My Splurge

Weekends around here have changed a little bit. Instead of spending all weekend inside doing paperwork, laundry, cleaning, or getting ready for the next week, I am now spending a little more time outside. This super fun reason is why!!!!


A few months ago, I had a moment where I was literally scrubbing a toilet when Jeff (out on his boat with Nicholas) called to see how things were going with "us girls." I found myself frustrated

that he was on the boat, enjoying the sunshine, with Nicholas while I (we) was stuck inside. I wasn't mad that he was outside doing something fun....I was mad that I wasn't.
So started the search for my "something fun!" Years ago, I owned a Jeep Wrangler but it isn't the most practical car when three children are small. Now that Gabby is the only one in a booster seat, the urge was coming back...full throttle!!! After searching Craig's list and coming up either empty handed or skeptical, we drove to a dealership in Tracy one night just to see what was on the lot. That's when we found her....
WE DROVE HER HOME THAT NIGHT :-)
We have all been having fun with her ever since! Even small trips to the grocery store are a little more exciting!
So, when you can't find us on the weekends, we'll be out, the top down, hats on our heads, on a joyride. The toilets can wait :-)

Spring Break

What a busy yet relaxing Spring Break we had this year. I had so much envisioned that I wanted to accomplish (some of it was) but mostly, we hung out as a family and enjoyed our time together.

Our break started on Good Friday and as Gabby says, "The girls were with the girls and the boys are with the boys!" The girls and I went and had our nails done while the boys did some work on Daddy's new boat but we all met up for lunch and spent the rest of that day cleaning around the house.

Sat had a little more cleaning, some packing and errands, AND it was Jeff's birthday. Jeff ended up taking Isabella to Urgent Care for a buldging ear drum but luckily she told us in time for a RX to be filled before closing time and Easter sunday. We had a nice taco dinner for Jeffrey, cooked by his Mom, and the kids fulfilled his request for a carrot cake.

Singing Happy Birthday!!! Note the candles?? That's was Gabby's job :-)

As dinner was being prepared, everyone took time to color eggs. Grandma Carol, Papa, and Grandma Rose all participated and we ended up with a group of GREAT LOOKING eggs that turned into deviled eggs Easter morning :-)


Sunday, of course was Easter. The children woke up to baskets, went to Grandma and Papa's for breakfast, came home to pack the trailer, and back to Grandma's for dinner and an Easter Egg hunt. I'm currently trying to figure out how to make this fun little game more enjoyable for Gabby since her brother and sister are considerably faster than her. They ran circles around her and gobbled them all up even though there was a number limit to how many they could hunt for. As an adult would point out an egg to Gabby, one of the other two would grab it and put it in her basket. I'm not real sure how many she actually hunted but not once did she complain! She found one under the tree and upon picking it up, told Isabella that she found it for her. At any rate, fun was had by all!!!

Bright and early Monday morning, we loaded up the kids in the truck and headed to Pismo beach for the week. Beautiful weather, sunshine, sand, they love it! Grandma, Papa, and Grandma Rose joined us for the first part of the week but decided to stay in a hotel downtown. Their days were spent with us on the beach watching the kids ride their quads, walking along the water, looking for shells, and relaxing but their nights were spent quietly in their rooms. Loved having them! The rest of the week, we played. A beautiful 4 days at the beach, came home a day early due to wind, and spent the weekend getting ready for everyone to head back to school and work. A great Spring Break in the memory book!!!

Now, only 8 more weeks of school until SUMMER!!! Let the countdown begin!!!

More pictures from the beach...

Digging for sand crabs

Downtown Pismo for lunch

The kids on their bikes :-)

Saddest face EVER!

Friday night, one week ago, myself and some other friends were at the kid's school helping to set up for a fundraiser. It was a major event, our first pancake breakfast complete with the Easter bunny, major event.
I called Jeffrey thinking that he could bring the kids to the school so they could play with a few other children that were there while the parents set up. Order pizza for the kids and let them entertain each other so we could get some work done! GREAT IDEA!!!
WELL... turns out, not so much.
The kids got out of the car and Nicholas took off for the double doors trying to make his way to the Multipurpose Room. He tripped on the cement and went face first into a cement flowerbed. He has a pretty good gash on his head that forced Jeffrey and I to go back and forth between stitches or butterfly bandaid. Luckily, a real doctor walked through the door a few minutes later and determined that super glue (of all things) and a bandaid would do the trick.
Nicholas resisted at first but finally laid down on a cot while Dr. Sabow literally glued his head back together. He said it would fully heal in about 21 days. We are at day 6 and I'm amazed at how well it is healing. He'll probably have a scar above his eye and half of his eye brow will need to grow back but for now, we keep neosporin and a HUGE bandaid on his head.
No signs of this face lately but this picture was from Friday night, right after being fixed up. It really was The Saddest Face ever!!!

OUCH
*sniffle*

Peter Cottontail

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend Gabriella's Spring Luncheon at preschool. Sometimes it's more feasible for Jeff to go or my programs for my daycare children fall on the same day but this year, I got lucky! :-)

Gabby sat with her friends, sang songs about the 5 little ducks, a bunny sitting on a hill, but her favorite was Peter Cottontail. There was a beautiful luncheon afterwards but I had to leave to get back to work. We both made our to-go plates and I brought my little bunny home with me. We had some quiet time just the two of us while the daycare children slept. Well, not really quiet. We colored, built a bunny tower, read bunny books, and curled up on my bed and watched Monsters vs. Aliens for 20 minutes. Not an appropriate Easter movie, I know but a favorite of hers right now. (It was the only way to get some downtime!!!) She loves being able to come home early but the entire playtime? She INSISTED that I call her Peter Cottontail.

How could I resist???

Concentrating on building her bunny tower.
A completed bunny tower. Built in on the first try :-)

Sunshine

Gabriella brought home a piece of her artwork from school that she painted this week.

This is her version of a ray of sunshine.....

And this is mine....
I love your painting Gabby! And I love you!

Happy Friday everyone! :-)

Go enjoy your sunshine!

The O'Butticci's

St. Patricks' Day this year was different. Sure, the children ate their Lucky Charms for breakfast and donned their green attire, but most of the day was spent in school. So, after school and work, we went over to Grandma and Papa's house for some corned beef, cabbage, green livations, dessert, and family.

There was Guiness, green wine, green Sprite, and green gin and tonic to start. Next came the corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and rolls. Finally, dessert was a choice of green jello and whipped cream with green sprinkles, brownies, cookies, green ice cream, or a mixture of all of the above.

All of it made for a great night of O'family (Jenni and Lucas are in from WA/Randy on Skype from Japan), O'food (yummy), O'conversation (some of it Blarney), some O'laughs, and pretty good O'pictures!

Steve and Carol having cocktails....
Jeffrey and Grandma Rose enjoying their green drinks.....

Jeffrey and I before dinner.....

The cousins playing before dinner time.....

The kids enjoying their dinner.....

Isabella's chance

Conversation this morning...

I: Mom, did you know that Johnny Appleseed's home is the whole world?
M: Yes I did. Are you learning about that in school?
I: Uh huh. I wish my home could be the whole world.
M: Your home is the whole world. That's why you help take care of it.
I: I wish I had a chance to live with Grandma Cheyann. (what you and I think is left field, she can reason out. My guess is that, to her, Grandma Cheyann lives on the other side of the world.)
M: Well, let's call her and ask her.

I picked up the phone to call Mom at work and told her that Isabella needed to speak to her. Isabella told Grandma Cheyann that she wanted a chance to live with her.

My Mom: Isabella, I think that is wonderful. Is your Mom ok with that??
I: (holds the phone away from her ear and whispers) Mom, are you ok with that?
Me: Yes, I'm ok with that.
I: BEAMS from ear to ear. :-)
My Mom: You and your mom discuss it and let me know when I'm supposed to pick you up at the airport.
I: OK! Here's my mom!

Isabella runs away to finish playing outside with Nicholas before we have to leave for school while Mom and I just laugh on the phone. This child is a crack up!
Now, it's time to help her pack!!!
(jk)

My crazy, imaginative, creative, funny, sweet little girl......

One of my favorite pictures of us. (Taken by another parent who reminded me that I need to get in the pictures too. I tend to forget that part!) :-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

It's almost 8:15, everyone should be ready for school and dressed in green, backpacks ready and by the door, waiting for the signal from me (usually a slightly louder than normal "let's go") to head out the door and get in the car. This morning, one was still brushing her teeth while the other 2 were outside riding bikes and playing tetherball.

I finally manage to gather them together to try to take a picture. There is complaining and running away because a fight insued about who was going to be in the middle. I promised to take a series of pictures with each child in the middle. (Little do they know that it worked to my benefit because I got to snap more photos. BUT I played their game without ratting myself out.)


Nicholas leprechan in the middle....
Isabella leprechan in the middle....

And lastly, Gabriella leprechan in the middle...

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone from our happy little leprechans to yours!!!

Nicholas's team picture

Nicholas's basketball picture has finally arrived! Wished I could've posted his and Isabella's together but his was MIA for a while.
He had a wonderful season this year. Fabulous coaches, great teammates, and although he's definitely not the next Michael Jordan, he did great. He had games where he shot and couldn't miss, other games where he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, and games that were in between. Most importantly, he had a great time!!
Next year, we move up to the next level where they actually keep score. For the competitiveness in this child, it could be a good thing or a bad thing. Guess we'll just have to wait and see!! :-)

Shamrock Half Marathon

We did it! Year 2 of the Shamrock N Half Marathon!!! Yeah us!!!

Jeff, the kids and I left Saturday afternoon, grabbed lunch, and headed to Sacramento. The weather there was downright COLD, I had worries about the daylight savings time since I was the first runner of our relay, but everything went better than planned. Race day, the weather was chilly to begin but warmed up to be a beautiful day.

The kids had fun at dinner with their friends, watched a movie before bed, woke up early for breakfast and braved the cold to be a great cheering section.

My cheerleaders bright and early on Sunday morning!!

Jeffrey and I pre-race. So happy Jeffrey came with me this year! Maybe next year he'll run!!!
(doubtful but maybe) :-)

My relay partner, Julie! Out of 183 all female relay teams, she and I came in 135th. Great race for us! Well, this race really is one of my favorites. Great scenery, great friends, the kids always have fun, and it's so nice to get away although it seems to go by so quickly. Our official time for 13.1 miles was 2:37.32. I completed my 7 mile leg in 1:20. Pretty good for me! I'll take it! Yeah us!

Busy Weekend

Tonight after all of the daycare children go home and the family (ours and extended) have finished our dinner, the children will head off to sleep and I will be busy organizing and packing for our weekend. Some weekends seem to slip by without a single thing planned and other weekends seem to have so much packed in them that I wonder how it will all get done. This will be a busy one for us.

Saturday will start with a short workout for me and then rushing to make Isabella's last cheerleading event for the season. Her game starts at 9:00 with Nicholas's last basketball game starting at 10:00. Both of them have enjoyed playing and cheerleading so much. With 2 children in 2 different events and sometimes at 2 different venues, Saturday mornnings have been pretty full. Although the season seemed so long, now that it has come down to the last games, I'm sad to see it end, as are the children.

After cheering on the kids one last time, it's home to have lunch and pack the car for our 2 hour drive to Sacramento. Sunday morning I'm running in the Shamrock N Half Marathon. :-) Last year I competed as the second part of a relay team, running 6 somewhat hilly miles and this year I'm the starting leg, 7 miles hopefully flat. This is one of my most favorite races of the year. A group of friends make the drive, check into our hotel, enjoy a great family dinner Sat night, and run early Sunday morning. The children cheer us on donning their Shamrock shirts, shamrock tattoos, (this year I bought Shamrock headbands) and the adults compete. This year all of the adults will complete the full half marathon...13.1 miles...except for Julie and I who are doing it is a relay. I'm already so excited!!!

Immediately after the race, it's back to the hotel to shower, then back to the finish line to cheer on my friends. Around noon, it's back in the car to head home because the children have an awards ceremony at 2:30 for the end-of-the-year Upward Basketball and Cheerleading.

I'm tired already and I haven't even begun to pack. Busy busy weekend!!! I can't wait to update with photos!!

I don't have Nicholas's Upward picture but here's my Cheerific Cheerleader....

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

So many times I have thought about you. I want to write to you, write on you, tell you funny stories, and post pictures but time just gets away from me. :-(

I reread you today and realized how nice it is having you in my life to remind me of things that I would have otherwise forgotten. You will someday be something that I can look back on and something that my children can turn to for memories. For that reason alone, I am going to REALLY TRY to visit you more often and post something, no matter how trivial or silly.

Now, that being said, I know that I have said it before but I would like to recommit myself to you. I value you and the memories you hold. Those from the past and those that are yet to be created.

Let's start today!!!

This is our family at Lake Tahoe, CA. We decided to take a trip over President's Week while the kids were out of school. The most recent picture of all of us together. :-)
(Thank you Chris for taking it)!!!

My girls

For anyone that knows me, I have wanted a sister my ENTIRE life. I often tease my Mother that my first word was "sister" but she never listened. As fate would have it, the cards did not fall in my favor. I have 2 brothers, one that I am amazingly close to and one that I sometimes wish things were different, but have always longed for that sister bond.

I recall Mom giving me the news that she was marrying Tom and, aside from her happiness, I was hoping that he had girls and I would have a step-sister. Fate again did not work in my favor as he has 2 boys.

Years later, I was blessed with my own 2 girls. How was I to foster a "sisterly" bond between the two that I had always longed for?? Well, for the last few years, I have concentrated on just the brother-sister-sibling-all-getting-along bond. Little did I know that the bond between them would have nothing to do with me but everything to do with them and it would work on their own timeframe.

Don't get me wrong. All three of them have their moments when they need to be separated and they need a break from each other, moments where they all are getting along perfectly and I just sit back and watch it happen, moments where Gabby is the odd man out because she is the youngest, and moments where Nicholas is the odd man out because he's a boy.

I am extremely lucky when I get to witness some of the sweetest moments between my kids. Helping each other, reading another one a book, just playing nicely, whatever it may be. Last weekend was one of those moments. At Papa'sbirthday party, Nicholas was surrounded by a ton of boy cousins and my girls , when they weren't playing with the girl cousins, spent a lot of time together. I was able to snap a few pictures of Gabby sitting on Isabella's lap while Isabella fed her. They were pretending that Bella was the Mommy and Gabby was the baby.

Precious....the moment and my girls!!!

Sisterly love...

Happy New Year 2010

Happy New Year to everyone!

Our year has been busy and family filled so far. We started off New Years Eve with a big family dinner of fried fish, potatoes, salad, and veggies complete with Grandma Rose, Grandma and Papa, Aunt Jana, Aunt Jenni, Uncle Randy, and Baby Lucas...and the 5 of us, of course. We watched the ball drop in Times Square at 9:00 (midnight East Coast time), celebrated with the kids, then proceeded to put them in bed. Nothing like ringing in the New Year 3 hours early!! :-)

New Years Day was spent at Steve and Carol's where we had a big party for Steve's 60th birthday. Extended cousins, great food, lots of family, champagne toast, TONS of pictures, and a boatload of fun! The kids came home exhausted and filthy dirty from playing outside the entire day.

Jan 3 marked another Anniversary for me and Jeffrey. Thirteen years and still counting :-)

Now it's time to settle back into our routines and get back to a schedule. After two weeks off, maybe now, we'll get some rest!
Happy New Year to all of you! May 2010 bring you happiness!

The Butticci Clan at Steve's birthday....

Happy Anniversary Jeffrey!! Love you!

My birthday

Despite following in the footsteps of Nicholas and having a fever all weekend, my birthday celebration was a success.
I spent the morning watching a triathalon, secretively beating myself up over not doing it but convincing myself that I have a year until the next one. The afternoon I was with Nicholas running errands, and the evening was spent with the kids, Jeff, Jeff's parents and Grandma Rose. We had a wonderful pasta dinner, the kids made special cards and Gabriella helped Jeff make the cake (funfetti cake with funfetti iciing).
Monday I spent working which to me really isn't work. I got to hang with some of the cutest children who were full of birthday hugs all day! I had lunch with great friends and dinner again with the family.
To everyone who sent birthday wishes my way, I thank you so much. I know that sometimes our individual lives are full of kids, work, schedules, homework, sports, etc and there really doesn't seem to be any time for the "extras." Before we know it, days, weeks, even months go by.
I truly appreciate everyone who called, texted, emailed, or FB'ed that day. I look forward to my birthday every year....not because of the cake or presents, but because I get to hear from old friends, new friends, those that live close by and those that live far away. I love reconnecting and catching up with all of you! I miss my East Coast friends and family so much and hearing from all of you brightens my day. I love my West Coast friends and family and all of you are such an important part of my daily life.
I appreciate each and every one of you! :-)
Thank you for thinking of me and taking a minute out of your day to send your Birthday wishes. I know how hard it is to find a minute sometimes! :-)

My birthday dinner....

Gabby-In-The-Box

Most people have heard of a Jack-In-The-Box but in our house, there is a slight change in the wording...at least yesterday!! Gabriella empied out this storage container, containing miscellaneous toys and stuffed animals, and decided to play hide and seek. She'd place herself in the box, the lid (ever-so-gently) on top of the box, and the rest of us had to pretend that we had NO IDEA where she was.

Great fun for all of us!! :-)

Rules for playing...

Find box. The size is entirely up to you but the bigger, the better!

Roll up into the fetal position...like so...If at any time you are not comfortable, you have the option to lie on your side...

like so...

Place lid on the top of the box, making sure you do not seal it tight!! :-)
Have child with their sweetest, most adorable face peek out of the box or jump out, depending on their energy level. The choice is theirs :-)
Like so....
And there you have a Gabby-In-The-Box!

Happy Birthday Nicholas

My little boy turned eight on Saturday. First thing in the morning, he climbed into bed and snuggled with Daddy but Jeffrey and I ganged up on him and held him down for his eight (16) "whoopins." :-) He then informed me that he is halfway to driving. *sigh* He deserved eight more whoopins after that (but he didn't get them)!! :-)
We took the kids to breakfast then over to Grandma and Papa's for a little visit before heading to Nicholas's soccer game. It was picture day which meant that the team needed to be at the field an hour prior to gametime. For us, that meant arriving at the field at 11:15, pictures at 11:30, and game at 12:30. The photographer failed to show up which meant we sat in the sweltering heat of a 98 degree day for over an hour and then poor Nicholas had to run for an hour afterwards. About halfway through the game I saw him running out of gas and started to worry. Lots of liquids and sitting out the third quarter seemed to help but I could tell he wasn't his usual go-get-em self. Even though he didn't feel well, my little guy scored 2 goals!! Come to find out later, a low grade fever can't keep him down.....

This one went in....GGGOOOAAALLLL!!!
Nicholas fell asleep on the way home from the game, sat in the tub for over an hour with the water just running on him trying to cool down (the tub unplugged), slept an hour in his bed after drying off, came out to the living room and fell asleep again in the recliner until Grandma and Papa came over around 5:30. His 100.4 fever seemed to really take it's toll. He didn't eat a lot for dinner but perked up when it was time to eat cake. This year he chose chocolate cake with chocolate iciing with M&M's on top.

Blowing out the candle....

Grandma has this oversized pencil in her classroom that Nicholas has been eyeing up for the last five years. He's always asking if he can do his homework with it :-) Grandma finally parted with it and gave it to him this year but because of his fever, couldn't show his excitement, although he did manage a slight whisper of a "thank you for the pencil" as Grandma and Papa were walking out. He's has done a LOT of writing with it today :-)
He threw the M&M's on the cake just the way he wanted them :-)

Despite the fever, he had a pretty good day.

Happy 8th Birthday my Sweet Boy!!

We love you!!

Catching up!

Life just seems to be flying by at such a fast pace these days and before I know it, so much time has elapsed. So. here are the cliffnotes on life here on the West coast!

July is usually the month that the kids and I head "home" for a few weeks. This year was a first for us. We weren't able to make the trip this year because my surgery got scheduled for July 7th. After anticipating it for months, I started freaking out the closer and closer it got. The day came and went without any excitement and recovery was just as exciting. I went in on a Tuesday, came home Wednesday night, and laid on the couch for a couple days. Other than a spinal headache , which gets cured only with massive amounts of caffeine (who knew), I had no pain and recovery went smoothly. I'd like to report that I laid on the couch for the entire 8 weeks and was waited on hand and foot but that would be an outright lie. I was up and about 4 days later. Doing too much? yes! Doing things I was told not to do? yes! With a business, husband that is working, and three children, sitting for 8 seconds really isn't a luxury, let alone 8 weeks!! :-)

August brought Mom and Tom out for 2 weeks for a visit. What a huge help that was. We ended up camping for a weekend and Mom helped with the kids a whole lot. We got the kids ready for school, the laundry room painted, but mostly we just hung out. A nice relaxing visit. Two weeks go by WAY too quickly!!

We are now into our fourth week of school for the kids and all is going well. Homework for the kids, soccer for Nicholas, schedules for everyone. We just took the children to Pismo Beach for Labor Day weekend and Jeff and I just returned from a weekend in Vegas for the CHP Softball Tournament (pictures coming soon). Busy, busy, busy!!!

On a sad note, I lost a good friend just two weeks ago. A young beautiful friend, wife, and mother of two was taken entirely too early. She accomplished so much in her short 31 years. Can't help but think about life a little differently.

Some pictures of our crazy couple weeks...
While Mom and Tom were here, we got to celebrate Tom's 67th birthday. Chocolate cake, chocolate iciing! YUM!

Mom and the kids at the lake...

Mom and Tom painting the laundry room! :-)

First Day of School

We are at it again. They really are growing up!! The summer went by so quickly and we are already a full week into the school year. Nicholas is a big second grader, Isabella is in the first grade, and Gabriella is starting her second year of preschool.
Nicholas was completely unphased by the whole transition. He was excited to get to school, he asked me to read his class list at least a dozen times to see which friends were in his class, and he was up early Monday morning dressed in his school clothes that he had picked out the night before. (Thank you Grandma Cheyann for their *First Day of School* outfits)!!
Isabella was the COMPLETE opposite. She cried most of the morning and wanted nothing to do with getting ready. I removed her from the breakfast table, took her to her room, and tried to have a chat about what was wrong. Nothing really came from her but I think it was just apprehension about everything new for her.
Gabriella was just along for the ride and walked with Jeffrey and I to each of the classrooms.

Some pictures in the backyard before we headed out for our first day!
My bribery for taking a "good" picture is I have to let them take a "silly" one too. I'll never admit it to them but the silly ones are almost always my favorite!!

Mom took this picture of all of us right before loading into the car!!

The minute I walked Isabella into her classroom, her teacher (who I adore) was asking her some questions and she seemed to perk right up. I warned Mrs. Harden about her morning but distracted Isabella by telling her to find the cubby with her name on it. She hung her backpack, took a fabulous First Day of School picture, walked out on the playground with other classmates, and waited for the bell to ring. As I turned to check on Nicholas who by this point had already found his desk, hung his backpack, and was outside playing, I watched Isabella walk in a single file line with her class, led by their teacher, and she waved the biggest wave and smiled the biggest smile. All of her grief seemed to have disappeared. :-)

I snuck back in her classroom before leaving campus and took this picture... She was just fine!!

Having Nicholas and Isabella in the respective spots, it was Gabby's turn to have us take her to school. Actual preschool won't start for a few weeks but here is Gabby and Grandma, aka Mrs. Carol!

I am "That Mother" that went back to school at lunch time to check on my children. I took My Mom so she could see the mass chaos and I was happy to see that both children had already adjusted perfectly. Me? This was the first year that I made it through drop off without any tears. I must be growing up too!! :-)