Our baby is 1!

I can't believe Isabel is 1 already! It was only 1 year ago that we were able to great the newest addition to our family - isn't having babies so exciting?! I've selected way too many pictures of Isabel, especially the ones which highlight how tiny she is.

7 years of MJ

We thank God for the blessing of our enthusiastic, caring, inquisitive first-born son. On Jan 16, 2005 you changed our lives for the better. We love you Mario!

The seventh birthday

We went a little crazy and decided that since MJ had no school on his actual birthday and since we hadn't played with cousins or the Franzonello's in a long time, we would maximize play time together by having a sleepover. Tommy, Peter, Catherine, Tony, & Xavier made Mario's birthday SO special. They had dinner together Sunday night, went to bed with a 6 year old MJ, and woke up with a 7 year old! We hear this may have been Xavier's first sleepover.

Our guests made all of the usual birthday fanfare so much more special. We had pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast; ordered pizza (and had a few sides like blueberries which MJ loves) for lunch. The kids played well together - the weather was nice and they spent some time at St. Theresa as well.

Mario created another great cake based on MJ's request. The Kaza family was sure to bring 3 presents: a super bouncy ball, a soccer ball, and a super amazing water gun. The Franzonellos know our family well and got us some Cars 2 figures. By 4pm all of our young guests had left.

Our family party continued as MJ requested steak, rice, and broccoli for dinner. It was extra special that just as we were saying prayers and as Dad Mario was saying extra blessings for MJ, I looked at the clock and noticed it was 5:56pm -precisely the minute he was born. We all took a moment to enjoy that fun fact. Before we even cut into the steak, Joey had another greatly confusing line, "This pork looks like chicken?" Well, whatever it looked like, each person in the family licked their plates clean.

Thank you to the Franzonellos and Kazas for giving your kids to surround Mario on his birthday. Thank you for the notes on the blog and the phone calls. Mario really enjoyed giving the recap of his day and each time he shared his story it made him more excited about all that was done for him.

Now to get ready for our next birthday...

A E I L S

I was just writing names on rubber bands for our large family gathering in Albany next week. As I got to my family, I realized that my daughters have almost the exact same letters for their first name.

What do these letters spell?

A E I L S

+ h = S h E I L A
+ b = I S A b E L

This is how our football Saturdays begin

Both MJ and Joey are having a great time with football this year. We've figured that MJ is the only player on his team to run for a touchdown, throw for a touchdown, and catch a touchdown pass. MJ is on the light blue team. He is the center this play and wearing a navy hat.

Here's the touchdown reception.


And this was just a few plays later

Happy Halloween

What's happening in Ashburn?

I've been having so much fun reading all the posts from the other families and enjoying all of your pictures, I realize we haven't posted anything in awhile.

Our fall schedule includes Mon - CCD class I teach at St. Theresa (Joey is in my class), Tuesday - MJ baseball game and football practice, Wed are FREE, Thurs football practice for MJ and Joey, Saturday football games from 8:30am-Noon. I love Wednesdays because we have nothing to do! Mario and I are coaching Joey's team this year and having a lot of fun with it. Isabel and Sheila seem to go enjoy all the action.

We also really enjoyed the ND gamewatch that so many family were able to make. We were especially happy that Aunt Raquel and Alfonso as well as Aunt Loli joined in on the fun. Aunt Loli shared many amazing clothes with me (THANK YOU!!!) and visited with us on Sunday. She was so generous and bought the kids very fun gifts of bubbles and some wooden games that they all really love. Aunt Loli, we had such a great time with you!

Also in this slideshow is a picture of Isabel after our ER visit. In hindsight the situation is not so terrible, but in the moment it was a bit scary. Very long story made short - I thought Isabel may have swallowed a water balloon and her abnormal cranky behavior, drooling, and "twitching" made me think we should check her out. After 2 x-rays and a few hours she calmed down and we felt that at worst she swallowed it but it probably reached her stomach and she would be fine.

Also back-tracking to September pictures I don't remember if I posted but they were exciting occasions. MJ's first day of first grade. And Joey can ride his bike without training wheels!

Too many pictures to comment on, but at least now you are a bit caught up on what is going on in Ashburn.