House Projects

Yesterday, Vince went out and bought insulation for the garage. Here he is around 8pm still working. He's almost done. I got really worried after he came inside because he was burning up and his cheeks were so red. This morning that had all gone away. I HOPE he doesn't work again today cuz it's not going to get very warm (maybe 15 degrees?). The garage does seem warmer and this should help with keeping the kitchen and the upstairs attic area slightly warmer, plus the garage!! Sofia and I were working hard too making a diaper cake for a friend. It was pleasantly easy and Sofia was a good helper!! I shall take a pic when I have the finished product. Happy Thursday!!

Clutter fixed with Craftman

So, I really don't like clutter at my house. Some of you may not know this, but Vince and I spend part of our "free time" organizing closets, under the bed storage, the armoire, cabinets, drawers, etc. This past weekend the light shown upon us and we decided to organize Sofia's toys in her room. In the past her toys have been dumped in a really cool red wagon that Grandpa & Grandma got her. The wagon is in very good condition and whenever Sofia gets the chance to ride in it, she does... except it's been full of toys recently. So, we're in the car on our way home from Kentucky and I get this idea. Let's find something that we already have to use as storage, and the light bulb goes off. GRANDPA WALMBOLDT'S TOOLBOX! (Vince's grandpa) It's been sitting in our garage since we got married (it sat at the old house and sat at the new house) and we don't use it for anything. So, I got Vince and his muscles to move it inside and between the three of us we cleaned it from inside out and lined it with shelf paper. PRESTO, instant toy organizer! Sofia has a drawer for her coloring books/crayons, princesses stuff, etc. The bottom of it opens up to a compartment where we have placed her toy laptop, princesses bags, and other toys. I put some favorite stuffed animals on the top and included the piggy banks she has as well. It's the coolest and what other little girl do you know that has a CRAFTMAN's toolbox in her bedroom? Totally awesome.

Hangin @ Airport Hanger

Hey blog fans. Wanted to let you know the Iadipaolo's are going to the airport tonight in hopes of winning round trip tickets for 4 to Mesa, Arizona for the Cubs spring training. Also included are tickets for 4 to 2 games and hotel too. Sandra is registered but can't fly that soon to her due date.

There are 6 of us entered and 4 that want to go so if one of us wins we will take the other 3 with us. Good Luck to Me, Sandra, Tom, Laura, Jane, and Jim.

2nd place gets a suite to a Chiefs game. So hopefully we don't come away empty handed.

UPDATE: We didn't win. Sofia cried when they announced some guy named Ralph won. IT made me wanna "Ralph"

Chopsticks extraordinaire

So, we had our first set of conferences last week for Sofia. They went pretty well. Sofia's teacher told us that she is doing well with manners, colors, shapes, numbers, and motor skills as well. We were impressed since children can behave differently in the home vs. in public (some of you have witnessed Sofia's persuasive ways to get what she wants...). The teacher told us that she hasn't seen a child this confident in a while and that she believes that this asset is in Sofia's favor. I just had to ask what else we can do for Sofia to keep her more aware and learning constantly... the suggestions were slightly disappointing since we do all of them already: Read to her, expose her to lots of different activities, and allow her for creative thinking. She has been to professional ball games, live theatre performances, cultural events, movies, eating different ethnic foods, and the list goes on. She is so funny and is mostly willing to try something new.

For example, this past weekend we had a great time together as a family. Monday was my favorite because we went to Dynasty Buffet to eat for lunch. I have been "craving" eating with chop sticks and was thrilled to be using them. When I was in high school we had a foreign exchange student from Japan that taught us the "proper" way to eat with them and also taught me how children were taught to use them so I could teach my children someday. At the restaurant, I made the "children's version" of chopsticks for Sofia and she ate her ENTIRE meal using them!! She loved them and even tried to use them without the help of "the training wheels". Vince saw that they had chopsticks for sale at the front counter so I bought us 4 pairs to have at home.

Gotta love Sofia's pic using her chopsticks with her sweet potatoes...

I'm so proud :)

New Year's in Maryville

Here are a few pictures from our trip to the St. Louis area for new year's. Above is Sofia ice skating for the first time with Uncle Omar. He is a much better skater than I am so we decided to have him take her out for her first time. Below is Louie with Dali. He is Sandra'a cousins from San Francisco's dog. Louie smelled hime for 2 days straight ( most of it was crotch sniffing).

Here is Sofia with a fake belly on at the maternity store at the Galleria in St. Lou. She loved it and kissed it goodbye when we left.

We had fun in Maryville. It was cold,but nothing like Peoria is and has been. I'm moving to Hawaii :)