My 35th birthday dinner & night out this summer in San Antonio

Here are some pics from my birthday celebration in San Antonio this past summer. When I can I'll post other pics from our San Antonio trip.

A welcomed change of seasons.....

You know when I was homeschooling we hardly got sick because the kids weren't exposed to all the germs that went around the school. That's just one of the many benefits of homeschooling I miss.....we're slowly getting better though on this side of the pond. Today I had to buy some new blankets to keep us warm at night. The past few evenings have been chilly and since Italian homes aren't insulated the evenings are only going to get colder.

Speaking of cooler weather.....I absolutely love this time of year. I hope when we go to Venice in November we will be able to see some nice foilage. Well here is a pic of what I baked last night for dessert. It was so yummy served warm right out of the oven with ice cream.
** Stuffed baked apples with ice cream

Germs be gone......PLEASE ! I'm asking nicely....

Noah has missed school this whole week. Poor thing I tried sending him yesterday, but he was sent home after throwing up in art class. Believe me I didn't want to send him off to school yesterday morning, and even called the school nurse to let her know I was worried about his peak flow readings in the morning. I asked her to pull him out of class and check up on him. She agreed and said she would call me soon afterwards. Twenty minutes later she called and said as she was requesting Noah his teacher said he was sending over a kid who was throwing up in class. It just so happened that Noah was that kid!!! Next time I won't ignore that gut feeling to do otherwise and just keep him home.I pray he gets well soon....







* Noah in Nomandy, France, playing in World War II bunkers

Happy Birthday Mom.....

Fifty-nine years ago today, my grandmother assisted by a nurse mid-wife gave birth to my mother in the comforts of her own home. I write this post in honor of my mother who has over the years given birth and raised six kids. A woman who had the strength and faith to move ahead after she had to bury a child and her father within a year. A woman whose unconditional love and selfless giving has made me the mother I am today. Thank you God for my mother! She sacrificed so much to raise us and is still there for us. Happy Birthday MOM!!! May your day be full of joy and relaxation.

I Love You,

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

This is HILARIOUS it's Trent & lil' Lesley....

Feeling yucky....

We all are not well over here. Hopefully we'll be back to our normal selves soon.

Sick Kiddos...

Noah is home from school today with a cold and sore throat. He has an 11:40 am appt. today which I should be getting ready for right about now. I pray he doesn't have strep throat. We'll see what Dr. Pugh has to say. I'll update later.

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I got back home around 3 pm. The doc and I decided to wait a day or two to see if Noah begins to feel better. If not then they will give him a rapid strep test and antibiotics. He did hear some wheezing so he is taking his albuterol as needed. Whatever he has is has apparently spread to Gabe and I because we are coughing and my throat is getting sore too.


Thankfully Trent will be here tomorrow to help me out. He has duty today which means he is in charge of the entire hospital and will not come home this evening. After visiting Dr. Pugh, we went to his office and had lunch at the galley with him. It was nice to see him as always!!! :-D

I'm off to bed now. Buona notte.

My weekend.....

Friday night Lesley spent the night with Betsy and Noah did the same with John. Since we are almost always together it felt strange that the older two were gone for the night. Anyhoo, the three of us ate dinner at Applebees again! Then we came straight home at 9:30 pm and went to bed. During the night, Gabe who fell asleep by me while I was surfing the web, jumped on me and said:

"I scared...I scared...Mommmyyyyeee"

Me: " What baby??? What's wrong?"

Gabe: " The bug...it crawl on my foot and it bite me"

me: "What?......What bug!!!"

Gabe: " The bug..the bug...it at grandpa house"

me: "What a roach????" * he saw some roaches while we were in Texas**

Gabe: " Nooooo mommy the bug....caterpillar...caterpillar on my foot it bite me....I scared"

My baby is still thinking about the caterpillars he found at my parent's house. There is a reason for the scary dream that involves the caterpillars, but that's a story for another day. Well after a quick kiss on the foot and some reassurance he fell back to sleep. Although the first thing he mentioned in the morning was " Mommy caterpillar crawl on my leg and bite me on my foot"
He is something else...I just love that kid ;-D

Well yesterday was a busy day for me. I returned a table I bought earlier in the week and exchanged it for another. Called my sister and talked about the Santana concert she and my other siblings went to. Began working on the new table and cleaned the first floor of the house.

Today I finished cleaning the second floor, helped with homework, and now I'm off to bed.

Maybe I'll post pics of our new casa tomorrow.
Ciao

To the market we go.....

Today while the older kids were in school, Gabe and I headed out to the local market in Gricignano to stock up on some fruit and fresh veggies. You can get a lot more there compared to the commissary where a small bunch of cilantro cost $3.50 and a small cantaloupe can go for $5.00. They sell food, clothing, housewares, and other goods.It's always interesting there! I like to hear the different vendors shouting over each other trying to sell their goods to prospective buyers.

Afterwards, we had lunch with Trent at Applebees and I treated Gabe to some Baskin Robbins ice cream. He surprised me by trying something other than the usual cookies-n-cream or strawberry. Today he ventured into new territory...mango sherbet with sprinkles!!! It's funny because he goes there so often they know him by name and know his favorites.

On another note, yesterday was the first day of soccer practice for Noah and Gabriel. As you will see in the pictures below my toddler did not want to have anything to do with it. Although he did join in and help when practice was over. LOL That silly boy he talked about it all day long , was anxious to get ready and put his new shin guards on, but that all changed when we got to the field. Alas....he'll warm up. I HOPE!!

Ciao....