Life in our house when dinner is being prepared...

Do the hours of 4pm - 6pm seem crazy to anyone at their house or is it just me?  I swear this is not an unusual occurance during this time for us...or something similar to happen.  Today as I was cooking dinner I catch out of the corner of my eye, Mia taking a game piece so Luca couldn't have it.  Which then caused him to cry and he smacked her.  So she then got up and smacked him in the head which caused him to cry louder.  So he did the same in return.  She then proceeded to hit him with the piece of game board she had in her hand.  So he went and grabbed the box to hit her with it.  She just smacked him back yet again.  To which he grabbed the dogs kong and chucked it at her.  And she just hit him back.  She wasn't getting upset, she'd just retaliate, so he finally got frustrated and started crying and coming to me when he realized I had been watching the whole thing.  Both caught in the act.  Was I a bad mom to just sit and watch?  I don't know, maybe, but this was the fastest I was able to get him to stop crying because he knew I knew that they were both in the wrong.  And it seems when I'm making dinner that is the favorite time to pick fights.  I wish I could hire a cook.  :)  Not that that would cure the fighting, but it sure would be nice for me.  ;)

Carving Pumpkins

I wrote about carving our pumpkins in my last post so I'm just going to post some pictures. 

Pumpkin Harvest

Our garden was very successful this year.  We had more food than we could eat.  My favorite is always the cantaloupe, but next I think is the pumpkins.  It's fun to watch them grow and see the kids get excited about them.  We picked them last week and I seriously thought I was going to throw up after getting them to the front door.  There was one that was too heavy for me to carry so Diego and I were trying to roll it up our hill.  It was crazy.  They are definitely the biggest and heaviest we've ever grown.  Last night we carved two of them.  Diego and Alessandro picked out what kind they wanted to do.  They each cleaned them out on their own and Diego also punched the holes for the pattern.  But Udine and I did the actual carving.  The two little ones didn't want to be left out so they poked holes in a couple of the smaller pumpkins we have.  Not counting the three pumpkins that were rotten, I think we had 9 pumpkins total from our garden this year. 

Seriously, how do people get good pictures of their kids, because I can't!!!  The picture below shows how my day was going.  Why oh why can't they just get along?

I had to post this picture because it makes me laugh.  This is how I felt by the end of all this as well.  Oh the joys.  Seriously, if she is not the one throwing the fit it is Luca.  Please please grow out of it!!!  They are both about killing me!!

Costume Fun

Ever since we pulled out the Halloween decorations the kids have been living in these old halloween costumes.  I think I need to get some girl costumes.  :)  Although, Mia doesn't seem to mind at all being Buzz or spiderman.  Good times.

 Can you tell who loves the camera?  :)

And who's a little grumpy?  :) 



Cat

This orange cat hangs out at our house a lot.  I think it is a neighbor's cat, but is an outdoor one or something.  Anyway, it is a nice cat so the kids are able to pet it and hold it.  They now want a cat too.  This one will have to do though.  :)  Udine would never allow a cat in this house.  He doesn't even like this one visiting outside.  ;)

 This was the first time I've seen the grey kitten.  She was cute from a distance but not as friendly and very dirty.  I haven't seen her since.  Hope she's ok!! 



Pick your battles

When the kids reach the age that they like to pick what they are wearing I have always let them.  It is not worth the fight to me.  So they may not match, but at least what they are wearing is clean.  :)  Mia has reached this stage much earlier than the boys ever did, which makes for some very interesting outfits!!  This particular day she decided she wanted to wear her swimming suit.  Hmm.  I actually might have fought this but since I knew we weren't going anywhere this day I didn't.  So she wore her shorts (which she picked) and her swimming suit on top (which she also picked).  You choose your battles, right?  I had to post the pictures because it makes me chuckle every time I see them.

Fathers and Sons Campout

I did not go to this (obviously) so maybe I should have Udine blog about it, but I thought I'd at least post the pictures and he can add to it if he wants.  Overall it sounds like they all had a great time...especially Luca.