Slip N' Slide

Daddy's Father's Day gift!




The boys liked it too!

And some pictures... Note their swim shirts that match the Lightening McQueen
Slip N' Slide :)

Granny & Poppy's 50th Wedding Anniversary

Recently we went to Somerset to celebrate my grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary. We got to catch up with a lot of family and friends we hadn't seen in awhile. It was good to see everyone and I think granny and poppy had a lot of fun visiting with everyone!


Here is a picture that I took with Granny & Poppy and the boys.

If anyone is interested in seeing the professional pictures taken by family friend Tim Dalton - they can all be seen here!

Super-Soakers

In early May, I had the chance to stay home with the boys while Mary was off. It was so hot that week, so we had to play outside in the water to cool off! I got the boys two new water guns and a new sprinkler - they were both a big hit!

Derby Day

Who can scream louder?


Hey Evan - let's throw these Mexican River rocks through Michael and Krista's window!

Or how about we throw them at mommy for trying to take our picture?

It just so happened that Derby Day fell on our Anniversary this year, just like it did back in 2005 when we were married - six years ago (thanks to a leap year being in there). We had a fun- filled, busy day! We headed to Columbus as soon as we got up for our friend Heather's shower! She is marrying Tim's childhood friend Marcus on July 9th! We were back in the car by five to attend Krista and Michael's Derby party! We made it in time to watch the race and eat some good food! The boys were rotten by this point and these are the best pictures I could get of them...

Egg Hunt -2011

Neighborhood kids at the Easter egg hunt!


Alex counting his eggs...


I think he is over me taking his picture.

Evan is proud of his eggs!

Easter Sunday

Brotherly love!


Opening their Easter baskets.



Candy!

Cheese! (Will they hate me one day for making them wear these suits?)

I told them they had to smile before I would get down their baskets - it kinda worked!

Since we had a full day of fun activities - we decided to start the fun early, so to 8am mass we went. The boys were angels in church for the 2nd week in a row. I am sure most of you a probably surprised by 1.) the good behavior 2.) the fact that we went to church two weeks in a row. We actually went to St. Mary's this year, which is the church we just joined. If they boys do go to Catholic school, we will be sending them there, so it only made sense to switch from St. Cecilia to St. Mary's. Next we came home to open the Easter basket gifts that the Easter Bunny left for us. The boys were thrilled with their new toys - Alex said that the Easter Bunny was his favorite because he brought him a new Lightening McQueen. Evan just ate a bunch of candy and didn't care too much about his new toys. They did make me write their names on the bubble wands I got them, so they wouldn't get them mixed up. At 11am, we went over to the Pusateri's for a quick Easter egg hunt with some of our other friends/neighbors. Thankfully the rain stopped enough for us to be able to do the egg hunt in their backyard. This was vwey brave of the Pusateri's to host, since they just welcomed their fourth baby on April 8th. Lucca Belle is adorable and somehow managed to sleep in her Daddy's arms - the entire time. When we got home, Babci and Dzia Dziu were waiting for us at our house! We had brunch with them and next up is dinner with Michael and Krista!

Pre-Easter Festivities

Waiting is the hardest part!


Choosing what color they wanted their eggs to be was a hard too...

Rice Krispy Easter eggs - with M&M's "hidden" on the inside.

Little hams - they can't just look at the camera and smile!

Finally time to get the eggs out - we only cracked a few...

We had planned on going to Keeneland today with the boys. We went last year and they loved the ponies. However, due to the fact that I was just feeling overwhelmed with everything we have going on right now and the next few busy weeks to come, along with the unpredictable weather, we decided to stay at home with the boys and do some stuff around the house. It did turn out to be a rainy day, which was perfect for dying Easter eggs, doing some cooking ahead for my Easter Sunday dinner and making some Rice Krispy Eggs for the boys - just what we needed...

Palm Sunday - Columbus

The boys with their palms.


Alex being silly on the way home from church.



Right before they started attacking each other with their palms.

Not sure why he was holding his ears - probably some awful music that Tim was blaring...

We were able to go to Columbus to spend Palm Sunday with Babci and Dzia Dziu. Also visiting for the weekend were Uncle Matt, Cioci Lauren, cousin Lilly, cousin Diana, and our cousins from Connecticut - Tyler, Kathleen and Mr. James (as Alex called their new baby boy). It was a full house and is crazy to see how many babies/kids are around now. Just a few short years ago - the holidays at Carol's consisted of sports all day long, drinking a little wine/beer and eating. Now, it is cartoons/Disney movies all day long, drinking bottles of milk/juice boxes, but of course we still eat. It is hard to believe that we will have TWO more babies this Christmas (ours and Becca and Mark's)! The kids definitely keep it interesting :)

The Park

Evan - too cute not to share!


Evan attempting the monkey bars - scared to death!

Alex hung on a little longer...

Evan going down the slide - note the tongue sticking out - he is concentrating...

Alex on the triple slide!

Our transportation to the park. Evan's classic mean face and Alex is being the "Beast" from Beauty and the Beast.

We have a few schools nearby, so the boys are always asking to go up to the "fark" as Evan calls it - he has a hard time with some of his "P's"... I am writing this today on Easter, but this was back a few weeks ago - when the sun actually came out every once in awhile. I have had to explain to the boys several times over the past few days that it has to rain in order for the flowers to grow. They aren't buying it though... They are very anxious to play outside. Last summer they hated being hot and being outside a lot, so hopefully they are over that and will spend more time outside this year.

Circus

Evan super excited for the Circus to begin...

Alex and Jonathan doing their best scary face.

Alex close up...

Alex, Evan & Jonathan funny faces.

Evan and Jonathan close up...

We went to the circus with some friends. It was really entertaining! I think that the boys liked the lions and elephants the most, but everything at the circus was really exciting. Actually we had our own little circus sitting behind us. There was a special mix of people sitting behind us, there was about eight kids under the age of four, a teenage mom, an older aunt (maybe she was just a family friend), and an old grandma, with horrile breath. Yes, she was so close, I could actually smell her breath. I had spoons thrown at me, a drink splashed in my hair, sippy cup launched at my head and a white trash mom screaming, "you are getting on my nerves" in my ear several times throughout the night. This mom also stepped out several times to go smoke and took her daughter with her - nice. They bought every flashing toy they could get their hands on at $20 a pop and every sugar filled treat they could find. Sometimes I found the boys watching them more than they were watching the actual circus. Let's just say they were an example of how NOT to act...

Sandbox 2011 & Cioci Joyce's Visit

Cioci Joyce came to town to visit both Sunday and Thursday night of this week, as she was traveling through town from North Carolina to Cleveland to visit Grammy B. On her Thursday night visit she was nice enough to make chicken parmesan and roasted broccoli and cauliflower. It was yummy and everyone loved it! The kids especially liked white broccoli - cauliflower!

While Joyce was getting dinner ready - the boys were outside playing and re-discovered the sandbox - it was a complete mess and they had sand everywhere, but they had a good time. Evan sat there forever and played, so hopefully we will use it much more this year.

Where did Daddy's ring go?

So we went to Somerset this past weekend for a quick trip to visit with Mom and Jim/Granny and Poppy. On Saturday night, Alex found Tim's wedding ring thought it was fun to put it on his finger. We quickly took it away from him and put it back on the nightstand, as we rushed out the door to dinner. Putting it back on the nightstand, right where Alex remembered it being, was our first mistake. Apparently at some point later in the night, he went back into the bedroom and took Tim's ring and hid it, without any of us realizing this! Fast forward to Sunday morning, we were packing up to leave and Tim couldn't find his ring. We looked EVERYWHERE. There was even a heating vent below the nightstand and we took it apart and looked in there. Jim went to the basement and tapped on the duct work to see if he could hear it bouncing in there - but nothing. After an exhaustive search, we decided it had to be there somewhere and it would turn eventually, so we left. Without the ring. I was annoyed... We got about a mile down the road and mom called. They had found the ring!!! Alex had stuck it in the cardboard part of the toilet paper roll and Jim heard it hit the floor as soon as he went to get toilet paper to blow his nose! Alex is so sneaky, but we couldn't be mad at him... He remembered where he put it after we told him where we found it, of course...

Evan's Two Year Checkup/Update

Evan had his two year check up and he loves going to the doctor. He didn't have to get any shots and doesn't have to go again until he is three! Alex went with us, just for fun and he kept asking if he had to get a shot and I told him - only if he was bad. Evan did have to get a finger prick to test his lead levels (because of our old house) but they were normal. She continued to be impressed by his vocabulary and sentence formation,. I am pretty sure that she couldn't really understand him all the time, since he speaks his own language, but I think he is doing pretty good! This was the first time that he had to stand on the scale and stand at the measuring contraption vs. laying down to be measured, so the measurement actually suggested he hadn't grown much, but the doctor thinks it was just wrong last time. So he weighed 28.8lbs and was 35 inches tall.

In other news, Evan continues to sleep in his new big boy bed and is doing great. He has even been telling us when he wants to go to bed. A few times last weekend, he just wanted to go lay down in his bed for the heck of it. This kid loves to sleep! I am so happy that the transition went so well. Next up - removal of the binky and potty training! He is slowly becoming a big boy...

Happy 2nd Birthday Evan!

He wanted to wear his Mickey ears, not a regular party hat like everyone else!


Alex with the boys' good friend Jonathan and his mom, Holly.


Mom, why did you get red velvet cupcakes? At least they had Toy Story ring toppers...

Alex cheesing it up for the camera - notice the "2" candle on his cupcake - we had to pretend it was his birthday too.

Evan with his precious cousin Lilly. Lilly and her twin Diana will be ONE in February!

Alex with his equally precious cousin Diana. Thanks to Lauren for fixing their hair different that day and putting on the onesies with their initials on them so we could tell them apart. I am sure that as a mom of identical twins - it is super annoying to have to constantly tell everyone who is who :)

The Birthday Party Scoop

We had Evan's birthday party on January 15th! He turned 2 on January 14th. I dont know where the last two years have gone! He is as wild and crazy as ever. He definitely has to be the center of attention and yells at the top of his lungs to get your attention. He loves his friends and family - that is for sure. We kept the party small this year and just invited family, godparents and a couple friends. I feel sorry for people with winter birthdays - it is so cold outside, that it makes it hard to have parties! We are so happy that everyone could make it. Uncle Mark, Cioci Becca, Uncle Matt, Cioci Lauren, Babci, Dziadziu, Mimi, Papaw, Aunt Jaclyn, Uncle Michael, Aunt Krista and The Weeks and Pusateri families all came to celebrate! We had two surprise guests - Michael's friend Chris from New York, who just happened to be in town and Tim's friend from work, Daniel, who coincidentially was on the same flight back from Paris as Tim. Which by the way - thank GOD that Tim was able to get back safely and on time. He got home with about 30 minutes to spare before the party started. He was so tired, but was able to hang with the rest of us all night! We are so blessed to have our friends and family in our lives. We are also very blessed to have Evan - Happy Birthday litte guy!

Mornings at our house...

The boys love to lay around in their PJ's and watch cartoons, I think this was a morning I was off work between Christmas and New Years. I really enjoyed my time off with them!