Renaissance Fail

 Life in the Martino household continues on its busy way. I have been hard at work managing my too big caseload and fretting about potential upcoming changes to my service area. On the home front, Eric and I have been battling the chiggers again and losing. I ended up with 41 bites this week after 5 minutes of weeding outside :(. We've found a nanny for the summer (actually 2 since one of them can't do the whole time) thank goodness! Eric and I took a date night and planned out our chores so hopefully we can bear the load more evenly and stay on top of our housework so I don't feel like we're being overwhelmed by chaos. It's working well so far! Eric is still thinking about changing jobs but hasn't really started searching in earnest yet because he's still trying to nail down what exactly he's looking for. And we've been spending our limited free time spending time with family, game nights and date nights with friends and enjoying Ryan George and Dr. Glaucomflecken on youtube and the show Julia on HBO. 

Yesterday we went as a family down to the Scarsborough Renaissance Fair in Waxahachie. It was one of those things that I was like, "this sounds like a great family activity where we can make some good memories." Well, it was definitely memorable. The fair itself was... fine. There were some cool shows, lots of people dressed up, food was decent. But it was sooo hot and humid and there was a LOT of walking. Thank goodness we had the stroller, though Emery rode on it more than Isla who decided rather quickly that she preferred to be carried. Nursing Isla at the fair was an adventure because she just was sooo distracted. But it was so hot and I needed to make sure she stayed hydrated so we just kept trying. I probably flashed so many people accidentally in the process! Anyway, we stayed most of the day and then when we left to head home we were like 5 minutes into the drive when Emery suddenly puked in the car! And it wasn't just a little bit! It just kept going! Poor girl had it all over herself, her carseat, the floor in front of her and anything else in the splash path. Oh it was sooo bad! Eric of course immediately pulled over and we got her out but we were like in the middle of fields nowhere. So we just stripped her down and cleaned up as best we could with the limited wipes we had and then just had to endure the hour and a half ride home with the vomit smell. I still haven't deep cleaned the carseat or the floor mat and honestly, I'm scared to. Emery has had a fever last night and today but hasn't thrown up again so I'm hoping it was a one-time thing just because she got too hot and maybe motion-sick. I'm really hoping none of the rest of us get it because I would super hate for Levi to miss his last few days of kindergarten! 

Anyway, that's how life has been! Here's some photos that sum it up:

Emery loves to hold Isla and take pictures with her! 

Martino family Easter Egg Hunt! 

In the evenings after dinner, Isla and I like to sit out on the porch and watch the big kids and Daddy playing on the trampoline. 

Realized we had never taken a picture of our finished patio and pergola so here it is! I love my rain chains and my lights and my wind chime. Now if we could just get rid of the darn chiggers our back yard would be my paradise! 

Eric and I went to a Miranda Lambert concert! It was also VERY hot and humid but so much fun anyway! 

Emery brought home this bean plant when it was just little and in a plastic cup from school. Well, it has just flourished! A couple days ago I let her pick out a pot for it and transplanted it and it is just so happy! 

Love my girls!!

My Children

 I can't believe that this is Levi's last week of kindergarten, Emery is about to be 4 years old and my little Isla is not so little anymore and is eating real food and trying hard to figure out crawling! Time seems to be moving by at rocket speed and I know I will look back and miss these days when my littles were little and all about the snuggles. In light of that, here's what each of my children is like these days:

Levi:

Levi and Kyler on the first (and only) field trip of the year to Crayola Experience

Levi and some classmates: Lakshiv, Ashton, and Adam 

Kindergarten graduation

His kindergarten teacher Ms Bryan is really great! Wish she wasn't retiring this year because I know she would have been great for the girls too! 

Teddy, Kyler, Levi and Evan

•  Still obsessed with Pokemon and watches it every day after school.
•  Kicks me and Eric's trash at Splendor and still likes to play other games as well like Takenoko, Tokaido, Sorry, Sleeping Queens, Mancala, and Life.
•  Finishes kindergarten this week!!! His teacher raves about how sweet and kind and considerate he is to others. He has had a great kindergarten year and made some really awesome friends. He and Kyler and Evan and Teddy have so much fun together and I'm sad that they probably will be all split up for next year! Levi also grew a lot in his reading this year and is now able to sound out simple words and recognize about 20 sight words.
•  Likes snuggle up and be close to me and Eric and definitely has a tender side.
•  Likes to play active games with his dad like various forms of tag and has fun going to Ninja class every Saturday.
•  Is so creative with his Legos and very much enjoys art. 
•  Continues to be a little math whiz and likes to challenge himself with mental math problems and do sudokus in GT. 
•  I am just continually impressed with how my son thinks about the world and approaches problems. He thinks about things differently than I do, can be seriously absent-minded and is VERY messy but oh I love him so and know he has the potential to do some amazing things!

Emery:

After the primary Easter Egg hunt Emery carefully lined up all her eggs and counted them. You know she wasn't going to lose track of any of those treats! 

Styled by Emery

Got a bike from Papi and Nona as an early birthday present and absolutely loves riding it! She has been really good about picking herself back up and getting right back on again when she has fallen. Her stubborn side works in her favor on this one! 

• My little drama queen- feels all the emotions big and expresses them! 
• Is very nurturing and loves to help take care of Isla and others around her. I recently got a million chigger bites and was scratching at them and Emery saw me and was like "try to leave them alone Mommy." And I was like "but they're so itchy!" and she was like: "I know, I know but it's ok try to leave them alone." 
• Loves music and dancing and knows all the words to Sunday Best which is her favorite song.
• Loves gymnastics and practicing her gymnastics moves on the trampoline outside and also on the bar of our indoor trampoline which she can flip over with no problem at all. 
• Has a lot of opinions and wants to be in charge, particularly about what she wears, how her hair is done and what she eats. Which means that meal times and dressing/getting ready can turn into a definite battle of wills when she just wants to only eat treats, keep her hair down messy and wear leggings on a 95 degree day.
• I just love Emery and her zest for life! She is silly and playful and just lights up every room she enters!

Isla:

Went through a phase that thankfully I think is over where she refused to go to sleep for naps unless slothing my arm with all of her limbs! 

"I know if I can just reach a little farther I can get that phone!!"

Baby girl has started trying to pull up on things, including the coffee table! 

• Is such a sweet, happy baby with a ready smile.
• Is starting to have a mischievous side and try to get into things she knows she isn't supposed to have. And growls at us when we try to take them away!
• Talks a lot! Mostly saying "dadada."
• Just figured out how to sit up on her own from lying down and is working so hard to figure out crawling but is getting soo frustrated because she hasn't got it down yet.
• LOVES food and so far has eaten everything we've offered her except for peas. We just started trying more complex foods with her like our lentil soup and the waffles I made yesterday morning and she's a big fan. She also really likes drinking water from her sippy cups. 
• Recently transitioned to 2 naps a day which means her naps are getting longer and she's doing better at going down for them on her own again. She had another ear infection recently (that's 2 in like 3 months) and that totally threw off her nighttime sleep but now that she's on antibiotics and feeling better she's doing better with her nighttime sleep. She usually goes through the whole night without nursing though she may fuss a time or two and need to be given back her binkie to go back to sleep. 
• Is very curious about the world and loves going places with lots of people around she can watch and smile at.
• Recently started clapping and waving and loves to give slobbery open-mouthed kisses! 
• I am so grateful for this youngest child of mine and the love she gives so freely!