Leo is a happy boy

Today we were playing outside while Dave changed the battery in his car and a tractor carrying a huge load of wood came pulling down our tiny street. It stopped right across the street and Leo could not believe it! He was so happy and stood there the entire time they unloaded the wood. He was getting up out of his chair and walking to the gate then would go back to his seat. It was pretty loud but he didn't seem to mind. 

Quinn came outside from painting her fairy house to join in on the fun. She has been asking to make  a fairy house all day. She has spent the entire evening painting and glueing to a shoe box in order to make the perfect fairy house. I love her little (or big!) imagination. A few fairies might have made it from the toy room into her box to surprise her in the morning. 

Finley was enjoying the action as well.  

 

Leo was so excited he couldn't stay in his seat. I took a video of this and he probably watched it 20 times after they left. 

  

After they were done unloading we headed inside and Leo yelled (in his little Leo talk so I am going to paraphrase for you..), "no, I not watch the tractor weave yet!" It was the sweetest thing ever. He sat outside while the man went into our neighbors house, I am assuming to get paid, until he came back out and loaded up and pulled off. He waved to Leo and honked before he left. Leo came inside after the tractor was gone. It was an unexpected exciting evening for us and especially for Leo. He is into everything train, tractor, truck, car right now so this was super fun for him. I love watching how excited he is about these things. I love having a little boy!! 

Tractors are good, life is good. 

Italy Update

I had all these great aspirations to keep the blog updated at least once a week about our new Italian adventure. I was so proud that I posted about our travel over and about our first week and then...... well life happened! This one will be short also because none of my pictures have transferred to my computer so I only have a few to share. 

This move has been HARD, really HARD. We have been here over a month now and I can not believe that! It feels like the blink of an eye but also like forever all at the same time. We were in TLF for only 2 weeks and then were able to get our house, which is beautiful. It also has its challenges but I think I will be able to work them out over time. The base gives you loaner furniture until yours is able to be delivered as well as wardrobes since there are no closets. Did I mention that, there are NO closets!! That has been the hardest part of trying to get the house together is I don't have anywhere to put anything! We have already been to Ikea twice and I see many more trips in our future. Let me tell you... Ikea with 3 children is a nightmare!!! By the end I really feel like I am losing my mind. Now I am getting off track.... so we were able to get our loaner furniture a few days after we had the keys to the house and we had to get an extra bed because my brother came to visit us!!! He will get his own post once I get my pictures to my computer.  

We got into our house and were about to get the internet installed about 2 weeks later. We were lucky and were able to get fiber optic internet so it isn't too slow and doesn't go in and out with the weather. Thanks to google translate (my most favorite thing) I was able to talk with the guy doing the installation. That has been a huge challenge, not speaking Italian, I want to learn but it is very intimidating. I said something in the car in Italian tonight and Quinn said, "there you go mom, you are getting it!" She likes to think she is speaking Italian and just makes up her own words which should be interesting since her school is all in Italian. She will also said "how do you say that in Italy?" Which I think is the cutest. This reminds me of the first time I drove from our house to base (my first real Italian driving experience), the whole time Quinn was so proud of me and kept saying "you are doing it mom, you are doing it!" She sure knows how to make me feel loved. 

 

Here the kids are hanging out in our living room with our loaner furniture couch. There is a little bit of our view from the front terrace. Quinn loves to show everybody the mountains when we FaceTime them. 

This was hilarious. We were at a restaurant and I took the kids into the bathroom and we found this! I guess it is called a squatter. I don't know, but I do not like it. Quinn loves it and always runs into the bathrooms when we are out and about now hoping she will find more. 

They were able to deliver our household goods only about a week after being in the house which is really good for an overseas move. I am so glad my brother was here to help because it was super chaotic. They were bringing boxes in so fast and I wasn't sure where to tell them to put them. Our movers were pretty good and they spoke some English. They all knew English numbers well so they could yell out the box numbers. At one point they unloaded our fire pit and Dave asked if you are allowed to have them here and they all just stared at him. They said yes but that Italian men don't do that. Then Dave heard the one guy trying to explain to the other guy about the fire pit, he said something along the lines of using a stick and cooking a sausage. We were cracking up! They requested Popeyes and Subway (on base) for lunch. The kids were pretty good during the move. Finley got to ride along with me and we worked hard to keep the big kids entertained so they didn't get crushed by boxes. The movers lifted our couch over the front terrace to get it inside, I thought for sure it was going to fall and break. We did have several things damaged during the move (dining table, entry way table, Quinn's toy kitchen-that she could not wait for them to deliver, our TV stand and a few other scratched and broken items when we started to unbox things). I know they are just things and it could have been worse but it is hard to replace some things here because there isn't the variety like in the states and trying to find a store (and figure out when it is open.... for another post) is frustrating! I miss Target and Costco more than I would ever know!! 

 

The kids are loving it here. All of the little (and I mean little) parks near our house have this spinner toy and the kids absolutely love it. Leo thinks he loves it and then it starts going fast and he grabs onto the bars and holds on for his life. You can also see the mountains in this picture. They really are beautiful. Quinn says all the time how much she loves Italy and that she is glad we moved here and got a new house. I think I will join her in that thinking eventually but right now I miss Utah and our friends something fierce! 

This post isn't very long and doesn't give a great update on our Italy adventures but my pictures are not on my computer and I am exhausted so it will have to do for now. I feel better about getting at least something up on the blog because it has been so long since my last post! We are going to get very busy soon because Quinn is starting Asilo (Italian preschool) next week and will be continuing with dance (we started a few weeks ago and she loves it) and also starts soccer! I'm ready to get us in a routine and to start getting involved in our new community! Hopefully more frequent posts to come with pictures. For now, Ciao! 

Wine is good, life is good.