Family update....

Well I felt it was time to update everyone about what we have been up too.

The past couple of weeks have been crazy. Seb has been doing good in school, homework time and reading is still a struggle. He also has been enjoying going to his Singing Knights Rehearsals on Wed after school. Boy Scouts meeting were postponed this past month due to the Scout leader having an family emergency. They start back up this week, I think. Marcello had an stomach virus that caused him to have a really bad rash for several days and an upset tummy. I am thankful I didn't get it. So for a week I had to stay home and moderator him. I get bad cabin fever if I stay at home too much. And Ralph has been busy with work and helping me try and keep the house under control. My pregnancy has been going good, no problems so far. I am now a day off from 37 weeks. My next appt. is Monday and I am already schedule for my C-Section Nov. 14th. OOO I forgot to mention We had a family photo shoot done and my Prego photos done. Once I get them I will post them on here. I need a new main photo for my Blog page.

I cant get over how time fly, its almost Halloween. The rest of the week for us is going to be busy. Seb has: singing until 4pm today: Cub Scouts tomorrow night: Friday is going to be a crazy day, housing Appt. and Seb was invited to a trick or treating party: Sat is the festival on base: and Sunday my Friends and I are trying to go to Taominia for lunch. This is a typical week for us, very busy. On top of that I go to a bible study group on Tuesdays , so I'm gone most of that day and Marcello goes to there daycare. My days are very busy, and I never feel like I get enough done. I really do need to learn a new healthy routine.

Lately I have had slow starts due to me feeling very tired. I am still working on a few projects around the house, trying to get things organized. Once I finish each one, they stay that way and it feels good to have things in order. Seb has been working very hard on keeping his room in order. I am proud of him, he puts his clothes away, and now keeps his toys the way I separated them, he makes his bed every morning before school also. Seb also helps me clean up Marcello's toys downstairs before he goes to bed. He has grown so much, but is still very stubborn in some areas. There are days its impossible to get him to do anything, but he is 7. I am trying to learn new ways to help him control his ADD and to focus better on tasks. We really want to take him off his medications and help him control it. It's very mentally draining working with him on some days.

I really do need to give Ralph more credit lately. He gets up every morning at 6 am, wakes Seb and gets him ready for school, makes his breakfast and lunch. Then runs upstairs and gets himself ready for work. If Marcello wakes up, he gets him and changes his diaper, brings him downstairs and makes him a snack. Then he comes into our room kisses me to get me up and says he needs to leave. I come down and take over and get Seb on his way to the bus stop. I no longer walk him to the bus stop, We have put trust in him to go on his own this year. Ralph then calls me when he is on his way from work and checks to see if he needs to pick anything up for us, knowing some days I cant get out and we might need something for the boys. When he walks into the house he is bulldozed by the boys jumping all over him and the house goes crazy. He then comes into the kitchen and either finishes dinner that I have started or makes us dinner. We sit down as a family for dinner and Marcello sits next to his daddy and he feeds him, well helps him. After dinner he takes Marcello upstairs and gives him a bath, since its hard for me to lean over the tub and bath him and also gets Seb ready for bed. I start to clean up after dinner, then he comes down and finishes while I rest on the couch. I have been finding myself very blessed. Here he is busting his Ass at work all day and then comes home and takes care of us. I feel so guilty when I do whine about how I need him to do a project for me, and look at all he does around here. He does a lot more, and I am very lucky to have a wonderful man in my life. And I need to thank him more for all he does for me and our family.

THANK YOU BABE FOR ALL YOU DO

WE ALL LOVE YOU VERY MUCH

An update on Sebastian.

Well I have been talking a little about what he has been up too, but I guess I need to post an full update. I cannot believe how much he has grown, where has the time gone. He started the second grade this year, his 3rd school year on this island. And he has come along ways. I am very proud of him.

We decided this year not to sign him up for soccer, which I was a little sad not to do. I know how much he enjoys it and is pretty good too. But when it rolled around and his friends were going to practice, he didn't seem upset. I think him not doing soccer this season has helped all of us, its nice not to be so busy with sports. I'm not so rushed and we have been getting better family time at home. Plus Ralph is home this season, so we are in an different routine.

We did decide to sign him up this year for Cub Scouts, which this year he is a Wolf. I am very excited about this and hoping this will give him good father and son time with Ralph. Ralph is excited also, and we are hoping this will help teach Sebastian good core values.

We also received a letter from school asking for Sebastian to be part of the "Singing Knights". It's an honor to be asked to be part of this singing group, Especially since its for 3rd graders and up. He has gone to two practices so far after school and is enjoying it. I always have heard him hum and sing around the house, but never really paid attention. He came home one day and asked to sing for me. I was so moved by his little voice. We are looking forward to the concerts he will be in at school.

Sorry I haven't posted photos of Marcello's and Finns room. I have been waiting for Ralph to put a fresh coat of paint in the room. I now am giving up on it. It was Sebs room, so the walls are marked up from him. I am almost 36 weeks and I want to finish the room. All I really need to do is hang the wall decor. Cant wait to show all of you of how cute it is.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Keeping cool over the HOT Summer Months.......

Just thought I would post a few photos of the boys keeping cool over the summer.

ENJOY.....



Marcello loves to play with water......

My girlfriends organized a day at the beach for the kids. Here are some photos from that day.


























I could not stop him from eating beach sand.























The boys digging a hole, Marcello so wants to help.






Marcello watching and helping his big brother dig.

























It's gets VERY HOT in the summer here. And I cannot always take the boys to the pool on base. So we buy a fun one for the back yard for water play days to help keep them cool. Here are some photos of the boys keeping cool. Marcello loved this pool I got him.














































































Here is a photo of the boys passed out after a long day.






This is how we found Marcello after Ralph took him to the pool on base.










HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS AND HAD A GREAT SUMMER. WE ARE ENJOYING THE FALL DAYS HERE ON THE ISLAND.

San Vito Lo Capo ...Part 2...

Since the last post seemed long with a lot of photos, I thought I would break it up some and post the rest on another blog. So here are the rest of the photos from that trip. Like I have said this is my favorite place. I so want to go back again. I know Ralph would really enjoy the peacefulness of it and us letting the kids run down the beach.

Hope you enjoy.









Sunset photos.


























A photo of Marcello and I at sunset going to dinner.


After a long day of driving and playing at the beach, we went back to our room and got cleaned up. I wanted to drive tonight to another small town near by to have dinner and walk around. Last time we were here the driver took us to a town near by and it had a lot of little shops and restaurants. I remember the town having nice restaurants and the food being really good. So Kim and I set out to try and find it. We never did, LOL. I couldn't understand why, I knew it was only 15 min drive. So we just drove until we finally decided to just stop at the next place we saw to eat. We finally came across a place that looked open, but kept driving up the mountain a little more. After driving a few more Min's, we turned around and decided to go back to that one and eat. We didn't want to kids up too late and they were hungry. Parking always scares me in Sicily. Most places do not have parking spots or a lot, so you have to park on the side of the road. And the roads here are verily wide enough for 2 cars to pass each other. I always feel I will come back to my car and it will be missing a mirror or smashed up.

We unload the kids and walk to the Restaurant. It's a nice night so we decide to eat outside. It also looks like they are setting up for a party. We look over the menu and can not make it out. Normally I can read half the menu when I go out, and I break out my cheat sheet to help. But I couldn't on this one. We did our best and ordered. We started to crack up when the waiter brought our wine and dinner. Kim ordered white wine and it came out in a local ceramic , hand painted pitcher. And she doesn't like seafood and her pasta had clams or something smilier in it. I do not remember what mine was, but it wasn't that great either. During dinner the party started next to us. There was a man playing the piano and we all got a great giggle. Marcello apparently likes classical music, he starts to dance in his chair to the music. Seb is almost passed out next to me on some pillows. This is typical when we go out to dinner since places don't open until around 8PM. Even though the food wasn't that great, the wine and entertainment was.