SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER...

It feels like he's the last kid on facebook earth who is finally on summer vacation, but all that matters is that it's finally here! No more getting him up at 6:40am. No more waking the little kids up to pick him up from the bus stop either. Woohoo!
We don't have too many plans this summer. I want to go to Cinque de Terre for a weekend. We plan on returning to Venice and Lake Garda. My parent's are coming out at the end of July and staying for a few weeks! That is definitely the highlight. We're planning on going to Garmisch, Germany on one of the weekends that they are here. Definitely gotta stop in Austria and/or Switzerland too! We want to take them to Lucca and to Pisa to see the leaning tower. I want to go to some places that I've never been to: Jesolo Beach and Nove, definitely Verona. Random day trips for sure! But other than relaxing and traveling, our summer will hopefully be very un-eventful...and I'm looking forward to that :)

Not to be forgotten...

Peanut was very upset that I didn't do pictures for him and because no one wants to deal with an angry 3 year old, here he is:

Please excuse the poor image quality, these are nabbed from Facebook as the power keeps going out and I don't want to ruin our external hard drive during the outages

My kindergartner...

Has grown a lot over the years. I can't say that Bubba has changed a lot over the years. He looks almost the exact same! But, I can't believe that next year I'll have a First Grader!

and the real shocker is that I'll have a First Grader and a {new} Kindergartener...Yep Pooks is growing up quick too! He is extremely excited to start school and doesn't understand why he has to wait until September. Patience is not his forte.

And yes, we are taking over the school one year at a time :)

20 Months Old!

Sissy today we took your TWENTY month photos. It seems impossible that in just four more monthly pictures, you'll be two years old. This is probably by far, my favorite stage. You're still super cuddly and curious but you're also much more independent. You can entertain yourself and love to explore. At 20 months old you...

• are going up and down stairs without holding on to anyone or anything. You can even carry something up and down with you.
• finally have molars! All your 'one year molars' are all the way though the gums. It took awhile but you sure seem to feel better. 
• are still nursing, no shocker there!
• love to color. You even hold your crayon/pen/marker correctly, in your right hand. 
• go to daycare for a couple hours on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It's a chance for Mommy to run errands and get a break but also a wonderful chance for you to learn to trust and listen to other adults, interact and play with other kids (or 'babies' as you call them) and follow a routine outside of our home. You have learned so much and have a lot of fun. When I drop you off, you wave and say ''Bye Mom! See you yater!" 
• (learned at daycare) how to clear your own plate after meals. I mean you scrape the food into the compost bag and then push your plate into the sink. (Can you teach Pooks this!?).
• love to wash your hands and get baths. 
• can say all of your brothers names, though ''BraBRA!'' is your go-to.
• love the Backyardigan's. You say ''Pablo'' all the time
• weigh almost 21lbs, wear a size 4 diaper (when we put you in disposables), a size 5 shoe and 12-18mos clothing. You would go barefoot all the time if we let you!

Other than a few temper tantrums, you are a very well behaved little girl. You're shy at first but warm up quickly. You are finally sitting in the shopping cart/stroller again so that's been much more pleasant. Overall, you are a gem :)

A different kind of 'sick'

The kids are sick, still. Like 'ear infections, inhaler is necessary, motrin every six hours' sick. It's getting better but Sissy has the worst of it now.

They are doing well considering that they've been passing this crud back and forth to each other for almost 3 weeks now. Each day is different. Who feels 'blah' or who feels better, if they wake up all night and sleep all day or sleep all night and wake at 5:22am. It's been a rough week to say the least! I feel bad for the kids but thankful that neither B nor I seem to be any worse for the wear, other than tired.

I however, I am homesick.

We've lived in Italy for almost six months now and I have done extremely well. I never went through a ''Oh My God what did we just agree to'' phase. I have never broke down and cried and wished we were home. I miss my family and friends sure, but not a ''i cannot go on living here'' sort of way. In all honesty it's the ''little'' stuff I miss {not including family}. The tiny day to day things that  And while I do miss my family, with Skype and Facebook, it's much easier to stay in touch. Plus that buffer year in Texas made it a little bit more manageable. It's been a while since I could jump in the car and see 4 different extended family members in less than one hour...that hasn't changed. Rather than driving for 15 hours, I'd be flying for 14.

I'll list everything I miss...

• I miss the convenience of the ''Drive Thru''. At banks, fast food restaurants, coffee shops, pharmacies...when you have four kids in the car it's a pretty much guarantee that one will be asleep. And I hate having to make that one up to go inside for something trivial. 
• Fountain drinks and ice cubes. If you get a soda here you get a can or a bottle. No fountain tap and no ice cubes. Usually no straw either.
• Big two lane roads. A few weeks ago I side-swiped my van on a guardrail, deliberately. When the other option is getting side swiped by a tractor with a plow and you're on a very narrow, curvy overpass/bridge...the guardrail looked like the better choice. 
• A wide variety of food. I love Italian food don't get me wrong but every.single.day that or the food on post is our only choice. {I didn't eat Burger King or Taco Bell stateside, so I'm not about to fall in love now}. I miss choosing between Mexican food or Chinese. Taco Cabana or Five Guys. I would seriously pay an un-Godly amount of money for a ''real'' cheeseburger right about now. 
• Pick up the phone and calling anyone I wanted to, whenever I wanted to. Now I'm dealing with a SEVEN hour time difference...whether I have good news or bad news, I have to wait. 
• Putting the kids to bed and then heading to Kohl's/Target/Ross/Walmart/Starbucks/ a million other places because everything was open ''late''. All the stores here close early...like 8pm. Makes for a loooong evening. I miss the convenience of running to a store at 11pm when I ''had'' to have something. No such luck now!

 Italy is great and sometime I'll have to make a list of everything I love but today, I just wish I could drive through a Starbucks!