Fangupo Cheer Squad

Ti's parents were in town this past weekend along with one of his brothers. They surprised our boys by showing up to their soccer game. These pics were all snapped by my mother-in-law. She came over after the game and was beaming with pride telling me how well the boys did.

Celebrating at South Point

Since Me and Ti were both off of work for Labor Day and the kids were out of school we decided to celebrate Nic's birthday on our break. South Point is one of our favorite casinos. We go there all the time to watch movies and the last time we were there I was telling Ti that it would be fun to spend the night there because of all the amenities the property offers. So we did just that. We booked a room for 2 nights and had a little "staycation" with the boys. When we arrived with our suitcase they were thrilled to find out we would be spending the night.After we checked in and settled in our room we headed out to tour the place to get a feel for what our plans would be for the next 2 days. We decided to watch a movie the first night. The kids had seen every "kid friendly" movie there except Nannie McPhee 2, so we bought tickets for that. Mote was not excited, but ended up loving it. It was really a cute movie. Perfect for a family outing.

We had dinner that night at Don Vitos which served Italian Cuisine.

[The boys enjoying dessert]

[My cannoli]

The next morning we went up to the bowling alley, but it was reserved for league bowling so we took the kids to the arcade instead.

[This pic was actually taken the first day on our tour]

[Siope is mad because it was time to leave]

[photobooth fun]

With time to spare before lunch we decided to hit up the pool. We were pretty much the only ones there because it had rained earlier that day. You would've never guessed because it was so sunny and warm.
After working up an appetite we had lunch at the buffet.

[Siope ate sooo much! This is him on his 3rd rib]

We took a nap and when we woke up we checked the bowling alley again - closed still. The kids were so bummed. They were really looking forward to bowling, but it seemed as though the alley catered more to leagues rather than the regular public. We ended up ordering Pizza and drinks and watching movies up in our room. I even talked the guy at the theater into letting me buy some popcorn even though we weren't going to be in the theater. We ordered the Karate Kid and Iron Man 2. I had no doubt that Ti and the boys would like both movies, but was surprised that I enjoyed them as well.
Siope kept saying "I love this hotel. I want to live here." Unfortunately we had to check out the next morning. Back to the house, work, and school. It was fun while it lasted.

Big Time Rush feat. Nic & Siope Fangupo

Every time I try to record the kids singing they all the sudden turn shy, so I secretly turned on the webcam while they were playing one of their favorite Nick games. They are really big fans of Big Time Rush and this was the only way to capture them singing one of their songs. They had no clue the camera was rolling.

Six in September

Nic turned 6 on the 2nd. His birthday fell on a Thursday which meant we had usual school and work activities throughout the day. There's a small slot in the day when we're all together. It happens when the kids get off of school. I usually have just a couple minutes where I can ask them how their day went before I leave to work. So on Thursday when this "free slot" came, we all gathered around and sang Happy Birthday to Nic. Ti made him a chocolate cake and cooked shrimp alfredo for dinner. Nic's 2 favorite things-- shrimp and pasta. It was really low key. I felt bad because he kept asking when everyone was going to come over to help celebrate. We had to explain to him that everyone was at work, but that we had something special planned for him on Monday (Labor Day). That whole weekend the kids kept bugging us about what we were going to do for Nic's "party". Ooooh the suspense...

It's a Wrap

Project M&M World is complete. Ti came home today with a gift basket from his friends at the factory.


My favorite item in the gift basket was this darling candy dispenser...

>>Jackpot!<<

Back to School

School is officially back in session and I can't believe all 3 boys are in elementary-- crazy! Since Nic is now in 1st grade, he and Mote are in school for the entire day. And although Siope's only half day Kindergarten, it's still so weird to have the house void of all kids for a few hours. I'm still surprised at how quiet it gets around here at 1pm. Lately I've been taking advantage of it and crawling back into bed to catch up on sleep before work. Or sometimes me and Ti will just sit around and talk while watching TV. Not gonna lie-- It's been great! I'm thinking that maybe next year when Siope joins the full timers that I'll be able to ditch the swing shift and go for an earlier day shift.... we shall see. In the mean time the kids seem to be adjusting quite well and I have no complaints about the new teachers... so far ;) Here's to 9 consecutive months of school... I'm all for it if it means a regular summer in June!