Horse Riding

Ruth gave up ballet for her new love.... her horses. She rides once a week usually. This week she went to an all day horse camp from 9 am until 4 pm! She was a bit tired come the afternoon but still LOVED going. Friday we got to go to the camp in the afternoon and have lunch with her. The lady that owns the farm cooks a wonderful elaborate Sicilian meal every single day for the girls that go to camp. Friday we got to join. It was delicious but that certainly wasn't the best part of the day. Afterward the kids put on a show with music and of course.... horses! Ruth rode the ring showing everyone how she can stear her horse around the ring moving her from the inside to the outside and vice versa, showing us how to make circles with her horse, and ALL. It was WONDERFUL! I was so proud of her! She has learned so much and her teacher says she is almost ready to trot!

Ruth posing for the audience of parents before the show. What a ham.

Here are some pictures of her and her best friend, Jenestra...

Ruth showing us how she can ride the outside of the ring

Riding past Mom and Dad...

Talking to her horse to get her to go...

Sitting up straight, pumping her hands, and focusing forward...

and the grand finale.... turning her horse!

Russell loves the farm and loves the horses too. As soon as we go there he starts gasping in excitement to go visit all of the horses!

Christmas!

We hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas! Here are some pictures of our Italian Christmas of 2010.

At the nearby hotel for a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner before Church



Russell's fit was so crazy that he knocked Santa's hat off of his head.

The kids are spoiled...

Christmas Day dinner at the Galley.

Russell LOVES his new anywhere chair from pottery barn kids.... he still won't get out of it weeks later.

Ruth steals that chair to play her new DSi constantly....

We are so lucky to have Christmas in such a beautiful country but can't wait to have our next Christmas back in the states...

My kids have the beat...

Getting their groove on.

Ruths Soccer Game!

Ruth's soccer season came to an end. The final day was a game where she scored a goal for her team and a trophy that she is oh so proud of.



Ruth is ready to start the game.



Go Ruth! Score that goal!
Ruth cut in and took the ball from this boy. I was so proud of her... She did really well at getting it from him (please ommit the fact that he was on her team.) Hehehe.

She is proud of her trophy BUT has stated she will not play soccer again. " Mom, I don't really like soccer." "Why not Ruth?" "Because when I play soccer I sweat. I don't like to sweat so I don't want to play sweaty sports...ok mom?" "Well most sports you sweat at and you have to do something...." "Oh but mommy I do ballet and I don't sweat and I get to wear spinny skirts. I can't wear those in soccer."

Just had to get away....

So I just decided that I had enough of Sicily. As much as we love it.... we also get sick of it. So with little money in hand I called the airport on base. Decided we could just hop a plane to Spain. Why not? Its free, the hotel is cheap, and we can see all new things. So I phoned my friend Carol and asked her if I wanted to go. Of course she also wouldn't pass this up. The very next day, on this complete wim, we boarded the plane bound for spain. Our plan was to spend just a day and a half there BUT the planes going back were not accepting passengers so our 1.5 day trip turned into 5 days. We had a blast! It was so worth while and the three Amigas were MOSTLY inseperable.

We arrived around 6 at night and it was about 9 pm until we got settled in our hotel room. The kids napped the whole way there so we figured.... lets go investigate some true spanish food. The steak is so delicious in Spain! We ate and sat drinking Sangrias until almost midnight.

The next morning we got up and headed to the Zoo if Jerez. The kiddos had a blast at the zoo where we spent ALL day.

The next day we attempted to head home but after being at the airport all day, we realized, we couldn't get home. At this point we aren't too bummed really. There the Island of Cadiz we were dying to see anyhow!

So the next morning we set off on the adventure to tour the town of Cadiz. We took the first fairy in and the last fairy back. It was so much fun!

This is the "Im ok for now Mom" face right before the "Im going to get sick now Mom" face. The fairy ride was a bit rough.





We toured the town while the girls sat together playing the "Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum, in a dish game" Never heard of it. They did this for over an hour as carol and I rode the bus and listened to everything about the town and scoping out where we wanted to go. Russell got a good nap on the bus too!

After the full tour and some much needed gigantic department store shopping, we headed to the beach in the afternoon. The kids had a blast playing in the sand on the gorgeous beach.

The rest of the trip was just a blur of trying to catch a mac flight. Getting turned down again, checking BACK into the lodge, buying foods at the commissary and cooking ourselves in our hotel room to save money, etc.

So happy we went!

Pre-School

My big girl goes to school now Monday thru Friday from 8 am until 1:30. I can't believe that she is gone everyday and just to think that it will be like this for the next 14 years. I will never have Ruth home with me again. I dropped her off with a smile on my face. Laughing with her while she was jumping up and down in excitement. When she walked in the line into school with the teacher I stood outside and cried my eyes out. I got in to car, and cried the entire way home. She rides the school bus every day now and I get teary eyed every morning when I send her on. She seems to like it so far. She isn't in love with school but I know that she just needs to make new friends and then she will love it.

Walking over to the school so excited and ready.
She looks so little in front of that great big school.

Waiting on her designated shape for the teacher to come get the class. This is where she is to wait after she gets off of the bus every morning.

And this is where I began to cry....

Russell,
One year ago you were born. You have been stubborn from the beginning showing up late, the night before your scheduled induction. You surprised us with your weight at 10 lbs 3 ozs. You were amazingly handsome right from the start. Your stubborn personality is still here. You get so angry when we take something from you. Your growl and dirty look makes us laugh every time. Oh and lets talk about your "I am in trouble" smile... you are notorious for getting in trouble and then looking at us with a smile, your nose and eyebrows scrunched, and a goofy giggle. I know you understand the word no. You just think its a joke when we say it. You are always looking for something to do and always on the go. Unfortunately you never want to cuddle anymore which makes us sad. You would rather be crawling everywhere and finding something else to study for a bit. Although when you do want to cuddle on those rare occasions you still always want mommy. You are intrigued by things... you will sit and play with the same toy...putting each piece in different places until you learn all that it can do. You have learned how to walk but so far, choose not to. We catch you walking 4 or 5 steps and you aren't even wobbly and you go pretty fast, but then you sit down and crawl because you are faster at it. I know in time you will walk and cause us more trouble. I can't believe that our baby boy is 1 now, and those baby days will never be back. I love seeing your personality come out and learning what type of boy you will be, yet Mommy misses her little baby who I rocked to sleep everyday for 8 months. Russell, you are the best baby boy a Mommy could ever ask for. We love you so much.

Russell finding baby dinosaur eggs in the dino egg hunt.

Big brother Jack trying to show little brother Cole all of the eggs he found for them.

Russell digging into his bright blue argyle cake. Yummy.

Happy family!

The twins helping Russell open up his birthday present from them.

Its nearing the end and poor russell is so tired.