A Special Request by Vinny...

On the beach at La Push...if you've never had the pleasure of going you are in for a treat if you ever do make it there!

Barn Party, dressed in our finest barn clothes! (I feel like the page in People magazine where a star is wearing or using the same article of clothing various times...as you may have noticed, the sweatshirt is a repeat! I sure love my sweatshirt!)

Walking to dinner in Spokane

At dinner in Spokane...we may have had a few by this time! Hence more pictures!

At the sandbar on the Columbia River, behind the Gorge Amphitheater...hot hot hot!

How this came about...my husband was wondering why there were not many pictures of just the two of us on the blog...how cute that he noticed, and even cared! I did read in an article one time that it is important to continue taking pictures of just the two of you after you have kids. So many times we are so focused on the kids and capturing their moments and love, that the husband and wife neglect to take pictures capturing their love and special times...we are actually pretty good at taking pictures of ourselves! Have you heard the saying- "The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother"? (I believe it goes both ways.)

Meet our Scarecrow...Toddy!

Meet....Toddy the scarecrow, named by Dominic! The head is a pumpkin we had made earlier in the day from a lunchbag, paint, and newpaper.

Gianna helped stuff Toddy with about 5 leaves...mostly she just played around and let the boys do the work. She was all about being in the finished product picture though!

Dominic stuffed the pants all by himself. He was very serious about this project.

The great idea maker-Daddy! He came up with the idea to make a scarecrow, and took the kids outside after dinner to stuff the clothes. What a fun project for Daddy and the kids!

As an after-note- Dom woke up the next morning after making Toddy and ran to the door, "I want to see if Toddy is up yet so I can say hi!" Both kids then said Good morning to Toddy when they saw he was awake!

Sweet treat from Grandma June

The kids got yet another package in the mail yesterday! They are the luckiest mail receivers! Grandma June (my grandma) sent both kids a teacup perfect for their sized hands. Right away they wanted to use the cups, and so we made hot chocolate to drink from them. They were jumping around with excitement as the water boiled...they couldn't wait to drink from those cups! As you can see from their smiles the whole experience was a huge hit! Dom got out of his bed that night to come and tell me that he wanted to drink from his cup right away in the morning when he got up! Thanks Grandma June!

Overheard...

*Dom and Gianna were making "houses" out of blankets and pillows, setting out the tea party dishes and cars, when out of the blue Dom stopped, looked at Gianna and said, "G you look pretty." Gianna replied with a very sweet, "tank you Dom." Then they went back to the business of building their houses. (This actually happens fairly frequently. Dom is very observant of Gianna's clothing and hair styles! He has said she looks like a princess, that she is cute, etc.! Do you think he will keep this up in the teenage years?! I think I will treasure it now!)

*The kids were watching the floats go by at the Homecoming game and candy was being passed out. Vince told Dom to go closer to get some candy and he looked at Vince and said, "If you get some, you get some." (Deep thoughts by Dominic Riccobene)

* Ooh, chtute" says Gianna when she looks at pictures of herself on the digital camera.

*"Gianna if you love me then I will love you back, o.k.?" (Dom).
"Otay"(Gianna)
"Mom, Gianna loves me!" (Dom in an incredulous voice)

*The kids and I stopped by Vince's school to say hi to him, spent a few minutes walking around talking with kids and staff and then we got back in the car. As Vince walked off, Dom asked, "Where is Daddy going?" I told him Daddy was going back to work, and Dom said, "Work sure takes a long time."

Annual Pumpkin Carving Year #4

The end result...happy kids, happy jack-o-lanterns.

I don't think there was a more pleased kid there than Dom...he had me take about 4 pictures of him alone with his pumpkin, and then talked through all the steps of carving, what he liked, what he thought of his pumpkin...you name it, he lamented on it!


Planning the masterpieces!

Goggles...just in case there is pumpkin splatter! (Just kidding, he refound the goggles earlier and won't take them off!) Gianna is such a cheeser!

Nick and Arnold scooping seeds for roasting later!

What a bunch!

Our three musketeers! What artistic children we have!

This is our 4th year carving pumpkins with the Glassers, and this year the Langston boys joined our chaos! When we started the tradition Dominic and Pryce were less than 1 year old! We always start with planning the faces and then the kids grab the knives and start cutting! A little scary, but fun! We trade houses each year for the event and cook Taco Soup for dinner. We usually carve in the garages, but this year we got smart and did it on the deck so we could rinse it off with the hose after! The kids love to roast the seeds with Johnny's and the seeds disappear almost as soon as they are pulled out of the oven. Gianna loved the seeds this year and joined right in the fun. This year we had a fire on the deck and enjoyed sitting around it admiring the glowing pumpkins, reminiscing about the past carving parties.

"Just the mans are going..."

Tonight the boys were getting dressed for the Sequim High football game and of course hyper...G runs and puts on her shoes too, "My too shoes" she says. Dom's answer: "No G, just the mans are going." He relishes in the "manly" outings!

Mail Call!

How exciting to get something in the mailbox...especially from Grandma!

Grandma knows just what these kids love...Finn Biscuit and candy!

The kids were thrilled to open up the mailbox and pull out a package just for them! I asked them who they thought it was from...Dom said "Grandma!" He was right of course. Then I asked, "What do you think it is?" "Biscuit!" Right on the money! Could it be that Dom has been asking Grandma to make biscuit for him for a few weeks now and to please send it to him? YUP!

"Awe-some" Spiderwebs

The decorating crew enjoying their job well done!

ooooooh! Spooky!

We have never had Halloween decorations outside of our house before (mostly because I was going for the Pottery Barn look!) but this year Nick was able to convince me to take the first step towards a kid's idea of fun decorating. He tried to get the RIP headstones but I said that was a little too much for me this year! Maybe next year! I have to admit, listening to Vinny and the kids string up the spiderwebs and spiders was so fun. They were giddy with excitement and apparently the boys were saying how awesome it all looked...soon little Miss Mimic started walking around the house saying- AWE-some- in a deep voice, just like her brothers! The kids have had so much fun showing their friends the decorating they did this year.

"Set-Ups"

Dom's "set-up" of the big minivan (aka RV) that he made after the weekend that the Eyfords came up in their RV. Later on he made a very large parking spot from legos for the RV!

Gianna's "set-up" of cars...of course whatever brother is doing, G wants to do too! I was cleaning the kitchen and came around the corner and she had made this set-up all by herself!

The kids love to make set-ups...especially Dominic. He makes set-ups of garages with cars, dinosaurs, buildings, and anything else he can think of. We make a couple set-ups a day with blocks, legos or cars. Dominic and Daddy love to set-up car garages at the end of the day...as soon as Dad walks in the door Dom is ready to "set-up!"

Preschool Pumpkin Patch Trip

The Crew...ready for some fun! ( There is no fun without the Glassers!)

Best Buddies since birth!

Pumpkin heads...they searched and searched
for these chosen ones!

Daddy took time from his busy job to come and
run through the hay maze, feed the chickens, and
hang out with his buddy!

Dom had a great time with his preschool class at the Pumpkin Patch. His favorite part was eating the snack of kettle corn and apple cider. He really could have cared less which pumpkin he picked out...just one that was not pokey on the stem! Gianna got to be part of the class fun...and yes she did participate! There was NO WAY she was going to be left out of anything! Any picture we were taking-she was in it...we could not get her out! No budging...but she is a part of it all, and she made sure of it from the pictures to the snacks to the hay maze and slide, she took the opportunities presented!

Who Needs Toys When You Have Blankets?

SUPER KIDS to the rescue! "Ta-da" says G!

Here I come!

Dominic loves making his blanket "ni-night" into a cape
and flying around the house, yard...off couches, anywhere!
So of course Gianna has to make one with her blanket
as well...monkey see, monkey do! They played this
game for about 45 minutes, running all over the yard
making their cape fly behind them.

These are the Days (Moments)...to Sieze

What's better than La Push at sunset, roaring fire, the game of "questions by Shawn," a heart moon, salty ocean air and...beer?! We are livin' the life!


A moment caught on the beach...

The girls God blessed me with...so many years ago! A cord of 3 strands is not easily broken...

Three amazing kids who forever will "cheese" on cue.

Sometimes we are caught with our pants down...but oh it can be so fun!

See how her face lights up when she is doing something that might be questionable?!
I wouldn't miss it for anything!

So many times I find myself thinking..."I can't wait until the end of the day!" or " I can't wait until naptime (for the kids)," and then yesterday an acquaintance lost her son when he was hit by a drunk driver. So her son had made it to the age of 25, and his life was taken...and here I have been wishing away moments with the most amazing gifts I have been blessed with. I probably worry about anything (and everything) a mom could worry about as the kids are so young, but then I was hit with the reality that I really may never stop worrying...and in that moment I was reminded of my own mom who worries still, about us kids. I guess this is part of the job description. I also realized that some of my worries aren't really "worry-worthy" and I don't want to take any of the joy out of these days I have been given with my family. My best friend just sent me this forward...a repeat but it never gets old and we all can be reminded...it is just an excerpt that I am posting.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, 'Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.'

There would have been more 'I love you's'; more 'I'm sorry's.'

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it. live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!!

Let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.Let's think about what God HAS blessed us with, and what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Hiking at Hurricane Ridge...Leisurely

Friendly wildlife, not wary of our loud family at all!


As you can see, suckers made for big smiles!


How lucky are we? What an amazing family God has given to us.


The day was perfect...sunny, clear, and warm. Heading up to Hurricane Ridge used to be a Fall tradition for us, but in the last few years it fell to the wayside. We picked it up again this year. We hiked the trails, taking in spectacular views, and the older boys ran to the top of some peaks while I stayed with the "littles." We picnic-ed and took a ton of pictures.

We encountered friendly wildlife, if not bold wildlife...a bird tried to steal chips out of the kid's hands, and a deer came within a few feet of us, unblinking as the kids talked to him.

All in all, the day is forever etched in our minds.

Weekend with the Eyfords!

We just had a great weekend with the Eyford family visiting us in Sequim. We went to the Farm Tour and the kids had fun painting and carving pumpkins, searching through hay to find gummies, and touring in the Eyford' R.V. Dom and Jack had a sleepover in the RV...not too much sleeping though. As we listened through the monitor we heard about farting, best friends, and "why can't we open the fridge?" We finally had to separate the boys for sleep after 3 hours of gabbing on their part!