmas to all!!!!

Winter outing

2009-01-01T15:35:00.002-05:00

The weekend before Christmas we all went to Fifer Orchards, a local grower that has lots of holiday festivals. Lina was asleep in hte car, so Austin stayed with her and Daddy and I took Bell out into the cold!!

OK, hayrides are fun in the fall, but downright cold in the winter, even with Hot cider!!
By the yellow tent there was a fire pit to make sommores after the ride - yummmm!!

Miss Jakie, a local singer who does hte storytime at the library, was playing out on the porch, so we sat and listened to her tell a few stories and do some sing alongs with the kids. Bell loves listening to Miss Jackie!

The book she is reading is a pop up book by Robert Subuta. He does very intricate, beautiful pop up scenes - the kind of books the kids are not allowed to touch!!

Santa on the Fire Truck

2008-12-22T21:12:00.002-05:00

Friday night we were at the Church Hall making cookies. Austin needs to complete community service hours both for school and for making his Confirmation in the Fall, so the teens were making cookies and will bring them to hte nursing home next weekend. Bell and Lina came as well becasue Don was working late. The girls made a tray of peanutbutter cookies and that was enough cookie making for them (and me - we made a mess!!).

Around 7 pm we heard really loud sirens, it sounded like the Hall was on fire, they were so close. When we looked out the window, it was a line of fire trucks coming down the street with Santa on one of them. So we ran outside and the firemen gave the girls candy canes. The photographer for the local paper just happened to be taking pictures of Santa right then, so he took some pics of the girls and sent them to us, and said they may be in the local paper.

Christmas Party

2008-12-21T12:51:00.003-05:00

Last weekend was our Mothers & More Christmas Party. Bell was excited before hand to talk to Santa, because she wanted to tell him she wanted "Lip Balm" for Chriatmas. According to her, that is all she and Lina want from Santa (good thing Avon had all the Princess ones for 69 cents, so Santa will come through in a big way!)

Bell was happy talking to Santa as long as she was securely on Daddies lap!

This is as close as Lina got to Santa. She was perfectly happy to sit and watch :)

Austin got suckered into holding up teh pole for the pinata (with the only otehr teenager that was there).

The girls making picture frame crafts at the party (yes, they did make great Grandparents gifts, don't you think:))))

Our FAMILY.......

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-21T12:46:00.003-05:00

Look at how tall that boy is (feeling short Yell??)

Katie and Emily with Bell and Lina in Grandpas lift chair!!

Austin and Katie at Grandmas house.

Isabella loves to play with the cans of cat food at Uncle Eds. This year Lina got into the act!! Unc always gets down on the floor and has a great time with the girls. Poor Scamp and Midnight (the cats), they hide under the couch thew whole time!

gfhfhfgh

Look What I found!!

2008-12-21T12:35:00.002-05:00

The pictures from August when Grandma and Grandpa were here!!! Don loaded some pics onto a screen saver on his login and up these came, they were saved in his file by mistake (mine I am sure!).

Our little picasso

2008-12-05T12:11:00.001-05:00

http://www.ymcade.org/branches/central_de/programs/ye4.cfm

This is the Winter YMCA brochure, Isabella at her art class.

When your happy...

2008-11-18T23:47:00.001-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa T - the girls are loving the CHICK these days!!

My computer wallpaper

2008-11-08T22:29:00.002-05:00

We love this picture! It is on the computer as the wallpaper on my login. Bell was on her way to ballet class and was helping Angelina walk into the YMCA. Aren't they just SO cute!! (I do say that a lot :)

What a beautiful Sunday

2008-11-06T00:02:00.004-05:00

This past Sunday was beautiful here. We stopped at the local park on the way home from church and everyone (young and old) had a fun time!!

I got some good videos I will try and get uploaded and posted.

It's midnight and there are lots of new pics now, so I am off to bed - night!!

Karen

Daddies Birthday dinner

2008-11-05T23:57:00.002-05:00

We went to Dons favorite restaurant "Crabby Dicks", down by the beach, for his birthday. The table cloths are brown paper, so Austin made Don a birthday sign. The waiters sang happy birthday and Don shared his brownie with Bell. Bell insisted that we bring our birhtday hats to "daddies party" so he was further embarrased by wearing a perty hat!!

All Bell wanted to do was help daddy open presents.

Family Craft Day

2008-11-05T23:53:00.003-05:00

Mom worked the craft day for Mothers and More so daddy got lots of fun time doing crafts with Bell. Daddy and Bell playing with playdoh (and didn't get any in the carpet :))

Crushed up fruit loops make pretty leaves for the fall trees pictures. Lina just wanted to keep eating the cereal.

2008-11-05T23:48:00.002-05:00

The girls made very cute clowns, and actually kept their clown hair on for awhile. They made it to 5 neighbors houses - which was perfect for all of us! Austin of course, would have liked them to do much more so he could eat all the candy.

Belated Bday pics of Austin

2008-11-05T23:36:00.002-05:00

Bell helping Aust blow out hte candles on his cupcakes :)

Six teenagers for a sleepover - we are crazy!!! The boys were really good, and only stayed up until about 3 AM!!

Bell helped mom make Austin his favorite - Peanut butter cookies.

Sleep pants that say "I am so smart" - perfect!!

And his favorite presents of all - MONEY. He has saved every penny he got towards a new computer.

Let them eat pizza

2008-10-30T21:44:00.002-05:00

These pics are from my phone, not to bad considering....
The girls were sitting in the car in the rain waiting for Austin at the dentist. They were just so adorable I had to get a picture.

Bell had a great time at her birthday party!!

Bell's Birthday

2008-10-30T16:52:00.003-05:00

Aren't they cute!!

Matilhde and Kaylee in their princess dresses.

Angelina the littlest clown.

Austin got to take the morning off to come to Bell's birthday.

They played limbo, did the chicken dance and had a lot of fun!!!

So at this point my camera battery died - ugh!!! Someone else did take pics and I took some with my phone, so I should be able to post some of the actual party part. The girls had pizza, made princess crowns and ate pink frosted cupcakes. It was very cute, and now our little girl is THREE!!!!

She had a great time opening presents on her birthday.

And LOVED her Sleeping Beauty doll from Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Ed!! It lights up and now goes to bed with her every night :)

Bring on the clowns

2008-10-30T16:00:00.003-05:00

The girls make very cute clowns for Halloween this year!! We went to Trunk or Treat at church. Everyone decorates their cars and the kids go around trick or treating. The Knights set it up for the first time this year as an activity for the kids, and we all had a fun time!

A day in the life of my husband...

2008-10-30T15:52:00.003-05:00

So Don is having a rough week! Tuesday his flight out to Tennesse (interview) was delayed, he left his cell on the first flight, and when he got to the hotel at midnight they had no rooms left and they had to move him across the street.
And to make matters worse he got up to get dressed the next morning, pulled up the plastic over the suit I packed for him and.........
it was his TUXEDO - oh crap!!!! I pulled the wrong one out of the closet - ugh!!
So he went in his dress shirt, tie and jeans and very graciously blamed me :) The guys interviewing him thought it was pretty funny and were making fun of him by the end. So I don't have to sleep in the dog house!!
Anyway, other than that he thought the interview went well with company managers, then the business manager took him to lunch and the HR lady went over all the benefits with him. So, we shall see..... he expects to hear in maybe two weeks (they are very slow in this hiring process:(
Today Don has a full day and dinner with his boss about a meeting they have first thing in hte morning. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful hubby, but we are not celebrating around here until Saturday when he can spend the day with us :)))
Karen