DC Zoo Time!

Our crew at the zoo

Since I was on Spring Break this past week, I was able to catch up on many items on my to-do list. I was able to do things like: finish staning our deck, finish planting all of my veggies and flowers, spring cleaning the house, etc. On Wednesday though I threw my to-do list to the wind and decided to have a little fun! Abe,myself,Maria and all of our kids traveled down to DC to visit the Smithsonian National Zoo. We all had a really great time, with the exception of poor Dylan having some allergy problems. Alex is still holding steady with his fav animals being the Tigers, but this year he also really loved watching the Gorillas and is still talking about the Daddy, brother and baby Gorillas we saw! Enjoy some pics from our zoo visit :) The boys watching the tigers!My little cutie! Yes..he has a band aid on his face :)

Maria and her handsome little men

Abe and his mini-me..she seriously looks like her Daddy!

The boys comparing their hands to a tiger's paw, and Daniel comparing his mouth maybe?
Yes..I married this! lol

Alex discussing the gorillas with me..he loved watching them!

I think Amaya gets her silliness from her Daddy!


Poor little thing was just finished with the zoo!
Look at how big he is getting!

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma!

Last weekend, my family came together to celebrate the matriarch of our family. Our amazing, Mom, Grandma, and Great-Grandma, GlenRose McCutcheon's 80th birthday. We had a wonderful party at my Aunt Nancy's house ,and it was so nice to see my family and visit with them again. My Grandma was born on April 15, 1931 as GlenRose Bostjancic. She is the 12th of 13 children and was born at home in Pekin, Maryland, because that's just the way they did things back then. What I know of her history isn't much. She doesn't talk much about herself or where she came from. I know her mother was part Native American, and her father immigrated to this country from somewhere near the Austrian/Hungarian border. He spoke mostly German and worked very hard. I know her mother, Emma, was married before she met my Great-Grandfather, Anthony and her mother lost her first husband and their 2 children, John and Lulu to the flu during the 1918 flu epidemic. I know she grew up with all of those brothers and sisters in a one room shack, bathing outside in a metal tub. I know their main source of food on a daily basis was fried bread, and sometimes that was all they had. I know these things because these are things she has told me stories of her early life, and these stories have stuck with me all of these years. It amazes me to think of the incredible life she has lived and the things she has accomplished in her life despite a life many of us can't even fathom. Sometimes when I hear people complain about this and that or talk about his difficult people in other countries have it, I think of my Grandma and all 80 years of her life. She didn't have much growing up, but now she has the most important thing in the world--3 healthy, successful children, 7 loving grandchildren that look up to her so much, 2 great-grandchildren who adore her, and an array of in-laws, friends, and other relatives who love her. She has the American dream--no matter how much she started out with, and 80 years of life is amazing. Here's to 80 more Grandma!

My Grandma and Pap and their 3 kids--My Aunt Nancy, my Dad, and my Uncle TommyGrandma with 3 of my cousins--Wes, Brian and Brett

4 Generations- Dad, Pap holding Alex, Grandma, and me holding Amaya
Could Amaya be any more lady like in a skirt? lol

Soccer/Swimming

Little swimmers at their first class 3.28.11...

Alex sees his cousins and friends at daycare always playing different sports, particularly soccer. So naturally he has been asking for about 6 months now when he is going to get the chance to play. After much searching for a program in Baltimore County for 3 year olds, such as Alex, I finally stumbled across a pee wee soccer program run by Baltimore Blast player,P.J. Wakefield. This program is held in Dundalk and is specifically designed for 2.5-4 year old kids! Coach P.J. held his first practice this week and it was awesome! He started by allowing the kids freedom to run around, kick goals and just play around with their soccer balls any way they wanted on the field. Then, he magically got them all to sit on the white circle in the middle of the field and starts stretching. Alex did all of his stretches as best as he could abd beamed when it was time for the butterfly stretch, becase this is one we do at home all of the time and he was familiar with it. Coach P.J. then led the kids in some drills to get them used to soccer. They did some running, and started learning how to dribble--slowly at first and then faster. They even played red light, green light with their soccer balls, learning how to "squash the bug" on red light by putting their foot on top of tha ball and stopping it. He loved this technique! All in all, he had a great time and to celebrate his first ever practice, we took both kids for ice cream at By the Scoop, which is right around the corner from our house. It brught tears to my eye to see my little boy looking so grown up in his little shinguards and carrying his little ball, and of course brought back so many memories of my own soccer days! On another note, also making this spring rather busy for us are swimming lessons that we started for both kids on March 28 at Kid's First Swim School in Perry Hall. Both kids are starting out in the Mommy/Daddy and Me class and it's been doing them both a world of good as far as their comfort level in the water goes. Alex is really learning to kick and is startin to let o of us a little more and trust his own skill with kicking and using the noodle to support himself. He HATES going under though, so we're working on that. Amaya doesn'tmind going under, but she still clings to me like a little lemur when we first get in. Se usually loosens up once we start playing games singing songs, but she's still a little timid when first entering the water. They're both doing wondefully and seem to enjoy swim class and Abe and I are really hoping it will pay off for both of them with summer just around the corner now. It's been a busy spring for the Arceo's but we are all lovin' it! Now we are just waiting for Mommy's Spring Break to get here in one more day! Woohoo!

So excited to finish his first swimming class!

Amaya and Daddy hanging out after swimming class

OMG--My boy looks so grown up! Getting ready to start his first soccer practice :)

I am certain he was getting ready to do some awesome move here..lol

Messing around with the soccer net

Look at the little cheerleader in the stands!

After practice..looking so proud!

Amaya's boo boo!

Can you see it--left eye! Ouch!

My poor little girl is always getting boo boos, and I know it's because she goes at everything full speed ahead with no fear whatsoever. It probably hurts Mommy more than it does her, but she is scary sometimes! We never had to deal with this when Alex was her age. Heck, I could Alex's boo boos on one hand. He barely ever gets hurt. Amaya is another story altogether. Today, as I was cleaning up breakfast in the kitchen, I heard a thump and then a wail from Amaya. I ran into the living room to find her sitting on the floor between her doll house and the toy box crying. I of course picked her up and comforted and in 5 minutes she was better. But then when cuddling with her on the couch maybe 20 minutes later, I happened to glance at her eye and almost freaked out. Her eye had a big red welt on it and was very swollen! My poor little girl! I checked her eye ofr signs of damage to the actual eye, and gave the pediatrician a call, but we both decided the damage was to the eyelid only and there was no need to go to the emergency room, since there's nothing they would do for it anyway. Now she looks a little like a boxer--a very small, cute boxer who had a pretty bad uppercut to the eye! If only I could keep her in a plastic bubble...I have a feeling this won't be the last freak out moment I have as a mother though.

It all started by climbing onto the toy box, which she does frequently and can now do without having to climb onto anything else first.

And this was the end result..can you see the nasty boo boo on her eye?