Sickness and Cuteness

Poor Frankie has had everything from the flu to pink eye within the span of three days. He looks as if he has been in a boxing match and has lost. That being said, I will not be posting any pictures of him. Peter, on the other hand just has a runny nose and plenty of silly faces to make while smiling at the camera.


He loves this look. He thinks it is absolutely hilarious.



Same look. Picture taken further away. You can really see how pleased he is with himself in this shot.

Merry Christmas

Frankie and I decorated our "mini-tree" the other night and it has been a source of much enjoyment for him. Personally, I am looking forward to having a big tree down in New Orleans. He is very excited to see Santa Clause tomorrow at the Avalon Christmas party, so stay tuned for pictures.

Bronzis and Barvicks

Abby wanted me to post this picture of our kids. I know I'm biased, but it is pretty darn cute. Lastly, any suggestions on how to spell the plural form of Bronzi??? Final note, I never, ever, ever want to take six kids to get their picture taken professionally, ever again.

Picture People

So, I finally took the boys to get their picture taken professionally. It turned out pretty well. Copies are on their way to grandparents.

Halloween etc...

So, Halloween is over and now I just have to deal with the repercussions of many a sugar high in an already rambunctious toddler. I am very thankful for my morning cappuccino, which helps to keep my energy levels on par with my kids! I've just started using Italian espresso (LavAzza) and it makes all the difference.

Speaking of Halloween. I just let Frankie pick one piece of Halloween candy to eat. He chose a silver dollar size piece of chocolate covered in foil. He bit a piece off, foil and all, before I had a chance to unwrap it. Halloween is just too exciting! Still.

Lastly, I made french onion soup last night and for the very first time was pleased with the results! Very exciting, particularly because the ingredient list is so simple. Not to mention the fact that I can freeze what we didn't eat and have another meal already made and ready to go.

Here are some photos from Halloween. We trick or treated at Mike and Abby's. The other kids are Irene Shipley's and her brothers.


Peter, the gentle lion.


Frankie getting his loot.



This was the trick or treating crew, minus parents and Pete and Reenie, before we walked out the door.

Double Trouble

The boys have been both a treat and a challenge lately. Frankie was so cute tonight. We were in the car going to the Avalon lower school Halloween party and I asked him what he would say when someone asked what he was dressed up as - "treat" was his reply. I hope you guys enjoy

the photos of our double bit of trouble.

Peter is such an easy child to make laugh.

Frankie was giving his Halloween costume a test run. He likes it all, but the hat head. Unfortunately, that is how you can tell what he is.

This is my new favorite picture of the boys. Sooooo handsome!

This is Frank with the pumpkin stem. We carved the pumpkin earlier today after many a melt downs.

I told Matt that I must have a picture of the boys dressed up in costume before the night was over. We took the picture outside of the car, right before we buckled them in and drove home. The Halloween party was a lot of fun, albeit chilly. Thankfully it wore the guys out!

Fall Fun

So, Matt has had a couple of 3 day weekends this month and wee have tried to make the best of them. We took the boys to the National Mall and Frankie got to ride the carousel, which is always a blast. He also was able to see Bambi, in person, at the Museum of Natural History. Meanwhile, Peter just got this stinking push in the swing....again. What can we say Pete? Stinks to be second.

Frankie has been sick with some virus and has been running a fever all weekend, so nobody has had any sleep. Matt and I just realized tonight that all of the medicine we have been pumping into his system to keep the fever down has been keeping him awake. Poor kid.

Lastly, Peter is scooting all over the place. He'll be at a full fledged crawl in no time.


I'm a big kid now!
Note: if you look closely you can see Frank's feet swinging in the upper right corner.


Yeee haaaw!!!



Hey, this looks like the bear we saw out in the wild.

Look, Dad, I see Bambi.

Good Times

Frankie's potty training is coming along well. We still have accidents, but we also have lots of success! The boys are int their Rockford football shirts in the picture above. Also, you can see the size difference in the two babies quite well.

I gave Peter some prunes for the first time the other day. It was a challenge not to get the jumper dirty! He seemed to like them and they (the prunes) did their job.

I gave him the K-Mart add this morning to play with. He was entertained for about 20 minutes!

Potty Training and Sitting Up

Well, we've begun to potty train Frankie and things are off to a rocky start! He refused to use the potty at all yesterday and as a result I had a couple of messes to clean up. We all hope that today is a bit more successful. The good news is that he is very excited to wear his big boy underwear. I'll let you know as soon as we make any serious progress in this department.

He is as cute as ever when dressed in his Daddy's clothes. This is his favorite time of day (Mom's too!!).

Peter is as sweet (and bald) as ever, of course. I think he will be crawling shortly, as he is scooting everywhere! He is just begining to sit up and is such a treat to be around!