Breaking Free!

Jon and I decided that it would be fun to show up at the kids' school and break them out for a day! It was right before Thanksgiving and we both had off work but they still had school. We sent them to school as usual and about an hour later, I went to get Anthony. I didn't tell him that Jon was going to get Sophia - I just had him called to the office and told him that I was there to take him on a date! A few minutes after we left the school property, Jon showed up to bust Sophia out! He did not tell Sophia that I had already gotten Anthony.

It was a blast! Such a fun time of connecting with them 1-on-1!

I took Anthony to our favorite little breakfast place in town and then we went to see "Megamind" in the theater. He was so funny because he kept saying, "Mom, do you think Sophia is still in school now?" I love this little boy so much and I just had the best time talking to him and spending time alone with him!

Jon took Sophia shopping at "5 Below" just to kill some time while we finished up at the restaurant because he wanted to take her to the same place. I texted him when we were leaving and they showed up a few minutes later. It was fun because we are such regular customers of this place and know all of the waitstaff and they helped us keep the secret. Then Jon took Sophia hiking in a park - it was a beautiful warm winter day and they had so much fun together!


When we all got home, Sophia & Anthony were so excited to tell each other about their day - - and then discovered that the other one did sort of the same thing. It was so cute because they were so excited for each other and were not at all jealous about what the other one did. We heard them talking about it and when Sophia discovered that we had gone to the same restaurant but at different times, she said, "see Anthony, we're connecting the dots!".

What great kids we have! We think this is going to have to become an annual tradition - - next time I will be with Sophia and Jon will be with Anthony.

First Day of School 2010

I love to capture the 1st day of school in pictures! I always have the kids stand at the same spot so I can see how much they grow from year to year.

2006 - Sophia heading to Pre-K:

2007 - Sophia going to all day Kindergarten - this was a rough day (actually couple of weeks!) for Jon!

2008 - Anthony starting his school career - 4K!

and big sister starting 1st grade!

2009 - milestone year - both kids in all-day school - this was a hard day for me! Anthony in kindergarten, Sophia in 2nd grade

2010 - we're all old pros at this by now! This was the first year that I didn't even take them to school on the 1st day! Anthony in 1st grade, Sophia in 3rd grade.

Diving Board!

Anthony just started going off the diving board! So cute!!!

Sophia's an old pro!

ANTHONY!

We celebrated Anthony's 6th birthday Phillies style! He recently developed a strong love for the team and so it was fun to have this as his party theme.

cousins in their Phillies gear

Grammy & Wil

brothers

the fam

Bubs & Gordy in matching Phillies shirts

silly band madness!

with Aunt Lizzie

hilarious video of Gordy (almost 3 years old) singing to his cousin.

It is really hard to believe that Anthony is 6 already - I know every parent says this, but it really is so true that time just goes by too quickly! Anthony was in full time kindergarten this year - what a change for Jon and I to adapt to! He did so great and has emerged a very good reader and writer! Anthony still loves to play with cars, but his main love this year has become baseball!!! He and his buddy Jack (neighbor) play every chance they get! And light sabres are another favorite - actually anything Star Wars related. We watched the old Karate Kid movies this year and both kids loved them so much - we recently went to see the new one that just came out - they loved it too!

Anthony has such a sweet spirit - he has always been our snuggler love bug. I hope he doesn't outgrow that for a long time!!! He is such a great little brother to Sophia - he is usually very happy to follow in her footsteps, which is a great thing since it makes life much easier that they both don't want to lead!

Ahhhh, I love my little Nino! I wish I could keep him little longer!

A Visit to Anthony's School

I love the opportunity to go into my kid's school any chance I get. Anthony's class had a special mother's day tea party - it was so much fun!

singing songs for the Mommys

so proud of his painting!

First Tooth!

Anthony lost his first tooth on April 20th - a couple of months before his 6th birthday! Growing up so fast!

5 years old!

My baby is now 5! How did that happen?!

Anthony was SO sick for his birthday this year! 2 days before his birthday, he came down with some sort of virus and didn't feel better until 3 or 4 days after his birthday. So, we had to cancel his birthday party! This was how Anthony spent his birthday:



Notice the chocolate frosting around his mouth - even a virus can't stop a kid from enjoying his birthday cake! My parents were in town and were planning on being at his birthday party, but even after it was canceled, my mom couldn't bear the thought of Anthony not having cake on his birthday - so she made him a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (from scratch - yum!). I should have gotten a picture of Grandma holding him, because that is actually how he spent most of his day.

He did perk up (with the help of ibuprofen) long enough to eat some cake and open a couple of presents.




We did reschedule his birthday party for this past weekend - unfortunately some of our family and friends that would've been with us on his birthday couldn't make this weekend. However, he had a great time hanging at the pool with his sister and cousins! Then we went back to our house for a cookout with Jon's (side of the) family.







I'll leave you with a short video of something Anthony was very proud to learn before he even turned 5! (listen carefully)

Anthony's First (Ever) Day of School!

Well, our pre-school days are over! :-( Our baby boy is now officially a school boy! He goes to pre-K every day in the afternoon! The first day was a little bit bittersweet as Jon and I dropped him off and went home to a quiet house.

A couple of pics of big sis getting him excited for his first day!














And here he goes...bye Baby Boy (for 2 hours and 45 minutes) :-)




(I can't believe it's taken me so long to get this post up - sorry to those of you that have been checking so much since I told you it would be up the day he went to school for the first time (last Thursday, August 28). We have had all sorts of computer problems and I have not been able to get on here. It might be awhile until my next post as well!)

Happy Birthday Anthony!

Wow! Today our baby is 4! I was thinking about how much I love being Anthony's mom - it is such a different experience to have a boy when your first born is a girl. I am so glad we are getting to experience it. He is such a boy - he loves to wrestle, play with trucks, balls and pretend he's fighting with whatever is handy - but yet, he is so sweet and mushy too - from the day he was born, he was that kind of baby that just melts into you and loves to cuddle. Anthony loves his big sister and has played many "girl" games (see pic of him in ballerina costume), but I think his favorite person to be with is his Daddy. Any time Jon is around, Anthony is all over him - and Jon spends a lot of time on the floor with him wrestling (and getting lots of kisses at the same time!). Anthony has lots of nicknames (but not Tony!) - when he was a baby, Sophia started calling him Nino and then morphed into Nins and Ninster and then we started calling him Bubba, which has stuck and also morphed into Bubbs, Bubbalicious and even Delicious. Ahhh, we love him so much!!!

Lightning McQueen & Sally

Thanks to Crew Chief Auntie Lizzie, a Pit Crew consisting of Grammy and Mommy and a Maintenance Crew of Pop Pop and Daddy, we have Lightning McQueen and Sally for Halloween!!

Fall - - My Favorite Season

Serious Turkey! Sophia, 7 months.

The Big Apple & The Statue of Liberty - Halloween '06

Dora & Boots - Halloween '05

Ah, there is so much to love about fall! I have always loved this season. Jon and I got married in October and we had the most perfect weather on our wedding day and usually have beautiful weather to celebrate our anniversary. I love buying pumpkins and mums and getting out all of the fall decor (seeing as brown is my all-time favorite color, my house looks best in the fall). I love food associated with the fall - anything pumpkin, apples, soups, cider etc.

I love Halloween now that I have kids - it's all about the costumes, not the candy! Thanks to Auntie Lizzie, my kids have had some pretty cool costumes (see pics!).

I love Thanksgiving! I'm starting to think it is my favorite holiday because there is not the stress and craziness like there is at Christmas. Last year I went shopping on Black Friday for the first time and I think that will be a tradition (how about it Lizzie?!). This year I am taking the entire week of Thanksgiving off because Jon has that week off and it will be a nice time for us to reconnect after a busy football season ends.

The beautiful weather today just made me want to share all the reasons I love this time of year. I am so glad to live in a state that truly has 4 seasons (although I could live with a shorter winter!)