Saturday March 22, 2009

Somedays I wonder if we are trying to do too much in our family, but then we have such an awesome day like Saturday and then I realize that sometimes squishing it all in is a good thing.
Opa came to visit this weekend, actually he came to teach and had a spare day to spend with us on Saturday and so we wandered over to the coast and spent it exploring Malibu and Santa Monica. We started off with a very foggy hike in Charmlee Canyon. We had just purchased a new hiking backpack for Gianni and were eager to try it out. Despite the fact that I had two maps and the descriptions for the hike, the fog made it difficult to keep our bearings. We hiked around some very lovely meadows (we think that there were two) but due to the fog missed the lovely ocean views. It was pretty to see the dew in the grass and the spider webs. Then we went down to Zuma Beach in Malibu to eat lunch. The boys and Opa had a great time throwing rocks into the ocean. Opa teased Vinny about throwing him in too, it wasn't Vinny's favorite idea. From there we headed down to the Getty Villa. I have to admit I was scared about how Vinny would like the Villa. I refreshed my mythology knowledge last week and had a great time reading about the Gods and Goddesses of Rome and Greece (I have always loved to read about them). Vinny really liked it, my fears were unfounded. Gianni took a nap about that time and we had a great time looking at all the beautiful art and especially the architecture. If you haven't made it to the Getty Villa, we'll take you the next time you come to visit, you'll love it too. Vinny's favorite were the statutes of the Greek goddesses. He couldn't get over the fact that many of their noses were missing. He would ask me what they were saying, and I would ask him what he thought. He thought about this for awhile while standing in front of a big statue of Athena, and then said, she's saying "Fix me". I thought that was great. He also insisted on taking lots of photos of these statues and going back to say goodbye.

Our next stop was the Santa Monica pier. We got there a little earlier than planned, we were planning on catching up with Mike after his class. We had a great stroll down the pier and enjoyed all of the sights. We also got to ride the carousel, which we had used as an incentive
during our visit to the Getty. Vinny really loved it and so did Gianni. From there we walked up to the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica (see I told you we did a lot). We had a great dinner and met up with Mike. Mike and Vinny had a great time "heeling" (In Heeleys, the shoes with wheels, Mike is an expert in these shoes). Vinny was riding on Mike's back in his hiking backpack, it was great fun. Gianni loved to dance with all the street performers, he was sooo cute. Our favorite Vinnyism of the weekend was when we got home on Sunday. He turned to us and said, "when I get bigger, I am going to play the drums on the street and you and Opa will give me money in my bucket." We loved it and joked that we should start saving money to support him now. It was just a fun day and I look forward to more of them!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday March 13-15

It was just relaxing. There is nothing more to say that would put it all together more succinctly. We had a great time just doing little things here and there. On Friday, we made lumpia together.
Dan has quickly picked up the technique of cooking it after I rolled it. We discovered that the kids really liked to eat it too! Just like my family used to! Then I went off to scrapbooking, Dan let's me go with my friends one night a month to chat and enjoy each other, oh and get some scrapbooking done too! Then, on Saturday we cleaned the dreaded garage. It is nice to be able to get through it and not have to jump. Now we just have to freecycle a big pile and we can move to the next phase, getting rid of the rest! We still haven't found our Christmas lights. This last season we couldn't find them and I swore they must be in the garage, but after a thorough cleaning they haven't surfaced. I suppose it will just be one of those mysteries. Dan spent the afternoon test driving a three wheeled motorcycle and then we just crashed.
On Sunday, I gave a talk in church. When I stood up at the pulpit, Vinny stood up in the pews to and opened his arms wide, as if to give me a big hug. It was super sweet. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and having dinner with the missionaries. Dan made his famous pasta sauce and I made Nana's meatballs and Grandma Jeri's breadsticks. It was a fabulous relaxing weekend, oh and with plenty of time to blow bubbles in the front yard. Oh, for more weekends like this but looking at the calendar we won't have another unplanned weekend until late April. We're off and running!

Thursday March 12, 2009

The new craze at our house is fairy tales. The boys both love them. Gianni carries around a storybook of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. He protects it in his little arms and won't let anyone else read it. (He is particularly fond of the Papa Bear's illustrated belly button, and loves to poke it and then get someone to poke his). Vinny has always loved the story of the Three Little Pigs. We have several versions of it including one with fishies and sharks, and the Disney version which of course Mom sings the song to when we read it. Lately though, Vinny and Gianni want to hear the stories told and not read.

During bedtime we all get on the couch and we tell the stories. Frequently Daddy will take a part, during the Three Little Pigs he gets to be the Big Bad Wolf. It is fun as we go along and tell the story together. So imagine my surprise when Vinny started telling me the story. I thought you might like to hear his rendition. Just ignore the kitchen, we were all working in there to clean up when he started telling me the story to pass the time. I couldn't miss the opportunity, dirty kitchen or not.

I love Vinny's memory and his sense of imagination. I love that for Gianni, the books parallel to his life. We just love reading with them every night, it is one of our favorite things to do!

Wednesday March 11th, 2009

It was picnic in the park day. We had a great time playing with Rachel, whose mother was sick. We grabbed her on our way to the park and enjoyed the morning with her company. I have always loved bubbles so it is no surprise that I buy all sorts of bubble things for us to play with. We had a great time chasing bubbles across the field and popping them. The boys are getting much better at bubble blowing, which brings me no shortage of smiles. I especially loved watching the boys play forts in the bushes. Vinny went off to work, ate his sandwich and then came back to me. Gianni being the ever independent one kept running up and down the hill and out of sight. I finally had to position myself in the center of where I could keep an eye on both, but not be near either one. At parks lately Gianni has taken to going to the highest point and finding an opening (you know where a climbing apparatus has been placed) holding onto the bars at both sides and leaning waaaay out. It is enough to give me a panic attack. This usually results in everyone at the park staring at me when I scream, "Gianni, STEP BACK." He will give me his little mischievous smile and then casually lean back in to go and do it another opening. Ugh. Loving this adventurous kid!

Now for today's Vinnyism: This is Vinny's favorite question when confronted with any animal, bug, plant, he intends to ask if they will hurt him or not. Usually we'll respond with whether they will kiss or bite him. But today, feeling in a Looney Tunes sort of mood (perhaps some of you will get the reference) I replied differently. Vinny's response made me laugh so hard, I had to share.

Here's the conversation:

VB: What will it do with me?
M: Kiss you and Love You and Call you George.
VB: But I don't WANT to be George!

Maybe you just had to be there, but I loved his response. we hope you have a lovely day!

Monday and Tuesday, March 8th & 9th

In keeping with our tradition to try and do everything, we went off to the Orange Squeeze at Heritage Park in La Verne on Monday. We joined our Mommy and Me class. It was great fun, and smelled amazing with all of the orange blossoms. What was most amusing to me was how unimpressed Vinny was with the farm itself. Gianni thought it was great fun, but Vinny knowing how totally cool it is to drive Papa's tractor could not understand why, when placed in the tractor seat for a photo, he wasn't able to drive. Of course, Papa lets him drive his tractor, so can't he drive all tractors? And then, the tractor was orange, not blue like Papa's. You could hear the disgust in his voice, it is almost as if he was saying "What kind of farm is this?". We did have fun riding in the back of the tractor, hand pumping the windmill, squeezing orange juice, then planting flowers in our orange rinds and playing with our friends Luke and Jake. These three boys have been together since birth. It is fun to see them grown up together now. Little Gianni works hard to play like the big boys. I like that Luke and Vinny work hard to include him. They are always looking out for him.

Tuesday was slow, but we did manage to fit in some bubbles and train sets. The morning was spent shopping for shoes. I first, cannot believe that Vinny is wearing a size 10 (he is still in 2T clothes for the most part, he has just started to outgrow his pants, but not by much). His feet have always been ahead of the rest of him. He of course picked out new Lightning McQueen shoes from the movie Cars. Gianni, whose cute little feet measured in at a 7, finally got his own pair of hard soled shoes. We have been using soft leather shoes for quite awhile now, but we feel it is time to move on. He also chose Lightning McQueen shoes, just like his brothers. The most shocking part to me was how much they were. Not just because they were licensed, the price difference was only a couple of dollars, but just because I suppose they are so small. I guess if I think about it, I wouldn't want to work on such little things with a sewing machine. Happily though, our little ones have shoes and they love them. I wouldn't be surprised to find Gianni wearing them to bed tomorrow.

Saturday and Sunday, March 7th&8th

Such a busy weekend and oh what fun we had! Dan and I frequently lament about how much we miss SLO and we do try and get there as much as possible. But, we also take comfort in the fact that Diamond Bar looks so much like the Central Coast (if you squint really hard that is). One of the perks of living here is being so close to Poly Pomona. This Saturday we joined our friends the Weyhreters (they have a little girl Rachel, who is Vinny's age) and we went to Poly to pick strawberries. It was such fun. The boys had a great time hunting through the strawberries for the perfect ones. They were really good, probably the best I've had in a long time. We had amazing shortcakes with them. The best part of the day for us was to see the Pep Band play. It made us heartsick for Poly and all our Kappa Kappa Psi brothers. (For those of you who don't recall, that was the band service fraternity that Dan and I belonged to in college). We have such fond memories of these brothers and our time there. It was great to hear them. They were small but still did a fine job. We both got a great laugh over some of the shirts in the Farm Store there, our favorite was, there are 2 Poly's, Pomona and the other one. We just can't wait to see if SLO has them in reverse.

Sunday followed our normal schedule, with the exception that we were on time to church. That happens so rarely. We do try, honestly we do. Vinny has had a struggle moving from the nursery with Gianni to Primary (the LDS version of Sunday School). Dan is so good and sits with him helping him to adjust. Vinny just takes his time to adjust to new things and we love how much he loves to be with us, we can't bear to make him let go. Ultimately the time will come when he will want to go, but luckily for us, we haven't made it there yet. I know, I know, pre-school is around the corner and I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. This has created something of an issue though with Gianni. He doesn't like that he has now been left in the nursery solo. So, that means that I am balancing my time with him in the nursery with my responsibilities with the Young Women (I am the president of the organization for the girls in our church 12-18). Frequently, I will hear the cries of my little one waft down the halls and I will run down to rescue him. I am lucky that Elizabeth Weyhreter (see above) is in there and she knows when he is truly distressed. I am sure that he will adjust too, but just as with Vinny, I am in no hurry. The afternoon played out in a lazy fashion with Dan taking the boys home for a nap while I attended my meetings. The boys had a lot of extraneous energy so we took them down to the park to wear down, they had a great time splashing in the little stream, it was amazing that I let go enough to let them do it. We had a great time watching them be little explorers.

Friday March 6, 2009

Today was Disneyland day. We try to head down there at least once a week. It is a great way to get their energy out and we have invested in the yearly passes and feel that we should get our money's worth. A lesson I learned well from my parents. We love to go to Disneyland. It is fun to find all of the little out of the way places that you would miss if you were trying to see it all in one day.

When you have passes it doesn't matter that you spent 20 minutes looking at the giant fountain at the entrance to California Adventure. Or that you spent five minutes waiting in line to see Lightining McQueen but then the little boy that wanted to see him got a little too overwhelmed. With passes you just shrug it off and get to try again some other time. And you do get to see all the fun things like the beautiful flowers, or the hummingbirds that were flying through the Challenge Trail (California Adventures answer to Tom Sawyer Island).

In fact, we only rode one ride while there on Friday, the carousel which never fails to thrill my boys. I love it. We spent most of the time at the Challenge Trail area. The boys are just about big enough to run around here. They just love to play on the slides. Vinny was determined to catch Gianni at the bottom of the slide. As you can imagine Gianni's growth spurt has made him just about equal to Vinny which resulted in Vinny getting bowled over every time. But, to Vinny's credit he got right back up and caught him again. It was great fun to watch the brotherly dynamic transcend size.

I always joke about being exiled in LA, but if I am going to live here, I am going to do it right. Disneyland perfectly fits the bill of being right for us.

All our Love, hope you have a lovely weekend. The Buffos

Wednesday and Thursday March 4&5, 2009

So many things to do, so little time. It seems that as soon as I turn around the phone is ringing. I am grateful that I have so many wonderful friends and relatives and have the opportunity to speak with them. Especially with my family in their far-flung homes. We have been keeping busy, especially and happily doing the little things that seem to slip away in the day to day muck of keeping the house.

The boys and I happily spent Wednesday morning sewing. I hadn't sewn since December, and it was fun to get the machine out. We had a great time and made a some pirate shorts for the boys and Vinny's friend Luke who is pirate crazy! He reminds me of a little Trenton, in that the world becomes more and more imagined. I can't wait until the boys are swallowed up in their imaginary worlds. Vinny goes in and out, just barely stepping on the edge, I can't wait until he leaps in with both feet.

Thursday dawned with morning Scripture Study with "my friends" as we call them here. They are actually this amazing collection of women who come and spoil my children each Thursday morning. It is fun to have them here and they are such a wealth of love and wisdom for me. The boys love it when they come, they get to show off all of their new skills and items. The pirate shorts were this week's show and tell. And Grammy (my dear friend Wanda Hart) brought them hot chocolate, they love that. Afterwards just when I thought I would run out to the store, Vinny comes to me and says, "Mom, could we please just stay and play outside?". So, of course I said sure. So we spent the mid-day just running around and enjoying the influx of spring. The buds on our fruit trees are just starting, it is lovely here with fluffy clouds and bright blue skies. Almost, but not quite San Luis blue. It was so fun. I loved watching the boys pick the flowers, and Gianni try to blow the clover like it was a dandelion. I just love these days, I am so glad that my understanding husband doesn't mind when I play instead of run my errands or clean the house. This is the life, truly.

March 3, 2009

Another slow day...since Gianni had been so sick the night before we thought it best not to share with the other children at Mommy and Me. It was sad to miss Dr. Seuss day at school, since I so love Dr. Seuss. The good news is that we had the time to do some much needed decluttering in our room.

The boys had a great time occupying themselves around the house and in the garden. We especially enjoyed our "Popcorn Picnic". This has become a little tradition in our home. Whenever we have popcorn, we take it outside and eat it in the grass while I read and the boys run around with their dump trucks. They have a great time just goofing about and enjoying the sunlight and I get to do a little reading.

Our little wagon is sure getting a workout again. We took it to the store last night. It was great fun as Gianni walked the entire time (surprising since Vinny rode). It was sweet to watch his cute little legs move along. Most entertaining was how he would keep jumping up to touch the moon and airplanes. It also makes us laugh every time a motorcycle drives by, he freezes and says in a low, sometimes loud voice, but always with great awe, WHOOOA! I am not sure how long I will be able to stave off the motorcycle mania in that one.

Vinny has recently taken to loving his Bear again. He has labeled himself the Daddy Bear and Me the Mommy Bear, Daddy the Daddy Bear, and Gianni Brother Bear. We assume this is from Goldilocks which he loves to help me tell while we are in the car together. It is so sweet as he loves to take Bear around and introduce him to all sorts of activities. Like last week when he was so excited to take him to Disneyland. Vinny wears Bear in a little baby sling, just like we carry our boys in, actually it is a handkerchief tied as a backpack, but it works for the purpose. Which is making sure that Bear comes home with us. He also is very careful to make sure that Bear is happy, comfortable and not scared. I like that for Vinny, Bear needs him instead of Vinny needing Bear. Lucky for us, Bear is also very photogenic. Just like the rest of my boys.

Here's to another lovely - yet perhaps cloudy for us, day! Love, The Buffos

Monday March 2, 2009

It was a laid back day for us yesterday, it was cloudy, threatening to rain and not so inviting outside but they braved it to paint for a short while. This was ended by Gianni's attempt to paint everything around him, the garden, the sidewalk, the doorway, his brother, his mother, the dog, the jeep, anything he could get his paintbrush near. Thank goodness for washable paint. The day was filled in with other little tasks, helping Mommy clean the bathroom (great mirror cleaners, my two boys), sweep (Vinny's) and mop (Gianni's job), dishes, lunch and dinner, and clean up their room. These things in addition to the standard daily fare of climbing on the jungle gym, jumping on Mommy's bed, building a rail system through the living room. Recreating Noah's ark and Papa's farm, oh and of course a giant Grand Prix with a zillion cars. It was a slow day for us.

Gianni, who was complaining most of the day about something or other clearly didn't feel too good(at least in hindsight). It was challenging to deal with, my patience may have waned towards the end of the day and imagine how we felt last night when we put him down to sleep to only have him stand right back up again and be "ill" all over Dan. When I came running, he was "ill" all over me, the crib, the shoe box, the carpet (all in a three feet radius) twice over. Just when we thought he hadn't eaten anything for dinner. He clearly had eaten plenty. So, last night we cleaned him up and as he was wide awake, he stayed that way until almost midnight when he finally laid down with us. On the bright side, he beat Vinny in that Vinny was sick at his 18 month birthday, Gianni's 20 month was a couple of days ago. Yeah! He was much better afterwards and was the cutest, happiest thing around for the rest of the evening.

Vinny had a great accomplishment yesterday, he learned to spell his name. We have been working with him on recognizing all of his letters for awhile now. Thanks to a computer toy that Auntie Crystal and family gave him, that has recently regained his interest, he has worked out the differences between Q and O and G and C etc. It has been great fun to have him begin on the road to reading (you know I can't wait). So, yesterday he asked how to spell his name and we got started. His hand coordination with a writing implement is still in the development stages, we work on getting the letters going, he can do a V without much help, but he is easily frustrated at this task. We decided to work another route, and in this age, it will behoove him to learn to work a computer, or so his father says (I think he's right by the way). It was great, he went to Daddy's computer and typed it and chanted it over and over again into a word document. V - I - N- N- Y. Occasionally with an extra N thrown in. Now, it is "his" game. Such fun! He is so cute and darling, and very inquisitive. We can't get enough of his observations and questions (why is the constant one around here).

We hope you all had a lovely day too! Love, the Buffos

To A New Adventure!

It is just a little thing, to be able to communicate and share with your family. But I am ever so grateful for it as the internet has allowed this exiled family to be closer to all of their family. So, on to a new adventure as I launch this blog. I hope to post photos and events several times a week, mostly it will be about the kids and our adventures with them. Maybe an upcoming event. I am looking forward to it. Here is a photo from last night's little jaunt. We had fed the kids early as it was fast Sunday, and so then we decided to walk around the complex to get some of their Sunday energy out. It was so fun to watch Vinny pull the wagon (with and without) Gianni and to have Gianni take Mouse for their first walk together. She is far more trusting of Gianni then she ever was of Vinny. It makes one wonder...if you know anyone that might want to read about us, please share the website. We love you all and can't wait to be with you!

Love, Noelle and Family