You might have to watch this a couple times to hear what she says.

Mallory and Luke turn 2!

Last week was Mallory and Luke's 2nd birthday. I know, how does time manage to speed up when you're an adult? I can't believe they're 2 already! Next step, college applications.

We celebrated by having family and friends/neighbors over. There were about 50 kids and adults here. But, by the volume...I'm guessing there were more kids than adults.

I was busy cooking for a couple days because I was determined to host a kids birthday party with something besides pizza. I decided that 3 days after Thanksgiving people might enjoy mexican food! I made pork carnitas and chicken enchiladas, Brad made his 7 layer dip and Michael made a big ol' batch of his yummy margaritas.

About an hour into the party, I panicked because not all the kids were eating (and not all of the adults either). I turned to Michael and said, "I think we need to order pizza!! QUICK!!" So, we had 4 large cheese pizzas delivered. Guess what? There wasn't one slice left over.

All in all, everyone had a good time.

NEW YORK birthday trip

I can't believe it actually happened. Something my friend Melanie and I have been talking about for a year actually came through.

We decided to meet in NYC for our big bad 40th birthdays. We had a great time and had a jam packed 2 days in NY.

The weather people were calling for the worst weather of the season (of course they were...why wouldn't they on that weekend?). Nor'Easter, wind, pouring/driving rain, winter-like temps. Well, Mother Nature gave us a birthday gift and the rain actually held off until the day we left! It was still cold, but at least we didn't have to contend with the rain.

We went on a horse drawn carriage ride in Central Park, lunch at Carnegie Deli, Mamma Mia on Broadway, walked the entire length of Central Park, The Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museums, shopping on 5th Ave., dinner at Smith & Wollensky's, and watched the Yankee/Angels game (on TV).

We had a great time and vowed that we would go back there together on our 80th birthdays!!

Enjoy the pix!

Hi,

Just a late night post while all is quiet. Lately Michael's and my conversations are as follows, "Hey, did you get my email about ---------- MOM, where's my homework, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Luke NOooooooooooooooooo" Me to Michael, "Nevermind, I'll text you later." When I left last night for karate I had all those spiral things over my head like you see in cartoons, but after the 2 hour workout, was much better.

Cole is a superstar in hockey. Scoring every game and skating better all the time.

Mallory's new thing, crawling into Luke's crib. Michael suggested we should move their cribs away from each other, then thought better of it, its probably safer the way it is. And cuter too.

Luke is just so cute and so smart. If it moves, or has a lid or a switch, he wants to know how it works. He's figuring out cause and effect right now. If I do this, then this. Not always good. He still loves to climb. Uhhhhh, when does that end? Mt. Everest??

LOVE my job with Uppercase Living. Challenging at times, but so fun!

Michael is loving his job too. IBM is great. ? He coaches Cole's hockey team, just finished up with the town over 40 softball team, and is now a lector at church. He will read this Sunday. He'll be embarrassed about this, but my friends from Cole's school think he's a babe!

Dad and Ev will be visiting for the next couple of weeks. Can't wait to see them. They got a room at the Mt. Washington hotel in NH. I think it was the inspiration for The Shining???? Must find out about that.

I'm going to NY with my BFF Melanie T. mid-Oct. Can't wait. We'll see Mamma Mia! go to a museum, and I'll take the time to walk around the Jackie O reservoir which is where my other friend Melanie (that passed away a couple years ago) and I walked when she was pretty sick.

Enjoy the pictures. I'll try to be good about writing the funny things that are said or done chez DiSilvio.

Peace.

Back from Vacation

We got back at around 5 p.m. yesterday after an almost 2 week vacation to see my sister Laurie in Virginia and my mom and John in North Carolina. I calculated a total of 24 hours of driving with 3 kids by myself!!!

I'll back up a little. About a month ago I broke my pinkie toe on my right foot while chasing Luke. I caught it on the kitchen doorframe. My body went one way and my toe went the other way. I went to the ER and the x-ray confirmed that it was broken. The Doc taped it up and sent me on my way. Several friends (thank you Cori) recommended that I see an orthopedic surgeon because the toe can heal funny (not funny ha-ha, but funny strange). So, I went to see Dr. Gilligan (don't let the name fool you. He is pretty cute, and he used to be on staff for the Red Sox!) He was excellent! They x-rayed my foot and when they pulled it - ouch! - and taped it together, the bones would slide off each other and wouldn't stay. He recommended surgery, so the next week I had that done. I was gonzo (they put me out) and Dr. Gilley put a temporary pin through my toe and toe bones to keep them in place. I had a post-op shoe and crutches....oh and of course Percocet. I only used the Percs for 2 days and the crutches for about that amount of time too. But, I couldn't get the toe wet. Showers were interesting, but I was really bummed because I wanted to go in the pool and mom and John's!!

We left for Laurie's Tuesday, July 14th. We had a great time hanging out. Laurie is working, so during the day it was me and 5 kids! Laurie hosted an Uppercase Living party for me with some of her friends on Thursday. Sunday, my kids and I left for NC, about a 4 hour drive. Mom hosted a party for me on Sunday afternoon - yes, I guess this was a WORKING vacation for me. It was really nice to get to meet a lot of their friends from the church. The party was very nice. Monday evening my Aunt Gayle arrived from San Francisco and Laurie's girls came down from Virginia. Gayle hadn't seen the kids in a year, so she was having fun chasing them around. Tuesday Brad, Holly and kids came so all in all there were 15 people in mom and Johns house! Lord help us! It was hectic, crazy, loud, but we were together! The kids had a blast in the pool and playing together! Laurie was able to come down Thursday night for a few days - yea!! We had a really great time, great company, great conversations and great food of course!! Thank you!

So, now we're back to reality. It is nice to be home, but it sure is wonderful to be with family. We were only missing Michael in that crowd, and he was missed!

Because I can only post 5 pictures at a time on this, here is the link from our trip:

http://picasaweb.google.com/comaluke/TripToLaurieAndMomSJuly09?authkey=Gv1sRgCL_a5a7R3qzb0wE

Let Summer Begin!

Well, it has begun, but no one told Mother Nature. It's about 56 degrees, has been raining for a week it seems and no end until Thursday of this week. Ouch.

Cole has officially started his summer vacation. He asked us, "How many weeks are there in summer vacation?" "About 10." Cole, "THAT'S IT???????!!!!!!!!!!" I hope he makes the most of it. Hurry up and have fun. So far he is in a baseball tournament that is about a week and a half long, but they practice all the time - 4 days this week as a matter of fact!! He's also doing a hockey clinic for a couple weeks. We will drive down to my sister Laurie's in VA for a week, and down to my mom and John's in NC for about 5 days in July.

Cole spotted a fawn on the way home last week. It had lost it's mother, but we saw mom on our side of the street and put baby in our backyard for mom to find it. It was only a day or two old, very cute. And, no, the mother won't reject the baby if a human holds it, that is an old wives tale.

Luke has taken to climbing. He climbs anything that is vertical: stairs, chairs, tables, bookcases, dressers, cribs, strollers, swing sets...you get the idea. There isn't much he won't try to climb. I just need to get it through to him that he can fall, will fall and has fallen. He still loves to eat. If I tell them it's time to eat, he runs over to his seat, climbs up into it (of course) and sits and waits for me to bring his tray to him. He is about 27 pounds and 33 inches. He just had his first haircut - bye bye curls! He looks like a big boy now.

Mallory is just too funny. She likes to watch and observe. She watches Luke climb, she watches Luke fall, she watches Luke cry. She is either too smart to do the same, or too cautious. Haven't figured that out yet. She also just got her first hair cut, not too much - she still has her curls. She likes to play the game, "Where's Cole?". Cole will go and hide and we will say "Where's Cole?" and she runs all over looking for him and then giggles and screams when she finds him. She is about 21 pounds and 30 inches. So, now I get the weird looks, then the question, "What's the age difference?" Or the doubtful question, "They aren't twins, are they?" It's amusing.

Michael is still playing in his over 40 softball league when time permits. He coaches Cole's little league team as well. I wonder if he'll get any golf in this year?

I just started a new job as most of you know, with Uppercase Living (http://lanaedisilvio.uppercaseliving.net/) about 6 weeks ago. I love it! It gets my mind working, I get to get out of the house without kids and hang out with other women. There is also quite a bit of decorating skills that I need to bring to the table. And, I'm actually making money doing it! I'm still taking karate, and now there may be a small amount of teaching that I might be asked to do. Sensei Lanae, kind of has a nice ring to it!

Have a great summer, I'll try to keep this thing updated.

Update

I have not been good about updating this thing!

I guess I should start from the end of last month. I finally made it to the black belt exam. 5 1/2 years of taking karate, who would have guessed I could make it? Not me! I started training specifically for the test in January, working out and/or practicing at least an hour a day, sometimes up to 3 hours a day, everyday (almost) to get to the point where I felt prepared. I really don't think anyone could feel totally 100% prepared now that I know what is involved in the test, but I was as prepared as I could be. When did I have time for this you ask? Well, basically my life was put on hold. Right when I put the twins down for their nap, I would practice. Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays and sometimes Saturdays I went to class. Michael was a huge help and very accommodating and understanding during all of this.

The test itself was very difficult, both mentally and physically. Mind over matter was a reoccuring mantra in my head. I think their goal was to push us to our limit, and then make us do more. The one time where I was completely exhausted toward the end of the test, 5 1/2 hours in, one instructor had us do 20 each of: jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, mountain climbers and front ball kicks. Then when we fininshed, she said, "Now, do all of them again...but do 30 this time."

It was an amazing experience, one that I am very proud of. What's next? Well, there are degrees of black belts (up to 10th!) so for now, I am continuing to go to classes and enjoying the fact that all non-black belt students have to kneel down when I put on or take off my belt, and bow to me! Mwwwoooaahhh-ha-ha, the power! Just kidding, it is flattering though.

Cole just started Little League practice last week. Michael is coaching again this year. Their team, The Diamondbacks, look great! This year the kids start pitching. I am excited for it, but other experienced moms told me it makes for loooooooooooooong games. I can't wait to see Cole pitch! Cole is also receiving his first Holy Communion on May 2nd. He has his white suit, tie and shoes. He is going to look so handsome. We will have a party to celebrate.

Mallory and Luke are getting so big! The interaction with each other is so funny sometimes. They are gentle with each other, concerned when the other is sad, even bringing their sibling a binky if they are crying. Monkey see, monkey do. If one is singing, the other joins, if one bangs on the high chair tray, so does the other. This is a really fun age! It's hard when I bring them outside to play since they are not used to being outdoors. It has been a long winter, and they learned how to walk during the winter, so we are just now starting to go outside. The world is a huge playground for them so they want to explore everything, even the street - yikes! I tell Luke "ouch" when he heads for the street and he is starting to understand.

We had a nice Easter, although we are all sick! But, we dressed up, went to church, had a chilly egg hunt and went over to Michael's aunts house for bruch.

Michael is starting an "over 40" softball league this week. It's put on through our town, so he will know several of the players (parents that we know through Cole - good friends now). It should be a lot of fun! He is back to running and working out on a regular basis and his knee, although not the same as it used to be, is much better from his surgery in December.

Spring seems to be trying it's hardest to come. Some days are better than others. Like last Saturday it was 39 or 40 with freezing rain and wind. Today and the rest of this week will be in the 50's and 60's with lots of sun. Boat rides don't seem that far away anymore.

I should also mention that I have a new (1st) cousin! Anastasia Galina Marie Jamieson (Stacie) was born to Uncle Darrell and Ann on April 9th. She was 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 19 1/4" long. Big brother Sandy seems very proud!

Well, I think you are now caught up on our lives. Don't you feel so much better?

Feel free to drop an email to us, we love hearing from everyone.