Elmo, A Witch and Halloween 2012 x2!

Giana's school fall party, Elmo at the Mom's Club halloween party, pumpkin painting and of course, trick or treat! Thanks to Huricane Sandy, the kids went trick or treating in our neighborhood on 10/31 (it was miserable, windy, cold and raining - ugh!) and then again at Dominic's parents on 11/4. Trick or treat in Cleveland was rescheduled because of the storm. The witch had a blast and was the prettiest witch I've ever seen. Elmo wasn't quite sure about trick or treat. He handed out candy at our house and then when we went out, he tried to give the candy back to the neighbors after they put it in his basket. He was a little confused but by the time he went out in Cleveland,
he understood and wanted more "cannies."

Romney Ryan Rally

What a fun evening! My mom, sister and I took the kids to see Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. It was so cool to be a part of such a moving and important event. We were among 10,000+ supporters. Out of the blue, a rally worker approached us (out of thousands of people) and asked if we would like to go to the VIP section. He escorted us to the front. Again, so cool and how lucky we're we?! Praying hard for a Romney/Ryan victory in 2012!

Birthday, Anniversary, Apples and More!



Apple picking in Cleveland with the Vitale's.



Girls day out apple picking and visiting a pumpkin patch with our friends Cindy and Sarah. 

He loved this pumpkin so we bought it for him!

Giana started her cheerleading class and loves it! Her instructor is a senior Ohio State cheerleader.

Searching for just the right pumpkin!

My sweet babies strolling through the apple orchard.

I love this time of year!

Happy 15th anniversary to my very best friend! Thank you for your commitment to our marriage, your loyalty to our love and your hard work to take care of our family. You are a wonderful husband and a loving dad. I thank God for you every day. Praying for many more happy and healthy years together.

The Vitale clan at the apple farm.

Happy 6th birthday, Giana! We love you so much and had a fun time celebrating with family and friends at Pete's Rec Outlet! Giana fell in love with some frog invitations so we kept the theme and had the cake made, too. Love that girl!

I volunteer in Giana's classroom every other Thursday and it has been so much fun. A lot of work, but fun! I must give a shout out to those kindergarten teachers. :)

Birthday Boy and Kindergarten Girl

August was crazy busy but bittersweet for me. Dominic turned two on 8/7 and Giana started kindergarten on 8/27. Our kiddos are growing so fast. We try to enjoy every moment. Time sure is precious. Blessed and thankful for our two favorite people. (Please bare with me as I try and figure out my new blog layout. I have no idea why the pictures are out of order.)

First day of kindergarten! She loved it! Mommy is the only one who cried. Sobbed.

Our garden! We had lots of tomatoes, a few cucumbers and one ear of corn!

Giana and Mrs. Horman on the first day of school.

Dominic received tickets to a Clippers Game so we took Giana. Awesome seats and she loved the free food!

She did it! Giana's ears are pierced and she takes such good care of them. Santa will be bringing her some earings this year.

Happy birthday, Dominic! What a blessing he is! We celebrated with family and friends with a cook out at our house.

Waiting for the school bus the first week of school. Love. these. two!  

"We have no summer plans."

Fourth of July parade and fireworks, Myrtle Beach vacation with the Vitale's, Columbus Zoo, Ohio State Fair, Touch-A-Truck, Vacation Bible School for Giana, a basement renovation, and a family trip to WV that included Ogelbay, Wheeling Park, swimming, paddle boats and a prison tour.

This was just in July. But we had "no summer plans." :)

Tooth Fairy Visits Giana!

I can't believe my baby is growing up! She lost he first tooth a few days ago and this morning she lost a second tooth. Both were the bottom two middle teeth. It's hard to tell in the pictures because her adult teeth were already in and waiting for the baby teeth to fall out. The tooth fairy left her $1.50 for her first tooth and will probably leave her $1.00 for her second tooth. (That tooth fairy is so cheap!) Honestly, she doesn't quite understand the difference between $1.50 and $5.00. She was so excited to get the coins that she woke us at 4:15am to let us know that she had come. I love the imagination. Tooth fairy, get your wings ready because you need to come back again tonight. Tooth #1 (6/25/12)

Tooth #2 (6/28/12)

Father's Day 2012

Once again, I failed to take pictures on Father's Day. I'm really trying to enjoy the moment more but boy do I wish I would have just pulled out my camera a few more times. Here are the kiddos enjoying father's day in the baby pool in Cleveland. Happy Father's Day, Dominic. I love you so much and so do our kids. I'm thankful we have you. And Happy Father's day to Papa. We love you, too!

Happy Father's Day, Dad. It's hard to believe you've been gone for almost 9 years. I miss you. I wish your life wasn't cut short at such a young age. Hard for me to understand but I trust that God had better plans for you. I wish so much that you were able to meet our kids. Dominic looks so much like you. As much as I would love to have you back, I know that heaven is a better place. Rest in peace. I love you. (My sister sent me this picture on Father's Day of her and my Dad. He was probably about 30 years old. Kinda cute, huh?)

Safety City

What a fun two weeks! Giana and my nephew, Luke, were in the same Safety City class offered by the city. They learned so much about fire, stranger, gun, car, etc. safety and had a blast! This class is offered to kids entering kindergarten in the fall and I'm so glad we signed her up. They had a graduation ceremony for the kids at the end of the two weeks. The kids sang songs and received their diplomas. Dominic loved Frankie the fire hydrant!

Strawberry Picking

We (Cindy and I) took the kids to pick some strawberries at a farm in Plain City. It was a fun morning and well worth the 30 minute drive. The strawberries are delicious and the kids had a great time. Dominic's first time but it won't be his last! Now I'm in search for a great strawberry pie recipe. YUM!

Katie's Graduation

My niece, Kathleen, graduated from high school so we spent Memorial Day weekend in Maryland. I can't believe it...where does the time go? I'm so proud of her! She's off to East Carolina Univeristy in August.

Gardening 101

We planted a garden and I'm so excited to see how it grows this summer! Giana has been wanting to plant a garden for a couple of years and we finally did. So, with a little watering, a little sun and a little prayer...maybe we'll have some fruits and vegetables soon! Dominic did the hard part and took out all the big weeds and put new soil down.

G and I planted the seeds.

And in G's eyes, this is what our garden should look like at some point this summer. (Corn, cucumbers, cantelope and tomatoes.)The blue streaks that look like rainbows are the spinkler system watering our garden.

LemonaVe For Sale

We had a community garage sale (which was a big success!) and Giana and her friend, Sarah wanted to sell lemonade and cookies. They made $22! They only charged 25 cents for a glass of lemonade and 25 cents for two cookies. They sold a lot of lemonade and cookies! Giana made the sign and spelled lemonade with a "v". I thought it was so cute that I didn't correct it. Baby Dominic was our little helper for the weekend.

May 2012

Mother's Day with my Mom and Giana at Eddie Merlots. We had salad before the power went out from a storm. We never had dinner but we're going to go back again soon.

We spent Mother's Day in Cleveland with Dominic's family. I didn't take many pictures but here are my babies enjoying the roller coaster in the backyard. I can't believe my 21 month old was riding that thing but he loved it...all the way down the big hill in the back yard! So thankful for these two. Happy mother's day to me. :)

Giana graduating from her Sporties for Shorties class at our local Rec Center.

Last day of Pre-K. There are so many things D and I do "wrong" as parents, but the decision to send her to pre-k was so right." She matured, learned so much and had such a fun year. I hope these two teachers are still teaching when we send Dominic to pre-k.

Kindergarten orientation. Gulp. I can't even go there right now. My baby girl is growing up FAST.