Remember Us?

If not, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Shea. Shea Costa. I'm the one who usually rambles on about the shenanigans of the Costa family....however, my shenanigans have been few and far between. Excuse me a minute while I think of a good excuse as to why...................
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....nope. I don't have one. So lemme redeem myself and tell you what we have been up to.
Little Miss Riley Roo. Where do I start? When she's not busy dancing, singing, selling cookies, giving a Girl Scout pledge, making up sports that are a cross between baseball and basketball, organizing tea parties, reading unruley ammounts of books, finding treasures, and dressing in completley unmatching clothes; she is, well....asleep. She is just as full of life as ever. I would like to warn those of you that strike up a conversation with her---it may never ends. This girl is a conversationist. Evenutally Berns and I have learned to add a nod and a "uh huh" after about 30 minutes of one story.
She makes it well aware that she is 7 AND A HALF. The half is very important to Miss Riley. She also loves to bake cookies on her own, and is thrilled when a friend, any friend, comes around to play. She is a WONDERFUL older sister to Zoie and tries to include her in all she does. She gets very defensive if someone tries to hurt or be mean to Zoie. Exhausting as she may be--she is stunning. End of discussion.

And then there is our little monter...the beast...the Zoie. Typing her name made me exhausted enough for a nap. From morning to night this little 1 year old is on the go. You will find her towering on top of her play kitchen countertop, dancing on top of the kitchen table, opening the door to the pantry to discover all the treats inside, running around butt naked because she has convienently ripped off her diaper, Or covered head to toe in marker that she has decorated herself with. If for some reason she is sitting for a moment it's because she is digging in the dirt, unraveling the toilet paper, or found the bag of chocolate chips to devour.
She is a little wonder. She has learned many many words...sometimes it takes me a bit to figure out what the heck she is saying because she speaks half portuguese and half english. Her little spirit is a crack up. Exhausting as she is--we think she's perfect.


Child #3 spends his days working...a lot. Berns still is fortunate enough to work from home--however we still dont see him (isn't that an oxymoron?) When he's not busy with work you will find him with the girls--playing basketball in the house, eating the bag of chocolate chips with zoie, having barking wars with the dog, or watching a soccer game. He is still involved with the scouts. We love him for working as hard as he does in such horrible economic times.

And then there is me. For those of you who hybernate for the winter, or are just "not all there"; I am large with our third child. Costa child #3 will make it's debut appearance the end of August. We aren't finding out what this little monkey will be, so I guess I'll just be buying cute things for both genders. Other than getting excessively large I spend my time not cleaning, not cooking, not blogging. I work for a performing arts school where I've been lucky enough to direct 2 productions of Beauty and the Beast. I stay quite busy with that and trying to fulfill my motherly duties. Riley tends to go to school looking like Punky Brewster, Zoie usually looks a little homeless, and my house generally has a "tornado has just touched down" appearance. But the kiddos remain happy, the husband stays fed, and the house has not caved in yet...I think I'm doin alright.

Now that I've posted an encyclopedia on our whereabouts (and I lost your interest about 6 paragraphs ago) here are some pictures from the past few months. Enjoy.