Farewell Our Beloved Little Ones, Farewell!!!!

Well, we have some sad news tonight and somewhat traumatic for Joel and I. Tonight we had some friends over for dinner and noticed that all of our fish were swimming at the top of the tank, as they often do when they are hungry. I thought it was odd as it wasn't time for them to eat. I asked Joel what was going on and he wasn't quite sure. It seamed as if they need more oxygen. Sure enough, little by little our sweet fish began to go... belly up! Joel desperately was putting together an air pump to get some oxygen in the tank. And then three more died! So we quickly got the living fish out of the tank and put them into another bowl. Joel was running tests to see what was wrong and apparently the nitrate levels were too high, and the oxygen levels were low (he just changed out the tank water yesterday). The total death count was 6; four tetras, 1 neon, and 1 zebra. We are devastated. As I was pulling out the last dead fish, I think Joel was hoping it was still alive and said "Sid, maybe it's still alive, put it under the air flow to see if we can revive it!" So sad! These fish are a part of our family. We've always loved having a fish tank ever since we were first married. We've never had many die. Poor Joel just ran off to Wal-Mart to get a solution to get the nitrate levels down. Amazingly our gigantic algae-eaters have been fine through this whole process and we haven't had to get them out of the tank (thank goodness, because they gross me out!) Thankfully we have 11 survivors and two shrimp!!! So here are some pictures of this horrible event!


Some of the Survivors


Poor fish, I dumped them in the toilet before I realized that Gianluca's pee was still in there. I know, an improper funeral. We should have done something more like what Bill Cosby did when Rudy's fish died. Poor guys! You will be missed!


Poor Joel, trying to revive the fishes!!!

Happy Birthday Fuba!

I just wanted to give a birthday shout out to my sister Kim (who got nicknamed Fuba, but I can't remember why...) So here it goes...

Things I LOVE about Kim:

1) She is a blast!!! Always fun to be around.
2) She is comfortable with herself. She's a no-BS type of gal, what you see is what you get, you either love me or hate me and she is totally fine with that. I really LOVE that about you!
3) She is real, there is no fakeness going on here.
4) She has an amazing cackle! A laugh that is extremely contagious.
5) And she is able to laugh about life and herself. She doesn't take herself too seriously.
6) She has firey streak and yet a sensitive side too.
7) She is tough enough to handle 5 kids!!!! I can barely handle two.
8) She is strong through her trials and very supportive and loyal to her family.
9) She gives great advice.
10) She is fun to have girl's outings with.
11) I've always looked up to her ever since I was a little girl. I've always thought she was incredibly beautiful and popular. I wanted to be like her when I grew up.
12) I'm not sure I love this about her, but definitely feel shafted that her and Darci got the good boobs and I got jack!!!
13) Fun-loving mom.
14) Great cook! Yummy bread pudding!!!
15) Always there to help out and not afraid to get in and work.
16) Very kind and sensitive to the elderly. It really touched me how affected she was to see our grandma who is very ill. She has a real soft side to her.
17) And last but not least... AMAZING HAIR!!!

Well Kim, I love you. I wish we were closer. You have always been someone I really looked up to. I loved it when you got me ready for proms and even my wedding day. I loved taking that medical terminology class with you. You are a wonderful person and I love you and your amazing family!!! Happy Birthday!

Happy Valentines Day!

Well, it was a fun V-Day for us. Gianluca was super excited to go to school and pass out his Ninja Turtle valentines. And of course he was excited for the CANDY CANDY CANDY!!! Allegra was in a horrible mood all day which was real fun. She through the biggest fits over every little thing. I really hope my sweet baby isn't becoming a little diva! Our afternoon was pretty laid back and then we decided to do our traditional make a yummy dinner. When Joel got home he gave the kids a really cute heart-shaped cookie decorated which they attacked immediately. He also surprized me with a beautiful saphire ring that I've been wanting to go with my wedding ring. We have to get it sized. He is a real romantic at heart and I love that about him. He does a great job when he thinks about it. I love this guy!!! I was totally shocked! Then we made shrimp linguine w/ pancetta. It was soooo yummy. But of course by the time I went to the store for the food(& had a creepy older guy hit on me, explaining that the flowers were for his "mom" and that the reason he was dirty was that he just got done with motorcross w/ his buddies...), made dinner with two wild and screaming kids, our romantic dinner was not so romantic. Joel wanted to take a picture of our masterpiece and at this point Gianluca was soooo tired that he was just being crazy. He jumped up and tried to grab the camera as it was about to take the picture and knocked it to the ground, which of course had Joel and I yelling! Then Gianluca burst into tears! We then had to calm him down and Joel still insisted on taking a family picture. Then we did our traditional "cheen, cheen" which is a toast with our sparkling cider. This is Gianluca's favorite part. He no longer wants the little wine glass, but the big one like mom and dad. So we were brave and gave Allegra the little one. I should have known that this little party animal would have made a huge mess. First she put all of her noodles in her glass. Then when she saw we were pouring a drink in there she dumped it out. Then she was super over-zealous w/ the cheen cheening and sloshed her red sparkling cider every where (not nice on the grout!) and the last time she and Gianluca cheersed each other, her glass brooke! I felt like I was in a bar or something. She is a party animal. Well, anyways now the kids are in bed and I am very grateful for that! It's one of my favorite parts of the day.... quiet time!

Too all of you who are imporatant part of my life, I love you and thank you for the memories and friendships you've given me! Happy Valentines Day!



Here's a real happy family picture!!! Poor Dude is devistated.



Just had to add a picture of the broken noodle glass!

P.S. Here is a video Joel took of the dude when they went fishing at the pond at our house. Gianluca caught 4 fish! He was so happy. He loves fishing with his dad!

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Happy 4th Birthday Little Man!!!!

Well, last Friday was Gianluca's birthday and I can't believe he is four years already! Just in the last few weeks has seemed to grow up a lot. When we go to the store, he knows that we just get what is on our list and doesn't throw a temper-tantrum for candy or toys. It is sooooo nice! We went to the store Orvis, tonight and he saw a canoe. He said to me "I really want a boat Mom, but we can't get this because it's too much money, right mom?" "That's right buddy."(me) "Well, when I grow up maybe I can buy one." "You sure can sweetie." (me) He is just so smart it kills me sometimes. Really, I am in for big trouble with him. I just can't believe some of the things that he comes up with.

We went to TGI Fridays for his birthday and when the waiters and clown, sang to him he was so happy. It was funny because I wanted the clown to come over to make some balloons for the kids. So the waiter sent him to our area. I told the Dude to tell him to comeover. He said "Mr. Clown, come here please." and the clown pretty much ignored us. He did this like three times, and he still ignored us. I was looking at Joel like, what in the heck is this guy doing? So when they came to sing Happy Birthday to the Dude, I understood. He had made like 8 different balloons and just started chucking them at us. It was pretty funny. It was also a little traumatic. He head-butted the table right before the food came and cut open his upper lip. The next day he skinned both of his knees. And on Sunday he and Joel were wrestling and he cut open another part of his lip. It was a rough week for the dude,as far as that goes. But he's pretty tough.

OnSaturday morning we had a Transformer birthday party with his little friends. It was fun. They played musical chairs and of course the Dude was a sore loser. He didn't like it when he got out. He only liked it if he won. So we had to talk to him about loosing and that we don't win at everything. So he said, "Mom, no one likes a sore loser, right mom?" "We need to let other people win some times,huh." I guess it's good to a certain extent that he wants to win. Anyways, he got a bunch of cool transformes, and he is in heaven. He loves the new Transformer cartoons and the movie. He also loves the Transformer books Tio Christian and Los Abu's got him. We read them every night.



Here is Gianluca talking to his cousins Reiley, Calvin, and Connor on his birthday. He shut the door and talked to them for about 10 minutes. It was adorable.



Musical chairs.



Transformer b-day cake. He was pretty excited.

What I love about Gianluca:
1) He is very very sweet.
2) He is so funny. The kids cracks me up.
3) He will just sit and talk to you. It's amazing what goes through his head.
4) He is very creative. He loves to make things and little contraptions.
5) He is very sweet with Allegra. They are going to be close.
6) He is smart. He catches on quickly and has great common sense (for a four-year-
old).
7) He is very social.
8)He is extremely PASSIONATE! He has quite a temper when he wants to, and he knows what he wants. When he figures out how to handle this part of him, this will be a great quality.
9) He is my little body gaurd. He always watches out for us.
10) He is so loving. He always tells us how much he loves us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUDE!!!

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What's been going on this last week...

Well, I just thought I'd put up a few pictures of this last week. We celebrated Betsy's B-day at Cheescake Factory. It was a blast as usual. And the rest of the week has just been more of me convincing the Dude that he has to go to school, trying to keep up with the ongoing mess that my house is, and trying to get back in the habit of excercising. I ran 1.5 miles today and it actually didn't kill me. I think I'll try for two miles on Friday. I guess my asthma is getting better, or I'm learning how to control it. Maybe it's all of that Yoga that is helping me "be in tune with my body". Actually I really love taking Yoga. Well, Yoga Urbana that is. It is more of a fluid movement yoga and meditation, rather than just holding poses. So anyways, that's it for me. Have a good weekend!



Here we are at the Cheescake Factory. On the far left it goes Sara, Betsy, me and on the right are Kristin and Trina.



Just needed to add Brooke in. She came a little late.



Having a bad hairday anyone!!! I couldn't stop laughing when I went in to get Allegra out of her crib. She must have had a wild night!



Here are the kids just hanging out watching Saturday morning cartoons. They're so cute. They just love eachother! I asked Gianluca what was the favorite part of his day today and he said "playing with sis". Gotta love those moments!

Birthday Shoutouts!!!

Alright, I have two B-day Salutes to make today. The first one is for my amazing friend Betsy who's birthday is today! She is turning the big 30 and I think it is great!

So here are some things I love about Betsy:



1) She has great fashion sense.
2) She is always ready to go have fun when I need to get out of the house.
3) She is real. I can be completely open with her how I feel about things and she doesn't judge me.
4) She is very athletic! I am always amazed at the drive she has to go and work out and be healthy.
5) She is a great mom and wife (despite what you may think Bets, you are!!!)
6) She makes a mean hot cocoa and buckeyes!
7)She is educated and is in the know of what's going on w/ politics.... and of course pop trivia!
8) She can laugh at herself!
9)She is the first person I call after I watch Project Runway!
10) Betsy is a beautiful person inside and out, who is usually too hard on herself, but whether she knows it or not, she is fabulous!!! She is down to earth, fun, and a good friend. I love you Betsy and I am so happy we have so much in common!!!! Happy Birthday!!!

My second B-day Tribute is much belated, but I wanted to let her know how I feel about her... My big sister Darci who is always young at heart!



(Darci is the furthest one on the left hand-side) (order is Darci, Kim, Ryan, and bad picture of me)


(Just had to throw in this picture of my parents obvious inspiration of cutting my hair into a bowlet (Bowl cut mullet) like Darci's!



Here is the proof!!! This is child abuse people!

Okay here is what I love about Darci!

1)She's always been a second mom to me!
2) She fits the first child role of taking care of everyone. She is very nurturing and loving and sweet!
3) I love her laugh, especially when she snorts. I just love laughing with my sisters! We all have the cackle!
4) She has been through a lot and has a lot of good advice because of it.
5) She is very spiritual.
6) She is very dependable!
7) She is great at organizing family functions,whether she likes to or not. She is just a take charge type of gal.
8) She is fun to shop with!
9)She makes a mean hot fudge! Excellent cook I'd like to add.
10) She has an amazing family who I adore and miss very much. You always make me feel at home! I think you make everyone feel at home!
11) You stay strong through your trials. Lots of inner strength.
12) Great house keeper. I know that sounds dumb, but some people really have this knack, and I am pretty mediocre at it.
13)She is very sensitive to others feelings.
14) She is beautiful! Seriously, inside and out.
15) I just love Darci! Who doesn't? She is just a great amazing woman and mother and sister! I'm pretty sure Kim and Ryan would agree with me on this one! Happy belated Birthday... your still 21 and holding right?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LADIES! YOU ARE BOTH VERY IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN MY LIFE!!!

Love, Sid

The Dude's First Experience Ice Skating

Oh, I wanted to also post this of the Dude learning to ice skate. They have these cool little walkers for the little kids to use so they don't fall. Unfortunatley my battery died after only two times around. By the end he was skating like a pro without dad pushing him around the rink. He loved it. Oh and I'm sorry you have to hear Joel being a baby about how the skates "hurt my feet". Get over it you big baby! Suck it up and be a man already!!! Okay, I just love to harass him. It comes from my father. I love you babes!

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