First Day of Pre-school and some biking pictures

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!!!

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..........

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

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!!

More pictures from Nell's Memorial / Party

Bell had a wonderful time singing and playing the drums!

Don and his cousin Robert, who lives in Germany.

Nell's Memorial

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

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

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.