Evelyn turns 2!!!

To celebrate Evelyn's big day we followed our tradition and took her to Disneyland for the 1st time =) We had a wonderful time and she loved every minute of our trip. Here are a few pictures.

Football

Well....it was a long and exhausting season, especially with both older kids playing. Joseph's team made it to the playoffs and did amazing! Unfortunately, they lost the championship game by less than one yard in overtime =( Finishing in Second place was still great!!!!

Legoland

Some of our Best Friends came to California for a visit. We were able to visit for one fun filled day at Legoland. Here are a few pictures from our all to short visit.

Happy Halloween

Joe & Maddie's Football Schedules

Saturday, October 17th
Joe- 1:30pm @ Diamond Valley Lake (Win)(1-0)

Thursday, October 22nd
Maddie- 5:30pm @ Valley-Wide (Win 25-7)(1-0)
Joe- 6:30pm @ Diamond Valley Lake (Win 18-7) (2-0)

Saturday, October 24th
Both teams had games this day but we were unable to attend.
Maddie- (Win) (2-0)
Joe- (Win) (3-0)

Thursday, October 29th
Joe- 6:30pm @ Valley-Wide (Win) (4-0)

Saturday, October 31st
Maddie- 10:00am @ Searl Sports Park (Loss 20-6)(2-1)

Wednesday, November 4th
Joe- 6:30pm @ Valley-Wide (Win 37-0)(5-0)

Thursday, November 5th
Maddie- 5:30pm @ Valley-Wide (Win 20-0)(3-1)

Saturday, November 7th
Joe- 1:00pm @ Diamond Valley Lake (Loss 12-7)(5-1)

Tuesday, November 10th
Maddie- 6:30pm @ Valley-Wide (Loss 21-6)(3-2)

Thursday, November 12th
Joe- 6:30pm @ Valley-Wide (Win 24-0)(6-1)

Saturday, November 14th
Joe- 11:00am @ Searl Sports Park (Loss 12-0)(6-2)

Wednesday, November 18th
Maddie – 5:30pm @ Valley-Wide (Win 6-0)(4-2)
Joe- 6:30pm @ Valley-Wide (Win 18-12)(7-2)

Saturday, November 21st
Maddie- 9:00am @ Searl Sports Park (Loss 38-0)(4-3)
Joe- 12 noon @ Searl Sports Park (Win 24-7)(8-2)

Monday, November 23rd
Maddie- 5:30pm @ Valley-Wide (Loss 18-0)(4-4)

Tuesday, December 1st
Joe- 6:30pm @ Valley-Wide (Win 26-0)(9-2)

Wednesday, December 2nd
Maddie- 5:30pm @ Valley-Wide

Saturday, December 5th
Maddie- 10:00am @ Diamond Valley Lake
Joe- 1:00pm @ Diamond Valley Lake

Flag Football 2009

Well it's that time of the year again. Flag football season is upon us with a vengeance. Both Joseph and Madison are playing this year. Between the two of them we are at football 5 to 6 days a week right now. Joseph's team, Trojans, already played their first game this past Saturday against the Bears and won 25-0. It was a great game and Joe played great! Madison's team has not received their schedules yet so they are still hard at work with practice 3 days a week. Tonight her coach worked her as the team's Quarterback and decided he wants to keep her there for a while since she is currently better than any of the boys on her team =) Here is a short video of her at practice. As soon as I download my pictures from my camera I'll post some from Joseph's game.

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Happy 10th Birthday Joseph

It is so hard to believe that 10 years ago today we were in the hospital welcoming Joseph into the world. When you're a kid and someone tells you that time only goes faster once you become an adult, they weren't kidding! The last 10 years have gone by in almost a blur. I am having a difficult time dealing with the fact that I now have a 10 year old child.....partly because that means that my 30th birthday is 4 months away =( Anyways, Joseph is very excited to no longer be in the single digit birthdays and of course being 10 now puts him 6 years away from driving....LOL!


Here is a picture of Joseph's birthday dinner. His actual party will be on Saturday and I'll try to post those pictures some time next week.

In Loving Memory of an American Hero

On September 7, 2009, my uncle, Robert James Barone, passed away. He served two tours in Viet Nam and was the recipient of two Purple Hearts among many other commendations. There are not sufficient enough words to describe what an amazing person he was or to measure the true amount of loss from his passing. One poem from his Rosary service comes close though......

"God saw you were getting tired and a cure was not to be, so He wrapped his arms around you and whispered "Come home with me." With tearful eyes we watched you suffer, and watched you fade away, although we loved you dearly, we could not make you stay. A golden heart stopped beating, a determined spirit was at rest. God broke our hearts to prove to us "He only takes the Best." ~Unknown~

BOBBY WILL ALWAYS BE ONE OF THE "LEGENDS" IN OUR LIVES!

Fishing in Mexico

Steve and I took a day for ourselves recently and went fishing on a charter boat. We left from Point Loma in San Diego and spent the day fishing in Mexican waters off of the Coronado Islands. Fishing is Steve's hobby but he convinced me to go with him. We had a great time and were joined by some friends. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't as good as we had expected (the sun never came out that day and we actually got rained on for about 15 minutes) but we still had a wonderful time.

Steve's goal for the trip was to catch a Yellowtail. Well, he hooked into one but after fighting the fish for 10 minutes or so it broke his line and made a great escape. We both caught some Sand Bass and I caught a Sculpin which is also known as a California Scorpion Fish.


Steve's great fight with the Yellowtail


Steve's 1st catch of the day

Back to School 2009

Well it's that time of the year again.....Back to school for the kids!! Joseph started 5th grade which is his final year in elementary school =( I have no idea where the time went! It seems like just yesterday we were walking him up to his first day of Kindergarten. We are excited for him but sad for us....LOL.

Miss Madison began the 3rd grade. This also marks her entry into the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) Program. In California schools children become eligible for this program in 3rd grade. She is very excited to be in GATE and had been counting down the days to return to school!!!

Date Night =)

Our friend hosted a luau on Saturday night and we were lucky enough to find babysitters. Joseph and Madison spent the night with friends and Evelyn spent the night with Grammy Linda & Papa John. Going to the luau was just what we needed and most definitely deserved. Steve has been working so much and I have been going to school non-stop since January. Plus we have been very busy with the kids' sports schedules so a break was necessary. Anyway, we had a wonderful time and I just wanted to share some pictures.

More Balboa Park

Balboa Park

4th of July

Madison the All Star Softball Player!

After a long softball and baseball season, Madison and her coach convinced us to allow her to tryout for the All Star team. We knew that it would be a big commitment on her part and ours but we decided to go for it. To our amazement Madison made the team. It's not that we didn't think that she's a good player; it's just that it was her 1st year playing softball and there were plenty of other talented players.

Madison plays catcher and right field. Her All Star coach told us one of her favorite things about Maddie is that she has the heart of a ball player. Boy, she really has no idea how much that's true. During the regular season all Madison thought about was softball but now it got worse. The child did nothing but live, eat, breath and sleep softball. She practiced 6 days a week for 2 hours each time. I was attending school in the mornings and taking her to practice in the evening. While her and I did this Steve was at home taking care of Joseph and Evelyn after working a 12 hour day. Then, of course we had to travel to her tournament. Needless to say, we all made big sacrifices to help make it an experience to remember.

She had a wonderful time playing and wouldn't trade the experience. However, Stephen and I are unsure if we will allow her to do this again next season. It was very difficult not just for us to juggle everyone's schedules but it was physically demanding on Madison. Several times she actually fell asleep at the dinner table =( Anyways, I'm not trying to bore anyone with this story but it is by far the most excitement we've seen this summer so far. My school schedule limits our summer activities.

Steve's Birthday at Ocean Beach

Joseph sings in the School chorus

Madison performs in the school talent show!

Madison decided to participate in the school talent show. She sang "Accidentally in Love" by the Counting Crows. It was a wonderful performance, but I'm not exactly impartial either...LOL! Hopefully sometime soon I'll be posting the video clip of her performance.


Madison on Stage


Still Singing!


Madison with her friends Clarissa and Kaci