Monday, August 29, 2011

Astronomy Planet Model

For science this year we are studying astronomy, today we made a model of the solar system. We even tried to make proportional...which is hard with some of those tiny little planets. (the yellow planet with the red ring is Saturn-just visualize the ring higher).8.29.11

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Dominic and his Sweet kitties

This is pretty much what Dominic looks like everyday-lovin on his kitties. Not sure why they put up with all his entrapment techniques but he sure does love them!
8.28.11

Happy 65th Anniversary Grandma & Grandpa




For 65 years they have been a model of love and fidelity. What an inspiration in today's world. 8.28.11

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Happy Birthday Mommy



The kids surprised me with beautiful flowers, homemade cards and a super warm hoodie coat. The kids know how I am always cold...giving me the gift of warmth is always a great gift. They topped the day off with some home made strawberry shortcake. Perfect birthday. 8.25.11

Monday, August 22, 2011

1st Day of School 2011

Dominic's first day of Kindergarten and Isabella's first day of 3rd grade. They are so excited! 8.22.11

Friday, August 19, 2011

Worlds of Fun







We had "team day" at Worlds of Fun with our track team. Grandma got to join us for the first half of the day and she got to see Isabella ride her first roller coaster and got to get splashed on the Fury of the Nile. We had a great day at Planet Snoopy and went home to pick up dad for an evening full of fun. 8.19.11

Happy 89th Birthday Great Grandma



We got to be with Grandma on her 89th birthday. We love you Grandma. 8.19.11

Sunday, August 14, 2011

The Johnson Shut-Ins

Here are some pictures from our fun day at the Johnson Shut-ins. What are the Johnson Shut-Ins you ask. Here is the info:
Nearly 1.5 billion years ago
, violently explosive volcanoes hurled hot gasses and ash into the air. The ashes and gas fell and cooled, forming rhyolite rock. A billion years later, shallow inland seas swallowed the ancient, worn-down mountains, burying the igneous rock under thousands of feet of sedimentary rock such as limestone, sandstone, shale and dolomite.

About 250 million years later, the entire Ozark region lifted and the seas retreated. The wind and rain took their toll on the upraised land, sending streams of sand- and gravel-laden water to slice away the layers of soft sedimentary rock and expose the rhyolite below. In low places, the swift Black River became shut-in by the hard igneous rocks, swirling and churning to form huge potholes, and breaking away the weaker rock to create natural water slides and canyon-like gorges
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8.14.11

Elephant Rocks

The weather finally cleared up and we got to do some hiking at the Elephant Rocks. This park is amazing. Good thing we came when we did some of the rocks needed to be pushed back into place. 8.14.11





Floating on the River


8.2.11

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Sweet Dominic

Dominic is a big 6 year old now. He continues to be filled with joy and enthusiasm everyday. He still loves Super Heros and celebrated his birthday with a Justice League birthday cake. He adores our two cats, Stella & Krypto. Every free minute he spends "loving" on them. I am amazed at what the cats will tolerate. He is really enjoying his first year of Kindergarten and is becoming a good reader. He gets to take art classes and piano and is doing great in both. When he isn't playing with cats he is building with Legos or playing Super Heros.

My sweet Isabella

Isabella is growing into quite the little lady. She turned 8 over the summer and continues to be a voracious reader. She is currently loving the Classic Starts series and American Girl Mysteries. Her favorite 3rd grade subjects are history and spelling. She was in a constant battle with long division but there seems to be somewhat of a truce lately between the two. She continues to love her art class and is really enjoying our new family music lessons. She has an amazing ear for music and a natural talent for playing. She loves all her book clubs that she is currently in...there are 3! In her free time she loves to be creating something, playing with her dolls or reading.

Canoeing Fun



We finished up our vacation week with the B-W's at the lake. We had nice cool weather for canoeing and biking. 8.7.11

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Jefferson City



11 years ago we took a similar picture of just Michael and I at the state capital someday I will get that picture scanned in and we can compare the two...who knows when that will happen so we will just enjoy the ones with the kids. 8.6.11

Our Lady of Lourdes: When we "knew"



On our way back from vacation we stopped in Jefferson City to visit some of the places Michael and I went to when we were first dating and falling in love. It was fun to be there with the kids and tell them the story of when we "knew" we were supposed to get married. Michael and I were attending 1st Saturday Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes church when we both felt the Holy Spirit answering our question if we were meant to be together. We walked out of Mass that morning and turned to each other and said "did you feel that? I think we are supposed to be together!" This church will always have a special place in our hearts. 8.6.11

Friday, August 5, 2011

Central Dairy, Jefferson City

When I lived in Jefferson City I LOVED going to Central Dairy. They had great ice cream an super cheap. Here we are sharing their classic banana split ...not sure if one person could handle it but with the 4 of us we managed. Barely...but we did it. Our split had chocolate-peanut butter, cookies & cream and strawberry cheesecake ice cream topped with whipped cream (minus the chocolate syrup and cherries per Isabella's request--and really did we need more calories?) 8.5.11

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Civil War Battle Site: Fort Davidson


We had planned to spend the day at Elephant Rocks but the weather didn't cooperate. It was raining most of the morning. Due to the rain we got to have breakfast at the Fort Davidson Restaurant (which had amazing murals all over the walls that fascinated the kids) in Pilot Knob and we got to see the Fort Davidson Museum. The rain even cleared enough for us to visit the actual fort. 8.4.11

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Our Stay at the Bearcat Cabins






For our vacation we got to stay in a secluded cabin in the woods in southern Missouri. It had an indoor jacuzzi tub and an outdoor hot tub. The kids got their fill of water between floating on the river, the Johnson Shut-Ins, and all the bubbling tubs. Grandma & Papa Paoletti got to join us for our cabin fun. Papa helped Dominic make a fire in the fire pit. 8.3.11