Happy 1st birthday, Elena!!!!

Yesterday, we celebrated Elena's 1st birthday!!!!









Hmmmmm...What's that??

Maybe I should touch it and find out...

Yuck!! Now my hands are sticky and gooey and I don't like it!!! This is NOT a happy birthday :)

Now, this is better! I'm clean and now they're giving me paper to tear up!!

Here's a look at Maria, Cati, and Matteo's 1st birthdays and here is Chiara's, in case you want to look back. Click on Elena's name under the Labels on the right side of the blog to see how she's grow over the year from our little 6+ lb peanut at birth, to the big girl we have now.

Happy birthday, Papa!!

On Tuesday, we celebrated Dany's birthday!!

He requested Rice Krispie treats instead of cake :)




The kids made some cards for him.

And we gave him a couple of books and a movie about Mother Theresa.

As you can see here, Dany barely made it to his birthday! Last weekend, he was put in the stocks at St. Vincent (be careful of breaking any rules there!!). Thankfully, he was released without harm :) :)

The Braces are Back

Maria got her braces back on on Monday. She finished Phase I of her orthodontia care back in October, and now we begin Phase II. Phase I consisted of a night brace and 4 front braces. After getting 2 baby teeth pulled (unexpectedly) on Monday, she got a full set of braces on top. Eventually, she'll get some on the bottom, too.

Those two teeth were loose. One was hanging by just a bit, so I wasn't surprised when the doctor came out and told me that he took the tooth out. He also told me at the time that she had another loose baby tooth, but that it's wasn't very loose and he was afraid it would bleed too much if he took it out now. About 5 minutes later, he came back out with a smile on his face and handed me a small envelope with 2 teeth in it, proudly announcing that he got the 2nd tooth out. Orthodontists are strange people! :)

I said, "Oh, poor Maria!"
The doctor answered, "Oh, no! The 2nd tooth was actually easier than the first. It just popped out!"
The easy for the one NOT on the receiving end to say!

However, Maria said later that it really wasn't a big deal :)

In other orthodontic news, I had the orthodontist looking Cati's mouth, and he wants to see her officially for an appointment in 6 months. Cati thinks this is very exciting!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Chiara!!

I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm 4 !!! days late with Chiara's birthday blogpost!! We celebrated her birthday last Thursday. My apologies especially to you grandparents who have been patiently awaiting these pictures :)

Chiara is our Easter baby, born on Easter Sunday 3 years ago! To look back on her 1st 3 years, I suggest that you click on her name under "Labels" on the side of my blog.

Here are pictures from her birthday...

Next week we will celebrate TWO birthdays!! Who knows how long it will take me to get those posted :) :)

Easter Sunday

Here are pictures from Easter Sunday afternoon, which we spent at the Krom's house. Every year they generously open their homes for a fun Easter get together for all of their friends.

Here are the kids hunting eggs...

Elena enjoyed playing with their findings afterwards!

The kids had lots of fun playing!

We hope you all enjoyed your Easter Sunday as much as we did!

Stay tuned for Easter Monday pictures!!

Happy Easter!!

HAPPY EASTER!!


We woke up to a beautiful, warm Easter morning!!

Our Easter preparations began yesterday. Here is Cati working on the much-anticipated cinnamon rolls that we enjoyed for breakfast this morning. We only make these about twice a year, so they're a real treat!


Here are the Easter goodies that the kids woke up to this morning. The basket has some chocolate, side walk chalk, and bubbles from us. The bags around them are from Aunt Ginny. The flower vase with M&Ms is the kids' sacrifice "jar" that the kids filled with beans, adding one for each sacrifice that they made during Lent. The beans were replaced with M&Ms last night.

Here are the kids this morning!

(Yes, Cati had a haircut.)

Chiara is behind there somewhere :)

"Smile, Chiara!"

Chiara breaks into her jelly beans from her Easter bag.

Matteo said that his favorite Easter goodies were the bubbles...

...and stickers (from his Easter bag).

Elena woke up a bit later and was happy to find a bag for her, too! (Look - her hair is finally long enough to be messy when she wakes up in the morning!! Oh, and on a side note, she cut her first tooth this week!)

She was happy to have someone finally help her to open her bag.

I replaced the top picture on the blog with one from after Mass this morning. Here are a couple of others that we took...

The whole family!

This afternoon, we're going to a friend's house for an egg hunt and Easter dinner!!

We hope you all have a wonderful, blessed Easter!!!!