Still here.

Well, there hasn't been much news coming from the Puzzuoli house. Plus I've been busy juggling life at home, work and my church volunteering...I somehow managed to get more committed than I planned on.

The school year is winding down for Stella, and I need to plan some activities for her this summer. She'll probably do horseback riding again, and maybe some extra speech therapy. Her summer school program has been shortened to 3 days a week. Hopefully we'll get a good groove going.

She's still working hard in school and comes home pretty tired. I found her in her room one day after school, and I thought her sleeping position was pretty funny.



Yesterday, for Mother's Day, I took Stella for a walk downtown and along the Battle Creek River. I wanted to spend some time with just her, and she really likes that. It was she who made me a mom, after all, so she's very special to me. She really enjoys being out in the world, going to the store. We're still working on some behavior issues in public places, though.

I also need to figure out what to do with A.J. His swimming class ends today, and there won't be one over the summer. I'm thinking of looking into a tumbling/gymnastics class for toddlers. He has so much energy and he's so rough. Honestly, John and I were talking yesterday, asking, "Could he be any rougher?"

He likes to sit out in the car and "drive" so sometimes, just to keep him busy, I put him in the van in the garage.



Other times, he has to be in the middle of things...like helping make brownies or pancakes. He loves to "cook." The trouble has come when he feels like he can push a chair to the counter any time, and start playing with knives (or like that one time with Stella's medicine). He's definitely challenging us the way any strong-willed 2-year-old would.



Mother's Day was a little rough. The night before, we went out to dinner with John's cousin Cathy and her husband Scott, at a nice little restaurant in Kalamazoo. Two bottles of wine...to bed after midnight. And the kids were up at 6 a.m. I think John and I both struggled through the day.

But here is my Mother's Day loot.
A pink and a blue hydrangea and four boxes of Whole Foods Woven Wheats (they're like Triscuits with no fat, love them).


Oh, and when we went out to eat, Cathy gave me and John a painting. It's actually a print of her painting called "Wet Stones," which she previously donated for our Blue Tie Event silent auction. John did much of the bidding on it, but didn't win it. We're delighted that she gave us a print of it.