being sweet

Tonight Aaron pulled out a lollipop that he had gotten from one of his classmates a few days ago.  Considering all of the dental work that my kids have had, they RARELY get lollipops, and it's always from someone else, not from me.

It was just Aaron and Isabel in the house.  Isabel was very aware that Aaron had a sweet that she didn't and made her feelings known.  Aaron was so sweet with her and shared it with her.  One lick him, one lick her, and so forth.  Then they sat on the couch and took turns making it fly like an airplane into each other's mouth.  There were a few times when I thought Isabel was going to get a uvulaectomy but they both come out smiling and happy.

I think I was the happiest one of all, seeing my children be sweet angels!

a night in the life of a mother

Night life at my house is EXCITING but not in the way that most folks hope for.  It's a lot of getting up at night.  Having Isabel's tonsils and adenoids definitely helped with this, but she still wakes up a night.  The last week she's been having "night terrors" or some crazy dreams and has been waking up a lot.  Every once in a while Jordan wakes up too, just to keep things interesting.

Jordan's waking up is usually because he wants to sleep in my bed and be cuddled.  He comes randomly, usually when he's not feeling heard or cuddled enough.  Somehow he manages to always come after Paolo has gone to work (about 2 a.m.).

Most of the time when he comes to bed I've already been woken up multiple times by Isabel and I am passed out.  It's definitely much less than 1% of my brain working when he shows up and it's all I can do to verbalize.  Last night he came into bed and announced, "mom, I have a question!"  And it's serious business for him!  He doesn't give voice very often to what I expect is a lot of questions that he may have.  Somehow in the middle of the night they come out!  Oh deary me!

He actually comes in needing some cuddles or physical contact and with lots of questions.  A few weeks ago he came into my bed and said in a sweet soft voice, "mom?".  After I mumbled he burst out in an excited voice, "Mom!  I have 22 questions!"  I told him that he could ask me one then and then the rest in the morning.

Sigh.  Big sigh.  As hard as it is being woken up so much, I love my kids and being a mom!

a raccogliere le olive

 Abbiamo raccolto le olive con lo zio sabato!  Aaron è stato davvero diligente.  Isabel riesce a stare dentro un cestino... e Jordan ha deciso di raccogliere foglie invece di olive. :)

 It feels like the autumn leaves have JUST barely started to change colors. Global warming?!  These are beautiful leaves!  There's a delicious fruit tree that our neighbors have.  It's called a "caco" or persiman tree, but they're not persimans that you find elsewhere.  When they're ready to eat I'll post a picture.  They are seriously so sweet and yummy!

My boys with their BFF!

Florence with the boys

 Monday we had to renew Jordan's passport and so headed down to Florence.  I had hoped to see some touristy sites with the boys, but it ended up just being a trip to the consulate and finding a cool park not too far from the consulate.  I sure love these boys!

sleep...

This kiddo fell asleep on the couch the other day like this.  So funny!

She also has a hard time sleeping.  She's probably slept the whole night through 10-15 nights in her 4 years of life.  She has enormous (no joking!) tonsils and I think she suffers from sleep apnea.  She also has phonetical problems and we're starting some speech therapy.

This week we saw an ENT and I got the best news of my life... she's going to get her tonsils out (partial tonsillectomy).  I'm really hoping this helps with both sleeping and speech issues.  If nothing else, at least to be able to sleep at night will be a huge gift!

First day of Autumn

 First day of fall- I brought lemon popsicles when I picked up the kids from school.

 And then we had fun taking pictures of our silly faces!

First day of school

 Today was Jordan's first day of elementary school.  I'm still waiting to hear how things went.  I think he was excited.  He sure didn't say much.  He did smile sometimes with a sly look and so I'm going to guess that all is well.

BFF'S

 Jordan's BFF.  Jordan e il suo amico di pelle!

A Heidi visit!

 I love having visitors!  Just love it.  I love my friends.  They are like warm sunshine on a warm spring day that just fill you up.  It also helps that this friend, Heidi, has the gift of bringing peace to those around her.  My kids were soooooo much better than normal. :)  It's also an excuse to get gelato, something that I don't usually let myself do.

 As you can see, we went to Pisa...

 And to Lucca...

...and to the beach

The Sunday after Heidi left my kids were bickering in the morning before going to church.  Paolo announced "the Heidi-effect is officially over!" (my kids were seriously so much calmer around her!), and then added with great emphasis "I want Heidi back!"  Here here!

Mother son date- at the Buskers festival in Ferrara

 Last weekend I wanted some one on one time with Jordan so we went on a date!  We went to the Buskers Festival held in the city of Ferrara.  There are lots of musicians playing on the street.  Jordan loves music and I was convinced that he would love this.  He didn't love the confusion of lots of people and we didn't end up staying long.

 He did like getting his gelato and a pizza, and I was able to enjoy my soft and joyful Jordan!

Daddy son date to Venice

 Paolo has a 3 week vacation and has decided to spend one day with each person of our family.  Monday Paolo and Aaron went to see Venice.  Aaron has been asking to see a couple of cities in Italy, including Venice.  Aaron took a lot of pictures.  My favorite was the one of the candy store!