School pics

Well here they are.  Strangely enough, I think Lucas looks YOUNGER than last year.

Liliana's is just too funny.  Her hair really isn't how I would like it (wait until the xmas card-you'll see her pretty hair) and that smirk!  But beautiful she is!

Halloween fun with the cousins.

On Thursday, we went up to Newtown to see Pete and his family and to carve some pumpkins.  

We had pumpkins to carve.....

Look at these masterpieces!

Since Liliana and Lucas were limited in how much they could "carve", I brought milk jugs for them to make "ghouls".  They color a ghost face with a black marker and then on Halloween night we will put a glow stick in them so that we have ghouls and a jack o'lantern.

Sorry, but I beat you to the post Pete!!!  Thanks for having us though!

Birthday Fun...

Sunday was Lucas and Josephine's birthday.  We headed over to their house and enjoyed a nice party complete with bouncy house.  After  most of the kids had gone home, they got these presents..mini fourwheelers!  They are super fun and they go very slow which is nice.  The kids had a ball.

The dads got into the bouncehouse after the party was over...

I think that is Felix trying to stufff Liliana in the basketball hoop....although I am not sure.

And yesterday was Felix's birthday!  We had a chocolate cake complete with candy corns.

Beautiful out...

It was so nice last week that we took advantage of every chance we had to be outside after school.  On Thursday we walked down to the town green right next to our house.  They built a new gazebo this summer and it looks so nice!

Afterwards, we walked up to Stew Leonard's for a Haunted Hay Ride and some hanging out in the Halloween section.  

Learning to Rollerskate....

To the beach!!!

It was beautiful this weekend, but Fall is definitely in the air.  While it was almost t-shirt weather yesterday, it as cool today.  After lunch, I took the kids over to Compo to spend some time by the water.  It was really windy, so we were bundled up pretty well.  There were some serious waves and even though you can't quite see it in this picture, there was a windsurfer jumping over all the waves.

There were a lot of people at the beach for such a cold day.  While my kids were in hats and jackets, there were two kids in shorts and t-shirts running around IN the water!

They passed out before we even got out of the parking lot.  The outdoor air will get them everytime -that and the fact that they no longer nap, and I think they still need it.  When you look like this at 3 pm, most likely, a nap wouldn't be a bad idea.  

Rest In Peace....

It is with a heavy heart that I write that Felix's mother died yesterday morning.  While it is nice to know that she is no longer suffering, it is sad to realize that we will never see her again.  One of the things I was so happy about was that she was able to live to see the twins and enjoy almost five wonderful years seeing them grow from babies into little children.  They seemed to bring her such  happiness and it is a blessing that both she and the kids had these special years together.  

So thank you Mima.  Thank you for raising a little boy into an amazing man that we are lucky enough to call husband and father.  Thank you for bringing such laughter and light into our children's lives.  You will be forever missed and never forgotten.  

Hello Mr. Officer!

Look who was on duty at the local library!

Team Work...

Liliana's teacher seems real fond of sending us pics and updates.  We got these the other day.  This is Liliana and a classmate working on tracks of some sort.  She and this boy wanted to do this during "choice time" when they can choose what they want to do.  The teacher said they spent almost 30 minutes building the track all around the classroom.

I'm Never Getting Married!

This was an email that I received from Liliana's teacher today.....

Hi,

 During lunch today, Liliana announced "I am never getting married!  I'm going to stay at home forever with my mom so I can cook with her!"  Someone asked her if Lucas was getting married.  Her answer was "No way!  If I'm not getting married, he isn't getting married!"  She is too much.  I am really enjoying her in the classroom.  She is settling in nicely and keeps telling me she loves coming to school.

Oh baby girl, as much as I would love to have you stay with me forever, one day, if I have done my job right,  you will leave (and I will probably-no certainly-bawl my eyes out).  But until then, please continue to be my little sidekick in the kitchen!

First week photos

One nice thing about the kids school is that they occasionally send us photos.  We got some this week to show us how they were settling in.  It's still weird to think of them in separate classes. Today at dinner, I asked Liliana what was the highlight of her day.  She said "Seeing Lucas on the playground." Too cute!

First day of school!

Here we are!  Back to school!  The kids were very excited last night.  They are in separate classes this year.  Cecilia brought them to school, but I had a free period so I was able to sneak down to walk them into class.  They each walked right into school, found their respective class groups in the cafeteria and never looked back.  Don't even think they noticed me leaning in to kiss them goodbye.  That's what one wants right?  Kids nice and independent and ready to head out by themselves.  Still brought a tear to my eye as I drove back to school.  

They came home full of stories, too many to count.  Here's to another great year!

Other highlights from our trip....

Walker pond...always a favorite.

Lobster dinner!  (We did it twice!!!)

Liliana and Marika playing along.

All the adults went out one night to celebrate Josh and Marika's 10th anniversary (and 10 years to the day that Felix and I met)

Hiking....

We had such a great time with this clan...we always do.  Our time in Deer Isle is becoming quite the tradition.

Sailing

The first day there, Marika's parents took all of us out on a sail on Mr. Holland's boat. It was a gorgeous day and we all had a blast.

The kids hanging out below deck.

Great day and great fun!