Where did the month go?

My how time flies by when we are having fun. We have had so many fun things going on that we will have to back up a bit to tell you all about them.

First we had a very important birthday in our house. Joshua turned FIVE... We had a terrific party to celebrate the occasion with all his friends from school. We had some special animal friends come to the party which turned out to be lots of fun. They brought a huge snake, a baby alligator, a chinchilla, a lizard, a tarantula, a ferret, a guinea pig, a turtle and a few gross bugs!

Then we had Halloween which I did not take one single picture of... Josh received a Batman costume as a Birthday gift so the pirate costume was out.. and he decided to be Batman for Halloween.. Matty decided to be a Spider. (We are putting the pirate costumes away until next year... thank goodness they will still fit!)

November has been busy for us. Mom and Dad have been busy at work and the boys have been busy at school. They had their Thanksgiving feast at school yesterday. Lots of costumes and singing! Josh did a great job singing all the songs.. Matty preferred to not sing... instead he took off his costume and laid on the floor... (I guess that is ok to do at three years old.. since it was nap time! ) I did manage to get a few cute pictures before the meltdowns began. They are both dressed as Indians.

The pirates are coming the pirates are coming!

The boys have found a new favorite activity... they are constantly dressing up. Usually it involves being a "GREEN PACKER" for Josh which his father is just thrilled about... (I believe he mentioned buying him a STEELERS helmet in Dec when he goes to the game... no surprise there right )!

The other favorite costume is Pirate. The pirates are running wild in our house! We even have a pirate dog... when the mood stikes and Molly is up for an adventure!

We have also been experimenting with removing the junk from our diets... most specifically RED DYE #40. Josh has been having a few behavior issues at school... mostly not being able to sit still when necessary and KEEP HIS HANDS TO HIM SELF.. ugh... Anyways I tossed out the toothpaste and vitamins and started reading labels. It's even in his allergy meds so I bought new meds too. So far so good. We have actually had a good weekend so far.. no melt downs and we can see the difference already. Its good for me too... I haven't lost my temper and screamed at them all weekend! YEAH!!

We are off to Mass for the day. Joe won some drawing for a time share thing.. I am sure lots of people won. I can sit through 90 minutes of a presentation if it means we get a free 4 day trip voucher to be used later in the year... Yeah baby... They even give us a gas card so the trip up which will take about 1.5 hours each way should be fun and free... we like FREE RIGHT!

Over the river and through the woods....

We had so many fun adventures when we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa and all the rest of our family in Wisconsin this summer! I don't know where to begin...

The boys went fishing with Grandpa and Uncle Andy, we went to the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa.. (forgot the camera in the car for that one... ) We went to see some horses with our cousins and got to go bare back riding for a few minutes. We also went tubing and swimming and had so so much fun. The boys are already asking about when we are going on our next vacation to visit their buddies and Grandma and Grandpa... They also want to go see another big buck with Uncle Andy... ha ha

Oh where the time goes...

The last two months have gone by so very quickly I can't believe it has been so long since I have updated this page. The boys are getting bigger and bigger and have been keeping us on our toes!

Here are just a few of the fun adventures we had this summer:

Matty's Birthday was on July 23 he turned the big THREE!!!! I still can't believe my little baby is such a big boy now. All I hear is "I DO IT I DO IT" Mr. Independent now...

We spent plenty of time at the lake this summer boating and swimming. Both boys are very comfortable in the water with their life vests on. We are taking our second set of swim lessons and we are working on turning them into little swimmers!

We also need to document Matty's first catch! He caught his very first fishy with daddy's help right off the dock at the lake.

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

Have you ever seen a happier boy? The giggles and chuckles were loud and numerous today has he went fishing for the very first time!

$12 for his very own fishing pole...

the smile on this face as he catches his very first fish ever!

Priceless

Fish number two
And of course #3
Matty's first time touching a fishy!

Grandpa will be so happy to have two new fishing buddies!
And then he prefered to play with his toys...

Sports of all sorts

Last week we had a evening of sports. Joey decided to work on teaching his little brothers how to play a few different sports. They started with Golf with Dad's help, then moved to Lacrosse, Baseball and Football. I caught a few funny shots I thought I would share. Notice the standard footwear on Josh. He lives in his cowboy rainboots to the point they now have holes in them!

Break Dancing Mania

Josh just loves to dance. We were watching Disney's Tarzan and the urge to break out in dance created quite the show. Just had to share a few pictures!

Uneventful two weeks... I think??

Nothing much new to report on the home front from the last two weeks. We went out on the boat for the first time this season on Father's day. The boys had a blast and I am happy to say that is was much easier this year... finally. No more screaming over wearing life vests or changing diapers on the boat. The little ones are finally big enough to enjoy themselves and Matty even took a nap on the boat.


Of course I brought the camera along and never took one darn picture.. such is life.

This weekend we mainly stuck around the house. Saturday we went to the little beach by the house for a bit and the kids played in the sand and swam in the water.

Sunday Joe took the little ones out on an adventure to a park... I should start with a mention that I went to a friends house on Sat night to a Jafra party and had two glasses of wine?? Which cause one heck of a head ache on Sunday morning... (since I am so not a drinker) which caused me to crawl my tired cranky butt back into bed when Joe got up and abandoned him with the kids... so I could have get another hour of sleep I so very desperately needed.

When I finally crawled out of my bed around 9ish he was getting the little ones dressed for an secret outing... they were so cute. Josh and Matt were so very excited to go out with dad. He took them to a local park and for a long walk on some trails and then to lunch. We didn't see them again until close to 2 in the afternoon.

In the meanwhile Joey and I had a little quiet time at home. We watched a movie then went out for a bit. All in all it was a great day. Very relaxing and all around lazy! Just what we all needed.


Hope you all had a good weekend too!

Hot Hot Hot

Summer has arrived... weather here in CT went from a nice breezy 60-70 degrees to hot and humid... high 90's. We chose to beat the heat by spending our free time in the water.

Saturday we went to our little beach by the house and then to a pool party in the late afternoon. The kids had a blast and I am happy to say that Josh slept until 9:30 on Sunday morning... something he has never ever done... now if we could just exhaust Matty to the point were he won't want to wake up at 5:30 everymorning we would have it made...

Mommy... Can I have

some more to eat please??

This is just so relaxing...

In all my worry to get sun block on every ear, nose and other exposed area of the kids.. I neglected to put any on my back... ummm OUCH ! Just a wee bit red and sore...

Welcome to summer!

The boys!

All three guys... enjoying the first corn of the year!

I am a big boy now!

Matty with a bare bum outside!

Today is a big day it the Pastore house... we have FINALLY gotten Matty to poop on the potty... actually I have to give the credit to Cindy my friend and babysitter. I have been struggling with potty training Matty since last Friday... and it looks like today we have finally turned the corner. Thank goodness. This is our third attempt at potty training... its resembles trying to house break a dog more than anything... the first two attempts were complete failures when after three days of him peeing on the floor or pooping in his undies... I gave up... This time we purchase some really yummy chocolate ice cream herseys kisses treats! BRIBBERY works every time!

It is also a big day for Josh as today he started summer camp at Tutor Time. He had a really great day and seemed to have played and played and played and wore himself right out... he didn't have a utter meltdown until we got outside in the car thankfully so they don't yet know the "other" side of Josh's bubbly personality... just wait!

This picture is from Friday... when he decided he needed to fix his roof on his swingset in the back yard... it was just to cute not to share!

They had a graduation ceremony at St. Theresa's on Tuesday and he was dressed as a penguin for his part of the show.. so very cute... the kids were just about as cute as can be!

And last but definately not least.. Joe... Lacrosse has come to a end and spring football has started. He is keeping busy with school. Next week is final exams and then he is done for the summer. So far the grades look to be pretty good... but we will be helping him study this weekend for the finals... then we can breathe easy and enjoy the summer.

Just a few pictures

I think these are from March... I guess I need to download the camera to get something new!

Pajama Day

Not winning any awards for mother of the year this week... I just can't seem to get it right.

Last week on Monday (the 5th) I dressed Josh in a clean pair of PJ's and sent him off to school for what I thought was "Pajama Day"... ummm it wasn't. Poor Josh was the ONLY one to show up in his PJ's... and I even forgot to send a change of clothes to the sitters so he was in his PJ's all day. Thankfully he didn't seem to mind.

YESTERDAY was "Pajama Day" and I totally forgot about it. (UGH) which made him the ONLY child to NOT show up in his PJ's.

I am so having one of THOSE kinds of weeks.

"You're the best Mommy ever"

Those five words can make all the difference. We all have our good days and our bad ones... but hearing those five little words from Matty's precious two year old little mouth make up for some of the bad ones. I usually hear those words after I have just provided a Popsicle or some other non healthy treat... OR have just turned on one of the favorite favorite TV shows... Backyardigans or Go Diego Go! Every once in a while I get those precious words just because they are happy! I may have agreed to let Josh get his bike out and ride in the driveway when we get home at the end of a long day or have agreed that he can help me plant the flowers. For whatever the reason I receive the praise... it always warms my heart and makes me smile.

Don't get me wrong...I also hear the dreaded words... "I don't want you to be my mommy anymore" or "I don't like you anymore" when I have said no or had to punish or send my two little warriors to their separate corners to cool off. Or I say the dreaded words.. It's bedtime NOW... (ugh)

This weekend was happily a really good one. Filled with lots of happiness and laughing and yes some arguing and fighting but for the most part very relaxing and lots of fun.

Friday night was all about mothers day for Josh... they must have been talking about it at school a lot cause he decided he needed to give me some presents. Every bottle of lotion, cream or deodorant from my dresser was presented to me as a present one at a time by both of the boys. "Here mommy I bought you this, Happy Mothers Day". It was very sweet and I loved it... but after a while we had to stop the gifts....

Joey went to a friends 16th birthday party and when I picked him up at 11 he had a sappy look on his face.. I asked him who he had been kissing and he pointed out a pretty girl standing outside waiting for her ride. Ahh young love... the hormones are raging in our house!

Saturday we spent the day hanging out at home as I did load after load of laundry...(rolling my eyes). We ate lunch out on the deck and the boys played in the yard. Molly was the "hunting dog" on their adventure in the back yard. Hunting wild animals/monsters is serious business and requires the help of a trusted hunting dog... even though she would have preferred a nap.

We had some friends over for a casual cookout and ended the day with two very tired boys being scrubbed down in the shower and snuggled into bed...

Sunday I awoke to the sounds of Joe and the boys playing upstairs in their room. I was able to lay in bed and be LAZY for as long as I wanted too. After I got up we all dressed and went for brunch at Marly's in Wilton which is the restaurant that Joe remodeled. It's beautiful and has really really good food... it was the first time the three boys had seen it completed so we all enjoyed ourselves.

After breakfast we decided to spend the day at the aquarium in Norwalk and we saw an IMAX movie about the Rainforest. It was fun to snuggle Matty during the movie and watch him fall asleep in my arms... Not something I get to do much anymore... my little baby is almost three now!

My present from my family is the tobi steamer! http://www.the-tobi.com/?source=adwords I can't wait for it to come this week in the mail so I can start steaming all my clothes. I will let you know how much I love it!

The rest of the day was relaxing and unfortunately the weekend was over before we knew it.

Happy Mothers day to all my friends!

Doing his business

Here is an example of “one day in my life” to make you laugh…

Sunday was fairly nice here... especially in the afternoon… so late in the afternoon I was sitting on the deck reading a book while the boys played in the back yard. I wasn’t really watching them... more like listening to them… you know... listening for the blood curdling scream should one of them hurt themselves or start to beat each other senseless with a plastic bat or golf club.. etc etc.

Next thing I know Josh is yelling to me from the house part of the swing set. “Mom I went poop on the hill like Molly does!” (Molly would be our dog). I drag my eyes out of my book and look up and say “What??” So Josh repeats himself... to stop myself from bursting out laughing I quickly poke my head in the screen door where Joe is in the kitchen getting a bite to eat and tell him what Josh just said… His reaction was something along the lines of “for the love of God aren’t you watching them??”

So I head out to the back yard…plastic bags in hand and Josh starts squirming... “Mom... I think I have poop on my undies...” No really??? I told him to go in the bathroom and wipe his butt good and put on new undies if they are dirty. Off I go to pick up my son’s poop from the hill cause I know if the dog comes out and smells it she will most likely eat it... (ugh.. puke puke .. soooo gross). And as long as I am picking up poop on the back hill… I might as well pick up the dogs too right? So I spent the next 10 minutes picking up dog and Josh poop with Matty’s help.. (he pointed out any that I may have missed). When I walked back by the house I heard Joe in the bathroom with Josh (window was open). Josh was in the shower and Joe was saying “How did you get poop all over your legs! Don’t poop on the hill again. You are a boy not a dog…” etc etc

I just smiled to myself and figured I got the better of the two jobs and went about watering the grass like I had not overheard the conversation!

Needless to say there was a pair of blue and white camouflage undies in the kitchen garbage when I went in the house that night… when I asked why they were there the reply from Joe was “I wasn’t gonna clean them and you wouldn’t want to either!”

That’s when I new I definitely go the better of the two jobs! Life is fair sometimes

Busy busy year

OK so its been a really long time since I posted to my own blog... life sort of got away from me... but recently I have become almost addicted to reading my friend's blog... and blogs of friends of that said friend ... they all usually make me laugh or at least feel better about my own hectic life. I feel like I have made many new girlfriends... even though they don't really know me. .. I feel like I know THEM. We have similar interests and experiences and boy does it feel good to relate to someone else go is going through a tough time... cause at the end of the day.. most of us are going through a tough time. Maybe not every day.. but boy do they sneak up on you.

So anyways I have decided to start new and try to post at least once a week. I recently read a post from another fellow mother where she stated that she was going to use her blog as a history of sort for her kids.. so that they could look back and read about their own childhood. I like that idea... often wonder what was going through my mothers mind when I think back to different things that happen when I was a child. So I guess my kids will know what I was thinking... yes mom was totally embarrassed when I said that.. or she really did love me to pieces even when I was SOOOOO naughty...

Here we go...