Ballet Recital

This is Brianna's 3rd year of Ballet and her 3rd recital. Everytime I watch her dance it makes my heart happy and I smile from ear to ear. This time was no exception. The studio did Princess and the Pea. Brianna's class were carrots and boy were they adorable. Brianna pointed her toes and smiled while she danced. After a year of dedication, what a way to celebrate all of that hard work!

Brianna is the one on the left jumping with her toes pointed!

Honor Guard

Brian does many things within the Police Department and being a part of the Honor Guard is one that he feels the most pride in doing. The Honor Guard posts colors for a variety of events and for a variety of reasons. We have been lucky enough over the last few months to watch him participate for a couple of events. Here are some pictures...

Easter!

We are so lucky to live close to family and spend the holiday's with our relatives! This Easter was lots of fun. The kids had a great time dying eggs and doing a small egg hunt at our house, then it was off to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's house.

Spending time with cousins Dario and Everett

Giving some love to Great Grandma!

More Work!

After many updates on the inside this year, we turned our attention to the outside of the house. The cobble stone pathway is cute, but due to the tree roots it is unsafe and a tripping hazard in many areas. In the rainy weather we get pools of water up near our front door as drainage is not good. We had the two trees with X's chopped down, then removed the entire cement, brick and cobble stone pathway! Wow this was a project and a half. Thank goodness we had American Landscape to all of the new pathway and put in french drains. It is soooooo beautiful and makes our house look great! I feel like I'm walking on a path in a park now and am so happy with the results.
Before...

Bricen, always the helper!

After...

That's My Girl

We were having a typical dinner conversation when Brianna started talking about kids in her class getting in trouble. She explained how it all worked, the warnings, the name on the board, getting sent to the principals office and a note home to the parents. We talked about it a little more and asked if she had ever gotten in trouble at school. Her answer: a very clear NO. The next afternoon while going through her backpack I saw an envelope that said to the parents of Brianna Frazzini. My heart sunk, she had never gotten a letter like this before and I just knew because she had brought it up the night before, this was it. I opened the envelope preparing for the worst my sweet little girl could have done. Enclosed it was an invitation to the assembly where Brianna would be receiving an award in front of the school. Oh relief... What pride Brian and I have in the amazing, responsible and kind hearted little girl we have raised. Keep up the good work girl!

Before and After

In a matter of months, we managed to update a lot of the inside of our house. Our first project of 2010 was the play room. I was so eager to get rid of the icky carpet that has been in there for the last 3 years! We (well I should say Brian and our handy man Merlin) put in laminate flooring - all in a day! We got new light fixtures, a new TV, a new sitting chair, bean bags for the kids, new paint and a few new decorations. I love the way it turned out. It looks like the play room I imagined having when we moved in, and it only took a little under 3 years to make the transformation.

Before...After...

Then we decided it would be a great way to spend a week of Vacation during Spring Break re-doing the Dining Room, Living Room, Entryway and Hallway. We taped everything up with plastic - the whole half of the house was not accessible - and scraped the popcorn ceiling down. Brian then re textured the entire ceiling and some of the walls. It took a little longer than we anticipated so we had to sleep in the playroom that night. Keep in mind we were not anticipating this so Brianna slept in my shirt and luckily I had an extra pull up in a backpack that was accessible. My sewing stuff is in the play room, so I got out some stuffing and stuck it inbetween a blanket and folded it up to make temporary pillows. (Quite the adventure for the kiddos - they were pretty excited that they didn't have to brush their teeth!) After all of the texturing was done, it was paint, paint and more paint. I don't think I will be ready to re-do our bedroom in awhile!! I am very happy with the way it turned out, however, I did feel jipped out of my Vacation week.

Before...

After...

I didn't get a good picture of the entryway or hallway, but they are a sand color. It all looks great together and I must say I can't stop looking at that wonderful red in my dining room! Thanks Angie for all your help!

Polar Plunge

This year we stayed local for the Plunge - a great fundraiser for the Oregon Special Olympics. Corvallis hosted a venue this year and it turned out great. The Willamette River in March is pretty chilly from what I understand - I was chicken this year! Brian raised more money than he did the previous year and the weather was cold but beautiful. Thank you to all who donated!

Our New Family Addition!

Santa brought Lily to Brianna. She has been many things to Brianna and our family. She has brought us joy, stress, frustration and has brought out a new puppy in our 12 year old dog Tucker. Brianna and Bricen absolutely love her and she is growing on Brian. I love everything about her except for the small bladder for a small dog. She is a mini dachshund and will be between 8-12 pounds when full grown. She will be 1 on October 25th. I am crossing my fingers that by then she will be sleeping through the night, holding her potty and not leave any presents on my carpet or pee on anyone when they come to visit. (Pick up at your own risk!)

Brianna and I took her to a puppy obedience class where I was made aware that dogs learn in pictures and nothing is the puppy's fault. I guess our life is set up for failure for a little bladder. Lily barked almost the whole series of classes and did not like the teacher. It was suggested to me that I stop by the vet's office at least a couple times a day for a few weeks to get her used to new people and the environment there. HA HA HA who does that lady think I am??? I am sorry but she just didn't like that lady - she barks a little at other people but OMG she is a dog and that's what they do right?

Because she is a small dog, she looks very cute dressed up in sweaters, dresses and yes she has a rain coat and a coat with a fuzzy collar. Brianna took her to the school dog show and she was a big hit. Here are a few pictures of the little weasle, she is pretty cute I have to admit!

Tucker and Lily play constantly, they snuggle together too - it is so cute!

GO BEAVERS!!!

We got season ticket to the Men's Beaver Basketball Games this year. It proved to be a lot of fun! Brian and Bricen went to almost every home game and Brianna and I got to go to a few also. The only thing that makes a basketball game more fun is... Dippin Dots of course!

Bricen and Benny the Beaver