Arcara Family

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all you women who have helped nurture and guide children with your time, patience, and love!

I had to share this video that Maria made for me as a Mother's Day gift today.

Thanks be to God for his gift of life and for allowing us to share with him in giving this gift.

Friday, May 3, 2013

7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

Last Friday I went to my first-ever homeschool conference! Seton, one of the major Catholic homeschool curriculum providers, hosted their IHM Comference for the first time near Pittsburgh, and I was able to arrange a babysitter so I could attend. I picked up a few books we need for next year, listened to some good talks, and enjoyed some time chatting with fellow homeschoolers. A very enjoyable day!

--- 2 ---

Elena celebrated her 4th birthday last week. Can you believe our sweet little girl has gotten so big?

--- 3 ---

I love how much Elena loves her babies :)

--- 4 ---

The weather has been pretty much perfect here this week. The kids have been enjoying extra time outside to play, and we were able to start gardening. We cleaned out our large garden bed and planted some greens, and we cleaned out the area around the blueberries. I haven't had a chance to give the strawberry patch a good weeding, but they don't seem to mind. There are lots of flowers there already. The girls also started seeds for flower gardens for attracting butterflies and birds.

--- 5 ---

The kids decided to enjoy a picnic lunch yesterday since the weather was so nice!

--- 6 ---

Last Saturday we visited the petting zoo they had at St. Vincent for the afternoon. Elena and Cati aren't much into petting, but the other kids enjoyed spending time with the animals, petting and feeding them.

--- 7 ---

Here's an example of one of the many beautiful trees in bloom here now.

The pollen from all these trees is killing me, but they are a wonderful sight!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

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Friday, April 19, 2013

7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

We made our first visit to the zoo for the year this past Monday. We had a lot of fun, but the weather wasn't quite as nice as we had hoped.

--- 2 ---

Giuseppe decided that he didn't want to stay in the stroller while we were at the zoo. He's a big boy now and wants to walk!

--- 3 ---

Giuseppe is an example of a kid growing up in the digital age with parents who are constantly taking digital photos of him and his siblings. He's been doing different things around the house and then saying, "Take a picture, Mommy!"

I took these pictures at his request:

Wearing big sister's shoes

Playing with tape

--- 4 ---

Our big boy has also decided he's too big for a high chair now and has taken over one of his sister's chairs at the table.

--- 5 ---

And since I'm on a Giuseppe theme here, here's a picture from one day this week when he decided to come to the table to finish his sister's paint that she had left behind

A two-handed artist

--- 6 ---

Who else is getting excited about summer already? Gardening, better weather, change of schedule... It won't be long now!!

--- 7 ---

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Friday, April 12, 2013

7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

It's Spring in PA! It's been in the upper 70s this week and we've been wearing short sleeves! Things are blooming and I've been dosing out allergy meds to some of the kids. We're having a return to cool weather for the weekend, but I can't tell you how happy we are for Spring! Yay!

--- 2 ---

Nutrition lesson from Elena...

Elena: I no eat my fries at Steak 'n' Shake.

Me: You didn't eat your fries! Why not?

Elena: Because they're not good for me.

Me: They're not? Why?

Elena: Because Chiara has to eat gluten-free.

--- 3 ---

Chiara celebrated her 6th birthday this past Monday!

Happy girl!

Maria decorated the cakes. It was her first attempt at cake decorating, and she went all-out with modeling chocolate and fondant. We were impressed! (We don't normally have two cakes, but Chiara is on a dairy-free, gluten-free diet, so she got a special cake all to herself.)

--- 4 ---

A little girl who is not quite ready to give up naps!

--- 5 ---

You may not want Elena to make a smoothie for you. Apparently, she thinks fish, banana, tomato, lettuce, and onion would make a good combination.

Elena's smoothie

--- 6 ---

There's been an abundance of Knock-Knock jokes flying around here this week.

Chiara: Knock, knock.

Me: Who's there?

Chiara: Banana

Me: Banana who?

Chiara: Banana ice cream!

**********************************

Matteo: Knock, knock!

Me: Who's there?

Matteo: Luke.

Me: Luke who?

Matteo: Luke Skywalker!

************************************

A house full of comedians, we are (not?)!

--- 7 ---

Giuseppe, the photographer...Yesterday, I was working and heard, "Click, Click, Click." I looked up to see that Giuseppe had managed to find the camera app on the iPad and was taking pictures of himself :)

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Posted with Blogsy

Friday, April 5, 2013

7 Quick Takes - Easter edition

--- 1 ---

I've been good about posting regularly to my new homeschool blog, Creating Something Beautiful (see link on left), but I've been neglecting this one. So, I'm going to dedicate myself to at least doing this series on Fridays. When I have a regular series, it gives me a plan to stick to!

--- 2 ---

We were blessed to spend Easter with family this year. We haven't been able to do that since we left GA 10 years ago. The motivation for traveling so far this weekend was the Baptism of our nephew (and now, Godson!).

--- 3 ---

We dyed eggs (thanks to Grandma for organizing this!)

--- 4 ---

We had an egg hunt...

Two baskets is better than one!

--- 5 ---

We enjoyed the beautiful Spring weather down south! (Winter has had a strong hold on PA this year.)

--- 6 ---

We enjoyed a beautiful Easter Monday with friends (and had a 2nd egg hunt!)

--- 7 ---

After traveling more than 1500 miles in the past three weeks (we also took another impromptu visit to NC see the Baptism of a friend's baby a few weeks ago - What can I say? We love Baptisms!), the kids and I were happy to chill at home for the second half of the week, enjoying the Easter Octave!