2nd Annual Bologna Fest

Wow! Another great year for the Bologna Fest. The weather was surprisingly mild with sun and temps in the upper 40's. We headed there Friday evening for some games and dinner and the recipe contest. I couldn't believe the variety of recipes this year and there were at least 10 entries. And I have to say I enjoyed every one of them. Mom entered Mac and Cheese and Willa entered Jambalaya and both were delicious. The winner of the contest was a girl in Patrick's office that made bologna meatballs. Very fun.

Tyler was so excited to play all the games this year. He was a bit impatient and wanted to run around everywhere. We tried something new for Friday night. We gave them each $5 and said when the money runs out then we're done playing games. It actually worked pretty well and he didn't fight it at all when we were finished. Thank goodness.

For about a week, Tyler has been talking about wanting a pet and of all the pets he'd pick it would be a fish. Well, he was quite excited about the fish stand. Friday night, he and I went to the stand while everyone else was eating. We got one bucket full of balls for a dollar. And guess what happened? On the very last ball, Tyler got it in the small fish bowl!!! I was shocked and I think he was too! He was so excited and wanted to run to Daddy right away and tell everyone. He was jumping up and down and smiling so big. I loved it! So, we officially have a new member of the family. Tyler has named our fish "Molly our fish in shinning armor". Funny because it's a really shinny, silvery goldfish. Of course, I had to go to PetSmart to get all the supplies, but I think the timing is wonderful and many lessons will be learned. Welcome to the family, Molly!

Look at that smile!

Peter and the gang came for some fun Saturday. They spent the entire afternoon at the Fest. I love the pics of all the kids doing the fish stand. I stayed home Saturday because I was quite uncomfortable, but Adam said Zach was determined to win and fish and succeeded! The entire gang came back to our house for some Chinese food and play time. It was funny because they all came in with some flashing swords and cowboy hats. We turned the lights down and had a dance party.

Sounds like the Bologna Fest was a huge success this year and once again I find myself incredibly proud of Patrick, his visions, and determination and hard work to make it all happen!

Waiting game...

Well, here I sit in the kitchen watching the bottles being sterilized and waiting....waiting for the bottles to be cleaned, waiting for the family to start stirring, and waiting for the signal that baby is ready to meet us! This is a first for us, making it to the due date. Yesterday came and went, although it was a great day. The boys slept at Grammy and Baca's house and I had my best night sleep in quite a while ( in Tyler's bed!). I had a nice morning, cleaned the floors, did lots of wash and tried cleaning some surfaces because Adam has been home sick with strep throat. Fortunately, we are past our 24hour comtagious period and he seems to finally be feeling better. During last night's dinner, I really thought I was going into labor because I kept having contractions and then by 8:30ish, everything seemed to stop and here I am with baby still in the belly! I have been awake since 4:30 and tried so hard to fall back to sleep, but finally got up around 5:45 and came downstairs and thought now's as good a time as any to get the bottles ready. It is a bit of a strange feeling still being pregnant and feeling a bit like a time bomb waiting to explode at any given moment. My foot is starting to feel better and I am officially starting to get excited and a bit anxious. I just want to meet this little person, make sure he/she is healthy and start our new life as a family of five. Everyone seems excited and I have had so many kind people checking in to make sure everything is fine. Aunt paula is ready at any point to come take care of the boys. And quite frankly, I am excited to have you on the outside and not the inside. And hope the delivery is as fast and smooth as possible and everyone stays healthy! That's my biggest wish...no complications... "just" a healthy delivery, healthy baby, and healthy family. Now if only I could predict the future. Nonetheless, baby we are very excited and trying to stay patient. Let us know when you are ready! Xoxo

Bouncing and snow removal

Daddy brought home a really fun surprise for the boys. He's in the middle of his gymnastic unit and recently received a spring board from the YMCA. The board made it's way home and the boys had a field day with it. It was literally hours of entertainment for all of us.

We also had the first snowfall of the winter. We got about 5 inches of snow and the boys played outside for almost two hours. Tyler was loving his "snow plow" and Matty was experimenting with everything. The three boys met some neighbors outside and tried sledding, but it didn't last too long. They eventually made their way to the neighbor's playroom for some inside fun! I was hoping we might have a baby, but he/she decided to stay in the belly and give us some time to rest and heal. It's a good thing because Adam is starting to get sick and hopefully and speedy recovery is in his future.

Brotherly Love

When we finally got home from Sesame Street, the boys were having a few minutes of fun together before naps. I love the last picture of the two of them hugging and their matching outfits. Love my boys!

1-2-3 Imagination, Sesame Street Live

We had tickets to see 1-2-3 imagination sesame street Live at 10:30 at the Hershey Theater. Grammy and Baca came along and it's a lot of fun with their company. The boys were pumped up for days as was I because Ty has been into the Sesame Street for several years and Matthew is actually just now sitting and watching/participating in the episodes as well. He loves carrying his Elmo around the house and I thought This morning would be a perfect family outing just before baby's arrival.

Tyler loves going to the theater and I had a good feeling Matty was going to love it too! Boy, was I right! It was so, so fun to watch their faces watching the sHow. There is nothing quite like that as a parent....to watch an experience through your child's eyes. Both boys were mesmerized.

Matthew got the giggles a few times and love sitting with Daddy. He sat with me for a few minutes but my lap has sort of temporarily disappeared, besides I love watching the two buddies together.

Matthew held Grover for most of the performance while Tyler had his Elmo.

I think no matter what show was like, the boys would enjoy themselves, but I was so impressed with the show and it's overall message of having your imagination transporting you anywhere you can imagine.

We all headed to Red Robin after the show and had a fun, delicious lunch. We didn't get home until almost 2:00 and enjoyed every minute of the morning. Fun all around.

Happy 3rd, Bea!

So, some of these pictures are out of order, but no bog deal. I really can't believe Bea is now 3 years old! We were invited for some delicious burgers and hot dogs and cupcakes to celebrate.

It was adorable watching Bea get so excited this year when we were all singing to her. And there are very few people in the world I see enjoy eating their food as much as her...epecially birthday cupcakes. Bea and Matty sitting there together made me really smile.

We played for a while before dinner. Bea received an awesome grocery store for her birthday that everyone enjoyed playing with.

New Year, new start

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted anything and I really want to start it back up in the new year, especially this year and this month with our newest angel arriving any day! We've had a good Sunday doing some serious cleaning (well, Adam did most of the cleaning) and singing happy birthday to Uncle Peter. I'm still trying to adjust to crutches after my visit to the ERIC yesterday which confirmed that I do indeed have a broken right leg. I'm in a half cast and trying to use my crutches as much as possible. It's not easy, but I'm trying hard to rest it while our baby is still in the belly. Fortunately everyone has been very helpful and I know soon enough we'll figure all this out. In the scheme of things it's not a big deal just an obstacle through which we have to navigate our way.

camping time

After discovering that I did indeed fracture my foot, we decided to stay home from church and have a relaxing Sunday and give Adam some time to help clean the house a bit. The boys were being very helpful and in the process of cleaning, they discovered the tent to the camping set from Christmas. It ended up being a perfect indoor, fun activity for the boys to do.

They had a ball getting all the food from the kitchen and having their own picnic inside the tent. Ty got the fire going and the two of them actually played together for a long time. It was so sweet hearing their voices in the tent and listening to them play so well together.

They've been getting all psyched up for their cross country trip this summer and have been talking a lot about camping. The two of them were pretending to sleep and I just got the biggest kick out of seeing their little feet peering out of either end of the tent "sleeping". Of course, I had to peek in every once in a while and spy on them because it was just so adorable. I'm hoping this continues and their excitement for camping and the road trip actually carries over to the actual trip. In the meantime, I am going to enjoy their excitement and encourage it as much as we can. It's hard to compare anything to watching your boys having a fun together and developing a relationship we can only hope for.

Baby Shower surprise