Summer, School, and Other things...

I can't believe how long it has been since I wrote in my blog.  I am not good about remember to do so.. For my family and friends who are so far away, here is an update for you on our family.

The KIDS:

The kids had a quick and eventful summer vacation.  I worked throughout the summer as usual and the kids spent the night with their friends, went to amusement parks, parties, swimming, and vacationing.  Sounds pretty typical of a summer break huh?
If you asked them, the summer went by much, too quickly. I agree and disagree.  Although it seems easier for the kids to be out of school and not be bothered with the stress of driving and picking up, homework, projects, etc, I actually like it when they go back to school too.  I think they need the interaction with other kids and work that the school season provides.  Yes, it causes more stress for them and for us, but in the end, they need this too, so I am always excited for them to return.

Ariana - will be 14 next month.  She is a BIG Freshman this year.  She was very nervous to start 9th grade and enter into high school, but after the first day, she got her nerve. :)  As for activities, she is going to try out for the high school play GREASE and has been taking voice lessons all summer.

Elissa- just started 3rd grade and will be 8 in October.  Ironically, she got the same teacher Noah had last year.  This is the second year in a row that she had the same teacher as Noah.  Hopefully we don't have a repeat of last year... :(  Anyway, she seems happy with her teacher so far.  She realized there are many kids in her class from last year, so she seemed happy.  Elissa wants to take gymnastics so, this is something I am looking into for this fall.

Noah - turned 9 in March.  He finished his baseball season in June.  He had a blast and said he really wanted to play again next season. Noah started 4th grade this year.  He also just lost another tooth tonight!  Surprising because we didn't know he had a loose tooth.  Looks like the tooth fairy will pay us a visit tonight.  Anyway, this year we are going to work on getting him organized and ready for middle school next year.  So far, things are off to a good start.  The teacher even told Kelli to tell us today that he had an OUTSTANDING day!  There is hope yet!!!!  LOL.

Connor - is getting so big and is a busy 2.5 year old.  He is so sweet and always give me lots of kisses and hugs whenever I am with him.  Don't let that fool you though, he has his normal 2-year-old moments too.  He can be very loud and throw some mean tantrums, but most of the time, he is a sweet boy who loves to sing, and talk.  For a boy, he sure can talk.  Wonder who he gets that from.. -_-

Dan has been busy at work.  He did really well this last quarter.  I really hope he stays on target so we can go on another FREE trip.  For those of you who didn't know, he won a free trip for both of us in May to the Grand Cayman Islands.  We had a blast!  Other than that, he just started softball again and is working hard for our family. :)

As for me, well I am almost fully recovered from the gallbladder removal surgery I had at the end of June.  For a while there, I was pretty sick and slow at recovering, but I seemed to be doing better every day and by the 4th-5th week, I felt almost back to normal.  I am now 7 weeks post surgery and have been allowed to return to normal activities.  So far, I am loving getting back into my exercise routine.  I am sore, but I am glad that I can do activities again, especially since I had to sit out on all the fun activities in Tahoe last month. Other than this, it is same old stuff, work, kids, exercise, etc, etc..

Some recent pics from Tahoe...

Lake Tahoe 2012

River rafting on Truckee

Giuliacci Family 

Blah Blah Blah...

One thing everyone knows about me is how much I LOVE the RAIN.  NOT!!  I realize that we do need rain and I am fine with it in small amounts, but this cloudy, overcast weather just makes me feel DEPRESSED.  Literally, I have that seasonal depression stuff, so when I see that there will be NO sunlight for several days, I am already panicking.   

Anyway, I decided to try to not think about how ugly and dark it is outside, and in my house.  I decided since I can't be outside in beautiful weather, I guess I will stay inside and clean, clean, clean. I started in on my 6, I KID YOU NOT - 6 HEAPING hampers of laundry, and this was just from this week.  I have gotten through 3 of them and I hope to at least get them all done by tonight.  I know what the problems with the laundry are... and their names are Ariana and Elissa.  These girls will try clothes on and change them several times,without picking them up and putting them away.  Instead, they throw them in the dirty clothes.  I can't tell you how many times I have talked to them about this.  What is it gonna take...? Anyone got any ideas?  I would just go through it and hang them up, but they throw dirty wet towels on top and the cat hair gets on them from being thrown all over, so now they are dirty. 

Then, I scrubbed my bathrooms, swept and cleaned the entire downstairs wood floors, vacuumed, dishes, kitchen, and now I am going through the kids clothes trying to see what doesn't fit anymore.  I am running out of time and I still need to go pick up groceries, make dinner, take Elissa and Ariana to rehearsal and take Rachel home as soon as she starts to feel up to it.  Oh, I forgot to mention, she started vomiting again last night.  She had the stomach flu a couple weeks ago like me, and got it AGAIN last night!  I really hope we aren't going on round 2.  I can't deal with it anymore, especially since Connor has another virus too.

I never get rest on my days off.  I am really dreaming about the Cayman Islands right now!

It's been a while.....

Well, I haven't written in my blog for over a year now.  I can't believe it has been that long!  Where does the time go?  When I started this blog, I really intended to write in it often, but I find myself writing almost every detail of my life on Facebook so my friends and family can stay updated and in touch.  I mean, who has time to read blogs, right???

Many things are going on in our family right now.  We all just recovered from the stomach flu last week and now, Connor came down with a cold overnight.  I swear, it seems like he is sick every few weeks.  Hopefully this means, he will be healthy by the time he gets to school.

The kids have been quite busy with school and extracurricular activities. Boy, have I been a busy mom too!   I have no "me" time any more.  I think I turned into a chauffeur, mainly.  From driving to work, then driving the kids after work here and there, and to auditions on the weekends, it's crazy!  At least they are enjoying themselves, so it makes it all worth it.

As most of you have heard, both Ariana and Elissa will be performing in the Annie Musical in May.  We are all very excited and can't wait to see them.  Too bad we can't take video footage of them as it is against the rules, so, if any of you would like to see them, you will have to see them live.  You can purchase tickets here.. http://sa1.seatadvisor.com/sabo/servlets/TicketRequest;jsessionid=7234AC922BC0ADF792556F289C8B85B7?eventId=478586&presenter=TRACY&venue&event.  I have already purchased ours.

Noah just turned 9 this week and is now playing baseball.  He seems to be having a great time with it, but gets a little frustrated when he can't hit the ball.  They tied their first game on Friday, and won their second game on Saturday.  He got on base a few times.  I am sure he will get much better with practice.  I am just glad he is out there meeting new friends and having some fun.  We can finally afford to let each kid do an activity right now, which makes me feel like I am giving them more opportunities in life.  I think kids need all the opportunities they can get.  I just hope this is something he truly likes to do, if not, we will move on to the next thing. :)

Connor, is 2 and is your normal toddler...into everything, throwing tantrums, being defiant, breaking things, and being a sweet, funny little guy, who melts your heart with his little smiles and affections of love.  I am truly going to miss the toddler years when they are over.  Again, time goes by too quickly.  I wish I could hang on to it for a little longer.

Dan is busier than ever too!  He has been with his current job for about 1.5 years.  He won a Sales Achievement award for hitting over $1 million dollars in sales for his company this year.  In addition, he gets an all expense paid trip to the Grand Cayman Islands and guess who he is bringing.. YEP!! I finally get to go out of the country!!!  We will be going in May.  We just applied for our passports this weekend and will soon be scheduling the trip.  I am sad to leave my children so far away, but I am hoping to have a great time with Dan, ALONE!!!

As for me, I am still working in Pleasanton.  The job is going fine and the people there are very nice.  I am not doing all the work I used to do for my last company, and I am only there 3 days a week, but I am TOTALLY  fine with this.  Too much stress causes me anxiety and this is something I have been dealing with a lot more lately, especially with taking care of Rachel now, since she moved back.  She is in her own apartment, and things seem to be going well.  I see her at least once a week, more if needed.  Aside from that, I would say, life is going just fine.  Sometimes in life there is more good than bad, and sometimes more bad then good, but it all eventually evens out in the end. Guess that is just a fact of life!