DOMINICK'S 3RD BIRTHDAY

Dominick turned 3 on Friday!!! We had a relaxing Friday night; it was just Paul, myself and the kids, we had pizza-his favorite and he wanted a frog cake!! When it came time to cut the cake he said "No eat my frog". It took him a little bit to blow not spit out the candles!

Dominick & his Frog Cake

He LOVES his new backpack we got him for preschool!

Saturday we had a birthday party with a "cars" theme. He loved all the attention, presents and pinata. At first he backed off when the pinata broke, but he quickly realized that it was treats and toys inside and made his way! Dominick had a huge smile on his face all day. Everything was so new but it didn't take him long to learn the tricks.

Dominicks LOVES Cars Movie!

Big Girl Now

We have come to a new point of realization...our baby is no longer a baby! We took the front of Marissa's crib off, now she can climb in and out herself. She was already trying to climb out, but now she's so proud; so much so she decides to get out of bed herself and climb into mommy and daddy's bed in the middle of the night, or she goes to Brittany's room and wakes her up at the crack of dawn.

It's hard to imagine she'll be home 1 year in August. Looking at pic's not only has her hair grown, her attitude is gigantic!!

First Picture is our referral picture of Marissa

Second picture is our visit to Guatemala-Marissa was almost 3 mo

Third picture is when Marissa came home August 24, 2006

Fourth picture is of Marissa now...Our HARLEY GIRL!!

Sunday's at Home

The kids and I spent most of Sunday at home relaxing, playing and cleaning. I cleaned out the garage while the kids rode around. Dominick recently learned to pedal, he's so proud he can ride around with Brittany and Andrew. Marissa (just like a princess) waits until one of her siblings notice's her and pushes her around, she knows someone eventually will help her.

Brittany is learning to roller blade on her new skates. Andrew is learning to skate board, God help us both are naturals. All the kids know the rules...No riding until helmet is on.

After they got bored in the garage they decided to chase each other around the yard...not like the good ol' days where we RAN, now kids DRIVE.

Is anyone there???
Had to put in a crack shot

Brittany doesn't sit still long enough to get a pic. Marissa kept pulling her diaper down with her fingers and would grab chips off of uncle Bob's plate....

Our 4Th of July celebrations weren't very exciting. We went to my dad's family, had a nice bar-b-Que and had fun visiting with everyone. We stopped by my sister and brother-in-laws new home, helped rip some wallpaper from a wall and headed to my parents house.

The kids enjoyed running through the sprinkler, we looked like the ghetto family though!! Brittany was the only one in a swim suite, Dominick ran through in his underwear (truly GHETTO), Marissa a diaper (even more GHETTO) and Andrew in his shorts. They had fun though.

We didn't make it to any fireworks, I was disappointed to say the least! The kids were tired, Paul had to work in the morning and Brittany gets scared, Andrew and I were going to head into town to watch some but he bailed after we lit some off at home. Maybe next year.

Camping

As a family we try to find something we all enjoy...6 different personalities, sometimes is hard! But we all LOVE to go camping. This is Marissa's 2nd year camping, although she probably doesn't remember a whole lot last year! And this is Dominick's 1st year camping, so far he is enjoying it.

This year we bought a used pontoon and can now take the kids tubing, which they all loved and fought over who got to go first...yes even Marissa.

As 4th of July is only a couple of days I can't help but think of all the opportunities and freedom Dominick and Marissa will now have. Even moreso, I can't stop thinking about all the joy they have brought to our family since thier homecomings. I can't wait to see thier faces when they see the fireworks.