Week 26

Sunday, June 19th

Father's Day. We spent the 1st half of the day in NYC and then spent a lot of time in the car trying to get out of the city. Colombo and Karen had picked up the kids from Gramma and Bobbi so the plan was to all meet up at the Corsino's for a BBQ.

We didn't get home til 9:00 but we still wanted to do our annual scavenger hunt for Daddy's presents. So after we put Rocco down, we got to work.

Monday, June 20th

Rocco, C4 and I were home alone for the day. What a sweet little guy!

Colombo, his mother, and the 3 middle kids went to Portland, Maine for the day to check in on Nana who had to spend a couple days in the hospital. She was released while they were there, so they were able to take her back to her nursing home and get her settled back in.

Tuesday, June 21st

Trevor helped himself to the mess in the dining room, which is under minor construction. As a result, I have 5 nice little holes in my new dining room table. (see the 5 screws right next to the hammer?) Oh well. So thankful we did the Craigslist thing instead of buying brand new. I didn't even get upset at him.

Cousins came over to swim.

We enjoyed dinner out on the back deck...perfect for the 1st day of summer!

Wednesday, June 22nd

Everything he does is cute.

Thursday, June 23rd

Saturday, June 25th

A little late, but we finally got to celebrate Father's Day with my Dad. We drove out to Providence to go the air show.

Death grip on the munchkins!

Somehow Tim's unit was involved. The show was on the air base where he drills. His whole family was there as well. I love seeing his handsome self in uniform. I'm very proud of him!

By the end of the day, Rocco had it figured out how to cover his ears. He didn't like the crazy loud ones.

I'm very thankful for my Dad. He has always been and continues to be the best Dad to me. I started a post a few months ago when there was snow, but never finished it:

My Dad called me. He was all out of breath and snifflin', but excited. He said, "I just took a ride down the hill. I made it the farthest I've ever gone!"

I love that my Dad has a big birthday coming this year and still finds enjoyment sledding down his hill--by himself-- when the mood strikes!

He was so excited to tell me about his 'New World Record' run. I hung up the phone with a huge smile on my face and a warm heart.

Dad has always been Mr. Adventure, from travelling cross-country with a station wagon, tent, and 4 kids, to going down to the elementary school during a snow storm to blow donuts. Or allowing me to sit on his lap at about age 10 and stear the car for the last 1/2 mile on the way home.

I admire him for still being so active both physically and socially. It's no surprise that he is so well-like and respected by so many.

I love you, Dad...3 times. It was great to spend the day with you.

Videos for Avery

Dear Avery,

Thank you for being a faithful reader of my blog. It's rewarding to post knowing that someone "out there" is enjoying it. I know you like videos, so here are 3 that I found in my camera from the last month or so.

Love, Auntie

Locks of Love, take 3

For the 3rd time, Madison selflessly donated to Locks of Love. This was the 2nd time she did it with Kelly. Both girls were very excited to shed their long, heavy, hot hair for the summer.

She was able to give 9 or 10 inches.

Both cuts are super cute!!! She feels free in her short hair. It takes her 2 years to grow it long enough to give again.

I'm very proud of Madison for always being willing to give of herself to help someone in need, comfort a friend, or for the greater good of a situation. Never thinking twice. Never expecting anything in return. She is very selfless.

NGD

Nathanael had a special treat recently. After MUCH nagging he convinced me to finally call Sean's mom and see if he could spend a day at school with Sean. Laurie emailed Sean's teacher, Mrs. Archibald, and just like that he was able to go.

He couldn't ride the bus, so I stopped by and picked Sean and Cameron up in the morning. I was chit-chatting with Sean's dad and then he made reference to the boys being late. I thought Laurie told me 8:40 and she actually said 8:20, so I managed to drop off the boys 5 minutes late for school. Nice. I knew a school schedule was not for me!

In my hurried frustration, I forgot to snap a picture of the boys in front of the school. Luckily, Laurie went straight from her day of work to catch them in action. Below, the boys are smack in the middle. Nathanael's in red.
Apparently Mrs. Archibald is just the sweetest 2nd grade teacher. She's the old-fashioned kind of teacher that remembers when it was fun to be a teacher, long before test scores and integration became the focus. Her students adore her. She is close to retirement and just invests into her students like none other.

Since school was winding down for the year, each afternoon had a scheduled fun activity. This day: Pinto Bean Spitting Contest.

Now I understand how they fill a 7 hour school day!!!

How cute is this?!

I asked him about his day and if he thought he'd like to go to 'real' school every day. He was pretty sure he has it good at home. He reported, "Sean's class has a sissy, a bully, a show-off and a smart kid. [pause] ...and some hot girls."

Excuse me??!!! Wow! One day in school and we've learned new words and how to appropriately use them disrespectfully. We had a little chat about that!

He also made note that he was "very interested in the smart kid."

In other Nathanael news, he made the All-Star team for baseball!!! He was one of 2 kids picked from his team! He couldn't have been happier. His team won by 1 run and Nathanael had a couple of great hits.

Week 25

Sunday, June 12th

Daddy and the boys worked on Nathanael's bike. It was a pink hand-me-down, so they worked for over 4 hours changing it to lime green and black.Trevor and Rocco lined up their fleet and set up a car wash using Clorox wipes.

Monday, June 13th

Colombo and I rode out to Providence to help Tim move into their beautiful new home. It is perfect for their family.

Mom kept the kids and then we all met back up at Lisa's for Q2 Birthday party.

Tony's Pizza and DQ ice cream cake!

Eight people are in Q2-Shaun, Rocco, Christina, Trevor, Levi, Madison, Avery, and Chris who had to leave before the picture was taken.

The '09 Boys are getting BIG!

Rocco loved his Elmo card from Gramma.

Tuesday, June 14th

Colombo continues to work on our little dining room makeover. We are trying to install a chandelier at the moment.

Wednesday, June 15th

Ortho check-up. They should be coming off in the next month or two.

Thursday, June 16th

We met Bethany and Allison to pick strawberries.

Rocco ate just about as fast as I could pick!

Later we got to catch some of Juliet's softball game! She's awesome!

Friday, June 17th

A beautiful promise. I think it was the first time I saw a FULL rainbow.

Stretching all the way from one side...

...to the other.

And then a second arch began to appear.

Saturday, June 18th

We went to NYC for a work thing for Colombo. It was an evening reception on this beautiful 130' yacht. Think 'Overboard'.

On our left was the new World Trade Center project, right across from the hotel we stayed at.

To our right was New York Harbor and Lady Liberty.

We were positioned at the finish line for the 'swim around Manhattan' day. People had started swimming at 9am and we watched many finish around 6pm. Each swimmer was accompanied by a kayak.

The crew of 7, dressed in uniform waited on us hand and foot, serving fancy-schmancy things like goose liver with apricot marmalade. That was the only one I didn't try. These beautiful asparagus thingys were totally safe and delicious!

After most people left, our lovely hosts asked us to stay through dinner. It was a lovely evening. Quite unbelievable how some live. On their boat. With their chef.