Memorial Weekend (and poppies, too)

John and Conner went to Florence over Memorial Weekend with the Boy Scouts on their annual cemetery clean-up trip. It was a great experience for them with the beautiful Tuscan countryside as the backdrop. Too bad it dumped on them five minutes into the official ceremony. But that only made it more impressive to witness the veterans standing at attention, unflinching even during the downpour. (Unfortunately, John wasn't able to get a picture of them, for obvious reasons. It was pouring.)

Poppies!

The poppies actually came out early this year and we barely got out there in time, even though it was only mid-May. The last two Springs we've lived in Italy I have witnessed the poppies blossoming and have thought, "I have got to get the kids out in them fields and take some pictures." And this year I finally accomplished it. Needless to say, Olivia was in heaven. Monet, eat your heart out.

little helper

Conner had fun taking some pictures yesterday evening while John and I were mowing the lawn with our Little Helper. This little guy kept going as long as we did (we did not finish; our yard is huge), it's just too bad his wasn't a real mower! It wouldn't be possible for John and me to mow at the same time if Sean-Peter didn't have his toy mower right alongside us.

This is a guy that doesn't hesitate to

sit on the vacuum while I'm trying to use it. (Maybe I should get a miniature

one of those, too, huh?) He was making a beeline of glee straight toward me completely undeterred by the whirring engine and shooting grass before I thought to dig out his own version.

He must have mowed with us for a good hour.

(What are the chances he'll keep this up so willingly into his teenage years...?)

For God So Loved the World...

... that He lets us incorporate pagan traditions into our Easter celebration! Okay ... but really, what would Easter be without the egg hunt and sugar overload?

And overload they did -- at least Sean-Peter. I'm not sure we ever managed to get anything into him that day that could reasonably qualify as belonging in one of the five food groups. It certainly couldn't make sense to a two-year-old that he couldn't freely eat from the many desserts on display at our church potluck -- mere steps away from our seats at the outdoor service.

We did try to steer him away from the desserts and toward the real food, but we were mostly unsuccessful. To make up for all the sweets that day, our grand plan was to ban them the next. That forced Olivia to resort to sniffing the candy wrappers like the true addict she is, clutching a remnant like it was the last remaining vestige of a bygone era.

Our sugar-free plan mostly worked, too -- other than Sean-Peter discovering the one unfound egg (there's always one, isn't there?) and promptly devouring the chocolate inside. Oh, and there was the little thing with our elderly neighbor, calling over the piccoli as she likes to do, only to have them return with a full piece of cake in one hand and a bag of candy in the other. Well, we tried.

Introduction (and Carnevale)

Welcome to our new blog! And my latest attempt at keeping up with loved ones near and far. Here's a picture from this week of the kiddos at Carnevale, which all Italians celebrate, young and old. (There's no school that day, either; they take their partying seriously.) We just went to the parade at Montereale, a nearby village. Every Commune holds its own local parade; we didn't get to the one in Aviano, but Montereale is just a hop and a skip away from our house and is so lovely nestled in the foothills of the mountains.

On another note, John is due back next month! I don't know the exact date yet, but mere weeks to go is a great improvement over too-many-to-bother-counting...! (He's been gone since August for a six-month deployment to Afghanistan.)