...but then there's moments like these!

About 20 times a day you'll hear me say, "Be nice to your brother" to both boys throughout the day! Then I come into my bedroom wondering where these boys have gone and I'll find

THIS!

Ahhhh, moments like these melt my heart!

...but two minutes after taking this picture, Justin took off with big brothers favorite truck and ran around the house as fast as he could!!! HA!

Portrait Party FUN!

About a month ago, my friend Tarah had a portrait party, where we were all invited to have our children's pictures taken with NO sitting fees to try out this photographer, Layla. We were sure impressed with her work...

I LOVE these boys!!! ...just in case I haven't said it enough :) Thank you, Layla Wolken Photography for capturing my boys perfectly!

more strawberry pickin'

my goodness, these strawberries are GOOD! And as you can see, the boys had such a good time picking them! They really fixed the farm up this year with picnic tables, hand washing station, great places to take photos and more! And with that bucket that you see in the pics, we can bring it back and collect more berries VERY soon! Ahh, the boys will be excited to go back and we will too!

Our weekend was spent helping my mom(MeMe) fix up her newly renovated kitchen...it looks SO good, I'll have post pictures very soon! She raised me as a single mother and let herself go on the back burner for YEARS, so I'm very happy to see her taking care of HERSELF for a change and doing some much needed home-improvement projects!

Soakin' Up The Sun!

We're sure loving this weather we've had this week! 80's and sunny, not too humid either!

We started out in our backyard for HOURS... then it was off to the local farm to pick strawberries-

they were SO sweet and juicy...

...and then back home for MORE backyard fun!!

...and some new additions to the Strawberry Patch!

Ahh so cute, right?! The boys loved this again this year, Jacob was eating the strawberries

as he picked them! Justin just liked picking them and throwing them into our basket!
...many more pictures soon to come!

Hope the weather is nice where you are too :)

St. Joseph 2011

First of all, I want to thank all of you for your sweet comments in regards to this family tradition. My grandmother would have been SO proud of this years' Altar, that's for sure! My mom and her friends/family did an excellent job! On the left is the tribute to the "old Italians" that put this on each year, sadly all of them have passed. Just wanted to share some Altar pics with all of you, a picture of SOME of our very large, Italian family and a picture of my boys...Jacob LOVED the spaghetti and Justin LOVED the cookies...ah, so different!

Bonka, you are SO missed. At the Altar, it just doesn't feel the same without you there. I still talk to you, feel you around me and always want to make you proud. I see my mom with the boys and the relationship they are creating and I can't help but think about the bond between you and I that was there for SO long. I love you, miss you and am so happy that our family has remained close after you left us. I will make sure we create new memories and that my boys will always remember our BONKA. Love you.

St. Joseph

(Me-8 months pregnant, my Bonka, and my mom-Altar 2009)
Being Sicilian, one of my fondest memories as a child was the St. Joseph Altar. My grandmother would work for days, sometimes weeks preparing spaghetti, bread, cookies and more for this event. Sadly, my grandmother's last Altar was over two years ago, she was sick and no longer to help with the event. My mother and her friends took over in their honor, after watching their parents for years, they knew to carry on this tradition! I was 8 months pregnant with Justin, but so happy that we stopped to take a picture on this day. My grandmother was so proud of the work they had done! So, it is now that time again...tomorrow it will take place. People come to enjoy food, admire the Altar and pay tribute. I know I should be there with them right now, because carrying on this tradition is something I WILL do for my family and this strong part of my family, especially my grandmother-she'd be SO proud :)



The Story of the St. Joseph Altar: The people of Sicily, after no rain for their crops, pleaded with St. Joseph and in return, water filled the sky. To return the favor, the prepared a huge feast for St. Joseph and also the less fortunate. Through Sicilian immigrants, the custom of St. Joseph Altar was introduced to America.
Some of those being our family and friends! Our Altar is filled with fruits and vegetables from local gardens, freshly baked breads from all over, Easter decorations, pictures of St. Joseph, and tons of freshly baked Italian cookies. Spaghetti dinners are served and the money donated goes to the Church.

weeeee!

The other day we met all of our cousins at the park and had a BLAST!

(you can barely see Justin behind his big brother!)

It was a perfect day for the park and a perfect day to make memories with our cousins :)

Random Phone Pics...again!

I did this a long time ago and decided it was time to clear off my phone yet again :)

Funny how random these pictures can actually be when I put them together!

My boys are getting bigger every day and I'm so happy that when my real camera isn't in hand, my phone is there to capture these random, silly moments!!

Happy Thursday :)

Railroad Museum..."choo choo"

The most recent obsession in our home is CHOO CHOO TRAINS! More specifically, Chuggington! These boys L.O.V.E them and the Galveston Railroad Museum is our new favorite place to go! We were able to visit yesterday, before the rain came pouring down and the boys had a blast! My husband has been working CRAZY amounts of over time, so this was his only day off. Excuse the pictures, I had to use my phone :(

...and then we stopped for a great seafood lunch!

Thanks Daddy, for a great day at the museum :)

some park fun!

nothing like a FUN day at the park :)

This has become our new favorite park! It's called a Boundless Playground, where children of all abilities can play together! Our city raised money for a long time and finally the dream of this park came true! It's amazing! This park is where ALL children can play together freely and children and parents with disabilities can come here and play with no restraints!

ANYWAY, we love this park and love making memories on such a pretty, spring day!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend too :)


For more info on this park, go to:

http://www.boundlessplaygrounds.org/

and the winner is...

Thanks for all of the entries and sweet comments about my friends growing business!

The winner is...

Jamie @ Our Family Of Four

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

Jamie, I am contacting you now and you have 48hrs to respond!

Petting Zoo: The Conversation...

Justin: "Momma, pet cow?"

Me: "No baby, that's a goat but he is black and white"

Justin: "YEA, cow!" Justin: "Hi"
Justin: "Oh momma, HORSE!!"
...(yes, I guess we need to work on our animals!!!)

Justin: "Pet you?"

Justin: "Hi, my na Justin, I love loo"

Justin: "You funny"


Justin:"awww, pet you!"

Justin: "thank you horse"

**It was the cutest thing I've EVER seen! He was so sweet, gentle, he takes every second of life and cherishes it! He loves animals, is a cuddler and was talking to every animal in this petting zoo...PRECIOUS! I'll never forget it!





Momma's boys!

I could have watched him with these animals for hours! So sweet.

My boys are so special and SO different in so many ways!

For instance, at the Rodeo:

Jacob only cared about running fast

and knowing that the Texans play football in the stadium next door

-he wanted to go watch a game!

and Justin only cared about seeing every, single animal in that place, loving on them and talking to each one as if he'd known them forever!

Being an only child, I always wondered how a bond between siblings grows, but I am starting to see it more and more. I respect how different their personalities really are, and like that they are SO unique. Although they are both big 'ol Daddy's boys, they sure love their Momma too!