Happy Mother's Day

I am a pretty lucky Mom. On mother's day I woke up and stayed in bed (awesome)... got up when a little Emma came to get me when she could no longer contain her excitement for her gift (super cute)! I walk out of the bedroom and she'd left a trail of petals towards the dining room table. On the other side, hidden on the floor was a bouquet of flowers, that the girls picked and put together. But the best part was that it was in a vase, made by them (again, super cute)! Then I got to open to presents, one painting each for me (awesome). Then I was rushed back to bed, and a few minutes later Mark brought me a German Lemon pancake (made from scratch, by him), a personal favorite of mine! I feel so happy to have a family that made me feel so very special on a very special day! Thank you Emma, Juliana and Daddy!

And a huge Happy Mother's Day to all the Mamma's out there!

My Baby Niece

Ain't she adorable!

End of Year for Emma

Emma is officially moving on to Kindergarten. I'm not sure she fully understands that she will not be going to Reading Friends any longer. Somewhere along the way she thought she would still go to Reading Friends and also go to her new kindergarten school. Guess we have all summer to chat about one... along with uniforms, shoes and new friends.

The end of the year program for the pre-school class was all about the United States (how nice of them to celebrate my new citizenship). They sang songs and each child had a "part." Emma's part was to say the texas state bird, the mockingbird. Each child's disposition was different and cute; it was fun to watch how much they've all grown this past year.

We are proud of you Emma!

 this picture cracks me up... during her "part" Hudson (in Rangers hat behind her) and Hank (on her right side) are looking at her like she's crazy.

 We were lucky to have Nonna and Nonno in town for Emma's birthday and the big show!

"Trouble 1" and "Trouble 2"

Outside Playin'

We love to be outside, wether it's painting, playing in our sandbox or now playing tennis (Emma's new favorite sport). After a day of painting the sandbox (sandbox got a makeover) we decided to just keep painting on the fence! 

 Look at that face!

Happy 5th Birthday Emma!

Happy Birthday to my big FIVE year old!

I asked her where she wanted to have her birthday this year, and despite my want for a round two at Little Chef's Academy, she went in another direction. So Chuck E. Cheese it is! She had such a wonderful afternoon and grinned from ear to ear the entire time. It was pretty great. When we got home, she lucked out that Juliana fell asleep in the car, so she got to open her presents un-interupted by

a little sister. She got more presents from friends than any child should get in an entire year, but thank you to everyone for making her feel so extra special!

I'm Proud to be an American

Today marks a very special day for me. I was sworn in as an American citizen!

Wave the flag!

Our Little Tennis Girl

I must say I'm a little bit shocked about how much Emma enjoys tennis! After our soccer experience, I wasn't sure how it was going to go. She certainly looks forward to it every week (reminds me daily not to forget-obviously I've forgotten a few times), but she used to really look forward to soccer too. The difference is that she feels proud and happy even when she misses a shot. I love how happy she is when she goes down to the court, and how happy she is when she comes off the court. Now that's something I can get behind! Way to go Emma! (And I don't have it on video yet, but she loves to play air guitar with her racket, which just makes me smile too)

Race for the Cure 2012

Family and Friends, I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone... first for being such wonderful friends and family AND second... for the generous support you sent our way! I decided to take part in this fundraiser largely because of the impact that breast cancer has had on our family with my mom strongly surviving and for those who have lost loved ones to this disease. The beauty in the "race for the cure" is that it is aimed at doing just that... finding a cure. Hopefully, one day that will become a reality. Francesca and I are so proud to have been involved. Best Regards, Mark

Bonk!

Last week Emma bonked with her friend Mills while jumping off a rock. We thought she just bumped her head... But she ended up with a black eye... "a shiner" as she learned from Mimi. We've had fun waking up each morning and viewing her "rainbow shiner"!

(first picture was within an hour of incident and second picture was almost a week later)

Ready for Summer

A few weeks ago I walk into this... Emma and Juliana had found sunscreen somewhere and decided they needed to protect themselves from the sun.
Check out J's face: "you can't really get mad at us for using sunscreen, right mom"
And Em oblivious that I might even get mad just keeps lathering it on!