Quinton turns 6!!

We were lucky to have Abuela and Tia Bertha visiting us right before Quinton's birthday. They surprised him with a giant cookie - complete with train! Quinton's love of trains continues, although now it is more about real trains than Thomas the Train. For Christmas he got a set of Train videos (think PBS series) showing all of the major train lines in the U.S. Just last Saturday he asked me to help him put one in (Rocky Mountains). He still says that he wants to be a train conductor when he grows up - who knows!



Opening presents while Grandpa looks on. Quinton has all the Elephant and Piggy books by Mo Willems. These were the latest, plus a few Richard Scarry books. He used to read every night (I say "used to" because for Christmas he got legos, and they have replaced a lot of other activities!). We could hear him reading his books - and with quite a bit of enthusiasm!




He got this Mouse Trap game from my parents. He LOVES it! As a matter of fact, I just played a game with him last night, and Antonio played one with him this morning. Luckily it is not too long of a game, and is actually quite enjoyable.



Quinton's cake - he wanted chocolate, and since it seemed that we had had so much cake/cookie recently, I made a small cake.

Roman's 3rd Birthday

We went on a Disney Cruise this past summer - thanks to the generosity of my parents. More on that in another post. But, the point being, Roman's love of Mickey Mouse only grew after our week of all things Disney. So for his birthday I made a Mickey Mouse cake.


What to do with the cake scraps? Why, make cake pops, of course!



Roman's excitement over his cake!


"Mickey!!!!!"


Lots of presents!


Domenic thoroughly enjoyed his cake.



Quinton was anxious to help with the presents.



He got a pillow pet from his Tia Bertha sent all the way from Mexico! As much as Roman likes Mickey Mouse, Thomas is his first love, and after he opened this Thomas alphabet puzzle, no other toy had a chance.



The pillow pet was a big hit with Domenic, as you can see in this video!




The excitement of his birthday lasted quite a while - every time we asked Roman anything, he would respond that he was "Three!"

Quinton's First Day of School

It seems I only ever get around to posting on my blog every six months! So here goes the next round of updates!

Here in Georgia school starts in the beginning of August. Quinton was super excited to start Kindergarten. He has Mrs. Neal and Mrs. Baird, and their class mascot is Clifford.

Quinton posing before we head to the bus stop.



Roman sitting on the curb while we wait for Quinton to come home.


Quinton getting off the bus for the first time!

A modge-podge of the last six months

We've since cut Domenic's hair, and I've already forgotten how he looked before his first haircut. But boy, he was (and is) such a cutie!!!








Quinton loves to take pictures. However, I am the type to get dressed and showered only when necessary (such as before piano lessons, or when Antonio is getting home from work!). Hence a lot of pictures of me in my pjs and bed head.



A classic Quinton face.



Romancito (can you tell he's my son? Eyes half closed)



Hanging out



Couldn't you just eat him up?!??



So I walk by the dining room window one day, and out of the corner of my eye I see this dark thing on the window. After a big double-take, I see this monster beetle on the screen! I was too scared to get it all by myself, so I called the neighbor boy down the street (this was when school was out) to help me out. We managed to get it down from the high screen and get it in a plastic container. There was no way I wasn't going to get this guy since my nephew collects bugs.



Here are some pictures of Quinton's swimming lessons. Despite all of Quinton's craziness, he is very skittish around risky things, swimming included. I was so thrilled with how well his instructor worked with him!





My friend Olympia and I started a little business called "There's No Taste Like Home." We got a booth at our local farmer's market. Here we are on our first day. We sell baked goods such as individual sized pies, cookies, and mini-cakes. We also make "grilled breads." We incorporate ingredients into fresh bread dough and then grill it to order on the spot. Our most popular breads were the Crazy Greek (garlic, spinach, olives, feta, and fresh oregano) and Breakfast in Bread (eggs, bacon, cheddar cheese and chives). Our first season went well, we'll see where it takes us!


Scott, Olympia's son, aka the "Slave Driver" ;-)




So I woke up one morning to see this: Roman telling me "I make BIG mess!"

Domenic's First Birthday

Antonio's mother and sister came to visit during the week of Easter. The week also happened to coincide with both my mother-in-law and Domenic's birthday.

The birthday stars!



Domenic seemed more interested in making of a mess of his cake than actually eating it!





Roman and Daddy having a good laugh.



Such cuties!!!



Quinton and Abuela



Hi Roman!!!



We tried to pull the package out of his reach until we could clean him up a little!



Abuela opening her gifts.




Quinton's card to Abuela






Checking out all the loot!