Disney on Ice

We got tickets for Disney on Ice and took the 2 little kids today.  I figured Emily would enjoy it, but was excited to introduce Vinnie to the experience and let him see Buzz.  I was surprised when earlier in the week Emily was saying that she didn't want to go and was asking if one of us could stay home with her and one could take Vinnie.

But as the day came Emily wanted to go, but I was worried that she wouldn't be able to as she has been fighting a fever.  No other symptoms, just a fever.  She woke up with a fever still this morning and she wanted to make sure she could still go and wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to ruin things for Vinnie.  But her fever stayed down with motrin so we made the decision to still go and to take her.

So we get there and the show starts and I was out getting snacks, but when I came back Vinnie was buried into Brian's shoulder and not exactly enjoying the show.  We had skipped the nap today and we thought he may have falled asleep at one point in time, but it certainly wasn't the fun time that I had envisioned him having.  He's always had a tendency to shut down when he gets overwhelmed by sights and sounds and today was proving to be more of the same.  Between no nap and the loud sounds and flashing lights, he was checking out.

I don't remember what changed, but Brian did get him engaged about a quarter of the way into the show.  Vinnie finally unburied himself and started watching and - dare I say - enjoying the show.

Brian did it just in time too, because one of the next groups on was the Toy Story group.  Vinnie was cute to see watch them.  He kept pointing and saying "Buzz!  Woody!  Jessie!"  It was well worth the trip.

And little Miss Emily who didn't even want to come watched it all and enjoyed every minute of it.  She was guessing what was coming next and correcting me when I was guessing wrong and explaining to me why I was wrong.  I was glad she felt okay and ended up enjoying herself even if she wasn't thinking that she would!

Oh and at the finale they had all the characters come out onto the ice and Vinnie was so cute trying to find Buzz, Woody and Jessie.  He would find them and point them out and then he'd lose sight of them and throw his hands up and ask, "Where'd go?"  It was cute.

It was a fun afternoon for all of us!

Rails of Fun

I guess I should probably explain that we started limiting Emily's "screen time" (meaning TV, Nintendo ds and computer time) this week, so it has been interesting to see how she has filled her time without the constant entertainment of other devices.  And it has been fun to do more together!

Tonight Emily decided that she was going to build a train track for her and Vinnie.  It was quite elaborate where is split off into two separate tracks.  I was impressed.  She put a lot of time and effort into it.  At one point I thought that there was no way she was going to be able to bring that 2nd track around to meet back at the beginning, but somehow she figured it out!  I don't know if it was luck or design, but she pulled it off without much effort on her part.  I've often sat and struggled (and cursed) trying to get those pieces to meet in the middle and I think she could have done it with one hand tied behind her back.  (Maybe that will be tomorrow night's activity!)

I don't think Vinnie quite appreciated the complexity and effort, but I am 100% certain that he loved spending time with his big sister. I don't think she can grasp it at her young age, but he is absolutely her biggest fan. When he gets up in the morning and we walk into his room, the first word out of his mouth is always, "Emmy?". He can't wait to see her and play with her.

And she is so, so good with him. I remember when I was pregnant with Vinnie I was worried about the age difference between the two of them and wondered if they would still play together and they really do. Emily even got out her Whack-a-Mole game tonight and who did she want to play with her? Vinnie, of course.

I guess I don't really know who had more fun. The kids building the track or me watching them? I guess it was a win/win for the family!

Building Fun

Yesterday was yet another day of being snowed in ... at least for the kids (and Brian). So when I came home from work I sat down with Emily to finish up her lego project that she had worked on earlier with Brian. Earlier in the day she had finished up the crabby patty mobile, so Emily and I started work on the Crab Shack. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed putting together legos until we started working on them. I am glad that Emily is finding it enjoyable too. We had fun putting it together.

Of course, a certain little boy thought that he should be involved too so I got his legos out for him to put together. He had fun playing with us. Although his fun with legos turned into dumping the tub on the floor and then throwing the rest of the legos off the table. But - hey - whatever floats your boat.

Here is Emily's finished project. She's pretty proud of it and so she should be. What a great project - she got to spend quality time with Mom and with Dad.

I just wish legos weren't so expensive! I want to go buy more to do together, but dang!!

Craft for a Snowy Day

Originally I was hoping to get the kids out of the house today and do something fun, but the snow storm curtailed those plans pretty quick. Emily decided she wanted to do a craft. I thought that was a great idea and envisioned doing one of the many craft kits that are in the newly organized craft closet.


But my little creative, free-spirit had other ideas. The type of ideas that she couldn't put into words as she said things like "let's just start and then it will make sense to you". I caught something about decorating an origami dog?!?! All I knew is that she had up almost ALL the supplies: construction paper, glue, scissors, crayons, paint, paintbrushes, stamps, ink pads, markers and stickers.


She started by showing me how to fold the paper in the shape of a dog. She knows what she is doing! It was a cute little puppy. Then we had to color it and then paint it. Well, about this time little Vinnie thought that he should be in on this action. If Emily and Mommy were doing something, then he needed to be involved too. So I got out some paper and found some finger paints, put him in the highchair and let him to to town.


He started out just fine. He had paint up to his elbows, but he was having fun and was painting his pretty picture. And, more importantly, he felt like he was a part of the happenings!



Then he wanted a paintbrush, because Emily had a paintbrush. So we gave him a paintbrush. And then I was taking pictures of him and the need to perform came out and suddenly his hands were in his hair and he was painting his forehead. *sigh* I should have known that we wouldn't escape unscathed, but it was funny!! Vinnie had a good time too.


Until we stuck him in the sink and poured water over his head. He wasn't too thrilled with that to begin with, but eventually he even warmed up to that. But he even got paint on my roses in the process!!

Eventually, Emily and I finished our dogs. We had to do it in several phases as we had to wait on them to dry. But they are cute and Emily had a great, great idea and I loved spending the time with my girl!

Okay, I'm trying this way of uploading a video and see how this plays. This is another video of Vinnie, but to tell you the truth I don't remember which one it is anymore. I just grabbed one and uploaded it.

Vinnie's Birth Video

There are some advantages to foot surgery ... I finally worked on Vinnie's birth video and finished it. We had video and pictures that we used this time around. It is long, so you might want to watch it when you have some free time.

Songs are: A New Day Has Come by Celine Dione and My Wish by Rascal Flatts

Halloween Fun

I wanted to share some pictures from Halloween. Emily went as Hannah Montana, Vinnie went as Captain Kirk. Kristen even dressed up as a baseball player to pass out candy. And Brian got into the action with is Spock shirt. It was a fun night! We don't have any pictures of Tony, but he was there. He passed out candy and had some friends stop by to help him out.

Here is a link to some photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=156097&id=657663199&l=ca543261b7

Also, here are some photos from a few weeks ago when I took Emily and Vinnie to the pumpkin patch: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=150329&id=657663199&l=a46a08489c

It's a Dogs World

Vinnie has a love of sitting in Lucy's dog bed. We're not really sure where it came from. But he is in there daily. It really, really confuses the heck out of Lucy. On Thursday Lucy was trying to hold her ground and Vinnie was okay with sharing. I was *thisclose* to get a picture of them lounging together in the bed. But I jumped up and ran to get the camera. Lucy must have thought I was going for food as she jumped up and followed me, thus ruining the chance at a picture.

But Brian got a couple of good pictures today. Kristen decided to follow Vinnie into Lucy's dog bed. I love the picture of Vinnie looking up at her like, "What are you doing here?" I think it really threw Vinnie for a loop.

Franklin County Fair

On Friday, Emily, Vinnie and I headed out to the Franklin County Fair for the afternoon. It was a bit warm, but Emily was excited to go!

Well, what is it they say about best laid plans? Yeah, well, that rang true on Friday afternoon. Vinnie screamed the entire way down to the fair. It wasn't until I got him in the stroller that I figured out that he had sunscreen (or something) in his eye. He never fully recovered from that. Poor guy rubbed his watery eye all afternoon.

Emily was doing well. She rode the pony, climbed the rock wall (until a bee scared her) and went into the Fun House. Then we went to get ride tickets and each ride was either 2 or 3 tickets ($1/each) and there was a "ride all day" pass for $12. Seemed like easy math to me. I got her the ride all day even though we were only going to be there for a few hours. I figured 5-6 rides and we were good.

Emily went down the slide and had a ball. Then we got in line for another ride and waited for awhile. Right as Emily was about to get on, she stepped out of line and complained that her stomach hurt. She instantly said she wanted to go home.

We found a bench and sat down for awhile, but Emily never fully recovered. We played a couple of games, but she never wanted to go on any rides.

So, in conclusion, we paid $12 for one trip down the slide. Add $12 for the entry fee for about an hour to walk around and pay more money for misc stuff ... and we did not get a lot of bang for our buck. Franklin County won that round.

We are home from Myrtle Beach

We had a wonderful time! Great weather! Great time spent with family. I've been posting pictures on facebook throughout the week, but thought I would share here for those not on facebook.

Saturday
Sunday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

As you can see, Emily had a ball on the beach and in the pool. Vinnie actually had a ball in the pool and (sometimes) tolerated the beach.

Happy Father's Day

We hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day. We had a rather low-key day, but I hope that Brian enjoyed it. We tried to get a picture of Brian with the kids and I think we got a couple of good ones. We have some good outtakes too.

Emily, Vinnie and I are enjoying the zoo. Who knew it was going to be this sunny out? We got to see the baby elephant!

Here comes summer!

Emily, Vinnie and I checked out the "new to us" pool today here in Dublin. We went to the south pool and loved it. I thought it was going to be packed, but was pleasantly surprised when it was not.

We had a fun time. Well, Emily and I did. Vinnie preferred to do anything except go near the water. He screamed when I put his toes in it and when I tried again later to sit in the water and put him on my lap, he clung to me. I'm thinking Myrtle Beach should be a blast with this kid.

Vinnie was happy as long as he had snacks. Emily was a complete water bug and (as you can see above) she jumped right in and had a ball. Before we left, she was asking if we could come back tomorrow. How can two kids be so opposite?

A fun video fof Emily and Vinnie from the other night.

Hiding Out

Emily built a fort tonight with blankets and wanted Vinnie to play with her. They had a ball hanging out under the blanket together and giggling. It warmed my heart to see them play so well together. Emily loves the audience and Vinnie loves someone to entertain him. It is a perfect match!!

February Homework

I didn't get a picture this month, but Emily's monthly homework was to "make a poster about someone you love". Anyone want to take a guess at who peppered Emily's poster?

Why it was VINNIE, of course!! Emily did her whole poster about her baby brother. She was quite proud to take it in. They were going to share them today and she was so excited!

Babysitter Kristen

Kristen has been working hard on learning the things she needs to know to babysit Vinnie. Like changing his diaper and such.

She got her first chance to watch him on Monday while Brian and I had an appointment. She did great! Vinnie didn't exactly go to bed for her, but that wasn't her fault. I think he just knew it was someone new and he was playing her.

We are proud of her!

More Thanksgiving Pictures

Similar to our earlier pictures of Vinnie and Miley, here are some pictures from Thanksgiving Day.

We can take pictures but only in 5 minute segments, it appears.

I should have waited

Emily got into the spirit of the game too! And the black on her face? Totally her idea!

Go Bucks!

BEAT BLUE!!

Vinnie is ready for the game today. He has asked that I schedule his naps around the big game! He wants to see the Buckeyes crush that team from up north.

Vinnie & Miley Show

It is the Vinnie and Miley show. Unfortunately, we didn't get any other pictures on Saturday. Oh well - the babies are pretty cute!
http://picasaweb.google.com/jcdonato/Thanksgiving#slideshow

Future Film Maker

Do you think Emily has a future as a film maker?

Fine. We'll continue to save for college.

Trick - or - Treat!

My stupid camera was acting up, so I got hardly any pictures from trick-or-treat night. Our friends, the Mandell's, came over to join us and Renae and I set out with the 4 kids while Brad and Brian passed out candy. For about 45 minutes we wound our way around parts of the neighborhood. Most of the time was spent yelling for Emily and Lydia to wait up for us and trying to navigate the stroller through the crowds. Vinnie didn't make a peep and slept through most of it!

We headed back to the house to trade off and let the guys take the girls out and the girls didn't want to go! Go figure! Worked for us as we don't need all of that candy in the house anyway.

Emily has fond memories of it and doesn't feel like she missed out on anything and she got to play with Lydia and Julia a bit more in the house. I think we can count this one a success too.

Pumpkin Carving

Tonight we carved pumpkins with the kids. We missed doing it last year due to scheduling, so it was fun to restart the tradition. Here is Kristen with her pumpkin.

I swear Tony was smiling before I asked him to look at the camera. Something has happened the past few years where Tony developed a not-so-rare condition where he is unable to smile for the camera. I guess as a teen you have a reputation to keep when it comes to family events.


Poor Vinnie did not get a pumpkin, but Emily shared her camera time with him. Maybe next year he can get a pumpkin of his very own.

Here is Tony's final result. He did a cool lion. Reminds me of a Lion King pumpkin.

Kristen, always the creative one, did not use a pattern and freehanded her design and then carved it.

Emily did a spooky pumpkin carving.

Now the neighborhood hooligans that have been smashing pumpkins late at night had better leave our pumpkins alone or we are going to have some upset kids on our hands. They put a lot of work into these and did a great job!

Fall Festival

Last night was the Fall Festival at Vinnie's daycare. Brian, Emily, Vinnie and I attended. Emily was thrilled to wear her halloween costume. She couldn't decide if she wanted to be a leopard or a cheetah. I think she was calling herself a cheetah. And can you believe she put that snake around her neck?

Vinnie just hung out in his lion costume. He was pretty overwhelmed by all the commotion, but "overwhelmed" in Vinnie just means very quiet.

The school held a raffle and we purchased some tickets. Shortly after we purchased our tickets they called one of our numbers. Emily went up to get the prize and they picked something perfect for her - a gift certificate for horseback riding lessons at the farm that is right behind our development. She was estatic!! It is for 2 private lessons or 4 semi-private lessons.

I thought it was cute as Emily's first reaction was that she was excited to tell her first grade teacher!

Pumpkin Patch

Last Thursday Emily's school had a family night at a local pumpkin patch. It ended up that we got there late and had to leave early but we tried to make the best of it. Vinnie just hung out in his wrap and checked it all out.

Kristen tortured Tony - which is what she enjoys the most.

And Emily did the zip line: