Lately....

It looks like I'm at point in my life where I'm blogging once a month...it just seems to have fallen to the wayside. Life has been going fabulously, there has been a lot of "blog worthy" life happening BUT I just haven't felt the need to sit down and put fingers to keyboard :) But, per my usual disclaimer, I'm still reading about all my favs, praying for you and following you along on this journey we call life! :)

The past month has involved a GREAT month at school for Manuel (he seems to be thriving and grasping new concepts daily.) In 1st grade, for the first quarter, they don't give out report cards, they have parent/teacher conferences (I'm guessing sometime in November) so I'm curious to hear straight from his teachers mouth his strength, weaknesses, and how he does when Mommy and Daddy aren't around! ;) We are SUPPOSED to be signing him up for wrestling next week. I say "supposed to" because if you've been reading this blog for any length of time you might know my sweet boy is very shy, not much for team type sports, has started (and ultimately stopped) soccer and karate. On a whim, when the paper came home from the local rec council, about Wrestling registration, I asked him if he'd be interested and he, much to my shock, said yes. We'll sign him up and take it from there! :) Fingers crossed he likes it and sticks with it. Manny and I aren't gifted in the athletic department, and we aren't super competitive, pushy parents, but I really pray that he'll like it! I want him to have his "niche" in this world. If not wrestling, I'll DEFINITELY take academics being his "thing"! ;) Manuel also had a very special day at church a few Sundays ago...all the 1st graders were presented with their very own personalized Bibles, that each of our pastors signed, followed by a luncheon and special recognition for each of the children. It was a big day for our family! I LOVE that both of my children will grow up, actively in the church! :)

 My two favorite men :) (yes, hubby is an usher, yes, he can wear a Ravens jersey! ;)) Our 8am and 11am services are traditional, however we attend the 9:30 contemporary service that is much more "relaxed" :)

 My sweet boy and I (and Mia sneaking in the pic with a cheese and all! ;)

SO proud of him! :)

Mia is getting bigger, smarter and more adorable each and every day! ;) She starts her first dance class tonight and we are both VERY excited! It's a Mommy & Me class (since she won't be 3 until January they wouldn't take her in any of the "official" ballet or tap classes :( So she and I will be taking a class together! :) She has her adorable pink leotard/tutu combo and first pair of ballet slippers. Manuel and I took Mia to her first ever movie this past Saturday (while Manny relaxed...we had a wedding that night, and he had been up with the kids since 6am that morning and let me sleep in, so it was only fair! :)) We went to see Hotel Transylvania and it was absolutely adorable!!!! (I definitely recommend going to see it). Mia was "okay". She wasn't bad, by any means, but she lost interest about halfway through (if that! :)) I should have known, because she's not big into TV AT ALL, so why did I think she'd be all about sitting still for an hour and 30 minutes!?!?! Lesson learned! ;)

 Awful cell phone pic, but you can still see the adorablness! ;) Belly and all! ;)

 Mia and I representing our boys...The Orioles and The Ravens :)

 Patiently waiting for Manuel to see his eye dr for his yearly exam (all checked out wonderfully! :))

Getting ready to head into see Hotel Transylvania (we all split that bag of popcorn! ;))

Hubby and I are doing great! We went to a friends wedding last Saturday and had a great time! :) It was good to get out and see old friends, but there really is no place like home! Call me crazy, but since I work outside of the home, I'm 100% content with spending my non-working moments with my children. I know we all need "me" time, but I don't need it as much others! :)

Hmmm, what else...on the 22nd I went to New York City with my mom, sis, Aunt and cousin. It was my first time in NYC and it was quite an experience! I have never walked so much in my life! ;) My sister wore a pedometer (because through her school system she is rewarded at the end of the year if they exercise a certain amount of time) and we ended up walking almost 12 miles that day in NYC! :) We visited all the sites, and I know this is going to sound crazy, but one of my favorites of the day was Little Italy! :) I'm Italian (my mom was actually born in Sicily) so I felt very connected to my roots there, AND there just so happened to be an Italian festival going on, so that was really neat!

 Hanging out in FAO Schwartz in NYC

 Waiting for the bus to take us home...the sky was BEAUTIFUL that day! :)

Nothing says NYC like Donald Trump water! ;)

Life continues to chug along and I genuinely couldn't be at a more content, happy place than I am right now. I have no doubt that my relationship with God getting stronger each day is a HUGE reason for my contentment. I pray that you all are doing well! :)

Never forget...9/11/01

I just went back and read my post from last year and nothing has changed, except it's been 11 years instead of 10. This day will always spark a huge amount of emotion, even fear, in me. I think it's just the nature of that vicious attack. As I said my prayers this morning I thought...so many people were getting ready, just as I am, heading to work, and they NEVER knew that in a few short hours their lives would be taken away. So sad, so heartbreaking. God bless those people who lost their lives. God bless those families left behind. God bless those children whos moms were pregnant with them at the time, and they'll never get to meet their daddies, this side of Heaven. I will never forget. My children will never forget. Although they are too young to understand it now, or even be told what today is all about, they wore their red, white and blue today, in honor of the THOUSANDS of lives lost...THOUSANDS of lives taken in a few short hours. It is SO hard to wrap your brain around, even 11 years later.

Don't ever forget...

Dutch Wonderland Pics

Last weekend we ended our summer with a trip to Dutch Wonderland. It's a fun little amusement park in Pennsylvania, geared towards the younger crowd. Manuel is probably on the verge of being a tad too "old" for it, but all in all, he had a great time too! :) We went with my sister, her husband and their kiddos.

And for good measure...

 The kids waiting patiently for their cousins to arrive so our day of fun can start! :) 

 Spencer and Vivenne are here! :) 

 Cousins :)

 Mia and I "flying" :) 

 I don't do things that spin, but Manny and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it! :) 

 Vivi LOVES her Uncle Manny

 Manuel's piggies...not sure why I decided to ride the Sky Lift with my sister and Manuel when I'm scared to death of heights! :) 

I am SUCH a big baby...yes, I was THAT scared! ;)

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend! :) 

Still "here" :)

Goodness gracious, it's been FOREVER! (a month today, if I'm not mistaken), but I'm still here and life is going AMAZING! I hope you all are doing well. I've continued to read up on all of my blogging friends, but I just haven't had the time to post! :)

A lot has happened in a month...lots of work, lots of church, awesome Sunday school discussions in our married couples class, Mia's 2.5 year check-up, cookouts, Back to School night, Manuel's first day of 1st grade, and a trip to Dutch Wonderland! :)

The first day of school for Manuel was super scary as a school shooting happened at a high school a mile or two from his elementary school! :( I know none of you that read this are local, so I'm not sure if it made news in your area, but it was a very sad, scary first day of school for many of our community children! The 15 year old who was shot is still in critical condition, and the poor, tortured school is in custody...such a sad situation. Such a sad state of affairs that our world is in! :( You always here these stories and are saddened but when it happens in your very own, nice, middle class, community, it really brings it all home. I pray for all of the children out there, across the country, that their school years would be peaceful and safe!

Besides that awful start, Manuel had a great first week of school! He is only one of 4 little boys in class (the rest are girls) and honestly I think that's what he needs. He is SO smart, and needs to apply himself..I feel he wasn't able to do that last year because he was too caught up in the monkey business, goofing off. His teacher is a tad older, seems to be really good with the kids, so I'm very optimistic for Manuel's school year!!!! :) We just joined the PTA for the new school year, and are excited to have our first family fun night this coming Friday!

Here are some pics from the first day...

 An end of summer, run through the rain, and enjoy an ice cream cone kind of day! :) 

 You pick and choose your battles...LOVE the Ravens book bag, NOT a fan of Spongebob! :)

 My 1st grader! :)

 My babies! :)

 Cracking up at Mia insisting on taking our picture! :)

 She's not in school, but still needed her pic taken too! ;)

Family Reunion Part 3

Before I share the last post of photos from our Tumminello Family Reunion, I just need to share a bit of what's on my heart...there have been several times recently where I've really thought I should throw in the blogging "towel" (so to speak! ;)) I feel as though blogging has become a bit like high school in that everyone wants to be most popular, everyone wants the most followers, the most comments, the biggest sponsors, etc. and that's just NEVER been what this is about for me. Do I LOVE comments? Absolutely! Are my feelings hurt when I post and no one says ANYTHING? If I'm being honest, yes. Do I think it's super rude when you take the time to comment on other "bigger" blogs, often, and you get no sort of recognition on response? Sure thing! ESPECIALLY when you take the time to say something meaningful and from the heart. A simple "thank you" would suffice! So perhaps I'm just too sensitive and concerned for this whole blogging thing? But then I stop and realize that this blog is a scrapbook of sorts for my family, and usually I keep it light, but I've also exposed my heart and soul on these pages (here and here if you're new :)) So why stop now? AND not to mention I have made close connections with a few bloggers who I would totally be friends with, in real life, if we lived closer! :)) And then something happens, like it did today, and actually even yesterday too, where two separate bloggers who I absolutely adore, shared something with me that meant a lot, A LOT to them! Then it hits me, THAT is what it is all about and I TRULY mean that! I have 70some (I think) followers, and I'd venture to say only 2 or 3 of them take the time to read my posts, comment sometimes, and I am really okay with that. So for now, this blog is what is, and I don't plan on quitting anytime soon! :)

Shewww, I apparently I needed to talk that out! ;) Thank you for listening! :)

Now, on the fun stuff. More great pics from our family reunion, courtesy of cousin, Tanya! :)

 My beauty queen! ;)

 4 generations :)

 The ENTIRE group...not just "us" but my moms cousins, their spouses, etc. 

 My mom, sis and I

 My nephew, Spencer

 Mia with two of her favs..Uncle Vince and Poppy

 Mia pushing my sister around in my grandmothers wheelchair :) 

My sweet, toothless baby boy! ;)

More pics to come! :) 

Family Reunion Part 2

More pics :)

My sister and our girls :) 

My cousin Tanya and her husband, Lee

Tanya and her daughter, Angelina (and Uncle Craig, being Uncle Craig! ;)

Rio (my cousin), Uncle Vince and Uncle Craig

4th generation (my cousins kiddos)....Angelina, Maria and Emilia

My mom (far right), her siblings and their Mom :) 

My hubby and our niece, Vivi

Uncle Craig being silly, per usual :)