Being Mangiaracina: father's day

I can't believe that I have not updated the blog since mid-May. So much has been keeping us busy that finding the time to sit down and talk about it has been very limited. So here I am...a month later with lots to share and only a small amount of time (James is already 45 minutes into his nap!). Here is a brief synopsis of what the Mangiaracina's have been up to.

Mother's Day

This year we had a low-key Mommy's Day with extra morning sleep time for me, a home-cooked breakfast, Mother-Son nap time and a BBQ with the Grandparents. I know that Mother's Day is looked at as a "Hallmark Holiday", but I don't care. I love any excuse to spend quality time with my family - especially my wonderful Mom who not only is the best Mom out there (and who taught me all I know!), but the best Grandma that James could ask for.

A Quartuccio Wedding

We were cordially invited to the wedding of Kristen Quartuccio and Bill Kinslow on Memorial Day weekend. James spent lots of quality time with Grandma M., Aunt Adriana, Uncle John, Aunt Lee Lee and Uncle Joe while Ed and I made our way to CT to celebrate the happy couple. Fun was had by all and I think the Mangiaracina's were ready to collapse by the time we left. :)

Celebrate Fairfax

For the first time in many, many years, we were in town during the Celebrate Fairfax Festival and we took full advantage. Ed and I secured some sitters on night 1 (thanks Mom & Dad!) so that we could enjoy the All American Rejects concert (awesome show, BTW). On day 2, we took James to the fair and met up with friends Amanda, Kyle and Rafa to enjoy the rides, games and food. The boys had a great time as did the parents. What's funny is that the shuttle bus ride to the fair and back may have been James' favorite part of the day. :)

Happy Birthday Ed!

This past week, Ed celebrated his 7th annual 29th birthday. If you know my husband, you know that he is a BIG fan of his birthday so after we opened presents, we headed to Ted's Bulletin for a family breakfast and then onto the Reston Zoo. Even though it was Daddy's birthday, we had to keep James smiling and animals seem to be the trick. The kid even was brave enough to conquer is first pony ride! It was a great day that ended with crab legs and birthday cake with the family.

Sue & Ivan are Engaged!

Over the weekend we celebrated a very special couple - Sue & Ivan!! They, along with lots and lots of family and friends, were in town for their engagement party. My parents planned the top notch shin-dig and it went off without a hitch - and without electricity. Wouldn't you know that just as the party got started, the power went out! We like to keep things interesting. :) It didn't matter because it was a great day celebrating a great couple.

Father's Day

We rounded out the weekend by celebrating all the great Dads in our lives. Since Sue, Ivan and family were still in town, we were able to dole out our Dad-love in person which is always a special treat. Our morning started with coffee and gifts for Ed who is THE most AMAZING Dad out there (in addition to my Dad and Ivan's Dad of course!). I count my blessings everyday that I found Ed and that he is James' Dad because he is the most wonderful and perfect man for the job! We then headed to the Quartuccio house to have breakfast with the family and give hugs to my Dad - the best Dad (and Grandpa) a girl could have asked for - and Ivan's Dad - the best Dad a guy could have asked for! It was so nice spending time with these 3 amazing Dads (and some amazing Moms and a sister as well!) and it makes me wish that we all lived a little closer. At least driving distance. Can we all work on that? :)

As you can see, we have been quite busy and it does not end here. Coming up: a week at the beach, a long weekend in Philly, a visit from Adriana and John and a trip to Dutch Wonderland. I'm exhausted justing thinking about it, but I wouldn't want it any other way. #luckiestgirlintheworld

When we first bought this house we couldn't get over how big it was. There was so much space and we thought, how could we ever fill it up? Well, it was easier than we thought and we now look for new ways to organize and store things. Since we don't have a garage, one of our biggest challenges is where to store outdoor things like rakes and shovels and all the tools that are necessary to make a tiny garden look like this:

So, for Ed's first Father's Day, James and Lucy treated him to a brand new shed for the back yard. We had been talking about adding one to our yard for a while, but had to really mull over what size to get and where to put it. We don't have a ton of space back there and have to stick to some HOA rules, so our choices were limited. After lots of internet searches and trips to Home Depot and Lowes, we decided to go with the Suncast Vertical Storage Shed.

Since I am in no shape to pick this up from the store on my own (James really is no help with the lifting), the kids treated Ed to some Home Depot cards. Nothing says Father's Day like "Pick up your own gift and build it yourself!!" :)

Since neither of them are any good at holding things, Lucy and James were on hand for moral support. Lucy was very interested in something on the stairs and James couldn't get enough of his Sophie toy.

In the end, it turned out pretty great. We had to do some shuffling of things so that it would fit on the deck, but with a quick relocation of the potting bench, we were good to . The best part ~ it's big enough to fit lots and lots of junk!