Make New Friends, But Keep The Old

One is silver, and the other's gold ;)

Spent the weekend with some of our "golden" friends, the Engles, friends from Notre Dame. They moved from Manhattan to Minneapolis around the same time that we moved from Chicago to Sioux Falls. We took turns doing grown-up field trips (mani-pedis, rounds of golf), letting the kiddies get acquainted and play, commiserating over the Irish football season, and swapping "transition" stories.

As a bonus, we were able to travel about 45 minutes away from the Engle's house to visit with another ND friend, Colton, and his family at his sister's house. It felt like a regular reunion!!!

Our hope is that this will be the first of many visits between us and the Engles...

Best Bug-Catching Team in the West

David and Michael wasted no time at all using their birthday gifts from their good friends, Cole and Elena: a butterfly net, a bug house and a magnifying glass. On our first expedition, we caught several grasshoppers of all different shapes and sizes as well as a moth and a ladybug. And that without even leaving our backyard! Michael's role, being that he is so close to the ground and all, is bug-spotter. David's role is bug-trapper. And me, I am the transfer lady - from the wild to the net, from the net to our bug house. What a team!

What a Party!

The boys had a FABULOUS time at their birthday party! Mainly, they just ran around the room, playing with friends. We had pizza, salad, fruit, and cake. We all participated in a group art project that may soon adorn David and Michael's wall. We played a bean bag toss game. And of course, there was cake, balloons, presents, and goody bags. They were so excited and had so much fun. Cute, cute, cute.

The Boys' Birthday Party

Bug Watching

We took an opportunity to enjoy a beautiful September day (reminded me of the days on which David and Michael were born) and to head up to Arrowhead Park. We had great fun watching the geese, exploring the hiking trails, discovering all sorts of critters including beetles, grasshoppers the size of Snickers bars, caterpillars, and spiders, and making musical instruments and conductor's batons out of pieces of dried prairie grass.

Birthday Bonanza

3 days, 3 birthday celebrations. It's just that time of year in the Guarraci Family.

Saturday - We drove out to Chitown to surprise Mamma for her 60th birthday. Somehow (kudos to Laura, Brian, and the Bud Man) they pulled it off! They surprised the woman who doesn't get surprised, the woman who, as a child, never received a present for Christmas that she didn't already know she was getting ;) What a great party we had with friends and family.

Sunday - Mamo's birthday. Renis and Dominic cooked us up a delicious hot breakfast and we all hung out at the park to enjoy a beautiful morning together.

Monday - Finally, and the Grand Finale (for now!) - Michael Patrick turned 2 today!!!!

My little boy is getting so big. Kind of. I mean, he still weighs less than 24 pounds. But he can jump, and dance, and sing all kinds of songs, and talk to you like he was a big kid "Mama, may I please get down now?", and play trains with his brother, and recite the Our Father. He is a smart little beggar and cuter than all get-out. And he's full of attitude. There is that, too ;)

We had a great day together. After we dropped David off at school we went to HyVee for all of his favorite treats - suckers, doughnuts, etc so that by 10 am, he was pumped full of sugar up to his ears ;) I made him some of his favorite food for lunch - Ramen noodles, asparagus, and bananas with chocolate syrup. We played and played all day together - with the pegboard, with his trains, in the bath tub, outside in the blustery wind with cars and baseball bats, etc.

When Daddy got home, we had more of Michael's favorites for dinner - mac n cheese, hot dogs, yogurt, and applesauce. Then Michael opened his presents. By far, his favorite gift was the Sodor Clock Tower, a Thomas the Train accessory, from his big brother David.

Finally, we sang the birthday song and Michael blew out the candles on his homemade forsted and sprinkled chocolate chip muffin/cupcakes (courtesy of his big brother, the pastry chef).

For the first time in a long time, Michael gave us a hard time at bedtime. Guess this was one of those days....so good you don't want it to end.

Happy Birthday, Michael. We love you like crazy, today and forever. May the rest of your childhood be as happy, healthy, and blessed as these first two years have been.

Shake-It

Well, we have a new pet. Shake-It, the tadpole. David and Michael are both very excited about him. Follow his transformation on his very own FROG BLOG: www.shake-itthetadpole.blogspot.com