Falling into fall...

So I am finally trying to catch up on things, I have posted several things. Here are a few fun pictures from our backyard. We spent hours playing in the leaves, it was a great day.

Halloween '08

Here are a few pictures from Halloween. Isabella was sleeping beauty and Vincent was a chicken, the same chicken that Isabella was on her first Halloween. The costume was way to big last year or he would have worn it then. We went trick or treating to the grandparents homes and a few of our neighbors homes. I think Isabella enjoyed giving out the candy at the grandparents home more than anything else. I think we will keep things simple next year and stay home and hand out candy!!! Isabella had a halloween party at our home for a few of her friends, I hope everyone had a great time!! Enjoy the pictures!

Everyone at the party.


Friends from next door.

This I had to post because I was so proud of the pumpkin cake I made for her party. It looked beautiful when I went to bed.... to quote my husband it turned into the Tammy Faye Baker pumpkin cake overnight. All the adults at the party had a good laugh and the kids didn't care. Hope I have now given you a good laugh!!

Hitting the mummy pinata! Lots of good candy, thanks to dad!!!

Vincent unsupervised for one minute = digging in the dirt, that's my BOY!!!

Isabella had the idea to make this game for the party. She painted the wood black all by herself then Dave did the outline of the ghost and she painted it white. I was so proud of her. This is one game we will keep and have for many years. We are hoping to come up with something for the other side so we can use it even more.

Bobbing for apples!

We made pumpkin pizza.

Arts and crafts.

Privacy

I have taken some time off from the blogging world to decide if I want to continue with our blog. I love that I have been able to capture some memories for future reference and I hope that everyone has enjoyed our blog. But I am concerned about our privacy...so I am considering going private. I would love input from anyone who reads our blog, esp. those of you that have chosen to go private, even if you read this blog and I don't personally know you. Thanks in advance for your input. I have posted a few pictures from some of the happening in the Palmisano household.

Vincent's Birthday

Our sweet boy has turned one!!! I can not believe what a big personality he has, he loves to play with his sister and Rocco, chasing and teasing them best of all. I can't believe that he is a walking, talking toddler. The past year has been challenging at times but most of all fun and full of excitement. To watch Isabella and Vincent interact has been such a joy. I am one proud momma!!! For his birthday we decided to keep it small with just family. He loves balloons, so I got 30-40 primary colored balloons and placed them all over the house the morning of his birthday, including his crib. How fun to wake up to balloons on your crib!!! They stayed there almost a week before they started to deflate and I had to take them down. I did not want the day to end!! I also had a red #1 balloon that was taller than him. I have made every birthday cake since Bella was one and hope to continue as long as the kids let me. I kept it very simple with a big #1 cake, Isabella decorated it with M&M's. Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate Vincent's birthday. Our family feels birthdays are important in a child's life and a huge part of there childhood memories. Birthdays are an integral part of childhood but something we try to skip over as adults!!! ( I completely intend to skip my next b-day altogether!!)

Walking...

Okay so let me explain, I love crocks for kids. They are the best shoes because they do not require parental involvement to put on or take off, they are durable,easy to wash and comfortable according to Isabella. I had not even thought of them as on option for Vinny since he has just been learning to walk. But the other day I could not resist these, Pumpkin crocks!!! They are too cute so I broke down and spent the $5 (at walmart) so he could have his first pair of crocks. I must say to my surprise he walks very well in them, but he does love to take them off and throw them in the car. The video shows him walking from our living room, down the hall and into our room. He is doing great, he would much rather walk at his point. If he falls he will usually get back up and walk, very little crawling going on in our house now. I'm not sure if you can hear it on the video very well but he is making this clicking sound, which is how he calls the dog. Rocco and Isabella were running down the hall, Vinny decided to follow them, you can hear how excited he gets when he finds them. Enjoy!!

I love Fall....

I really enjoy the fall season, cooler weather, home made pies and the beginning of the holiday season. It always feels like the start of fall to me when we go the the pumpkin patch in Marble Falls. Last year Vincent was still in my belly and we did not know he was Vincent, look at him now!!!

If you look closely you will see Vincent in the hole where Isabella's left hand should be.

Everyone loves riding the tractor...

Here are are few pictures in the pumpkins, Vincent was more interested in playing, touching and pointing at the pumpkins then looking at the camera. He was overwhelmed and excited.

Getting lost in the kids maze... does it count if you find your way out via a path you make on your own?????

Isabella has wanted to ride a horse for a very long time and the opportunity has just never been available. I could not say no once she saw the horses, the anticipation and excitement were worth the wait. Her horses name was Lacy. She tells everyone that she got to ride a horse. Hopefully this is one of those memories that she keep forever.

Are you ready for some kickball????

We officially started kickball season a few weeks ago. This is Isabella's second season to play, she seems to really enjoy it and is a great team player. I think she learns a lot from trying many different things at this age. We are the grasshoppers this year, much better than the mosquito's that we were last year. The best part about kickball is the ice cream at Dairy Queen after the games!!

Papa and granny came to her last game and joined us for ice cream. After 12 weeks in a cast and on crutches it is nice to have Papa out and about with us again. Hey Papa~ Dave, granny and I are going to take a break, now you get to chase Vinny for a while, that should get your muscles working again, hope your fast, have fun!!!!

A few fun shots from her last game....

Fun stuff happening in the Palmisano household...

The Kids Expo was a few weekends ago, Isabella and I went with her friend Eliza and her mom Sara. We had a great time. There were lots of fun things for the kids to do. We treated the girls to a breakfast with the princesses sponsored by The Children's Hospital at Scott and White. The girls had a great time. Here is my princess in the princess chair.

Isabella wanted to try the rock climbing wall they had set up, I did not think she was old enough, but they told me if you can walk you can climb and put her in a harness and showed her what to do. She did great!!! I can only imagine how well she would do if she had on appropriate clothes, a dress and sandals were not the best choice. I think I see a rock climbing wall girls day in our future.

Here are a few pictures of Isabella with some of the characters they had around.

Aunt Dixie and I celebrate our birthdays in September. We have always tried to get together to celebrate at some point during the month. This year Aunt D came up with the idea to take the kids to see a dinosaur exhibit they had set up in Zilker park in Austin. Isabella thought it was GREAT!!! She has not stopped talking about it. We were able to go during the week ( while older kids were in school) about 10am so the weather was perfect!! We were able to enjoy seeing the exhibit and walking around the park. We then treated ourselves to lunch at Houston's, not only do they have great salads but the BEST key lime pie ever!!! It was a great morning of fun for all of us. Great idea Aunt D!! Here are a few pictures from the dinosaur exhibit.

We took a break from walking in the butterfly garden. They had these great butterfly benches that were actually comfortable to sit in. The kids were able to have a snack and hang out for a minute. I let Vinny out of the stroller to move about a little and the adults got to rest our feet.

I am not sure how I got this video at the end, but it is of Isabella dancing to some music they had at the Kids Expo. Enjoy!

Things have been busy around the Palmisano household. Here are a few shots from the past couple of weeks. Isabella went to her first 3D movie with my parents. She was amazed and is still talking about it and wearing the ridiculous glasses, although I must say when I saw 3D movies the glasses were paper, one eye was red and was blue. With as awful as theses are they aren't as bad as they used to be.

The purpose of this picture is to show you that I finally broke down and bought my boy some real shoes. He has spent the summer without shoes or socks. Now that it is getting a little cooler and he is starting to walk more, I thought it was time. We took him to the stride rite store and with the help of the sales associate and my mom I purchased an appropriate pair of shoes. I must admit it was a milestone I was not ready for. I just stood outside the store with tears in my eyes. I am excited he is growing but real SHOES!!!! He just looks way to grown up in this picture. On a side note: he much prefers to get around without the shoes, which is okay with me.

He has learned how to crawl up on the furniture now. We must watch him all the time, you never know what he is getting into.

The other night Dave was giving Vincent his bath, all I heard was NO! NO! NO! Isabella and I immediately ran to see what the problem was.... I guess Rocco really wanted that toy, Dave wasn't expecting him to jump in and just couldn't stop him. As you can tell Vincent did not mind sharing the bath at all. We all had a good laugh, the bath got disinfected and the dog isn't allowed in the bathroom during bath time anymore.

Dave and I have the idea to put a metal ceiling up in our kitchen for a few years now, we have talked about it several times. It is just hard to coordinate the time with Dave's work schedule. Since he has been home a while now we were able to put this idea into action. It took us the weekend and we had a few missteps along the way. Once it was done we were glad we took the time to complete it. All we really have left to do is for me to make the curtains for the bay window (I have an idea I am working on... sometimes my ideas are good sometimes not so good....wish me luck!!), paint and put in the pantry door. I will be glad when the kitchen is done. I have tons of ideas for our bathrooms.

The ceiling is really high, I can't say this is the safest way to reach it, but it worked.

Daddy's little helper. I think I spent the majority of the weekend keeping everyone safe.

The finished ceiling.