Hello Santa

Marco's holiday season was brightened with what's possibly the most genius thing ever invented... the Christmas email video from Santa.

In case you missed it, you have got to see this magical video that kept Marco smiling and giggling through the whole thing - 30 times in a row.

Hope your season was magical too!

Happy Thanksgiving

Marco's first grade class put together this Thanksgiving video in computer class, complete with voiceover.  

...And just in case you don't have the patience to watch the whole thing - or perhaps Comics Sans frightens you as it often does me, I've pulled out the highlights below.

Here's Marco's screen:

And, Marco got a shout out from the new kid!  Note the flag, he's Greek.  Ha!

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Four little monkeys

In kindergarten, Marco struggled with being the odd man out of a trio of sports-loving best friends in his class.  I tried to explain that those boys were best friends at home just like he and Nikos, so he had to understand that they'd been friends longer.  (I left out that the 'cool' boy is the youngest of six kids and probably just 'slightly' more awesome than you.)

Well... two of the boys left Marco's class this year.

On the first day of school, Marco tore into the house and yelled, "Mom!  You're never going to believe it.  Guess what happened?  I'm Rowan's best friend now!"

Such a heartbreaking, and yet, successful turn of events.

So... here's Marco and his new best friend at the Parish picnic:.

Hood Rat

"A map of my favorite things in my neighborhood."




(note the pool)

Gum

"Picture of my cousins running to my gum ball machine"



And maybe proof that were not raising an artist.

Gooooals!

Soccer is well underway and what Marco lacks in agility and grace, he makes up for in speed and wicked strong legs.  If he can get there and get square, he kicks it.  Far.

Last week, we saw the first indicator that maybe he's not too lazy for soccer after all.  He scored two goals - one from midfield.  He insists on telling people that he scored three.  I'm encouraging him not to show off about the one in the opponent's goal.

Contrary to these photos, things are looking up on the soccer front.

Giant Fans

Yes, we're still Giants fans.

Stricken with guilt about not taking Marco to a Giants game this season, I panicked and booked one for two nights before school started.  Or, so I thought.

It ended up being the week after school started, so we trekked to the City with a very tired fan ready to see the "Bomb" pitch.  It was a great game with a near no-hitter and two Posey homeruns. 

Giants game 2014?  Check!

Here's the proof:

The Falcons

In the wake of starting school - poof - it's soccer season!  Marco is playing his first year of real soccer with eight other boys from a class (and a few others), collectively known as The Falcons.  

I told him I'd get him soccer shoes and he started panting with excitement.  He's turning into a little Imelda Marcos of sports footwear.  His request?  The brightest pair I could find and basketball socks to match.

Sure, I'm biased, but he had a nice little hustle at his first practice!  On the way home, he reordered his favorite sports: basketball, soccer, baseball, golf, tennis.  Jeff took it in stride.  

And here's the proof:

1st Grade

Sigh.

At his checkup, Marco's Doctor asked him if he was ready for first grade.  His answer was a 5-minute dissertation on why he likes school, why he's good at math, how he practices math, how he catches fish on his Papa's boat, why he's good at bike riding and more.  I told her our main concern was his shyness.

I don't know how much longer we get to measure our child by stats, so here goes:
83% for weight, 74% for height, teeth: few.

(photo credit and stand-in fairy: Grandma Cecchin)

Whoosh, St. Mary's.

Marco and Jeff rocked an overnight Father/Son basketball camp at St. Mary's.  So cool!

As if staying overnight in the dorms, pizza AND a hamburger at one sitting, a bonding experience with your Dad and non-stop basketball wasn't enough - Joey and Uncle Tim were there too.  Marco's mind was blown.

And only one of them came home limping.  All in all, a success.

The Other Half

Earlier this year, we "won" a week-long family pass to the Club at the Claremont Hotel.  Originally, I had planned to take a whole week off, but in the wake of my new job, I couldn't swing that, so we settled for a long weekend celebrating Father's Day.  Marco got to have a slew of friends and cousins with him during that time, so he was thrilled. We also finally got to play tennis "on a real court," which Marco has been talking about for months.  We're looking forward to getting him into lessons soon.
 
And here's our proof of how the other half lives:

Welcome to the Rock

For Benny's 6th birthday, Marco was invited to a rock climbing party!  Although he did spend some time wistfully watching the basketball party next door, he really enjoyed scaling the rock walls, hanging from ropes and, his favorite, free climbing. "It really hurts your hands!"

Baby's First Tie

(Pictured with his friend Xander at the Spring Program)

Writer, Artist, Director, Voice Talent

Here's a little gem that Marco created in computer class.  They illustrated on screen, wrote a script and voiced it.

Besides being pretty cute, I'm pretty impressed with the school.  :)

Aloha Bunnies

As part of our adjustment to vacationing on the school's schedule instead of our own, we packed up for a Spring Break trip to Maui. The Romioses scheduled for the same time and we were set for an Easter in paradise.

After all, who doesn't want to hunt for Easter eggs in their bathing suits, swim all day and play baseball on the beach?

And here's the proof:





















































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