We have been able to enjoy some great family times on the boat recently with all the nice weather we have had. Dave has actually stayed on the water overnight, and loved it!! The kids do exceptionally well on the boat and enjoy the time we have together on the water. We actually were able to cook and eat dinner on the water last weekend. We have gone out for early morning rides and had breakfast with us. I must say that a hot cup of coffee on the boat first thing in the morning is quite relaxing. This past weekend the lake was very quite much to our surprise and pleasure. Here are a few of my favorite shots of the kids.

Boat

Cheerleading Camp

Last month Isabella attended a cheer leading camp with the Harker Heights High School cheerleaders. She went on a Saturday morning for a few hours and learned two cheers and a short dance. She then got to preform at the Friday night football game. She had a blast and it was fun to watch her. I still catch her singing her cheers. This is a great fundraiser for the cheerleaders and I am sure we will be doing this again.

This picture is from her Saturday morning camp.

Silly, Crazy, Fun...

Isabella had a day last week that she got out of school early. I surprised her when I picked her up and told her we were meeting her friend Eliza at Boulders Rock climbing gym. She has only attempted to rock climb once before. She was timid but got better the longer we were there, once she got to a certain height she was too scared to go any higher, although I know she could have. She did great for her first real attempt at rock climbing. She had fun and I love watching her try new things. I know that we will be going back!

Momma's little piggies, need I say more?!

Fun in the Palmisano household

So we were making/painting grandparents day gifts the other day, my mistake was trying to prepare dinner at the same time. Bella painted her hand , no big deal she knows not to touch anything. It was when she decided to paint her brother that things got a little out of control!!! They were both taken straight to the bath, but not before we took a few good pictures and had a good laugh. As you can see by the smile on Vinny's face, He LOVED IT!!! We finished our project, everyone had fun, no harm done!!

Granny bought Isabella rollers for her hair on an outing to the dollar store, so one night before bed I put them in her hair. They actually lasted most of the night. I would not say that her hair was curly in the morning, but it did have a lot of body. I think this is a cute picture of the kids before bed.

Okay so I couldn't resist this little video of Vinny. He was really quiet after dinner tonight, so I peaked my head around the corner to see him jumping off the couch. After I got it on tape, we had a lesson about not jumping off the furniture, but I have a feeling he was not listening and we will have this conversation many times. Boys will be boys!!! The Ta-Da he says at the end is too cute, in my opinion!! (Sorry , I don't know how to turn the video around for a better view!)

First Day of Kindergarten 2009

Isabella started Kindergarten this week. Getting her ready for school has been an emotional journey for me. I see how ready she is to let go, but letting her go is so HARD!!! We have had a great 5 1/2 years at home together and now it is time for her to spread her wings a little. I hope and pray that I have given her the strength and self confidence to continue to succeed, even without me holding her hand every step of the way. I hope this first year of school builds a solid foundation and love for school. I hope she meets some friends that will last a lifetime. I don't have any friends from childhood, (one great one from high school), but my husband does. It is amazing to me that he has friends that he has known since he was 5 and I can barely remember being 5. Isabella will remember everything , just like her dad!!

Her teacher is Ms. Fischer and so far seems really good. We all had a good impression of her on meet the teacher night. We surprised Bella with a ice cream cake the night before school that said "We love you" on it. Dave, Vincent and myself dropped her off and picked her up on the first day. We treated ourselves to Frozen yogurt after school, since we (I) had survived. I was the only on who had any trouble that day. Enjoy the slide show of a few pictures of her on her BIG day!!

Isabella's Swim Lessons

Isabella has done swim lessons at UMHB every year and loves it. She has gotten stronger each year, it is fun to watch her improve. Here are a few shots, enjoy!!

Random Summer Shots 09

Bathroom Remodel

Let the bathroom renovations begin!!! Dave and I have been needing and wanting to remodel both of the bathrooms in our house for quite some time. We finally started, choosing to do the master bath first. Demolition was great fun for Bella, she was a natural with the hammer. She spent a lot of time with her dad asking all kinds of questions, it was fun to watch them interact. On the first day of demo I had a water burn( long story) and Dave got a pretty good gash on his hand, since then we have been doing much better. Demo is done, framing work is dong, shower drain is in, concrete should be done this week with the shower guys coming to measure and then install sometime next week. So far we have done all the work ourselves and hope to do all that we can. Dave is an AWESOME handyman!!! Hopefully we will still have the energy to do the kids bathroom once we finish ours!!!

Pre- K Graduation

Isabella graduated from Pre-K on May22nd. I had a hard time sending her to Pre-k but knew it would be best, so I picked a very small church school. It was really good for her (and me). She learned tons and I think she is ready for kindergarten. She also grew up a lot and learned to stand up for herself, something I think will benefit her in the next few years at "real" school. I already miss seeing the teachers and kids at her school. I am ready for a fun summer with her, she seems to be growing and changing so fast right in front of my eyes (and I can't stop it). We really enjoyed the graduation and so did the kids. Because her class was so small (7) they were each able to go up to the microphone and say something, Isabella was given the task of saying a nursery rhyme. She did AWESOME and I was so proud, it takes a confident person to stand in front of and audience and speak. Enjoy the slide show and video below. Watch our kindergarten here we come!!!!!

No Training Wheels

Isabella has improved everyday on her bike, while Dave was home we decided to try her without training wheels. We went to a empty parking lot near Dave's office, within a few steps she was on her own. She has done great ever since. We have taken her bike to the park several times and she loves it! She has splashed through puddles of mud!!! She is so proud of herself!! :):):)

Earrings!

I have waited 5years for today. I felt that Isabella should have had her ears pierced right after her 2mo. shots. Her father had quite a different opinion.... he said she had to be old enough to make the decision herself. We have talked a few times about it, but every time she said NO. Earlier this year we talked about it and she was interested and asked lots of questions, but would not commit on her birthday. (I thought is would be a great 5th Bday, but she wasn't ready and I did not want to push. ) A few weeks ago I asked her if she would like a charm bracelet, necklace or ring for her Pre-K graduation, MUCH to my surprise she said she wanted EARRINGS!!! She has been wearing clip on earrings my aunt gave her for her birthday. After much conversation, prompted by her interest, her father gave in and today we got EARRINGS!!! She walked right in, told the lady she was here "to get her ears pierced" and picked out the ones she wanted, she sat in the chair held her bunny and did GREAT!!! She picked out pink flower earrings. I am so proud of her!

All smiles....

Getting ready...

OUCH!!!! one down one to go....


Nervous face, almost done...

All smiles when it is over, nothing better than a HUG from dad...

We have been having fun and enjoying the nice weather.

Toothless Wonder...

A few weeks ago I noticed that Isabella's tooth was bleeding while I was helping her brush her teeth. This is when I first noticed that it was loose. We had a regular check up with the dentist the next week who confirmed the tooth and 3 others were loose. I was in SHOCK!!! I thought is was a little to soon, but was told 51/2-61/2 is the average age kids start loosing teeth. I have had a very hard time accepting that. I can remember the day he first tooth poked through. We were concerned her dad wouldn't make it home before the tooth fell out, but it was a slow process and he made it home. Unfortunately he was only home for 7 days so then the fear became that he would leave again before it fell out. Much to our surprise and amazement, it fell out the night before he left and he was sitting right next to her when it happened!!! This just feels like such a big deal to me, then again maybe all of her moments will be big to me. We celebrated wit and ice cream sundae and of course the tooth fairy came. I love getting to relive childhood through my child's eye!!

Putting her tooth in the pocket of her fairy and under her pillow for the tooth fairy

Sleep tight!!