Sunday Morning Run!

This morning Gianni and I ran at Westgate. Gianni and his friend Caleb ran the one mile fun run together and did great! They finished in about 10 minutes. Look at my little champion go! Mommy finished 3.11 miles (5K) in about 31 minutes and 26 seconds. Not bad considering that my music player died half way through. I didn't walk and that was all that mattered.

Last night we partied at Papa's house for his 63rd Birthday! We had steak, baked mac and cheese, and salad. It was a wonderful celebration except the Nonna was missing. We can't wait for her to arrive on Friday!

Earlier in the week miss Carmen had her first official swimming class. She is the only girl and did a great job. She is fearless! I'm so proud of her!

Baseball Days Are Back!

Go Eagles! Gianni (#25) is back in action again! Gianni played his first game of the season today. Although he didn't get much action in the outfield he hit the ball very well. I am proud of his progress and we love to see him play. Carmen did not have dance class today but the next few weeks will be a challenge because Carmen has dance at 9am and Gianni's games are at 9am. Abel is assistant coaching and is pitching to the kids so I will probably be the one to take Carmen to dance class. I was so happy to see him play today.

Gianni and daddy went out the night before to see a basketball game. I am surprised Gianni had any energy to even play baseball today because he was up so late. They watched the Suns win and had ice cream.

And what is miss Carmen up to you might ask. Well, Gianni has been invited to a birthday party every weekend for the past three weeks (everyone in his class is turning 6) so Carmen got a chance to catch up with the Roseland kids one afternoon. She loves the water!

And mommy and daddy have had some fun too! Last weekend was our Spring Supper Club. The menu consisted of two cocktails: Mojitos and a Pomegranate Sangria, two appetizers: Mushroom-Apple Pierogies and Spring Pizzas, salad: Mixed Fruit and Spring Green Salad with White Chocolate Orange Vinagrette, main course: Mini Lamb Burgers with Feta Sauce and Spinach, and a Minted-Squash Orzo Salad, dessert: Apple Bread Pudding Cake and Homemade Cinnamon Ice Cream. I managed to get a few pictures but I am way to tired to edit each one so here is a collage of them. Mom, check out Jenni's blog (I hope you know how to do that from my blog) to see pictures of us and a close up of each dish. It turned out great and Holly and Adam did a great job.

A Weekend of Milestones

I can't believe how fast these kids are growing up! This weekend was a weekend of milestones for both of my kids. They both accomplished great things. First, this weekend they went swimming and it was the first time ever that I could actually watch from the sides of the pool instead of being in with them. Gianni has swimming down very well and Carmen is quite comfortable with her fishy. She was even jumping in from the side! She starts swimming lessons on April 5th! I'm sure it won't be long for her.
In the pool she met a little girl that had her ears pierced. She immediately wanted to get out and dry off and go get her ears pierced too! So...we took advantage of her brave momment. She was so excited! She picked 14K white gold with her birthstone which just happens to be pink for October. How appropriate for my daughter!

And then it happened...THE TEARS..and then all the people walking by her as she is crying in that window as I receive the dirty looks from those parents thinking, "how could you!"

Carmen, I am so proud of you. You were so brave. Now she loves them. She shows them off constantly and keeps asking, "mommy, are they falling out?"

Next to Gianni...read below!

Last Minute BBQ

We have been talking about getting together for a while and tonight it finally happened. It was kind of a last minute thing but the Burgard, Pearson and Morales families all made it over for burgers, turkey dogs, fruit, and smores!
The kids stopped to eat briefly but other than that they were on the move all night. It was hard to even catch pictures of all of them sitting still. Believe it or not, Gianni, Evan, Caleb, Luke, and Jonah did very well together. I am so proud of them for sharing toys...with a little prompting from 3 year old Sophia, "boys...you have to work this out!"

And I am proud of the big boys too for taking the kids to the park for a while so that the girls could talk about girl things!

The Burgard family brought all of the items to make smores! Abel lit the fire and the kids gathered around to load their sticks.

It took Sophia a little while to warm up but by the end of the night she was crying because she didn't want to leave! So cute. Glad that Carmen will have a great preschool friend next year!

My Funny Girl

On Wednesday it was time to give Carmen some much needed attention. Gianni had surgery on his ears on Tuesday and it was all about what Gianni wanted all day. Today, Carmen and I spent some quality time together. Gianni really wanted to golf with Daddy and Papa so the girls dropped them off and headed out to paint pottery at As You Wish. We made little drinking cups for the bathroom so that the kids could use them while brushing their teeth. It is amazing to me how absolutely funny she is when you have her one on one. She never shuts up, she makes up some of the craziest games, and her imagination keeps you on your toes. I love you baby girl!

After pottery, we headed to the golf course where we waited for the boys and enjoyed some Starbucks drinks together. Carmen could not wait to use her new golf clubs that her Papa bought for her! Next it was off to the putting green.



Sports come pretty naturally to Gianni. Poor papa...not as easy with this little one!

My boy!

After golf we headed off to Papa's place for some lunch and a swim. Nonna bought Carmen a new Mickey Mouse swim suit, complete with flip flops and cover up! Here you go Nonna! What do you think? By the way...I did not pose her...she did this all on her own!

The kids swam for an hour or two and then it was shower time and Gianni was off to a birthday party. Carmen fell asleep in the car as usual. It was a long but fun day! I wish spring break could last forever.

Tonight it was working on the blog. Some new templates and headers were made available and my old blog format was getting hard to keep up with because it was "an older version" so I put in lots of time tonight and made the switch. Hope my family and friends enjoy. I am no expert but it was fun trying and playing around with the new set up.

Train Park Adventure

Today we packed a picnic lunch, a blanket, sunscreen, and water and headed off to the railroad park in Scottsdale. It was a beautiful day and being with Sydney and Holly made it even better. It was so nice to hang out with them for day 1 of spring break. Abel has the week off too which made it a family event!

Sydney and Carmen both had pigtails blowing in the breeze as they rode the train side by side.

Enough of the pictures!!! Let us EAT!!

After a day at the train park, it was home to get some work done! Abel and I attacked the upstairs of the house to do some cleaning and then it was time to tidy up the yard. As we were cleaning up the yard, Gianni says. "Mommy who is coming over? I want to have a party!" I think he saw that the house was nice and neat and the yard was freshly cut and it felt like summer. Sydney, Holly, and Adam came over for a very last minute dinner. We grilled turkey sausages and had a fresh tomato and basil salad! The kids played into the darkness and we had our usual fire before the kids went up for a bath. This spring break is off to a fantastic start. Up early tomorrow for Gianni's surgery on his ears : (

Our California Weekend

This weekend we drove to see Abel's family in El Centro, California. On Saturday we visited an air base and watched an air show. The kids enjoyed walking around and looking at the planes. We were able to climb on the planes and each plane was like a little adventure! The fighter jets did some of the coolest tricks in the air I have ever seen.

After some lunch at the local mall and a nap for Carmen, we headed off to the State Fair. Grandpa Lou works the fair so he gets us all in for a discount. The kids played, eat, rode, ran, and got dirty from 4 until they crashed at 10:30pm that night.

Last night it was home and back to normal. The kids had to be disinfected! Gianni slept 14 hours Sunday night due to all of the California fun!