Fall asleep on mommy = we get funny pictures

Too tired to climb the stairs last weekend the boys decided to crash on mom... Daddy got the camera and... wuh-huh-huh!



Normally around here all the nose-picking goes on during the day. But not tonight.

Life is good no?

Jiu-Jitsu face...

Don't they look tough?? I wouldn't want to run into these guys in a dark alley.


The boys have now earned 2 stripes and will be testing for their white/yellow belt next week. Everybody say "ooooow, aaaaah, oooooh". We'll take plenty of pics. They are learing a lot every week and I'm amazed at how much they have retained.

Grasshoppa... I will squish you like grape... WAA-YAAAAH!!

This week we signed the boys up for Jui-jitsu, or as the boys call it "ju-ju-shoe". They couldn't get enough of it all week until last night when the instructors actally made them work. Ethan was actually in tears towards the end. The instructor told them that they will feel muscles they never even knew they had. Dominic toughed it out but scowled at me every chance he could. He repeatedly asked the instructor if it was time to play dodge ball yet. So we are taking a break today and going back tomorrow. Mommy and daddy love it because when the kids don't listen the instructors make them do push-ups.
Wuh-huh-huh!!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Volini Easter 2008

Easter was quiet this year. Until about 9am when the sugar hit. Enjoy the slide show, the boys picked the song.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It's snowing!

Today we got tons (well, tons for us) of snow. The temperature is staying right around 32 so not much is piling up, but it's mostly sticking. The boys are praying that it freezes real nice tonight so that school will be canceled tomorrow.

Too freaking cute not to post

Dominic's class play

Last week the 1st grade class at Degan Elementary had their play Ei-Ei-O... Oops! Here is a quick clip. Dominic was the only one we saw that did not sing or do any of the cute hand movements. When his lips were moving I think he was having an imaginary conversation with someone because his words were not in time to the music. Or maybe he was praying to God that it would be over soon. He told us he was nervous.

Notice the chick costumes as I made those (40 of them with help from a few other moms... they are paper plate with feathers glued underneath... trying to resememble an egg shell). I also helped make the barn and silo on the stage.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Christmastime 2007

Christmas this year was wonderful. The boys are at that "perfect" age when the anticipation for Christmas morning is so intense that sometimes they cry. Every day for weeks prior to the big day they asked to open one small present. And each time we told them tears would flow.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our house got a facelift

Before....

We finally had the tree in the front of our house removed, and then added some grass. These pictures do not do the house any justice. We used to have 2 trees in the front yard and with them there you could barely see the house. A few years ago we had one tree removed (not seen in any pics here), then a few months ago we had the other tree removed. Then for about 6 weeks we had a pile of dirt in our front yard. Finally last week the sod was put in. It wasn't neccessarily just the trees that I hated (who hates trees?), but the hideous planters that the trees were growing from. Not to mention the disgusting ground covering that housed plenty of critters.

Gone. All GONE!

And after...

Halloween 2007

It's that time of year again! This is the first year that the boys (Ethan, at least) wanted to be something spooky. So Ethan chose being a phantom and Dominic was a commando.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Nanny turns 97!

We had a wonderful time in Hereford, TX. We all stayed in Nanny's iddy biddy house that the boys loved. The played outside so much. There were a litter of kittens that Dominic wanted to watch even at night with his flashlight. They climbed trees and made spaghetti (??) with the grass. Dominic also lost another tooth during the visit. Good thing the toothfairy likes to travel.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Dexter Volini

Meet Dexter Volini.

The newest member of the Volini house, and Sugars nemesis.

We still love you Sug.

Stupid Wal-Mart and their stupid free animal vendors. Who can resist free kittens? Well, me usually, but look at his face? He was so sweet. It was only a matter of hours before he was running all over the house chasing dust bunnies and earplugs. He even hung around the boys.

A Tooty Tah

Ethan performs "A Tooty Tah". A song/dance he learned at school this week...

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ethan starts kindergarten and Dom enters 1st grade

Class of 2019 & 2020

How scary is that?

More important than the fact of it being the first day of school, the boys finally got to wear their new Skechers. It was the first time that Dom had ever requested a particular brand of anything. So then of course Ethan had to have them too. To see the Skechers, and some cute boys on their first day of school, watch the video.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our trip to California

The anticipated trip to California was awesome. The boys had a blast playing with their cousins and seeing everything. Disney, beach, and the zoo. We wanted to get them down to the San Diego Zoo, but the Santa Ana Zoo was about 90 miles closer, and about $100 cheaper. Dominic asked me several times, can we move to California? And when can we move to California?

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Hello Toothfairy!!

While we were visitng our family in California, Dominic lost his first tooth! Neither mom or dad were there to witness the event, but Grandma, Papa, and Ethan were there and took notes for us. It was painless and (pretty much) bloodless.

He's growing up!! (Waah! Boo-Hoo!)

New Umbrellas

Grandma got the boys new Sponge Bob umbrellas (umlellelas) yesterday. They just couldn't wait for it to rain so they could go outside and use them. Luckily for them, today it did rain. It rained a lot. Notice how one of the umbrellas is already broken?

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our Tribute to Daddy

We had a quiet Father's Day this year. We were looking forward to swimming in the pool, but the rain wouldn't allow. Actually, the boys did manage a few minutes before they got too cold. Here's our tribute to the best daddy ever!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Swimming Lessons

The boys are improving on their strokes this year. Dominic has began to demonstrate the backstroke, while Ethan has developed a good strong kick! Click to view their latest. It's clear in the video how much fun the boys have swimming.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mother's Day 2007

"Happy Mother's Day Mommy!" Dominic yells at me. While he's hugging me he says "It's Mother's Day Mommy, are you exkited?!" Yes, of course. Mother's Day was great! Not only did Dominic tell me that I was the best mommy, but Jean came up Saturday night and watched the boys so Brad and I could go out to eat and see Spiderman 3. Mother's Day itself was relaxing. The boys swam in the pool with dad and we grilled some steaks!

Boys Having Fun

If a pool is near, they will get wet.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A visit from Grandma and Papa California

Grandma and Papa from California came out for a visit over Dominic's 6th birthday. We took my them into Fort Worth to see the rodeo and other sites. The weather was a little warm, but hey, it's Texas, we had to deal with it.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Dominic turns 6

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tony Stewart

Who's Tony Stewart? We don't know either. But he races this car in a sport called Nascar. Here is Tony's car in front of Home Depot. The boys thought it was pretty neat.

Dom Runs Away

He didn't want to clean up his toy room. It didn't need his attention (can you tell from the picture?) A few toys, a shirt, and about 7 pairs of underwear into his backpack and he was threatening to run away. I offered him some money for a hotel room and daddy asked if he needed a ride. Lost for words, his response was that he was only going to go outside for a while. When we didn't respond he ran upstairs hurt that we weren't falling over ourselves to keep him home.

Superbowl XLI

Allthough it did seem too good to be true, we enjoyed every minute of the excitement and hype leading up to Superbowl XLI. It was amazing how many Chicago fans came out of the woodworks here in Dallas. Brad, proving not to be on any bandwagon, wore his sun dried, crusty Bears bumper stickers proudly on his truck. The boys wore their Bears shirts every day that they were clean (and some that they weren't). What was this?? We were about to watch the most anticipated sporting event of the year, and what? The Bears were in it? We had a superbowl party.

Ethan's turn in the ER

Mom always said not to jump on the couch.

Or from the coffee table to the couch to the coffee ta-- OUCH! This Amazing Volini Brother didn't quite make it back to the coffee table. This photo was taken the day after the accident. He developed quite a shiner over the next few days to come. What a bruiser!

Our White Christmas

What a Christmas!!

Christmas 2006 was at Grandma and Papa's house in the mountains in Colorado. Days before we arrived they had just experienced a monster snow storm that covered the ground in wonderful powdery snow. The boys were so excited that they didn't waste a second after getting out of the car to go and jump into it.

Please watch the video clip. We took so many pictures that it's impossible to pick our favorites to post. The last pictures were taken at Denver Zoo Lights. The zoo was so beautifully lit up. At first we didn't see many animals but towards the end we saw all kinds of them. Dominic's favorite was the rain forest area. There we saw a cobra eating it's dinner (a rat) and the boys had a front row view of the whole thing. Yuck.

We had to leave a little early because the second monster storm was fast approaching. We were sad to leave Grandma, Papa, and Aunt Dawn and all the wonderful snow. Next time we wont wait so long to go back. We LOVED the mountains.

Make video montages at onetruemedia.com

Staples for Dominic

Well it happened again. Not quite as tragic as the first time, but still bad for Little D. After mopping Friday night Dominic ran through the kitchen and instead of breaking his leg, this time he gashed his head. If anyone has every experienced a head injury, or seen one personally you know it's ugly.

Daddy found him sitting on the floor holding his head. We think he just hit it on the ground but it's hard to tell. It was a big cut and hard to imagine it happened from the floor and not a corner of a table or something. He wasn't knocked unconscience or anything. No dizziness.

Shall we visit with Santa?

Waiting in line to see Santa

In the past, as most of you know, The Santa Experience has not been a good one. Many tears and much screaming. This year the boys asked to go so we quick changed our shirts, combed our hair, and took off to the mall. The line was sort of long but they were patient and they behaved pretty well actually. They even practiced their smiles for the camera. As you can see we've turned a major corner because they were great and I think actually enjoyed themselves. I tried to capture the moment by filming some of the conversation they had with the man in red.

Click video below to see the boys talk to Santa. Dominic dominates the conversation talking about the "snake jungle" he wants. The clip is short but sweet.

Make an online slideshow at onetruemedia.com

Christmas cookies

Making Christmas cookies was so much fun. Mom cheated in every way possible to make things easy and the boys DIDN'T EVEN KNOW!!!

Mothers of the world, hear me now... you must do this with your children. They were so happy. Started calling me "mother" with a british accent and used manners. There must be a happy kid drug hidden in these pre-made cookie batters because it was awesome. Batter in a tube, frosting in a cup. Too easy.

It's a christmas miracle.

Thanksgiving 2006

Grandma and Grandpa from California came out again this year for Turkey Day. The weather was gorgeous. Around mid 70s. This was the biggest Thanksgiving at our house since we moved to Texas because Uncle James was here too along with Grandma Jean. We also invited some friends of ours who recently moved here from out of state.

Grandpa made a rope swing in the back yard. First he looped the rope over a branch and pulled the boys up and down on it. Then he tied some knots in it and tied it higher in the tree so the boys could practice climbing the rope. Last he added a wood plank on the bottom to act as a swing. The boys had tons of fun with grandpa while they were here. He showed them how to climb on the roof of their little house in the backyard also.

Check out more fun with the rope by clicking on the link below. No music just the occassional "whoooa" or "aaaaah" from mom.

Make an online slide show at onetruemedia.com

Camping at Lake Tawakoni

Every year the boys look forward to our camping trip. Last weekend we took the family to Lake Tawakoni about 1 1/2 hours from Lewisville. As usual we arrive after it's dark and have an impossible time setting up the tent and have no idea what our campsite and the surrounding area looks like. But as usual everything was fine when we woke up at 6 am (!!!) to a lovely little patch of dirt which we call home for the next 36 hours.

We realized that we were minutes away from a huge flea market so we took the boys there for a while to do some walking around. Most of the time was spent back at the lake chasing after the kids on the bear hunts and adventures. Ask Dominic his favorite part about camping and he will probably say "donuts!", ask Ethan and he will probably say "peeing in the grass". They also enjoyed pretending to camp while they camped. ??

The kids loved to walk through the trees and brush. They often pretended they were lost, "Where are we?!" "I think we took a wrong turn!!". So dramatic. Sometimes they would even find clues.


Too see more camping pics click on the link below and turn up your speakers!


Camping 11/3 - 11/5