Anna Maria Island

We went on a mini-vacation with our good friends Leigh & Steve and their children to Anna Maria Island. We spent Memorial Day weekend at Steve's family condo on Holmes Beach. It was an awesome weekend of swimming in the ocean and relaxing poolside with Pina Coladas. The kids had a blast!!! We hope to head up there again for 4th of July weekend.

Lowry Zoo in Tampa

The four of us went up to the zoo in Tampa. We met up with our friends Sherry and Jay and their two kids, John and Kascia. Later in the day my sister, Jon and Victoria came up to meet us at the zoo, also. Makenzie loved petting the sting rays. She got to pet two baby ones which was the highlight of her whole day."Come here fishy, fishy, fishy!"

Francesco, John, Kascia, and Makenzie hide out in the cave!

Francesco fed the giraffes. Makenzie was happy to just stand back and watch!

Francesco's first "real" rollercaoster ride!! He loved it!

Opps! The goat tried eating Francesco's shirt!

This little baby orangutan made me miss my little monkey...it was time to head back home.

Marcello's 40th

For Marcello's 40th Birthday we went out to dinner to celebrate on Friday night and the kids paid for his meal with their allowance. Then he went Deep Sea Fishing with all the guys from work all day Sat. He caught a few keepers. Here's his 25" Grouper.
Boy, was she good eatin'!!

Who does she look like?!

I would have to say she is looking more and more like Marcello everyday, what do you think?

Sleeping Beauty

I love to watch her sleep. She is so peaceful and Precious! We are so blessed to have her added to our family! Look at those squeezable cheeks!

My Two Girls ~Makenzie & Makayla

Mother's Day ~ Makenzie held her new baby sister for the first time. What a special Mother's Day treat!

First Swim Party of the Summer 2009

Time for pools and Pizzas! Summer is here and it's time to get the parties started!!!

Sleeping Angels

Francesco and Makayla catch a little morning nap in mommy's bed. Francesco is actually pretending, but if you look closely Makayla has a little smirk -maybe she's pretending, too.

Buscemi Bunch

We've spent the weekend just hanging out around the house. It seems like we're always so busy, it feels nice to have no where to go. Marcello and Francesco went to the Swap Shop in Fort Myers; they spend their allowance every week on Hotwheels. They each have quite a collection. Francesco usually gets his at Target or Toys R Us. Marcello searches for the vintage ones; the ones he blew up with firecrackers as a child are now worth a small fortune!! Makenzie, Makayla and I are staying in the A/C. We did go on a bike ride today and we enjoy going for our evening walk with Makayla in the stroller after dinner.

Makenzie is going to be homeschooled next year -(for infinity!) and she is too funny because her curriculum should be in next Tuesday but she still has 23 days left of 3rd grade, however she told her teachers at school that her last day of school is Monday. One of my friends from college is a paraprofessional in her ESE class, she asked me about this on Friday when I picked her up from school. I tried to explain to Makenzie that her books are coming but she has to finish out the year, but obviously it's not getting through just yet! She is super excited to be homeschooled again and I know I can do a better job with her then anyone else. We'll join PRAISE again, which is a wonderful homeschool group in Punta Gorda. They get together once a month for co-op, once a week for P.E. and awesome field trips. They also have a 4-H class called Home Grown. I have stayed close with a few of the moms over the past two years, but I am excited myself to get back in the group. Francesco doesn't want to be homeschooled and I think it is better for him to be around a bunch of children on a daily basis, he is a high achiever at school and he is quite a "social butterfly"-(wonder where he gets that from). I do plan on taking him out of school once a month for our homeschool co-op day and he'll go on all our field trips as well. I'm so excited to have the chance to homeschool once again, I absolutely loved it in the past and feel like that is what God is calling me to do for Makenzie. Marcello is less excited because he really wanted me to finish college and get into the classroom. I plan on continuing my education but I have delayed my graduation for another semester or two. We'll just take each day as it comes!!

Makayla's Bath time!

Makayla likes being in her bathtub! She kicks her feet and sucks on her wet hands.

Francesco lost his tooth

Francesco lost his second tooth! Marcello teases him because he has a lisp now.

Francesco and Jack

Francesco and his buddy Jack got a hold of my camera! These pictures are so cute!