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.