Seriously!!??

So today we woke up to an unpleasant surprise. Well, I thought it was unpleasant, the kids thought it was exciting. But yes, on May 24th it was snowing. Luca was begging to go out and play so I reluctantly unpacked the winter stuff and let him go. As Mia saw this going on, she was not happy. The pictures will show you how my morning was.

Luca happy to be tromping in the snow

Making snow angels
Mia SO angry I won't let her go outside.

After 5 min or so of screaming with the door open, I shut it and this is what happened next.

A little while later Luca came in to switch gloves. As I was putting them on him, Mia ran and got a hat ready to go outside.

Once I saw this I just couldn't resist anymore and I gave in. Yes, she is a little spoiled. I felt bad. The only reason I wasn't letting her go out was because it's so much work to get her dressed and ready for what I knew would not be a long trip outside. So, I gave in.

She won. And she is now happy

After all that, she lasted maybe 5 min of fun outside before the tears started because she fell and wanted to come in. Oh the joys. :)

Dance Moves

Whenever there is music you will most likely see Mia pulling out her dance moves. I just love to watch her. It cracks me up. We were watching home videos and as she listened to the music on it, she couldn't help herself. Too cute.

Tucanos

On Diego's birthday Udine took him to lunch at Tucanos. (One of Udine's favorite restaurants, where they bring you all kinds of meat). He thought Diego would find it pretty cool, so months ago he signed him up for the birthday club so he could get a free meal on his birthday. Anyway, they sang to him, but it was also a girls birthday that was sitting at a table next to them, so they had a "dance competition". Diego loved it there. They both had a good time.

The video on top is from when he took Alessandro for his birthday and the one on the bottom is Diego's birthday. Complete opposites! It cracks me up!

Coloring

As I was watching Luca color this page I was just amazed at how well he was staying close to the lines. He was going shape by shape. By the time he got to the people I think he was a bit tired of it. But still, I am surprised at how well he colors! My other boys at age 3 would just scribble on the page. Anyway, I just wanted to remember this, so I posted about it.

Happy Birthday Diego!

Happy 9th Birthday Diego!

I am a horrible mom and am not getting to blogging about his birthday until a whole week after, but I guess it's better late than never! On May 3rd was his birthday and he had a blast. I can't believe he is 9 already! Where does the time go!? For his birthday he wanted to make his own pizza for dinner, and he wanted Ben 10 cupcakes because he doesn't like cake. And we all know there is such a huge difference between cake and cupcakes. ;) It's true though, he won't eat cake, but he will eat a cupcake. Anyway...this is what went on...

Diego's pizza creation

Alessandro's pizza creation

The older he gets the harder it will be to fit all the candles in one little cupcake!!

He totally forgot about talking while eating his cupcake so he had to go under the table. hahaha

We took him to build-a-bear to end the day and he really really wanted this owl. It was a little more than we were planning on spending so we told him he could get it but if he wanted clothes or accessories he'd have to use his own money. So he grabbed an outfit and some underwear for his owl. But when we asked him how much money he had he said he only had $4, but he'd work to pay off the rest. After a brief explanation of needing to have the money before you spend it so you don't go into debt, etc, etc,. We told him he could work to earn some money and when he has earned enough we'll bring him back to buy some clothes. Well, he realized he had enough money for underwear, so that's what he bought. hahaha It cracked me up. So he got his owl in tighty whities. :)

Diego is such an amazing boy. He is full of energy and exhausts me on most days. Nothing seems to come easy for this boy, but he sure works hard at everything. He is doing well in school (thanks to such an amazing teacher, Mrs. Long). He loves to shoot the basketball ....just in the air at our house, but plays it at recess everyday. He loves scouts, and is totally into riding his scooter now. He loves it. He's trying to do wheelies and different tricks. He has mastered our big hill on his scooter, which is huge and has let him have a little more freedom outside. I think he's loving it. He is constantly trying to get people to laugh and sometimes is reprimanded for that. I actually love that quality about him, but he needs to learn when and where it is appropriate still. :) He is a huge help with his younger siblings and takes them under his wings. He really cares about them and he is such a sensitive boy. He notices the days I am struggling and will automatically try to help out with chores, the younger kids, whatever he can think of. He is such a special little boy. Can I still call him little? I guess he'll always be my little boy. :) We just love him so much and are so proud of him.

Garage Sales

I have never really been a huge garage sale person...I'll stop at one if I see it driving by, but I've never really searched them out and planned on going until today. And let me tell you, it was a less than desirable experience. I have been looking for a basketball hoop for Diego and this week I came across one that would be sold at a garage sale for $30 this morning. So all week I have been planning on going and actually getting excited about it because that is such a good deal! So I drive up to the house at 6:50 am and wait in my car for ten minutes. They weren't letting people up the driveway yet, so instead of hanging with the group of old men, I waited in my warm car. As soon as it was 7:00 I walked out there because I didn't want to miss my opportunity to get it. At 7:05 they finally took the tape off. I was amazed at how these old men bolted up the driveway! I started to hurry my pace but realized they were heading for books or something. So I find the basketball hoop right away and start asking a lady about it. She says "Oh, that's Jim's, you need to ask him." Me "Okay, where is Jim" She points to a man at the end of the driveway setting stuff up. So I start making my way there when another man gets to the garage sale and happens to walk up to Jim and ask where the basketball hoop was. I panic and rush up and say "Oh, that lady sent me to you to talk about that basketball hoop" So the three of us go to the hoop. Jim shows us how to put it together, says he got it for $50 at walmart, etc, etc. Then he asks if we're together and we say no. So then he's like "Well, I don't know what to do. I'm asking $30." So this man and I are arguing, well, more discussing...he wants it for his wife, I want it for my son. He says he was talking to Jim about it first which was technically true but only because I happened to ask the wrong individual about it, I was actually at the sale first. Anyway, this man had sent Jim away saying we'd figure it out. Neither of us was backing down and he kept saying his wife was going to kill him if he didn't come back with it. I just kept saying I wanted it for my son. Then he went on about how is wife talked to Jim about buying it cause she saw it on craigslist, I responded with how I saw it there as well. Anyway, I was sick of arguing, I hate confrontation, I am not aggressive enough, so I walked out angry and almost in tears by the time I got to my car. I would have offered more for it, but the hoop really wasn't worth more. I wasn't even sure if it would be okay on our slanted driveway, but I just so desperately wanted to get it for Diego. For $30 I would have done it, but any more than that really wouldn't have been worth it I don't' think. Jim had it in his office, so I don't think it was a very heavy duty one, but still. I really wanted it. and now I'm just angry at myself for not being more pushy like the man at the garage sale. Now that it's after the fact I can think of responses to his stupid comments he made to me, but I'm not good on the spot like that. And I hate hate hate arguing with people. It's not in my nature to battle things out. So instead, here I am angry and bitter about not being able to get the hoop. Boo to garage sales and pushy men!! Boo to me for not standing my ground!!

Rewind

It's time to play a little catch up. I didn't blog about anything that happened in March and as I was looking at our pictures I realized there were some things that went on. :) So here's the scoop.

Animal in the house

One morning while I was eating breakfast I heard this strange noise from the laundry room area. It sounded like an animal of some sort so Udine's mom and I carefully made are way to that area. Sure enough! An animal had come in the hole from the house to the dryer!! Our part was broken on the outside, so it was just a wide hole any small animal could get in. At first we didn't know what animal, but were finally able to figure out it was a bird. We heard it chirping and struggling to get out. It freaked me out! I called Udine to tell him about it, and had I been there alone, I would have left the bird there until Udine got home to take care of it. But Udine told me to give the phone to his mom and sure enough, she was able to get the bird unstuck and out. It was quite the ordeal. Those kinds of things freak me out!!

This is the hole the bird flew in. It looks like it had been coming for a while because there were lots of seeds in here and in the tube.

Udine's mom trying to find where in the tube it is.

Acting
Diego took some acting classes and put on a couple small skits for the parents and families. He absolutely loved it! We have always wondered what it is that Diego would just love to do and we just might have found it. He was great. The first skit was a narrative play, so there was no talking, just the narrator (teacher). Diego was the main character in this and did awesome. He just has such good facial expressions, it cracks me up. He really did do good. The second skit was one with 3 other boys and they each had speaking parts. He did great in this also. It was a little hard to hear him, but it was hard to hear all of them except one in the group, so I'm sure that will come with experience. It was fun to watch him. I think I am so amazed because that is something that scares me to death. Just the thought of being infront of people puts me in a panic, so I think it's fun to watch him and see him enjoy it. I wish I were more like that.

This was the narrative skit. The pictures didn't really turn out, so I don't have many.
The boys in black were in his skit, one is missing.
Andrew is in our neighborhood and I think they were both pleasantly surprised to see eachother there on the first day. It always makes it a little easier when you know someone. Andrew is a couple years older, so they don't really hang out or anything, but they both knew who the other was, so they had a nice familiar person to be with. I was glad.

Abuelita

Udine's mom came to visit for a few weeks. It has been a long time since she has been here. She had never even met Luca or Mia, so it was nice to have her here and have the kids get to know her. The older boys loved the extra attention. The younger two were a little unsure...but started to warm up to her by the time it was time for her to go home. Why does it always happen that way? :) The first week she was here she cooked all the dinners. Udine was in heaven; he misses the food. I have to admit, I loved having her cook! It gave me more time to get things done, play with the kids, etc. I wish I could hire a cook! Wouldn't that be nice. :) The whole time she was here, someone seemed to be sick. I felt bad, even she got sick. :( It was a nice visit.

Award

Diego received a "Sense of Accomplishment" award at school. The criteria for this award was to be able to accomplish something that was difficult for you. His teacher gave it to him because he has so many challenges, but he is still excelling and doing well in school. It is hard for him and he works hard at it, but he doesn't give up and it is paying off. His teacher has told me on more than one occasion how proud she is of him. Way to go Diego! We're proud of you too!

Las Vegas

Udine and I went to Las Vegas for 3 days with no kids! Woohoo! It was wonderful! The weather was beautiful and it was so relaxing! We left on Monday and that night went to go see The Blueman Group. It was very entertaining. The next day we went to the outlet malls and walked around all morning. In the afternoon I went to the pool while Udine finished some essays and studied for the GMAT. Something he hadn't had time for at home because his mom was here and because there are 4 noisy kids around all the time. He said he got more accomplished that afternoon than he did in two weeks at home. :) On Wed we drove back home. It was so nice to be able to talk, or listen to music or whatever we wanted without tears or screams or needs from the backseat. :) We had a great time. It was wonderful to have a break, but we still missed the kids and it was nice to get back home to them. Even if they didn't want to leave their cousins house to come home with us. :)

We failed to take pictures, so this is the best I've got.