We have a walker!!!

Cristiano has been walking for the last month and

a half now and within the last few weeks he has

begun to show his newly found skills: walking while eating,

walking and talking on the phone, walking and eating,

walking and picking up his toys... and walking and eating.

Loves daddy's shoes and phones...

Almost running...
and of course it's away from mommy

Bella and I at Sydney's Rootin Tootin

Cowgirl birthday party

I love daddy....

Bella and Syd

C and I doing what we like best... eating!

Falloween

It's finally fall.. We have been enjoying the

unseasonably warm weather and watching the

kiddos grow.

Shawn, Ballerina Princess and Yoda at the office.
This is the 1st year Bella trick or treated...

and she LOVED it. Amazing - only took

6 years and a little brother.

Yoda trying to levitate and eat all the candy...

when that didn't work he decided to use his chunky

tippy toes and outreached hands

Me and C at the last home football game.

Go BULLDOGS!

We're in the playoffs... so more football pics to come.

B and a rootin tootin Cowgirl birthday party.

Our little deputy.

Doesn't he look like a Woody doll from Toy Story!

'There's a snake in my boot'

Yoda wondering aimlessly through the pumpkin

maze. I can't believe he actually liked wearing

this costume. It was 80 degrees outside!

Bella

Posing... posing.... posing

Kisses for Yoda

'Hey guys this doesn't tase like an apple... but

I'll eat it anyway.' -- C

Taking a break from the duties of keeping the earth

safe... and trying to see if he could eat an ant.

I need a diaper change...

Bella and BFF Molly have a sleepover.

They read their Bibles together before going to bed.

Very sweet!

Earlier in the evening... the girls painted, played dolls

watched Polly Pocket, had manicures and made brownies.

Oh yes... and made TONS of jewelry!

Happy Birthday Cristiano!

We had a small cake for Cristiano on his actual

birthday last week. He LOVED the chocolate and

tried to eat the candle several times.

Always the giving little boy --- feeding

mommy. YUM. Chubby fingers with chocolate

fudge cake. Does it get any better than that?

Trying to force feed daddy!

I think he was trying to see if he could fit

his fists in Shawn's mouth.

C's weekend birthday party! Thanks to the Brisco's,

Patterson's, Kemp's, Mulders, Mutalik's and Evan's

for coming!

Pic above is Shawn and Bella enjoying the jupiter

jump before the party started. That contraption

was awesome. It reminded me of how much I really

need to start working out.

C's Ferrari F40 cake and mini cake


The 'clean' pic. Bella and BFF Allie are excited

to see if Cristiano will actually try and

eat his mini cake...

Hmmmm.....

Using tools to get to the goods.

Needless to say, he LOVED his cake. And so did the
walls, floors, tables, chairs and anyone within 10 feet
of him. Cake was flung in every direction for a
good 15 minutes. I'm still finding bits and pieces on the
walls and shutters.


C and the girls (Natalie and Sydney). He was

showing off his mad skills at the xylophone

He received some awesome presents. We've been

entertained by his alligator xylophone in the wee

hours of the morning, enjoyed watching him get

tagged by little balls from the ball popper thingy :),

he loves the bi-lingual driving toy (bi-lingual F1 driver

in the making), and he loves to be pushed around

on his alphabet train (einstein watch out). Thank

you all for making his day so special!

3 Little Monkeys at the Zoo

My best friend Sarh and I took our little monkeys to the

zoo a few weeks ago and had a MARVELOUS time!

In just a matter of 5 hours we were able to throughly

exhaust ourselves (not including the kiddos - they

were ready for more - AMAZING).

Aunt Sarah treated the girls to 3 consecutive

rides on the carousel. Needless to say they

were a like weeble wobbles when they walked off.

Bella feeding the birds.

Cristiano took bite of the bird food

too. He will eat anything!

Bella and Sydney acing like monkeys


... kissing a catfish that's bigger than they are

... and of course, posing for the camera

Finally... one little monkey takes a snooze

(for 15 minutes)

Then off to the water park we went!

A great end to a great day

Art Show

We enrolled Bella in a 2 week art class at a local

Art museum and these are a few pictures from

her 1st ever art exhibit. She had an incredible

experience and can't wait to go to more summer

sessions next year. We are so proud of our little

girl.. she just may grow up to be an artist afterall.

This is her 'reuse/recycle' rendition of a chinese

house (pink structure). She also created a cat

plate for our beloved Kobe.

More of her artwork - it took 2 large grocery bags and

assistance from her art teacher to get all her

masterpieces into the car. Above is a swan made

of paper mache. C wanted to take a lick (of course).

An indian pencil holder and (my favorite) a

mummy. She was also able to make

some clay beads!!

Working with clay. A few of Bella's creations.

From left to right: Mermaid in lagoon, bowl, mommy

(lovely), cat plate and penguin.

I had to add this little pic. She wanted to be sure that I had enough snacks during my workday so she quickly wrote me a note and left some goodies at my desk. So SWEET!

Summer Fun

We spent the last few weeks in South Bend, IN and Chicago

with family, celebrating my sister's wedding and grandparents

60th anniversary. I forgot how much I missed my family

and GOOD food. Mark (our new brother in law) and

Abbie spoiled us with great dinners and we splurged

on Walker Brothers and Lou Maltanti's pizza.

Isn't she lovely.... Congrats Abs! We are so

happy for you and love our new family.

It was HOT while we took these pictures so you'll see

a lot of eye squinting. C kept trying to take all

his clothes off and we caught Bella lifting her

dress quite a bit trying to catch a breeze... needless

to say, the stockings flew off as soon as we arrived

at the reception hall.

Shawn and B waiting to take more pics.

Marka, Bella and Catrianna

These girls had so much fun - sleepovers, playing

and shopping. BFFs for sure

Our 'baby' girl. Abbie treated the girls to having

their hair done for the wedding. We're still

finding glitter on her pillow :) - she loved

her princess look

Kisses for daddy. C loves giving kisses, but only to

daddy. AND he loves playing with Shawn's

blackberry. He's able to unlock it and loves

using the track mouse.

Bella and Papa (my dad) sharing a dance.

Too much fun for our little one. These are the moments

I love to capture.

Mark was able to get us a VIP tour of the Notre Dame

Stadium. We got to see the football locker room,

tackle each other on the field, and run around in the

presidential box.

C pulling grass... thank goodness he didn't

put it in his mouth (this time).

This is the wall that the players touch for luck

before going out on the field for each game.

C in the footlocker...

The girls decided to put on a show for us. They danced

for a good 20 minutes. I think they were runway models

turned ballerinas in the story. Matching outfits

compliments of Abbie.

Abs and Mark surprised the kids with pony rides IN

THE BACKYARD.

In front of the Crown Royal car at Mark and

Abs store.

Bella finding out she was going to the

American Girl store in Chicago!!!!

She made out like a bandit... we could

barely fit our luggage in the car. Good

thing we drove.

Carriage ride in downtown Chicago.

Bella fell asleep on the ride within 5 minutes.

Guess all that shopping wore her out.

Mom and Cristiano at Grandma and

Grandpa's anniversary party.

Happy 60th Anniversary Grandpa and Grandma!