It happened....

This crazy thing just happened, and I've been warned multiple times, by multiple people that it would happen.  And I always said, "I know, they do grow up fast, but I still have some time"  Well everyone, it's happened, not all at once, there is still some babieness/little boyness in there but they are definitely
boys, and not little kids or babies anymore.  They have definitely grown so much from the start of summer to now.

They can ride their bikes.  And now that we've taught them to ride, they feel that they can just go wherever they want.  I feel like we have given some wings, but still need to cut them back a bit.  Because, I'm not ready, Kevin is not ready and the boys are definitely not ready to be full blown flying just quite yet.  But now that they have learned to ride their bikes, they are wanting to go on bike rides, which is great, because that is added exercise for me and family time which I love.  And I love to see how "free" they feel.  They are happy!

If they are not riding their bikes, they are riding their scooters, (thanks Aunt Dottie) and thanks to all of the older boys in the hood ;-) for teaching them to jump and do tricks (sarcasm) and thanks to the boys who have the ramps, because the kids think they are soooooooo cool now that that they can go on the ramps.  We even went to the skateboard park, I think I lost a few nails from nailbiting and Austin did fall, but they had a blast.  There were so many kids there, all sizes, 6-18, I'd say and so many levels, I told the boys to stay on the small ramp.  But when I wasn't looking, watching Johnny's football practice, Kevin had Austin go down one of the bigger ramps.  What about baby steps?  Austin, my little risk taker!

They have friends and a lot of them, family friends, school friends, neighborhood friends.  I can't quite keep up with all of them.   It's nice that they are so outgoing that they can make friends, wish I could make them as fast ;-)  The one thing the mommy books never talked about was this......  Boys making decisions at school or on the bus and then thinking that it would happen.  For instance, John and a friend at school, make plans to meet at the park after school.  "Mommy, I'm meeting so and so at the park"  Me, "wait, what, you have homework and...."  "Mommy, please, he is going to be there"  Does said kid make it there, will John be there?  You just never know.  Also, learning that while they love me and I know they do, they want to be out there with their friends.  From the minute they get off the bus, they want to be outside.  Which I'm cool with, because that beats being glued to the TV or devices, but I need to find my place again.  And I miss them so much during the day that it's hard to see them want be with friends rather than me.  I don't want to be the uncool mom but I also want to protect them and make sure they are safe.  And I do get my cuddles, let me tell you, when they aren't out with their friends, they do like to cuddle on the chair and they do make me feel special.  And Kevin gets morning cuddles with each of them.

I love watching John David play football.  He really is a natural and just loves to play.  He often likes to play catch, or practice having the ball snapped to him.  He almost always has a great attitude at practice and at the games and always tries his best.  He has an arm and can catch the ball.  He does great at flag pulling, and is a good runner.  He also cheers his team on and tells them good job. He is just a solid little boy with a lot to learn.  This weekend is the Homecoming game and there is a lot planned so I'm super excited to see how it all turns out.  And hopefully they will win a game.  They have yet to win a game.  It's okay, because they are learning the game and having fun!

Austin is rocking it at bowling.  3 weeks ago was his first time bowling without bumpers and he did very good.  His first score was a 44.  Since then, he has gotten 1 strike, and 2 spares.  They have coaches there to help him.  I can see that he is listening to what they say and trying.  He has 2 goals other than to have fun that he is working on, 1... not to get a gutter ball (keep his arm straight) and 2.  to make sure he waits for the bowlers on each side of him so he's not distracting them.  We are looking at getting him a ball so he has the right finger spacing, they said that would help him since it's made for him.

School is going well for both of the boys.  They both are rocking it at reading and are pretty good about doing their homework.  Austin's math has been a bit challenging at times, even for us, because we know the answer but they are teaching different ways to get there and that's been difficult.  We are managing.  Austin has gotten some high scores on his weekly tests which is an improvement over last year.  Taking his time on his work has been something that he is working on and we can see the results.  John's reading is crazy amazing.  Austin was no where near this level starting first grade last year.  I think it has some to do with 1/2 kindergarten in a different district.  It's just amazing!   They both have weekend news, where they write about what they did over the weekend.  Kevin and I love reading what they wrote about.  It's fun to see what they remember and who they write about.  We went bowling with Kayla and Maia last month and Austin highlighted it in his weekend news, not by their names but by their ages.  So fun.

We really have been having fun, the boys sure keep us busy.  One thing is for sure, we love these kids so much and they truly are good, happy, crazy kids.

Happy birthday to my favorite 6 year old!

Happy 6^th  birthday to my sports loving, joke telling, cuddly John David! It’s crazy that I’m wishing you a happy 6^th birthday.  6, my baby is 6!  What is going on?!?! 

You love anything that has a ball!  And you are such a natural!  You rocked baseball, we were so proud of you, you did a great job hitting from the coach, fielding, you knocked down those ground balls like a champ, and remember those 2 fly balls you caught, and what made me smile the most was when you cheered on your team, Let’s go, Emeralds, Let’s go _______.  You love to play Around the World with us, you love to throw the football and you have a spiral, and now you are hitting golf balls.  The one sport that you haven’t shown an interest in is soccer. 

You are such a great reader.  We loved getting notes sent home from your teacher about how good of a reader you are.  I’m honestly impressed with your level of reading.  I love how you sound out the words you don’t know and at least try to get the word.

You love making books and you are so creative with your stories.  You go through so much paper it’s crazy.

You are absolutely crazy about tacos! You could eat them every day!  You also, love spaghetti, pancakes, rice kripsies, cheese burgers, brats.  You still love a good cheese, mayo and mustard sandwich :-/. You think you don’t like chicken, but when you do eat it, you like it. Not only do you like to eat but you also like to cook.  I like cooking with you. 

You have a great big heart and are always making us laugh.  You like to tell us jokes, what do cows do on Saturday?  They go to the MOOOVIES.  You tell us this joke a lot and try to change it up too.

We can't forget you're love for texting!  It's so cute to see you text Grandma and Grandpa.  You totally gush all over them and it definitely shows your love for them!

You love to play with daddy.  You enjoy playing catch, Around the World, Basketball games, golfing and joking around with each other.  I love the relationship you guys have.

You have stolen my heart.  The other day you told me you liked my dress I was wearing and today when I asked how my sandals looked with my skirt, you said perfect.  You know how to make me feel special and I’m just so thankful to have you in our lives. 

Happy birthday to my Johnny!

Lucky # 7- Happy Birthday Austin!

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Happy 7^th birthday to our fun and loving boy, Austin.  Ironically, today is also your last day of First Grade. You are officially a Second Grader.  What just happened here?  How did you go from a baby to Second Grader in a flash?  Seriously, weren’t you just taking your first steps and saying your first words?  I say this all the time but I really need a PAUSE button.  I wouldn’t use it all the time, just on moments that I want to cherish longer.  You know like the moments when we are playing basketball as a family, or when we are laughing at the little things, you practicing riding a bike, you reading ( I LOVE it when you read to me) and I definitely want to make the time stand still when you let me hold you.  It’s not very often, but when it happens, my heart is HAPPY. 

At 7, you still have yet to lose a tooth.  I know you feel like you will be the last one to lose a tooth but I do hear that it’s better for your teeth in the long run.  And trust me, we could use some help in that department.  And besides, you are so cute with that baby smile. 

At 7, you love spaghetti, pancakes, steak, hamburgers, ribs,chicken, fruit, cottage cheese, chips (yes, you still love chips).  Let’s not forget about your love for Lemonade. You are still a pretty good eater and that makes me happy.

At 7, you love to read.  You like to read books and have books read to you.  Lately, you have been listening to stories on your Chromebook.  It amazes me at how much you have grown as a reader since last year when you finished Kindergarten.  You should be so very proud of yourself, I am.

You love to be outside.  You could be playing basketball, you know playing Around the World against daddy (and beating him sometimes!), me and John David (that's one of my favorite things to do) soccer, playing with chalk, riding your scooter, building a robot, anything.  I can’t wait for when mommy and daddy blast you with a super soaker. You love going to the park and climbing, swinging and monkeying around on the monkey bars.  

You love to text.  And you're getting pretty good at spelling the words.  I sure do think it's cute when you're texting Grandma and Grandpa.  Some of the conversations are super sweet and them some of them are just plain crazy with all of the emoticons!

 

You love to play games on the ipad, Chromebook, your 3DS, daddy's playstation even board games.  I think you might be a gamer one day.  I think you would play all day if I'd let you.  You get so into it and just want to WIN.

Grandma’s pool is the time when I think you are the most free and happy.   You just LOVE jumping in.  I love making memories with you in the pool. 

Austin, we love you.  I wish you knew how much and I wish I could explain to you how much.  One day, when you have a child, you know when you are living with John David and your wives, you’ll understand.   You are a great boy.  You want to do things on your own time and you do have trouble listening to my words and sometimes your teachers, but what 6 year old doesn’t.  I hear  The age that I have been waiting for. Lucky number 7!

Let’s make this a great year.  Let’s enjoy the summer.  Happy Birthday, buddy!

Spring time

I started writing this post a long time ago.  I'm going to leave it and then continue below, so it's kinda like 2 posts.

Yay, it's spring time and that means more time outside, grilling and more fun!  We've had a taste of some warm weather and we have been to the park, playing basketball outside and have grilled, well Kevin has and it was delish!

Baseball is also going to start soon.  If only the weather would cooperate and stop raining and be over 45 degrees.  I feel bad that his practice was canceled, he was so excited and just wants to play ball.  He got a new throw and field trainer and goes outside whenever he can to throw the ball and practice.  We went to the store to buy all of his gear and the excitement in his eyes was awesome.  He met his team, so all that is left is to practice!  So April weather, warm up and save the rain for the hours of  9p.m.-4 a.m.

We have awesome readers on our hand.  I'm so happy that they love to read.  They read before bed every night and just love getting new books at the library each week.  They have really grown.  Although it's hard to get use to both of them reading signs on the road, or at restaurants and we definitely can't spell or they will catch wind.  I'm happy that they are growing so much and a little sad too.

Boys are having a fun time texting from my phone.  So be warned, if you get a text from me that doesn't sound like me, it very well could be Austin or John David.  They love receiving messages too.

We enjoyed spring break.  Boy did it go by fast.  We did a lot  and I'm sorry that it's over.  the boys are pretty amazing and I was lucky to be able to spend a whole week with them. 

I'm laughing right now because, I just wrote about how we just enjoyed spring break, and now we are 1 week out from summer break!  I tell ya, life has been just so hectic and crazy as of late.  Work has been crazy busy and home too.

John David had a great baseball season, we are just beyond proud of him.  He made plays at first as the first baseman,  caught 2 fly balls, stopped ground balls and threw to first and second, hit the ball from the coach and cheered on his team.    He loves playing and can't wait to play fall ball.  As crazy as the season was, practice 1 night and 1-3 games a week, I'm sad that it's over.  We really enjoyed watching him play. And he was way too cute in his uniform.

Austin had a blast playing with his friends from the baseball team.  We've met some new friends in the neighborhood so that's been fun.

School is over next week and I'm sitting here thinking where did the year go!   Just looking at how far both of them come over the school year.  Both are great readers!  Austin is doing fractions, adding, and subtracting and spelling! (much more too). I can't wait to take a picture on Friday to see the difference from their first day of school. 

Both boys start summer camp on the 6th and I think they are going to have a blast.  Lots of fun things happening for them.

Kevin is doing good.  He got his father's day gift a little bit early.  The boys got him a smoker, he's been wanting it for awhile now and it's perfect that the weather is nice.  He can cook for us even more now!  Win win!  


I'm having a hard time with the boys turning 7 and 6 and going into 2nd and 1st grade.  What happened to my babies!?!?!  I'm still thankful, they still like to cuddle.

The next weeks will be crazy with school ending and birthdays for my 2 special boys.

Artinghelli Happenings

It seems as though I do this every year.  I just can't seem to find the time to blog.  So I apologize that's its been nearly 3 months since my last blog.  So much has happened.  We went through the Holidays, which were amazing.  We had a lot of activities surrounding the holidays which always turns out to be fun.  This year we went on a train ride with Santa and his elves, my work Christmas party, made cookies, had a bunch of celebrations and even started a new tradition, driving around the neighborhood looking at lights and going out for ice-cream.  I really enjoyed that.  We were going to send holiday cards oversees but didn't make the deadline, but we did send a Christmas Card to a girl who was asking for them because she lost her family in a fire and was wanting these cards to make her feel better and we adopted a boy who wanted Minecraft toys, just like Austin.   Boys, of course were spoiled with love and toys.  They got their 3DS's from us.  This was the present of the year, and Austin has been talking about wanting it for months. It was great to see their expression when they opened it!  They got a lot of great toys this year and are super super lucky.  We keep trying to tell them that they are lucky and that there are people/kids out there who don't have it as good.  Hopefully, they do know they are lucky.  We had a lot of questions this year about Santa.  Is he real, are the parents giving the toys, he's not the same Santa as we saw, etc.  It makes me sad to think that the innocence and the belief might not be here for much longer.   Hopefully we can get a few more years, and I hope the older kids keep the magic going for us.

Austin is rocking with the reading.  I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of him.  It's amazing to hear his sweet voice read to me. He's comprehending too, which is awesome.
A funny story, so for school, Austin had to write about which book he preferred out of 2 books he recently read about ducks.  He had to say why he preferred the book, what he would say to someone who was asking.  So, my little guy, said he liked one of the books better because it was a shorter book.  Little stinker.  I laughed to myself, but then he had to redo the work because his teacher said, that wasn't a good reason!  Hahaha.

Austin is really loving basketball!  He wants that ball to go in the hoop and will keep shooting til it's in there.  He likes to count how many shots he can make in a row.  Can't wait for it to warm up a bit so he can do this at home and not after practice.  I feel bad for him because he is the smallest on the team and it's definitely hard for him to get and keep the ball because everyone is so much bigger.  

Both boys love watching Impractical Jokers.  They just crack up at all of the things the jokers need to do!  It's nice to have a show, we can all enjoy watching.  Not just those pesky cartoons.

We have been enjoying playing Minion Life.  It's definitely different than the Life we played growing up, but it's a lot of fun.  I love playing games as a family.  Uno attack is another fun one, love it when the boys get blasted with cards, haha!   I'm sure Kevin can't wait until we can all play Monopoly!

John is also doing an AMAZING job with his reading too.  I love listening to him read.  So proud of how good he is with sounding out his words.





We signed John David up for the travel league for baseball.  We can't wait to see him out there.  He can't wait either.  He was so good at t-ball, can't wait to see how he does off the tee.  Can't wait to see his arm in action!!!!!  And we are also getting ready to sign him up for flag football.  I know he can't wait for that one!  He is so excited about sports.  Well, John David is excited about everything, he really is just a well rounded kid!

I think we are all ready for it to be nice outside again.  While, we have been blessed with a mild winter, can't wait for spring/summer, when we can be outside!  I miss the burgers and brats Kevin would grill and having the windows open!  It's coming, I know it!