Friday, March 25, 2022

In No Particular Order

March has been full of many things. Lauren had her first volleyball match. She and her friend are the oldest on the team and will move up to the next level next year. They won all 3 of their matches :) Unfortunately, the parents were not allowed to watch :(
March 1 was the end of Carnival in Italy. All the kids dressed up to go to school that day (similar to Halloween in the States) They had special snacks and treats during the day. This is Hudson's class. They all worked on costumes leading up to this day.
Hudson went to Gianmarco's birthday party.
All the kids at the party were doing a type of scavenger hunt and learning about the history of some important places in Rome.

The weather has been cold in the morning and warms up to the 60's in the afternoons. It calls for some added color back on the balcony. We are slowly adding the dirt to have our planter full.
my little Roman soldier :)
Hudson's 5th grade class and his teachers, Maestra Barbara and Teacher Richard. 
This is the picnic that followed the birthday party for Gianmarco. When I came to pick Hudson up, Gianmarco's mom told me that Hudson didn't eat anything. Turns out that he thought the bags on the blankets were party favors and didn't realize it was his lunch. Oh well. He ate it on the way home :)
These were on Jonathan's phone from my birthday. Regan made me the cake...and Shadow REALLY wanted to try it!

I have alarms that go off every day so that i know who to pick up when. They get out at different times each day and every class gets out of school at different times. Lauren is loving school. These are two of her friends, Giorgia and Eleanora.
Again, from Jonathan's phone...we were the first ones to arrive for the game :)
dinner...yum! It was supposed to be 
This makes my heart happy. I look forward to the day when we can be mask free and sit closer together, but for now, I will be happy that we can meet in person!
The older kids were invited to the college social from the English speaking international group that we sometimes attend on Sundays. They met at a park near our home and played some volleyball (Katherine came straight from a game, hence the soccer gear)
Hudson goes in to school with Katherine every morning because he has an awesome teacher who wants to see him excel at school. She meets with hime and one other to help them on their Italian for about 20 minutes before their other classmates arrive.
These two just taking a break from school, chilling and playing fetch with the dogs 
What a good sport! Regan had to do a creative assignment using things around the house to illustrate something from Pilgrim's Progress. She decided to dress Hudson up as Christian :) He's a cute pilgrim.
All the kids at school worked on signs for a video they were making to support the people of Ukraine. Lauren's sign says "Don't give up hope." in Ukrainian. All the school kids also sang a song.
She's waited a LONG time to finally see her name show up on the roster for a game. YEAH! (but it sure is early for a Saturday morning)
HAHA! This is the WEED that was growing out of our AC unit on the balcony!! That is one fast growing weed!
So professional! Regan was ready for her interviews for the Scholars of Excellence competition. We actually had to go shopping because she didn't have any business attire to wear. She did great! And won some scholarship money in the process!!! We are super proud of all the hard work she has done and is doing to try to pay for her college. Union University watch out! 
This guy came home from school on a Thursday with a headache and stuffy nose. He just wanted to lay in bed and watch Disney. I think Shadow knew that he wasn't feeling well. I kept him home the next day and the extra rest helped more than anything. (He was negative for Covid....we always have to check these days for the slightest symptoms) He was back and ready to go in no time.
Katherine has always loved vines. We decided to try this one on the balcony. Hopefully, the pot is big enough and the summer heat doesn't scorch it...but for now, we are enjoying the color
Poor girl takes after her mother....she came home from school with a migraine. She's not allowed to take medicine at school, and she refuses to leave early. So sometimes, she ends up falling asleep on my bed snuggled up with a dog.
I had NO IDEA it was International Women's Day. People kept telling me "Auguri" (congratulations) and one person even brought over this desert for us. Crazy! I din't see any flowers being bought around Valentine's Day (with a few exceptions) but tons being bought on International Women's Day.
Yep, school will do this to ya...out cold while she was waiting the 20 minutes before leaving for volleyball.
We Facetimed with Emily so that she could help us find a baby picture of Regan in our stored things. This is one of my favorites! This baby girl will graduate in less than 3 months!
Look at those tiny toes!
A beautiful day to go to the park for a couple of hours

Hudson and Katherine kicking the soccer ball

Lauren and Regan having fun with the volleyball
The sheep are coming!
At one point, we were surrounded :)
The babies were hard to control. They would take off running in one direction and then change course just as fast.
The series of getting a group photo...Don't touch me or I'll punch you ;)
I know you might tickle me so I'm going to hold your hand
Cheese :)
They always find a tree to climb. This one was quite difficult...the bark was super smooth witch made for a very slippery try.
Well, I've never had to mix my own medicine before. The doctor wanted me to get this medicine for Benjamin's toe (STILL trying to heal) Interesting. It seems to be doing the trick (except for the fact that the medicine is only good for 7 days after mixing) That's a little annoying.
Silas! It's been a while since we have seen you out! We love to hear him laugh :)

Just hanging out and talking on the bed
Katherine's homework about the Renaissance...
She enjoys these kinds of assignments.
So if you see hooks/rings on the sides of buildings, they are for "dog parking" while the owners go inside. Most stores welcome the animals inside, but you will see these hooks in different places. It took me a while to realize what they were for.
Regan made some homemade bread....delicious.
One of Katherine's friends, Martina, broke her finger (when she fell off her horse) and had to have surgery. All the kids were signing her cast.

Katherine brought her spoon home to start the final step. She has been carving it from a single block of wood since the beginning of the year. It's now time to oil it.
This is Katherine's dream car. I'm NOT joking! She talks about it all the time when we see it around town.
Italian Father's Day...again, I didn't know about it until the kids came home with gifts that they made at school (I looked up online why Italy has a different date than the US for Father's Day. Italy celebrates it on St. Joseph's Day) Katherine made an apple crumble (recipe from school)
Hudson made a mosaic picture out of rocks.
Hudson's card...."Thanks for always being a FUNGHI" What a funny guy :0
Lauren's card/scroll of all the things she loves about her dad.
Katherine also made a strawberry crumble...well, because she wanted to know what it would taste like
Katherine and one other were asked to play in the scrimmage game for the 18 and under team. It's the first time she has played a full field game. Normally, she plays half a field.
It's hard to pick her out of these pictures because they are so small on here, but she has the ball in this one. She's in the blue.
Everyone warming up with some volleyball practice while others were setting up the net.
A close up of Katherine's spoon after being oiled.
Jonathan getting some Ruthie snuggles
Silas teaching the baby doll how to play soccer.

I love the side eye smile :)
Regan was cooking for a crew this night! Her final project for her cooking class was to create a menu (with lots of requirements being met for the class) and prepare and serve a meal for guests. She had a Mediterranean/Italian theme.
These Italian donuts were good! I think it's the first time any of us have use fresh vanilla beans in any recipe!
Group photos

My tutor has been online since December. She wondered if the dogs would remember her. I think this is the answer! She always encourages them to break the rules ;) (on the table) They wouldn't stop licking her. She was on cloud 9
Here's our little indoor herb garden...or the start of one. Again, this was a requirement of the cooking class, but will come in handy to grow the herbs indoors.