Busy, Busy

How can you tell you are in St. Louis? Our beautiful Arch! I took this photo while we were driving on the highway. The first one had a pole smack-dap in the middle of the pic.

Gosh, I thought the regular school year was always busy, but we still haven't stopped! The summer brings so much time outside that I am not in front of the computer much. We have recently put up a new pool that my brother gave us. We have been swimming in it although we can't quite seem to get it sparkling clear. Nico absolutely loves having the pool out the back door. Luca is doing better in it. He loves just laying on a raft floating around, but we had hime doing some swimming the other day. The pics of the filling of the pool are still on the camera. We had to have a 4,000 gallon tanker truck bring water as we are on well water where we live. We didn't want to drain the well and knew it would take DAYS to fill the pool otherwise.

Mike and I went to a wedding a few weeks ago at our beautiful Missouri Botanical Garden. We went early and walked around taking photos and looking at the beautiful flowers in bloom.

Mike and I at the Garden.I couldn't resist taking the photo of this man painting the flowers. I have no idea how to spell the artists name who made all the glass blown features in the Garden so I apologize (Chalui??). They were on display a couple years ago and some of the pieces stayed. this is one of them surrounding the rose garden.

Before we had the pool set up I let the boys play in the sprinkler. I thought Luca would be a little freaked out, but, no worries, he jumped right in! That well water is sooooo cold I don't know how they stood it.

This boy sleeps with a smile on his face! He loves life!

Here's another that is always smiling...not quite as much as Nico, but he is up there! One fearless little boy!

We continue to do school work 3 days a week during the summer. This is so we can take breaks in the winter and still get all the hours we need for the year in, plus to keep Nico up on his skills.

Luca likes to be right next to Nico when we are doing lessons. He imitates big bro so much. Luca brought his paper down to the floor to 'write' like Nico. I LOVE THEIR TOGETHERNESS.

However, we have been trying to schedule Fridays for our fun days. Last week we went the the St. Louis Zoo. It is a FREE Zoo and fun to visit. The big event now is the stingrays. Nico couldn't wait to get in and pet them, however, this compared nothing to swimming with the Ginormous ones in the Grand Caymans when we were on our cruise. (That was Nico's favorite part of the cruise....fearless at 5 yo).

Here are some pics from our Zoo trip and a quick visit to Turtle Park (which is just a little park with a bunch of HUGE turtles to climb on).

Stingrays!

The train ride.

Luca really got into looking at the animals on this visit. Last year we went when he was home only a month or two and he was not so into it.We very rarely get to see the Gorillas close up. This big guy was sleeping right next to the window.

Luca is continuing to say more words and learning more sign language. Nico has learned to sign the alphabet and we are working on spelling words with our hands....so fun! We are also learning word signs. (Much easier to remember than Spanish...but I want them to learn that too..I just can't teach it). Luca now likes to walk up the stairs sometimes he is alternating feet! He still slides down the stairs on his bottom....fine with me! We took the baby gates down and he is doing great.

Brian is also doing well. I haven't seen him in a couple weeks, but we talk at least once a week. I am hoping to see him soon. We are still waiting for the decision on his jaw surgery. I wish they would hurry up, but it seems it is a bit complicated, so we want to make sure they get it right the first time!

Well, I better get off of here and get breakfast started and get my sleepy heads out of bed.

Recital Was Great!

Nico's second dance recital was great. It lasted three hours, which was a bit long, but we made it. His group only had one dance, but all the others were fun to watch. Luca fell asleep right before Nico's performance. Here are a few photos of Nico's dance. He did great. If I could figure out how to upload the video I would, but you'll have to make do with a few blurry photos. We could not use flash and it was hard to get a good, clear shot, but you get the idea. Nico has some great moves and received a lot of hoots and hollers for his solo segment. Of course, everyone did a great job, but I have to brag on my son. I am so proud of him at 7 yo getting in front of an audience and doing his thing. He has so much fun!

The start of his solo segment. He nailed this move - the 'wave like' arm movements of the arms across his body and had his feet in it too.He then proceeded to knee spins, alternating knees.The group then went into the group routine.Nico has practiced this move alot at home. I think his tumbling really helps him out.

Have I Said, "I Love My Boys" today?

Gosh, everyday amazes me with the boys. Today Luca worked a shape puzzle 3 times by himself. Tomorrow we'll get out a new one. Luca is saying more and more words. He is signing and saying the words now with the sign he already knew. Next week we start our sign language curriculum (all of us). Luca enjoyed his first Kindermusik class. He was quiet at first, but got into it when the instruments and parachute came out. I think he will do fine. He loves to dance and tonight came up to me and said, "dance" while moving his arms around. Next week he starts his tumbling and dance classes. I can't wait to see how that all goes. We are having the family celebration of Luca's 2nd birthday on Sunday. Luca has really warmed up to everyone in the family and just loves his Grandpa.

This week I finally got to attend one of Nico's baseball games. He looks so sharp in his uniform. He got 3 foul tips this week. It is coach pitch and unfortunately the coach pitching is not very good. They have some strange rules, but, we attend for fun and exercise. I also finally got to watch Nico's routine for his recital on Sunday. They had dress rehearsal and picture day so parent's were allowed to stay and watch. I loved it. I can't wait to see the live show on Sunday. All the kids looked so adorable in their outfits. We are wrapping up 2nd grade over the next few weeks. Missouri's homeschool year runs July 1-June 30 so we homeschool all year round. We have to keep up with the reading and math. We are also going to be working on language, geography, and Nico's favorite, science....specifically insects (Oh yay!) These are mini lessons and not a full blown schedule. Also, we only work on these 3 days a week. He has done so well. Just today he corrected himself in grammar while he was speaking. I forget specifically what he said, but he ended up saying, "That didn't make any sense." He laughed and corrected the sentence. Gosh, I love homeschooling and love being home with the boys to see them learn.

Brian is coming over to hang out this weekend. I am excited to see him and spend some time with him. I hope he is in a good mood. We need a good few days together. He tells me he is doing well in his online classes and working for the company his dad works for. I worry about him over doing it in the heat, but he is 17 and I have to let him grow up sometime. At least he is with his dad and not haning out with who knows who doing who knows what.

Here are a couple of photos of Nico and Luca. I will get updated ones of Brian this weekend.

Troy Dragons BaseballYeah, I'm too cool to really pose for this baseball photo.

He's the man. I love the fact that Nico likes dancing. I always wanted to take tap lessons, but Mom never let me. I am living through my kids. Luckily they like it. I would never push them to do something they didn't enjoy. He comes out of class every week soaked with sweat. Peace Out!"I can do it too!!!!" Luca was getting his 'hiphop' look on too. I had more photos of him with his 'hiphop' face, but they were all blurry....Ugh, trying to snap photos of a toddler is hard. He loves having his photo taken.

Again, I can't stress how much I love these boys. My life would be so empty without them in it. I am thankful everyday for the unselfishness of their birth mothers and pray every day that they are well. I often wonder how much they think about their boys and what kind of beautiful little boys they are.

Life is good, even though my van is broke down again, the car engine is locked up....I have my wonderful honey, Mike, who is willing to let me use one of his vehicles.....I LOVE MY LIFE AND MY FAMILY!