Hey, pssst. Come here...Let's play doctor.

So today our babysitter greeted Lynn and I at the door to tell us of today's events. Apparently Ryan and Camden asked Janni (our babysitter) if they could go in the other room to play. She was busy with one of the babies she watches, so told them to play in the room they were already in. Well, when things got quiet, she decided it would be a good idea to check in on them and see what they were "playing". She found them under the table playing doctor. Camden was just finishing his in-depth below the belt examinations. Apparently he was giving Ryan some much needed medicine. Ryan was of course laying there, like a good patient, waiting for Camden to be done with his examination.

As Janni approached them, she asked them what they were playing and they answered "doctor". She then told them that they could play doctor, but that there certain areas that are private on their bodies and other people are not allowed to touch them.

Side note ---Both of these boys have had doctor's appointments within the last three days. Every time our doctor is about to examine them he explains what he is about to do and reminds the kids that only parents and doctors can check you in the private area.

Camden was the first to admit that Ryan had done it too. Of course he had. There was no doubt in my mind that Ryan had participated. I can almost tell you word for word what Ryan had done and poor Camden was the one who got caught.

My favorite part of the whole story is when Janni just reminded them again that it was not appropriate, Camden again said, "Ryan did it too, you just never saw him!" I love it! There was no way he was going down for this without taking his partner in crime with him.

You will have to excuse me now, because as Lynn said... "And Heather, feel free to post Camden's picture alongside Ryan's in your blog on what to look for in a few years when they are registered on Megan's Law website together!"

40th Brithday Part 2

On Saturday night we headed to the Flemmer's house for a little birthday celebration for Brent, one of Rich's longest and dearest friends. The evening was very fun and relaxing, just hanging with good friends. Danny Kapic, also a friend that is turning 40 this year, came with his wife and three adorable children. And Uncle Frank came over from the city to have a milder celebration from the one he had the weekend before. The kids had so much fun playing together and the adults had so much fun catching up.

This picture was taken by Lauren, Brent's oldest daughter, and luckily she didn't pan out too far because you would be able to see that those are his middle fingers. Nice!


Group shot: (top from left) Rich, Brent, Frank, Danny, (bottom from left) Matthew, Me, Ryan, Kendall, Sharon, Lauren, Bailey, Emilie, Parker, and Fletcher.


Gabbing after dinner..

40th Birthday Party Pt. 1

We are going to have multiple posts about the year of the "40", because all of Rich's friends...including him...are turning 40 this year. Over the weekend we headed to SF for Uncle Frank's birthday party and it was FABULOUS!!! Even though I was the DD, it was amazingly fun and I am super glad I talked the husband into taking me. He was trying to convince me it was a "boy only" party, but I scored an invite. In some of the pictures you will notice I wasn't the only wife there! :)

Not all pictures are going to be posted because I made a promise to the birthday boy and if I ever want him to talk to me again, I will need to keep them private! However, they are quite hysterical and for the right amount of money I might be persuaded to share one or ten of them.


Pictured: Danny, Me, Sharon, Ashley, Bob, and Rich


Pictured: Rob, Frank (birthday boy), Brent, and Rich


Pictured: Frank, Rich, and Kelvin


Pictured:Bob, Rich, Frank, and Brent


Pictured: Rich, Frank, and Brent

This boy....

I thought I would blog tonight about Ryan turning three because I just know I will be too busy tomorrow.

The baby boy is now 3. And you know what they say, "Three is the new Two." Ryan is so many different personalities wrapped up in the cutest package possible. He is sweet, smart, devious, pouty, unpredictable, loving, manipulative, caring, mischievous, hysterical, crazy, hyper, and he is irreplaceable.

As much as he drives us crazy one minute, he can turn around and say something that is so tender and sweet the next. We tend to laugh more than we scold. Sometime during my c-section the doctor must have removed my backbone because it appears at times that I do not have one when it comes to him. I just feel myself laughing and giggling at everything he says and does. Matthew is wondering where the parents are the raised him.

So, happy birthday to our little dude. We love you Ryan!

Here are the many faces of Ryan....

New Years Day!

Happy 2010!!! We decided to take advantage of Daddy's day off and we headed up to the mountains for some fun in the snow. By the way, if you are thinking I forgot to post Christmas pictures...I didn't. We didn't take a single picture on Christmas day. We have video, just no pictures. We're lame, I know.

A Marini trip is never without a little drama. Exactly two minutes before I had everyone in the car and set to go, Ryan slammed the door on Matthew's finger. There was screaming, followed by crying, then more screaming, followed by anger, ending in Ryan's flat refusal to apologize. After our threat of him staying home alone and not enjoying the snow with the family, he wised up and said "I'm sorry" in a voice that only God could hear. At least his lips moved.

Here are some pics from the day. The boys had a blast throwing snowballs at me and Rich...mostly me. We found a little hill that they could go down on their discs. It was quick, simple and fun.

This picture screams DNA.


Matthew getting ready to head down the hill.


Daddy and Ryan on the attack.


He loves the snow and really could have played in it all day.


They look sweet and cute, but they are minutes from using me as target practice!

That Family

Well, it is Wednesday, December 23 and I have a confession. We finished shopping last night at approximately 11:54pm. And, when I say "we", I mean Rich, more specifically. Let me explain....

In Target last night, we were that family. That family that was walking VERY SLOWLY down every isle with their kids saying stuff like, "Wow! Isn't this cool? Would you want something like this???" or "Haven't you wanted one of these in the past? How about now???" We were that family who people pointed at and talked about. That family who was now on the clock because their two DARLING little boys almost refused to let their parents, I mean Santa, know what they wanted for Christmas.

Oh sure, don't think we weren't that family who didn't try shoving a Toys R Us magazine in their faces any chance we could....BECAUSE WE DID AND THEY STILL DIDN'T PICK ANYTHING OUT!! We tried everything. And yet, three nights before you know who was supposed to show up, we were that family walking the isles of Target trying to pass for the parents who actually lived with these two kids and knew what they might enjoy as a gift.

So, last night, after that family left Target with some things on a list, I sent Rich back to Target at 11:30pm and he picked up some things. I think we are good. I don't think we will win "that family" of the year, but I think we are okay.

Merry Christmas to all!!!!

Love The Marini's

Del Osso Fun!

This past weekend we headed out to Del Osso Farm for some fun in the snow!! This is the first time our family has been to Del Osso and I highly recommend it. The main reason we went there was to go sledding on this man made hill of snow. It was really amazing how well it was set up, everything from wrist bands to appointment times so it wasn't overcrowded. There was plenty of other things to do like zip-lines, petting zoo, train and hay rides, bounce houses, tricycle races and so on. A family could easily spend several hours there and have a blast!!!

Our boys had an absolute blast because their cousins were there too. Mike and Stacy were down for the Marini Christmas weekend and it was their idea to head out to Del Osso and we are glad we went. Matthew and Ryan adore their older cousins and always have so much fun when they are in town.

Here are a bunch of pictures from our fun day.





Mikayla zip-lining


Michael zip-lining


She was so brave!


One of my favorite pictures from the day!


Boys being goofy!


Inseparable....


Love it!


Sweet boy!


Here are the sledding pics. Please click on each picture to enlarge...especially on the one with Ryan and Rich to see that he is smiling and we are not torturing him.

Lifeskill Assembly

Here is Matthew getting an award yesterday for the Lifeskill of "Integrity." He looks like a pretty happy camper, don't you think?

B-I-N-G-O

Last night was Bingo with Santa at my school. As much as I try and stay away when I am not contractually obligated to be there, having Matt as a student there tends to damper my philosophy because he wants to attend all the fun stuff. As he should! If I weren't a teacher at his school, I would happily show up for everything. It is sometimes difficult taking off my teacher hat and putting on my mommy hat and feeling as if they are two separate beasts. They tend to go hand and hand. At least Ryan can come to these fun things because he HATES the fact he is not in school.

So last night we sat in a cafeteria filled with parents and kids, sipping punch, eating cookies, and playing Bingo. We had our Bingo cards and beans all ready to go. Ryan was eating M & M's out of the dish as if they were....well, M & M's. Matthew found a friend who asked him to come over and sit by him, which he did, and that left Ryan and I playing Bingo by ourselves. And when I say playing Bingo, I mean me trying to keep Ryan from moving the entire table knocking every ones beans off their cards.

As we are into the fourth or fifth game, I hear BINGO! I look up and it's Matthew! They go over and start reading his numbers and the second number he had was wrong. I felt SO BAD! He probably got so excited and then NOTHING. I swear to you....the very next number the man called was the one number he needed to have...so finally, BINGO!!! He picked a free ticket to a Stockton Thunder Hockey game. He was pretty excited.

By this point Ryan is done. He has asked to leave several times, knocked an entire plate of marking beans on the floor and spilled punch once. HE IS DONE. But it is the blackout game and the last game of the night. So we are sitting there, waiting and waiting and all of a sudden..."BINGO!" IT IS MATTHEW AGAIN!!!!!! But this time it is the blackout game, and the prize is an iPod shuffle.

Let me tell you...the mommy hat I was wearing was still on and pulled down tight. So they start calling the numbers and get through all of the B's and I's and my heart starts pounding. I was so worried that he misunderstood a number and it would be a repeat of earlier in the night. So, we get through the N's and G's and now my heart is pounding so hard that it feels as if it is pulsating in my ears. I really could care less if he gets this prize, at this point I am so afraid he is going to get through all these numbers and somehow not have them and be terribly disappointed! Well they got through all the numbers and BAM!!!! HE WON!!!

I was so pleased for him. Kathy this morning said the look on his face was priceless. She said he just looked so happy. Now he is obsessed with putting music on it and he has no idea what songs he wants. He told me, "Can I hear all the songs and then pick the ones I like?" I said, "What do you mean all the songs?" He says, "You know, you can go through all the songs that play on the radio and we can buy the ones I like." I started laughing and said...."There are millions of songs out there, you are going to have to be a little more specific." And what came next out of his mouth??? "What does specific mean?" I said, "Never mind. Just tell me when you hear one you like and we'll look it up."

This is going to be fun.

Basketball Season

I am a little late posting some pics from basketball. Of course, this is Matthew's favorite sport and he is enjoying it every Saturday. What is really cool is that most of the kids on the team are from Reese, so he gets to play with friendly faces.

Last Saturday, the world stood still. Did you notice? Yes, the Earth stopped spinning on its axis because Matthew's teacher, Mrs. Schatz, came to his game. He really could have cared less who else came to see him, she was the star.

If I haven't said this before....Matthew LOVES his teacher. Like stalker, loves his teacher. He loves to go and help her in the morning before school and waits with baited breath until she asks him to help. If her car is in the parking lot before us when we get to school in the morning, every day he says, "Mrs. Schatz is working early today." And it is the same at the end of the day if she is still there when we leave, "Mrs. Schatz is working late again today." Seriously....EVERY DAY!

When she came this Saturday, she was there to see Matt, but also three of the girls in her class play on the same team and they had a game at the same time, so she got to see them. If her presence wasn't enough, she brought each child a sprinkled donut from the donut shop as a treat for after. Clearly her and I have different teaching styles. :)

Here is Matthew and Mrs. Schatz.



Here are the girls (Tabitha, Elle, and Katelin)


Couple shots from the game.




And of course, the shoes. The shoes make everything cool.