Thursday's usually bring things back around for me...
...this week, we hit a trifecta. Or a hat trick. Whatever you want to call three days in a row of wonderful company and dinners. Tuesday with the Barrios', Wednesday with the Montes' and tonight, Andrea & Breanna joined us at Viro's! Plus, Rosa & Vito, as a bonus. These dinners really helped bridge the week nicely - and for the bambini, well, the entertainment, the smiles? Priceless.
Tuesday night, at Tonio's Junior Optimist Club dinner, we had to bring two photos of our family. One of the photos Tonio chose to bring was of Cody, Aut, Tonio and Breanna decorating our Christmas tree. Mrs. Curtis asked the kids to write down their memories of the photo - what was going on, how did they feel, etc. She stopped and asked Tonio who Breanna was...he paused, thoughtfully, and answered "Well, she's like my sister."
We spent a good two hours at Viro's tonight eating, relaxing, talking and eating some more. Everyone went through the Italian Wedding soup - in fact, they ran out! Andrea always gets the pappardelle with chicken (fettuccine with Alfredo sauce), Vito made me zucchini Parmesan (which isn't even on the menu), Breanna ate the largest plate of raviolis, Autumn, a massive bowl of spaghetti and meatballs and Tonio stuck to the soup. They followed it up with gelato - testing all of the new flavors, like cantaloupe and eggnog. I don't know where they put it all! We pretty much closed the place...another great ending to our day!
Except it wasn't quite the ending...arriving home after 8:00, Autumn finished some homework, while Tonio showered. At 9:15 Autumn comes out and says "Oh yeh, I need to bring salsa in tomorrow for Mr. Lara's class." Nice. Soooo, I whipped up some table salsa, extracting my inner-Kim...nicely, working in the kitchen is soothing for me...and as I diced tomatoes, peppers, onions and a lime, I enjoyed creating this for Autumn to bring to school.
Earlier, after school, we had picked up Lexy and Breanna. Tonio was excited to share his Angry Birds gum that Monsi had gotten for him...
A whole box of bubble gum goodness!!
The kids chomped happily on their gum...Breanna and Tonio comparing loose teeth...when, suddenly, Tonio cried out "I'm chewing on my tooth!" and he pulled a tooth out of his gum!! So, looks like the tooth fairy will be paying a visit tonight...Kim prepared me to be versatile!
Oh, and it was a tricky night in another way. It was Cottonwood Elementary fundraiser with Papa John's Pizza. The teachers actually deliver the pies to their students homes! Kim and I participated in this one often - it was a lot of fun. We'd drive and a teacher would ride along with us to walk the pie to the front door. One year, we got to escort the school mascot, a coyote named Comet!
It was also Desert Sky Middle School's fundraiser at McDonald's. Another fun event. The teachers run register and help behind the counter to raise money.
We had three places to be at once.
Andrea and I put our heads together -we wanted to be able to help somehow - and came up with this: Cody was staying home to get homework done. I ordered him a pepperoni pizza to be delivered...and the Principal and three teachers delivered it thinking we'd all be home! Cody thought that was pretty neat...and he ate the entire large pie by himself!! I dropped Lexy at a friends house so she could go to the McDonald's fundraiser and contribute to that fundraiser....the rest of us rushed to get to Viro's! All bases covered.
Now, all bambini are in bed and I have a chance to read (Mary asked me the other day if I still like to read...I told her yes, I 'm currently reading "A Good Son" about Boom Boom Mancini. "Oh that's right", she said. "You have time to read because you never sleep!"....I love the advance readers we get at the bookstore - this is a great one so far!
And the Kimmy memories continue:
Cody, all of 6 weeks old, in PA, at my mom's, after a 2,500 mile drive! 6 weeks! Cody was a trooper and Kim, 6 weeks after giving birth, drove half the way!! Have I ever mentioned how amazing she was?
And in Baltimore with my dad...
My dad's back yard...
Back in Tucson, at Cowtown, getting Kim some sweet boots.
The Desert Museum...yeh, wish I had kept a tally of the visits we made there...
Playing with Autumn's piggies!
Love this look...
I saw her today, as I drove to school to pick up Tonio and took a picture...
Above Cottonwood Elementary...
And certainly, in the sunset, as we made our way to Viro's...
Always good to see her..