Friday, May 30, 2014

Beach Bums

it's no secret that i don't care for the beach. i call it the three S's. salt, sweat and sand. can't stand them. but, the kids love it and so we decided to join our friends for an afternoon spent on the beach. of course, the kids loved it and i didn't hate it either.

this is all of the kids, minus gracie.

roman was really looking forward to boogie boarding. so, poppa took him out there and taught him how to catch a wave.

once he got the hang of it, you couldn't get him out of the water. you can see his friends playing in the sand, and he is out in the water all by himself.

he finally came out and watched his friends build their volcano.

okay, maybe we will go back soon. if i really have to.

 

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Sami Doo!

Sami graduated last week from UMES with a degree in Special Education! i couldn't be more proud of her and can't wait to see what her future holds. she is such a sweet girl and i love being around her. she makes me laugh and she is beautiful inside and out. i got to go to dinner with her, jaden and missi on saturday night and we had a good time telling stories and laughing with each other. love you, sami doo!

 

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Author's Tea

at the beginning of the school year, we were told that our kids would be authors by the end of the year. and so, a few weeks ago, roman started talking about his book that he was writing. he was really excited about it and would give me an update each day on how close he was getting to finishing it. once the books were complete, they had an author's tea. so cute. we gathered in the library (the other half of his class was in their classroom) and listened to each child read their book. some of the kids were telling me how nervous they were. it was all so exciting!

 

here is roman, waiting his turn to read.

i love hearing him read his book! (and the little shout-out finger point...)

 

after the readings, we enjoyed a nice breakfast with muffins baked by the kids, fruit and tea. such a cute little event!

he also painted the teacup and saucer for me.

 

we could not be prouder of our little author!

 

Monday, May 26, 2014

Last Game

last week was the last day of baseball for the season. it happened to be on a thursday night and we were excited to get out there one last time before summer really starts. roman plays with several boys from his class and chase too. it really is nice to see everyone every week. and gianna has a lot of fun too.

 

gianna likes to camp out near the golf cart and mostly partake in the snacks.

we were really excited to see a surprise guest show up...Mady!

this cracks me up. gianna took my phone to take some pictures. they were mostly of her finger and other random grass shots too, but you can see in her shadow picture that she was trying to take a picture of mady.

roman got a really great hit, it went all the way out to the grass!

this one was pretty good too, but i mostly like it because you can see that Mady was watching very intently. it was really cute to watch. once he realized she was there, he kept turning around to look at her. i had to remind him to keep his eyes on the game. uh oh...what are we in for? these two....

yay! it's over! time for trophies!

they had a wonderful team this year, coached by greg, toby and aj.

goofy picture time!

yay for trophies...they were asked to keep them at their bellies. and look at my son. nice.

this has to be one of my most favorite pictures of all time. these girls, mady and ella, are truly wonderful friends to my kiddos. we love them so much!

 

Sunday, May 18, 2014

We Have Been Busy!

i always seem to think that things will slow down for us after Christmas...after Valentine's Day...after Easter....after whatever is next. but, it never does! we are always busy. ball games, birthday parties, play dates....it is always something! but, honestly, i wouldn't have it any other way. what that means is that we are lucky enough to have family and friends close by. i'm grateful. tired, but grateful.

last weekend, we celebrated chase and gage's birthdays with a little bounce house fun, pizza and cake. fun times with cousins!

these kiddos are SO nuts!

i had a great "smother's" day!

 

Mother's Day, eh...

this girl wants to watch Frozen every minute of every day. so, she will get comfortable anywhere.

 

 

 

and of course, she knows all the songs...

 

 

believe it or not, this was gianna's first time having her fingernails painted. we tried at Christmas, but she wouldn't do it, so i waited a while longer, and sure enough, she kept asking for it! i figured doing it outside would be best.

me and my girly-girl

i asked for a smile and got this. your guess is as good as mine.

 

we had our friends over and when it looked like it was about to rain, we headed inside and turned on a movie. which one you ask? well, Frozen, of course!

the kids piled on top of each other on the couch...

and they all know ALL the words!

 

mady tried out roman's motorcycle and after a few tries, she was a old pro!

...and to top off a great day, roman lost his tooth! the tooth fairy has been spending a lot of time flying to our house...we might need to just have her spend the night, huh?

 

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Happy Mother's Day, Mimi!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

mom, for all you've done...for all you are...for all i've learned from you...i am so grateful. i can only wish that i will be half the mother you are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mom, thank you for being a great role model, showing me how to be independent and strong, always being there for me when I've needed a shoulder to cry on, and someone to laugh with.

i love you. happy Mother's Day.

 

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

A Really Fun Weekend

we had a couple of fun things on the schedule for saturday, but i wanted to take the kids to the park on friday night after school to start the weekend off on a fun note. poppa had something to do, so it was just the two monkeys and momma.

gianna is obsessed with the swings, so of course, she headed straight to them. she is really lucky that her older brother wants to push her, because it tires momma out!

"i wanna go really high!"

she could live here, i think...

 

these two just make my heart swell with pride. she is being super adventurous and big brother is right there to encourage her ("just believe in yourself..."). so cute!

we had lots of fun...

i asked for a funny face, so roman did this....

...and gianna ran away!

saturday morning, we headed to the baseball field for roman's game. little first baseman, ready for the ball.

gianna and gracie were girly-ing up the dugout.

roman and chase, after the game. this is hilarious...chase is a born stuntman!

saturday afternoon, we headed out to logan's birthday party. we were really lucky because siblings were invited too, so gianna got to have some fun too. logan lives in a really cool neighborhood that has a lake and they have a place called the Outpost where the party was held. it's like a little fishing hole with a small pavilion and dock. we loved exploring!

momma, i wanna go on that!

ooooh, the water is pretty!

dinner time! how cute are the little picnic baskets?

roman went on his first kayak ride. of course, he was supervised by an adult, but i was nervous anyway. he still blew me a kiss on his way out. i guess he's not too cool for that yet, thank goodness!

i don't think he could have smiled any bigger.

and off they go!

meanwhile, the little girls played in the tent. i think that this is gianna's "uh oh, i'm caught" face. i should probably get used to this.

hey, who's out there?

peekaboo!

gracie, nel and gianna jumped, ran and screamed for about a half hour straight!

when we got home from the party, toby had converted gianna's crib to a toddler bed, so she was checking it out.

i think she was pretty excited, what do you think?

good thing she was ready to lay down, because it was already bedtime!

these two are something else. i just love how close they are. they both got tattoos at the party and wanted them in the same spot on their arms. buh buh buh bad to the bone!

and, another momentous occasion in the colella household...the snaggle tooth FINALLY came out. roman actually kneed himself in the face while getting dressed (???) on sunday and we were able to pull that sucka right on out!

our friends allison and jason came over to visit for a little bit on sunday and we pulled this pool floatie out to give to them for their new baby, but gianna thought it was a new toy!

seriously, those pigtails. that smile. i. can't. even. stand. it.