Marcello's 2nd Birthday, FIRE TRUCKS !!!!

Is this an Awesome cake or WHAT !!!!!

I got to say Marcello had a GREAT 2ND Birthday !!!! I worked really hard to make this years party special for our little guy. And I feel what really made the party was those who attended. Thanks everyone for coming and helping celebrate Marcello's Birthday with us and ALL the fabulous gifts !!!!

Here are the photos from the party Enjoy !!!! Sorry it took a few month to post this !!!!

A photo of Marcello in my Friends blow up ball Fire truck. She brought this to the party.











Marcello trying to break the Pinata !!! I think Ralph hung it too high !!!

He is so excited about his cake !!!!













HMMMM CAKE !!!!!!!!!

After everyone went home from the party, Marcello opened all his gifts. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE GREAT PRESENTS !!!!

Marcello LOVES The Toy Story. So his Grandpa and Mary Ann got him a Woody doll.  He loves it.

Our friend got him a REAL digital Camera !!!!













Another friend got him a remote control truck. After he opened this, he didn't want to open any more gifts !!!

Another photo of the cake !!!

A weekend in Sciacca with my boys !!

Here are the rest of the photo's from our weekend.

 After a FULL day at Carnvale, we drove to the house to relax. Here are photo of the boys at the beach near the house. 

Marcello playing with the rocks, pushing them into the sand.

Sebastian was throwing rocks, his all time favorite.

My boys are ALL BOY !!!!

Marcello found a rock he wants to keep !!!!

He saw his brother throwing them, so he got closer to the water to throw his in !!!

Monkey see. Monkey DO !!!!

You can see our beach house behind us. Ours had the best view.

The boys had so much fun on the beach. They didn't want to leave.

Well every good time must come to an end. So back to our beach house.


This is my Favorite photo. I am going to have it framed on our wall.

My final sunset at the beach house !!!! Good Night.

Carnevale In Sciacca with the boys !!!!

This year I decided to take the boys on a weekend get away. I was under a great deal of stress with everything that was going on around me. And I needed to get away to clear my head.  I just had my 3rd boy, Ralph just agreed on orders, and I volunteered as the Treasure of the EOD MU8 FRG. It was just too much for me. 

So I emailed Ralph and told him I was thinking of driving to the West Coast to Sciacca for their Carnevale and rent a house on the beach. No Computer, No TV, Just my boys & I. I was Nervous and Excited. This would be my First road trip with the boys by myself.

We arrived just before sunset and all I wanted to do is relax. This is a photo from our beach house. Lots of room for the boys to run around. The beach was just a few steps away, and behind us were beautiful fields. I loved it.

After we all got settled, we loaded up and drove to the Carnevale. The house was only a 10 min drive away. We found parking and reliezed we just missed the parade. So we just walked around and got a bite to eat.

Here are photos of the boys from that night.

The next day I promised Seb we would walk down to the beach and play. Here are a few photos of the property around the house.

Seb standing in the field.

The boys walking back to the house.

After we got back from our walk, we loaded up again to catch the parade. Here are a few photos of the floats.

The floats are HUGH and are pulled down the street by tractors. 

It was such a BEAUTIFUL day. The sun was out, the sky was clear and very BLUE. And it was warm for this time of year. I could not have asked GOD for a better day to spend with my boys.

Seb saw this mask the night before and asked if he could get it.

Seb had so much fun running around and driving the bumper cars.

Doesn't this look good. You see booths like this at every Festival they have here in sicily.

Isn't he a CUTIE !!! Finnegan is such a good baby. I am truly blessed with ALL my boys.

OK I just HAD to post a silly photo of me with 2 "Women" from the parade.

We had a very FULL day that day. We all enjoyed ourselves very much. Seb ran around with silly string, I went shopping for more of my favorite ceramics that are only found there. And Finnegan loved looking at all the bright colors and the fresh air.

This blog ended up to be longer than expected so I will post a second one with the photos of when we went to the beach at the house in Sciacca.

LIFE IS GOOD IN SICILY !!!!

VALENTINE'S DAY: Picking Sicilian Blood Oranges.

Today we did something I have been wanting to do since we arrived. 

We went to go and Pick Blood Oranges.

Ralph, Sebastian, Marcello, Finnegan and I joined a group of people to go on a beautiful (but Chilly) day to a locals farm. Emilio and Mariska are locals that allowed us to pick their oranges and enjoy an typical Sicilian lunch with them. They are also the ones I buy my local fresh pressed olive oil from.

Marcello was a little crabby while picking Oranges.  Here is a photo of Marcello and Ralph.

Seb had a great time running around picking the Oranges off the trees with Friends.

Another Photo of Marcello and Ralph.

After we filled our bag of Oranges, we followed them up the road to an open field for the kids to run wild. This is a great place to have an picnic with the kids on a warm sunny day. Lots of room to run and cool caves for them to explore.



I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A VERY HAPPY VALENTINES DAY !!!!!!

COMING SOON.....

I Have not had time to update my Blogpage, I have extremely busy. But I hope soon I can sit and post the ones of the trips we took while Ralphs family was in town.

Keep checking back !!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. 

This is the best photo I could get of Marcello on Santa's lap at our command Children's Christmas Party. Seb didn't want anything to do with Santa this year, so no photo of him. And baby Finn was fast asleep, so I didn't want to disturb him.

This year we wanted to keep Christmas small. We didn't buy much for the boys or for each other. I also didn't take very many photos on Christmas morning. I have found myself in a fog lately. I am blaming it on having 3 boys. Ralph promised to take me shopping in Rome when his parents arrive, so I am excited about that.

So here are the few photos I did take Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. ENJOY

Sebastian and I making gingerbread men for Santa. 

His cookies, I let him do it all this year. Time for them to bake now.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

Grrr Finnegan is wondering what Santa brought him. He looks so cute in his Christmas PJ's.

Marcello got a new bike. It's a European one without peddles. it teaches Kids balance. We wanted to get the original one from Germany that are made of wood, but they were too pricey. We also saw these on Sesame Street, LOL

Marcello opening his gifts in his new chair.

Like I said Ralph and I didnt get each other much. He got me the entire Season Collection of Absolutely Fabulous. Some nutcracker Christmas Tree oroments, and a few other small items. Seb got me a new Coffee pot. (With the help of daddy).

I'm sure you noticed no photos of Seb Christmas morning, like I said I just wasn't organized this year. But I do feel Seb had a great Christmas this year. Ralph & I also broke down and bought a Wii. We needed a family game system. I am glad we did and now Seb, Ralph and I can play games together as a family. We all miss family game night. We used to pick one night a week to play a board game. But now with all the sports and homework Seb has, we haven't done it. We also got Seb a Digital camera, ( well we really won it at Ralph's command X-mas party). He had one, but it broke, and we were debating on getting him one for X-mas anyways.

Hope everyone Had a Very Merry Christmas

When is my life NOT CRaZy !!!!!!!!!

It's the week before Christmas and the Schmitz house goes CRaZy. This week has been busy with colds, stomach viruses, Singing Knights concerts, last minute shopping, and preparing for our Holiday Cocktail Party here at the house. My lay out for the week went out the window starting Monday and it snowballed as the week went on. 

All week I was fighting a cold and I missed my bible study Christmas party. And Marcello has been showing signs of being sick or teething. I have been trying to get the house cleaned and ready for the Holiday Party we were hosting here. And Ralph ended up with a bad Virus and got Marcello and Seb sick. Poor Seb missed his singing Knight Concert because of it. I was heart broken because he has been going to practices for months now. I was Thankful he only got sick the one time and was well enough to go the next day to sing for the entire school. I was still under the weather, so I sent Ralph to the school to video it. 

The weekend finally comes and the house is all decorated for Christmas. Ralph works hard on making treats for our guests, and I made my grandmothers punch and homemade Eggnog. Our guests show and I believe everyone had a good Holiday Cheer. I only wish I took photos from the party, but I found myself managing the kids upstairs instead of enjoying good conversation with friends. 

Now it's off to prepare for the Jolly Ole guy himself to visit. 

THE SCHMITZ FAMILY WISHES EVERYONE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!!

Here are some random Photos of the boys. ENJOY.

Here is a photo of Marcello with the pasta strainer over his face, he loves to run around the house with random cook ware.

Here is a photo of Finn at a Month old. He is wearing the outfit that marcello wore when he was 3 months old. That shows the size difference between the two boys.

Here is a photo of Ralph holding Marcello when he was 3 months old, same outfit. This photo was taken right before Ralph left for Iraq.

PHOTOS OF BABY FINN..

My friend Lindsay Powell came over last Friday and took some photos of baby Finn for me. We have been trying to get together since the day he was born. She had strep when I had him, then her kids got sick and her husband was on travel. And well you know how life goes, we both have busy schedules with the kids etc.. And its the Holidays with all its activities. Finally she sends me a message saying she can come over, and has to bring her girls. Which I have no problem with except, our power went out at 2 Am and its still not up. Ugggg.

So we brainstorm and say lets give it a shot anyways. I get good natural light through my back glass doors. And here are a few sample shots she emailed me.

This is a photo of Finn with a Hugh Blue bow I found in my house. We had some issues with it, the kids got a hold of it and it fell apart and I tried to fix it, then it kept falling over. lol. But look how cute he is with all that hair. Ralph got a little upset when he saw it. He just thought it was wrong to do this to a boy. Sorry Babe.

This is a cute photo, look at those eyes. Right now they are deep gray. We are still wondering what color they are going to be.

Here is a photo of Finnegan in Ralph's chair. It was his mothers, so it is special to him. Finnegan is wrapped in the blanket I bought in Ireland for him while I was pregnant. Isn't this cute.

Well these are the only sneak peeks of the photos she took for me. Soon I will have the rest. I can't wait to see them.

COMING SOON.....

Sorry I have not been posting anything, just been swamped. I am still waiting on the photos we had done when I was prego and with the boys. I have not heard back from the photographer. I also just had some photos done of baby Finn, and I should have those soon. I just had a sneak peek at them. They are sooo cute. 

I just have been busy trying to get the house ready for the Holidays and a Party we are having here at the house. We didn't have power or HEAT for 2 days, so I am behind on the house. We also attended Ralphs command Christmas party Friday night. Plus Seb has his Singing concert this week. So we have been running around crazy. This week is not much better. 

Here is the photo of Ralph and I at the party Friday. Hope everyone had a Great weekend.