It always happens this time of year....

and it probably always will.  The time between my birthday and the boys birthday, the weather starts to get really nice and I get all nostalgic.   I know it has to do with the boys having a birthday, and probably with changing of seasons.   But I get this pit in my stomach.  And maybe that is more so this year, because we are having a lot of changes.  Austin is starting Kindergarten, we are going on a big trip next month, boys are having their first kids birthday party,  we are starting them in t-ball.  I know I say this every year but they really are growing up. Kevin took the bikes down, he was a rock star last fall and got them all hung up in the garage, and from the first time on their bikes they were already riding down the driveway into the street, and I only really need to help up the hills.  Unfortunately, our neighborhood is pretty hilly so a tad hard for the boys, but they are rocking in.  They love having their bikes down.  They love using their muscles and John David as he was riding in circles in the backyard told me he was getting exercise.


The boys are crazy about their bikes.  We have rode to the park, which was an experience.  Once we got to the park, they were riding around the park on the sidewalk, and I was watching as a proud mommy, not sure what to do, stand and watch, sit, chase after them.  Austin was riding on the basketball court but decided not to turn and went down the grassy hill.  I ran after him, for a few reasons, but mainly because he was headed downhill for the marshy area.  Luckily, he spun out just in the nick of time, in front of all of the frisbee golf players but not quite in the marsh.  Everyone was quiet but me, I was running, asking him if he was okay.  Austin was silent, we got him up, and not one time did he cry.  I laugh because one of the frisbee golf players, yelled, "AND HE'S GOOD"  I was shocked that he didn't cry, but merely got right back on the bike and proceeded to ride.  I think a year was shaved off my life and received a few gray hairs and Austin got some bruises, okay a lot of bruises from the past couple of days, but man that kid is persistent, courageous, determined.


Mother's Day.  My kids are too funny when it comes to keeping secrets.  They can't for the life of them.  So they made me something at school.  Austin comes to me, "I made you something special at school today, but I can't tell you what it is.  It's a bracelet and you're going to love it.  Oh, don't tell Miss Brenda or Miss Angie."  And then the boys are in the back seat telling each other what they made me. They had their gifts ready for me on Wednesday, but I was good and waited to Mother's Day to open them (so not like me).  In hindsight, it might have been better if I opened them early, because they were super excited to have me open my presents at 5:45 a.m.  We had a very nice day, we went to breakfast with Milly, and then the boys and Kevin and I went to the forest preserve near our house for a bike ride, kids rode their bikes and Kevin and I walked behind them. John David didn't make it too far so Kevin and him rode back to the bench by our car and Austin and I continued.  I thought we were only going a bit further but the path kept going so I thought it would be best to turn around.  I had to run to keep up with Austin on the way back.  He is a speed demon, I hope this isn't a look into his future with him driving.  Then we ran around in the grass and took some cute pictures.  Took a nap at home, organized clothes and then went out to dinner.  All in all a great day!

Spring Sing.  We had spring sings for both boys. We didn't know what to expect.  Austin was super excited for us to come, but when we get there he was so shy.  A lot of parents were there and I think as a 4 year old I would be scared too!  He didn't sing, but he did play with his sticks and had the cutest I'm so shy smile on his face!  John David on the other hand, was up front, singing all the songs!  He was so excited as well and just had the biggest smile on his face.

I have really been missing my mom lately and I’m kind of angry about it.  I know she’s proud of me and looking down on me and my family.  I feel her.  But I want her here to share in my excitement with the kids.  I feel cheated.  Mother’s Day is even harder than most days, I see pictures of my friends with their kids and their mom’s and just want that!  It’s just sad.  Now, I do know she is with me, I “see” her all the time.  See, when I see the numbers 333, that’s her sign for me.  She is buried at 9A333.  My dad saw 333 right when she passed and now when I see 333 I think of her.  I’m lucky that I do see 333 a lot and that makes me both happy and sad.  Just the other day, I   And I just cried, because I couldn’t do that. So when we were driving and talking, I turned behind a car and wouldn’t you know the license plate was 333.  I was mad at her because I had no sign of her on my birthday, it just made me so sad. And then of course I feel mad at myself for being mad at her.  Crazy ripple effect, I tell ya.  I posted the picture of my mom the other day as my facebook profile picture because I wanted to be like everyone else showcasing their moms.  Just before that, the boys and I came across her picture.  Austin says “she took care of me as a baby!”  He remembered me telling him that.  So on Mother’s Day, I looked at all of the supportive comments people gave me on my profile picture and just smiled.  I know she would be proud of me, want to know how I know, because on Mother’s Day, I looked up and saw the time, 333.  Her sign for me.  I know she’s okay, I know she’s looking down on me, smiling, but I admit I still feel cheated and I’m mad because I know that she would love being a grandma to my 2 amazing, rambunctious, little men.
was telling Kevin how upset I was about my mom and how much I missed her. On the radio that morning, people were giving shot outs to their mom.

Preschool is ending and it'll be time for summer activities at daycare. Both boys received portfolios of their time there.  I saw, name writing samples, cutting samples, drawings, paintings, self portraits, photographs, letters, and it was AMAZING.  Definitely brought a huge smile to my face as I can truly see how much they have learned there.  I will treasure this book forever.  
 

April

It's April!  I hope that means the cold weather is behind us.  I was doing okay with this weather until recently, I'm so over it and am longing for nice weather.

Yesterday, I took the boys to the the park, yes the park for the first time in MONTHS!  And it was wonderful!!!!  Although I got a little teary eyed when a group of kids ran out of the school, after school program?,  and started playing with Austin.  He just ran up to them, and they all started playing.  I was pushing John David on the swing, and when he was finished, he started playing with the big kids too.  Yes, big kids, thinking 8 or 9, okay, maybe 7, not really sure, but definitely older than my kids.  And they were playing nicely, running around, chasing each other, laughing and it made me realize Austin and John David truly are big kids.  What happened to my babies?  It seems like yesterday that they were toddling around and now they are having conversations with other kids, bigger kids.  It's all so surreal!

In other events, I just finished my first 8K, the Shamrock Shuffle.  It was okay, my official time was 102.33.  I really wanted to finish it in 59.59, but it didn't happen.  From the start, I knew it was going to be rough, my knee has been twinging when I have been running and sure enough it started right away, so I ended up walking and running.  Kevin was there to cheer me on and see him while I ran past him was the best feeling in the world.  Made me so happy that he was out there supporting me!  Thanks baby!  Well, I'm happy I finished it and next time, I'll aim to do better, but at least I finished.

It's almost time to register Austin for Kindergarten!  In just 4 months, Austin will be in Kindergarten!, Wait, what?!?!?  He's going to attend the elementary school nearby and bus back to daycare.  He will have the best of both worlds.  If we can, we are going to try and get him in the afternoon program, so he can have daycare's pre kindergarten program and then the school's kindergarten!  I think Austin will love going on the bus. 

We had John David's ENT appointment and 1 tube is almost out!  However, the other tube is still right where the doc placed it.  We go back end of June and if it's still in there, we will need to think about removing it.  They are concerned now, but as the time grows, they become even more concerned.  I hope that baby comes out on its own, because I don't want John David having surgery again.  The tubes worked so well for John David, we went from constant ear infections to just 2 in 2 year!

Boys are excited for spring and for their birthday coming up.  They know we are going to Disney, but I don't think they quite understand the timing. I can't wait to see their faces light up!  We made a reservation to have breakfast with Mickey and the gang!

I know I say this every year, but I think the boys are going to be so much fun this summer!  Can't wait!

Happy New Year (2014)

Happy New Year everyone!  Wow, what can I say, 2013 flew by.  We had a great Christmas, full of love and joy.

We are freezing here and wanting warm weather.  Everything is so wet and well just not fun. I long for the days when we can walk to the park, feed the ducks, swim, it's right around the corner, right?  It is, but it feels like it's very far away.

We are having a blast.  The kids are doing fantastic.  Dare I say it, but for the past 3 weeks, bedtime hasn't been hard.  We took naps away on the weekend, but they still nap at school, which is hard for us, but we are managing.  They fall right asleep on the weekends and on Monday.  Hopefully it was just a phase.  Although, we do need to work on 5:00/5:30 wake up calls.  This mommy is one tired cookie.  Taking naps away as been hard on ME!  I miss that 1 1/2 hours of quite time.  I sometimes would nap, watch TV, read, clean or run.  But now I'm trying to find things to during nap time, so they don't fall asleep.  Even though it's hard to get through nap time, it makes it so much more rewarding when they do fall asleep quickly.

John writing his name 2/14

I have to say I'm so impressed with the boys new school.  They are learning so much and it's amazing to see how far both have come in just a few short months.  Austin is cutting paper out on the lines, writing, recognizing his letters, drawing awesome pictures, it's truly amazing.  And John David is doing the same 1 year younger!  I also heard that John David is picking up on Spanish very easy.  It's so hard to see how much the boys have grown up, I keep thinking they are babies but I realize that was awhile ago. 

Austin writing floss/dentist 2/14

We went to visit the day care's kindergarten.  I really am having a hard time with Austin going to Kindergarten in August.  How did this happen so fast?!?!  We had parent/teacher conferences, my first one for Austin, and yes, I got to sit in a little itty bitty chair and hear about how my Austin is doing.  I will admit, I was nervous, hoping to hear good things, and you know what, I did!!!!  Obviously, some things to work on, which I know, but she said he was a joy and that he's ready for Kindergarten!  So now, we need to make a decision, send him to the kindergarten at his school, which is full day and I don't need to work about transporting him to a different school, or send him to the one where he is district to go.  If he goes there, it's for 1/2 day and we would need to have him transported back to daycare via their bus.  We went to 1 open house and will go to the other one next Thursday to see which one is better for us.  I'm not ready.

So we had a scare with our Buster.  Long story short, he had 2 broken teeth an infection and an abscess.  The vet thought it was cancer and gave us a big scare.  Luckily, we opted to bring him in for a biopsy, which ruled out cancer and showed the broken teeth/abscess.  After antibiotics, he is back to his normal, fun loving, food snapping self. 

Some cute things the boys have said or done.

Family picture, John David is the blue dot top right corner 2/14 (A)

We went to the mall to run around their play area and they wanted to ride one ride.  Well Austin saw someone in the ride that he wanted to go on, he turned to me and said, "we need to be patient and wait our turn!"  That same day, both boys, wanted to run around in circles holding hands.

Austin and his pictures, are bringing big smiles to my day!

John David constantly tells me, "I like you"  which I think means even more to me than "I love you" because it truly comes from himself.  I don't say I like you to him, I say "I love you" so I truly feel that's his version of  I love you and it melts my heart every time.

Out of the blue John David will kiss my hand, my arm, my leg.

Kevin likes to smack their cute butts, and over this past weekend, I taught the boys to say to daddy, "Stand up, and take it like a man!" So then of course, they get to smack daddy's butt too.

Playing hide and go seek with John David is hilarious!  It will be his turn to hide and when it's our turn to seek, he will come running out laughing and all excited, or you'll call his name and he'll go EEEK and give up his hiding spot.  Austin, will be as quiet as he can.  He's good at the game.   Kevin and Austin were seeking me and John David, and Kevin is like "John David" and I had to hold my hand over his mouth and remind him to be quiet.  Cracks us up every time.

Ok spring weather, it's time.  We are ready and need the fresh air.

Christmas Magic

It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas, and this is a good thing seeing as Christmas is 1 week AWAY.  I love this magical time of year!  We have been having a blast getting ready for the holidays.

One of my favorite things we have been doing is driving around the neighborhoods looking at the Christmas lights.  Hearing the "oohs, and ahhs, and that's so pretty, look on my side, look at this and that" have totally brought a huge smile to my face.  Listening to Christmas Music while we do this, brings my picture perfect, Hallmark movie dream come to life.  Only thing that is missing is the hot chocolate.  We have a week, right?!?!

Boys love looking for Ellie every morning.  I love how they get up to her and talk to her and ask her why she's in that spot.  Oh the magic.

We saw Santa at my work Christmas party and Austin and John David were so excited.  Santa even held John David and John was touching his nose, his beard and just had the biggest smile on his face.

We will be making reindeer food on Christmas Eve so that we can sprinkle it outside so Rudolph and the gang know where to stop.  Thank you, Pinterest for helping with some great ideas.

We have made candy canes and mittens out of paper and have used glitter, yes, I know glitter, am I crazy, No, just in the Christmas spirit.  And we even made superhero and cool Christmas ornaments.

Christmas cards have been mailed out.  I just love getting Christmas cards and I love sending ours out too.  I love showing our friends and family a little Artinghelli cheer.

New this year, we adopted a boy and bought a few presents for him through the boys school.  This is something I want to continue, giving to those who are less fortunate than we are!  It will teach the boys as well.

I love cheesy Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas movies, JUST LOVE THEM! And I love my husband who is putting up with a few of them.  One was pretty bad, and I was okay with stopping it, but Kevin kept it on for me.  That's love!  And thank you, Kevin, for not deleting the extra ones that I will watch without you.  Now, to get some tv time by myself ;-) hmmm.  It's okay to make some plans on a Saturday night with Vince if you want ;-)

Kevin and I still need to take the boys out so they can shop for each other.  I love this tradition!  The only problem with it, and we've seen this from birthday presents we have bought for friends, is they can't keep a secret, they are SO excited.  I'm sure the first thing they will do is run and tell each other.  I bought Grandma a present and it was on our counter and John David took it and was about to run upstairs and show her!  I had to hold him back! Silly boy.

I'd like to thank my boys for bringing the Christmas magic back.  I can't wait to see their faces light up as we prepare for the big guy to arrive next week and see what they got.

Happenings

So much is happening with the Artinghelli's!  I know it's been a long time since my last blog update so here is an update.

The Artinghelli's are heading to Disney!  Yes, I can't wait.  The annual SHRM conference is there in June so we decided to plan our trip around that!  Boys might be a little young for a lot of the rides but I think we will have a great time.  Morgan will be 8 at the time and she is coming too, and I think she is at the perfect age.  So, since I have my work trip, I will be flying!  Everyone else will be driving!  We rented a house there, and it looks like a lot of fun.  It has a pool, movie theater, park nearby, perfect for the boys when we aren't at the parks.   I think Uncle John and Grandma are super excited too. The only problem.....we have to wait 7 months!!!!  I saw a lot of Pinterest ideas that will help to lessen the costs and make our trip more Magical! Wahoo!

So most of you probably saw from my posts that the boys are at a new daycare!  It's for the best, I know, but I'm still upset at what happened.   I don't mind an increase, really, I expect it, I know costs go up.  However, when you give an increase of $185 more than what you pay per week, that's RIDICULOUS!   I mean, who has that much more a week. Someone mentioned, that if it  was worth it, you'd pay, I'm wondering if a place you thought was worth it, would pull an increase like that.  Would a place give you an increase on Wednesday and expect you to pay it on the very next Monday, I think not.  Not very good business practice if you ask me.  The new daycare is going great so far. Both are adapting pretty well.  John David is as happy as a clam. Austin is learning all the new rules, and they definitely have more rules than the other place.  Austin has always had a hard time with change.

Kevin starts a new job on on Monday.  He got a great offer from a company called JC Restoration and decided to leave All State for this opportunity.  He is so very excited about this company.  Everyone in the industry knows this company and says he'll love it there.  So here's to a new start!  So proud of you, Kevin and Congratulations!!!!!!

Boys are super excited about Christmas.  Yes, we have our Christmas Tree up.  Normally, I wouldn't have it up before Thanksgiving, but since there is 1 week in between and the boys were asking for it, we decided to start the magic early!  I didn't even have to do much.  Put the tree up and the boys and Morgan went to town on putting the ornaments on.  It's a pretty tree, says Austin!  He is also trying to talk Kevin into putting lights outside.  We are driving home and he says, "we need lights too"  "it's so beautiful"  That kid, I love him so much, and he says the sweetest things, but he has been driving me nuts with the "NO!" and the not listening.   Hoping to get through this quickly. 

I'm running in my last race of the season on the 14th.  It's called the Jingle Run and it's in Chicago.  It's going to be so festive!  Everyone dresses up in their Christmas attire and Christmas music plays.  It's going to be fun and COLD!  Hoping not too cold. 

Michigan Trip and other happenings

So we just got back from our trip  to Ann Arbor, Michigan, the home of the Michigan Wolverines, aka, Kevin's absolute favorite team!  We had a blast, and the boys did much better than we anticipated, and we learned oh so much about them!

The car ride wasn't too bad, thank goodness for technology, our iPad and iPhone.  Not only could they watch a couple of shows, but they also played games.  They love the memory and puzzle games.  We stopped for lunch and Austin fell asleep about 15 minutes before we arrived. John David held strong all of the way.  The boys were so excited to go swimming in the big pool they had!  Kevin and I were disappointed that there was no hot tub.  There used to be, the outline was still there.  Bummer. Even though we have a pool in the backyard, the boys thought it was so cool that there was a pool in "our house."  They thought our hotel was our Go Blue house, too funny.  They LOVED seeing all of the Michigan Logos, they would yell "Go Blue".  I think that made Kevin's week!!!!  We learned a lot about our boys.  We knew John David sings, but that kid sings ALL THE TIME.  We would be just walking down the hall way and there he goes, singing, In the car, in the pool, in the restaurant, anywhere.  And we learned that Austin likes to cuddle at night in bed.  Kevin was so excited to cuddle with him all night.  Both boys like to sleep on angles, doesn't make for a peaceful night sleep, but hey, at least they are little.    The first night, we fell asleep at 8:00 with the boys.  One it was an exhausting day, but two, we didn't know WHAT to do in a dark hotel room.  The second night went a little differently.  We got both boys to sleep, then Kevin and I met up in the hall next to the bathroom.  We watched 2 episodes of our new favorite show, Scandal, on the iPad and shared a Pumpkin Muffin from Starbucks.  We were very very quiet as we didn't want to wake the boys.

All in all it was a good trip.  It was great seeing Su and her cute baby bump and we all enjoyed driving around Kevin's favorite place. It makes me look forward to trips to come now that we have one under our belt.

Other happenings.

Austin is saying NOOOOO all dramatic.  It reminds me of Hoops and Yoyo.  They are hysterical little Halmark greeting guys.   It's soooo annoying but makes me laugh all the time.  So Austin has finally moved up to the 4 year old room at daycare.  They have been trying to get him to go but he's been crying about going, saying he doesn't want to leave his brother (awww tear). But now he likes it and has been in there for most of the week.  They have homework in that room.  Seriously!?!  Can't believe it, my first baby is growing up.  They have a letter of of the week and are practicing writing among other things.  I'm so amazed by all of the things he knows.

John David is obsessed with cutting paper.  He loves to color, cut and glue.  He's such a creative little guy.  He cuts a whole in a piece of paper, askes me to tie the string and makes a kite, and then runs around trying to fly it.  What an imagination that kid has.

We have been enjoying the weather, 75 and Sunny! (hey that's a country song!)  Loving the leaves changing and slightly cooler air. It definitely makes running easier.  I signed up for another 5K, the hot chocolate run!  They give you a cool running jacket and hot chocolate and fondue after!  Hey, if it keeps me running, that works for me!

Kevin has been having a blast watching Michigan and the Bears!  I think he is happiest in the fall with the football season.  He is currently watching Da,Bears and had a blast when were there on Sunday.  Too bad, we didn't win.  But we got a really cool picture of the two of us!

That's it for now.  Looking forward to Pumpkin picking and Halloween.  I swear the books make holidays sooo much more fun.  And I love doing all of the activities
again through their eyes.

My first 5k!

Yay, I did it!  I ran my first 5k.  And yes, I ran the whole time, in 36.56 minutes, my fastest run.  I'm still feeling very accomplished and sore 2 days later. It wasn't easy, that's for sure, there were times when I wanted to walk, but it was a goal of mine to run the whole time, so I pushed through. I would think of my FIL, and how much he went through and how he didn't give up, how he pushed through and I knew that I could too, I needed too, I wanted too. At one point, I saw the numbers 333 and knew that my mom was with me to.  333 is my sign for my mom and when I see those numbers, I know she is with me.  I saw those glorious numbers around mile 2, which gave me the boost I needed. I reached 2.8 miles (according to my Nike tracker) and by that time, I was too close to stop and walk.  Too close.  Towards the end when I thought it would never end, I asked the lady who was in the street holding up traffic, how much longer, and she said a 5 min walk.  I could do it!  I knew I could and then I saw the finish line and all of the people cheering.  The chills it gave me was all I needed for final stretch.  So  I ran hard on the way in.  And I did it!  3.1 miles, baby!

And yes, if you're asking, if I'll do it again, I will.  A few people are already talking about the next race. ;-)

A big thank you to everyone who supported me, whether you donated, offered advice, cheered me on, watched my kids or said inspirational words.  It means the world to me. Here are some of the inspirational comments:

Great job Pam!!!!

Congrats, Pam!

Great job Pam!!! Thank you for honoring your FIL And my uncle!!

Good girl! Congratulations!

Wtg Pam!! Uncle John would be proud! xoxo

We are so proud of you Pam!

You look fantastic! You must be so proud of yourself. Congratulations on a job well done. Soooo happy for you.

Congratulations Pam! I'm so happy for you... Well done!

You did awesome Pam you should be proud... I am

Way to go Pam Dad and your Mom are so proud of you! As well as Morgan and I!! Great Job!!!

Good job Pam!

U GO GIRL !!!!!!!!

So proud of you!

Congrats! So proud of you!!!

Great job!

Good luck!

Good luck Pam!!! You're going to do great!!!!

Have a Blast!!!

Good luck!!

Good luck Pam!!! 🏃

Good luck!

Good luck!

Good luck Pam, I am sorry I couldn't be there to watch it but I look forward to hearing how you did! I am very proud of you. Also wanted to let you know you just hit your donation goal!

Good luck! You are going to do GREAT!!

Ditto to everyone else! How'd it go?

So very proud of you! }}i{{