Happy Birthday Alessandro!

February 15th Alessandro turned 9!  Woohoo!  He was lucky and got checked out of school early to go to lunch with Udine at Tucanos, this has become a tradition the boys look forward to every birthday.  It's the only time they go to this restaurant because they get a free birthday meal and they just love the never ending meats that are brought to them.  It's always a fun experience.  And they are always sung to.  :) 
After school I took the kids to Trafalga and they rock climbed and got in 2 rounds of mini golf..one inside and one outside.  I don't think it's ever been warm enough to do that outside in Feb before!!  Both Alessandro and I lost our balls though, so we ended up having to share with Diego.  There were lots of laughs and it was a great time.  That night he wanted over easy eggs and baked potatoes for dinner.  Grandma and Grandpa stopped by to wish him a happy birthday and we also had cupcakes for him.  It was a fun day.

Enjoying Tucanos

Alessandro is a great kid.  If he applies himself he's very good at school, but I have to follow up with him to make sure he actually does the homework.  He tends to be a bit lazy with that and just doesn't want to.  Even though it takes him only minutes because it's not hard for him.  grr.  Hopefully this doesn't continue.  :)  He is a bright boy though and I love to see the wheels turn in his head.  He still loves art and enjoys creating things out of anything he can find.  He will ask for things that are getting thrown away so he can create something out of it.  Needless to say, wherever he has been working is usually a big mess!!  He loves tennis and I think that has become his favorite sport.  He wishes he could play in the winter.  He's a very shy boy and it takes a lot of courage for him to talk with other people.  It's like he needs to prepare himself for it.  He tends to mumble because he is embarrassed and that is something we are working on with him.  Every now and then he will want to surprise you and do little acts of kindness like making beds for everyone or cleaning rooms, etc without being asked.  It is always a nice surprise.  And he is great at writing little notes.  He may not know how to express himself vocally, but he is pretty good at it through pen and paper.  We often find little notes from him.  Its' great.   He's starting to mature and take care of his little siblings and help them out more which is nice to see.  He's such a blessing in our lives.  We love you Alessandro!  Happy Birthday!!