THE MARINI FAMILY

WELCOME TO THE CRAZINESS OF OUR LIFE WITH TWO BOYS!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Natalie's walk






On Sunday, we were in Sacramento at the Walk Now for Autism walk that was held at the UC Davis Medical Center. As many of you know, our niece Natalie has autism and we were honored to go walk on her behalf and others to raise money for this much needed cause. Many of you so generously donated to Team Natalie and I am forever grateful.


I have included some pictures from the day. Natalie's "Team Walkers" included my Aunt Mickie and Uncle Dan from Stockton, Aunt Leath and Uncle Perry who drove down for the day from Reno, my mom Bobbie, Matthew, my sister Noelle, and of course Natalie. This was such a great experience and I can't wait to be back there again next year to walk. The goal for Sacramento's Walk Now for Autism was $300,000 and they earned well over $350,000!!!




Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Reenactment

I never really believed in the idea that within a few weeks I could tell the difference between baby cries. The hunger cry, the tired cry, the I'm just going to cry for the heck of it to see if I can get them to come running cry.

Ryan is at that age where he has mastered crying at the drop of a hat. It is a gift. He is very good at it. This angers Matthew because Matthew tends to get in trouble when Ryan is crying because we think he made him upset. Well, as we are getting more familiar with Ryan's 20 month old cries, it is obvious that he is playing us like a fiddle. We don't jump up anymore and run to see if Ryan is okay because he now is waiting for us to discipline Matt. Matthew is very happy we have caught on to the game.

Going back to the title "reenactment", Ryan now does these little miniature reenactments of his injuries. Often re-hurting himself in his diligence to recreate the scene. This too is hysterical and pathetic. Because as he is trying to explain what happen through a dangerous game of charades, he inflicts more pain to his body. I know a hurt cry the second I hear it, we now just have to remove him from the scene of crime and ask him to retell us using his words.

Love it!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Garage Sale

So, this weekend we are having another garage sale. We have about three a year. Rich is a garage sale maniac. I know our neighbors must talk about us. I would make comments about us if I was that neighbor. In fact I have thought about hiring him out to work other people's garage sales because he loves it so mcuh. The challenge to him is to not just get rid of the stuff, it is to make the most money as possible. It's rather entertaining to watch.

Our purpose is always to clear stuff out that we don't need anymore, and make room for the new stuff I like to shop for...so it can be then put in the garage sale next year. This weekend is a little bittersweet for me. We are getting rid of Ryan's highchair. It is the last visible thing in our house that says "baby lives here". His crib and changing table have been gone for a couple of months, along with all the baby toys that both boys played with. The baby things are leaving the house and this is hard for me. For the last five years, there has been a constant look to our house and now it is changing. I know they have to grow up and I know I won't miss stepping on all the toys everywhere around the house, but it is hard to imagine a house without the baby stuff.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Welcome to our blog



Friends of ours started a blog a couple of years ago and I love checking it out every now and then to see what is new with them and their girls. I get to see pictures and read about fun things going on with their family. So, this got me thinking...why not do the same? So here it goes....


Matthew is four years old (will be five in November) and just started kindergarten. He loves school and I am getting used to the fact that he is at my school now as an actual student...not just a helper on the weekend. I love sneaking around to see what he is up to while hoping not to get caught. He loves being in my classroom everyday after school, yet I seem to not get anything done because of him asking a thousand questions. As many of you know, I was worried about things that might come up at school....because Matthew tends to have these little special moments that only a mother could love and my fear was that the principal would not find them as charming and funny as I do. So far, the only mini-conference from his teacher to me was that he kissed a girl the second week of school. Not too bad...but a "mini-discussion" took place between he and I after as we discussed the hands-off/lips-off policy that Reese Elementary has. What can we say...we are all about the love here.

Ryan is now 20 months. He is talking more and definitely wanting to do things on his own. This includes getting his own drink (which he can't), buckling his seat belt (which takes forever), and brushing his own teeth (which really is not effective at all). The hardest thing we are dealing with Ryan right now is that he is starting to throw little tantrums and they are to die for cute. That still does not solve the problem, but we enjoy watching them and the dedication he puts in each tantrum. He is really into Mickey Mouse right now, which is a pretty much a prerequisite in our house, so for now he's a keeper!

I hope to keep you all updated from time to time with news and pictures.

Take care,
Heather