Why do the best friends always leave?

It seems that all my good friends always move. Annie is my best friend in Florence and the coolest chick ever, and now she's moving next week. Last night we had our usual monthly moms nite out but this one was Annie's "farewell" dinner so it was also accompanied by a visit to the bar after dinner. We went to a yummy typical tuscan restaurant and mommy didn't get home until 1 am. oops, missed curfew. But I did clean the whole house and made Ryan the dinner he requested, so no guilt would follow ;) Annie, I love ya and it's gonna suck without having you around! Your a great friend and I look forward to hearing about how everything turns out in Wisconsin!!!

my english speaking friends. They all came to study or visit in Italy, met an Italian and here they are

annie and I

Biba, the gorgeous Pakistani British friend smoking her fag

Marie, Sonya and Melanie

"everybody wants you!"

were the lyrics by Billy Squier I was thinking this morning. At first I felt like a bit of an outcast at the kids school because of the language barrier but the tables have turned. They are thrilled to have english mother tongue kids in their kids class and they always want to practice their english with me. So now, when I pick them up and Brody is playing in the dirt rather than getting on the bike, I am no longer embaressed to yell at him in English. The school they attend is a private school, which are always a little bit more prestigious (which is a category we DO NOT fit into, it was the ONLY school that had an opening for both kids) so their are a lot of parents that know english but want to practice. I'm soooo desirable and people are just drawn to me! hahahaha, I'm just happy to not feel like the illegal immigrant who snuck over the border, doesn't know the language and is uneducated.

just another beautiful fall morning in florence

I got a little worried because the leaves weren't changing at the time I'm used to in Ut.

my gorgeous pregnant sister

Corine is due Nov 7th with a little girl and she looks amazing. She got her pictures taken by none other than Liz. great pix link
When I grow up I want to look just like her when I'm pregnant.

Today I got an e-mail from my sister-in-law of her recipe for sugar cookies. Within 3 hours, I had gone to the store, baked and frosted and was in a coma from all of the sugar. We made some halloween pumpkins and cats and took them to neighbors. It wasn't out of the kindness of my heart, it was to save my hips and to boost my ego. I love their reaction to my baked goods. They love em!


Cloe was so excited to make the cookies that she kept the recipe safe while I was at the store and then she wanted to tape it to the cupboard. Which was actually a very convenient place to have it. Notice Cloe's shirt? I like buying the kids shirts for the holidays (thank you target and old navy for you $5 tees) and this is the only Halloween shirt I have been able to find in Florence so far. But my sister has had the chance to see some very cute clothing stores.

1 c. shortening
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. sour cream
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. (lemon, vanilla or almond extract)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. baking powder
5 1/2 c. flour

Roll thick and bake at 350 for 9 minutes (we usually bake for 8 1/2 minutes)

Frosting:
1 cube butter softened
1 3oz. cream cheese
1 tsp. lemon extract (or whatever extract you used in the dough)
1 lbs. powder sugar

love hate relationship

I love pampered chef and always find fun new gadgets when I look through their catalogue (once a year) but I have to say, I kind of hate this whisk. Is that what it's considered?

I love it because I don't have an electric mixer and it's fine for pancakes but whenever I mix something that is thicker like cookie dough, I hate it. It all clumps up in the center because the whisk goes into a funky shape inside. It's just annoying to always try to scrape things out from the inside. Just thought I'd let ya know. This just shows how repetitive life is since school started, not much excitement here so I have to blog about a whisk.

repeat

If you viewed our blog while my mom was in town then these photos are repeats. Lately I've been showing my sister the city and riding my bike from here to there. Actually tonight on our way home, I hit a car. Abbey was in front and Brody in back so add about 50 lbs of extra weight that throws me off balance with sudden movement or a dismount. I thought the car was stopping for me to cross the street and no, she was turning left. If I didn't have the extra weight, I would have never touched her. But thanks fatties, all they ever do is sit around and not help ;) But we were all fine and no one touched the ground. I was 1) a little embarrassed at my spastic maneuver 2) embarrassed 3) worried she was going to pull over and yell at me in Italian, she kinda did.
Anyways, I took my sister up to Piazza Michelangelo and also up to Fiesole. It was just me and Abbey and Crystal. While Crystal went and saw the ruins, Abbey and I walked around the small little town, mostly up big hills. But eventually found a playground! Tonight we had to get a book for Ryan in the center, so we went and got a Doner Kabab and then sat on the steps of Santa Croce and finished it off with Gelato.



I love this city!

is it bad I let my kids scale the walls of a church?

piazza santa croce

dinnertime chat

On our ride home from school, I talk with Cloe and Brody about how their day at school was. Usually they tell me they colored, played and ate yummy lunch and then the conversation further revolves around lunch. For some reason tonight at dinner we heard all about school. Who the cute boy is, who's kissing who on the cheek, the boy in Brody's class named "rock-n-roll" and the girl named "cutie pie" (he's quite the story teller). Then Cloe started reciting a prayer they say daily
"de Padre, De Figlio, de los spirto, santo. Amen"
and while she recited it, she did the sign of the cross, going from shoulder to shoulder, forehead to chest. Alright. It's quite cute. My little Catholic girl.

Not much has been going on. Our house guests left after 2 1/2 weeks and so Crystal gets her own room now. It's been fun having Crystal here, she's fun and we get along well. And I can never complain about the extra help! I got a new ride so no more bus for me! Or walking. Crystal thought a bike in Florence looked romantic so she bought one too. Actually Ryan found it for her and he did quite a good job. It's perfect for her.
I always love Conference weekend for the obvious reasons but also because it's such a slow relaxing day. This late morning almost afternoon we made these



and tomorrow, Crystal and I start "The Carbohydrate Addicts Diet". Ryan always laughs when I talk about the start of a diet. He knows they obviously never last. i used to call them "lifestyle changes" because I was told that helped you stay on them. This time I promise i will stick to it!! :) So consider these pictures my "before" pictures. hahahaha!

sorry mom, I think I may have topped your recipe!

Then Crystal wanted to see the city more so Brody, Crystal and I went for a bike ride through the city center and I showed her some main sites.

(haven't quite figured out this editing thing on the mac)

Then we came home and went for a family ride

and saw a beautiful autumn sunset


Is this considered an Italian soccer mom?

Oh wait, I'm missing the cigarette.
How about an Italian BMW (big mormon wagon)

that was too easy

I will try not to rip on Italians too much. So the internet is now working again, yeah!! After almost 2 weeks of trying to contact our landlord, with no luck, we had our friend call the telephone company. It ends up, we had to go and get a different modem. So on the bus ride to school today, I was stoked to pass a Alice store that was semi close to the house to buy a new modem. Later Abbey and I treked on over and between little Italian and English, they sent me to another store about 2 miles away. I hate humidity. That store said they didn't have them either and I had to go to a computer store, "but it's far, do you have a car?" "my armpits are wet, does it look like I have a car?" So she gave me Italian directions and I stumbled across it. Oh, it was 2 stores down from the first store I went to. They didn't have it either. So I called Ryan and told him it was now his job to find the modem. Mostly because I pick Cloe and Brody up at 1:30 and all the stores are now closed for lunch. He's the bomb and he found one. So now I can catch up on blogging and "the hills" :)

What's been going on? The kids like school. Brody really struggled at first and would come home and be really fussy and irritating and getting them ready in the morning would be a nightmare because they would complain about not wanting to go. But now they are singing songs in Italian that they learn and they say their favorite part is lunch. They get really good warm lunches that the city provides. But it seems that every day I have something new I have to buy, gym clothes (seriously!! they have red warm up suits with a white shirt) toothbrush bag and the list goes on. damn catholics! If only they would pay their tithing!
One of Ryan's students started school in florence so he, his wife and 10 month old have been staying with us the last 2 weeks while they find a place. nuf said.
Went visiting teaching on 2 different days, seeing only one lady each day, took me 3 hours!! Holly, I used the message about nezzie saying "it's no use". They loved it. go to Holly's blog, it's a cute story.
One of the things I LOVE about living in Florence is riding my bike. The first half of the year I was scared to death to ride a bike and one day was kind of forced into it and then I did the triathlon and now, I love it. It is so much faster to get around and there is just something about riding your bike in the city and being one with the cars. Oh yeah, I gotta go with traffic. Not only traffic but Italian drivers. For some reason, I think if I peddle fast, they can't catch me or hit me or open a car door on me or quickly pull out of a parking spot. Oh wait, that happened today, I had to go home and change my pants. I got 2 kids seats that I'm getting put on tomorrow so we don't have to do this anymore

My baby sister comes tomorrow for a month and I can't wait. I can't wait for her to see all the hot italian guys ;) But I'm planning an awesome family trip while she's here and it's a surprise for you and the kids. It's gonna be awesome and I promise that you will be jealous.