Clarification

Casey thought I should clarify that Ethan was touching Juliet's "boob" on her statue in Verona because it is supposed to be good luck. The picture is all blurry, because Caitlyn was taking it and couldn't stop laughing.

Facelift

I'm learning how to give the blog a facelift, thanks to my SIL McKaye and http://www.matiekay.blogspot.com/

hopefully, I'll get to where I can do it a little more on my own. In the meantime, enjoy the changes I'm sure I'll be experimenting with.

And, since I had my 36th birthday yesterday, I know..... 36, I could use a facelift of my own. Birthdays really do get less and less exciting as time goes on.
It was awesome to hear my 2 year old sing happy birthday, my 11 year old made me a cake, and My husband made me breakfast, lunch and dinner, with Caitlyn's help. I really do have a good life!

My Valentine weekend (a little belated)

I never mentioned that Casey took me (and the kids, of course) to Verona to see Juliet's house for Valentine's Day. I was starting to worry that I would miss that, which would be the pits, since it turned out to be only 2 hours away! As someone who taught Romeo and Juliet to scores of Freshman for many years, it would have been a sin not to get a picture of her house (even if it isn't REALLY her house) and a picture of Ethan touching the "boob" of her statue. It was pretty cool. The streets leading up to her house from both directions were hung with hearts to mark the path.
On that same weekend, we drove to Slovenia (again) to the indoor water park. I'm finally almost normal in a bathing suit. Alisea had a ball in the water for her first time. Ethan was so much more comfortable in it and loved heading down the slide head first.

And finally, we spent President's day at Piancavallo, 25 min. from our house, where Caitlyn and Casey skiied and I played in the snow with the munchkins. Great weekend. We're definitely trying to squeeze in all we can.

AND..... Ethan has gone 2 days with no accidents. He's even telling us when he has to "go". It's so exciting! and yes, that is what our marble floor looks like. Not gonna miss that.

We'll miss you Nana!

Marzetta Ball, our Nana, passed away on Feb. 21. She had suffered a severe stroke this summer, and wasn't able to recover . We'll always remember her for her will to live. She told me the last time I saw her that the doctors kept thinking it was her time over the years, but that she just kept "showing them!" I know my mother, who preceded her in death, was waiting to welcome her home. We can't be there for her funeral, but we will be in spirit. Rest in Peace, Nana. We love you!

It's potty time! and other News

We've begun the dreaded toilet learning (the newest fancy lingo for what we all know as potty training) with Ethan. He's been at it about 2 weeks now, and is doing awesome! He FINALLY pooped in the potty yesterday, which meant he got a garbage truck he had picked out at the BX. It's amazing how something so "normal" and mundane can be so exciting at the same time! Anyone who's been there knows what I mean!! Now we have to get him to tell us when he needs to go, instead of being ushered in there every so often by us. Any ideas??? I figured a picture of this particular thing might not be the best thing to post on the internet, just in case he runs for president some day. We don't want someone digging up this ol post and showing the whole world, now do we??

In other news, we are shiping the car to Texas today. The PCS (move) officially begins!

Caitlyn made the honor roll. She only had one B+ for the semester, with the rest A's, which was amazing to me, since she missed 3 weeks of school and had to get everything made up in just a week. We're very proud of her hard work. She's having lots of fun this week with "Spirit Week". My darn camera is on the blitz, or I'd have pictures of her craziness!

And Finally..... Alisea just had the first pointy little tip of her first tooth come through. We didn't even realize she was teething, and last night, she was knawing on my finger and I felt it. She is such an easy baby, it never ceases to amaze me.

Stay tuned for more exciting news from our little bunch!

Showing off the Baby

Sometimes, I just can't help wanting to share the pictures that are just so darn cute. Enjoy

The Strombergs came for a visit

Our very awesome friends visited us here for a little over a week. We finally went to the Venetian Island of Murano while they were here, and took them to Trieste. They enjoyed a trip to Rome and Florence before having to go back to Utah. It was so nice to see them, and the kids loved the company. I have to wait for Natalie to send me the pictures she took, cause I didn't really take very many I realized! I do have these of Caitlyn and Nash, and the boys, Ethan and Jace after a long morning walking around in Venice. I think they'll be our last group of visitors while here in Italy since our stuff gets packed up in a month. Sadly, Del Rio won't be quite the "tourist" draw, so we hope to see family and friends in the next 3 years! maybe we'll rendeavous in San Antonio!

I can't believe I have 3 kids!!!

Sometimes, I see a picture like this one and I'm reminded just how lucky I am to have 3 beautiful children! It wasn't very long ago that I had given up on having more than 1!

Then I ask myself, "what on earth were you thinkin?? What was wrong with just 1???" (Just kidding)