The Big FIVE!

It feels like just yesterday our little red head was born, yet time definitely flew and it's been a whole FIVE years ago today! And, in the spirit of the littlest boy in the Abate family becoming a whole hand, we had to celebrate. After he opened gifts (actually our gift was opened after cake), we ate our favorite Sunday meal - pasta. Today's Italian feast was filled with several options including ravioli, gnocchi and cavatelli along with meatballs and salad at a table filled with immediate and extended family (missing of the few of the key players, Liv and Di, though)!

A few days before Cam's birthday celebration, I went shopping trying to think of what he would like in addition to purchasing some cute summer clothes. In the end, I filled a two gallon blue sand bucket with swim trunks, two outfits, matching flip flops, sunblock and more, complete with a boogie board sporting the same design as his new trunks!

Cameron LOVED his How To Train Your Dragon decorated chocolate and vanilla cake so much it was difficult for him to share until he learned he was taking some yummy cake home. He even sang to himself, which was undeniably adorable!

Here's some shots of the intimate festivities:

Yummy Dragon Cake and Aunt Lexy and Joe's birthday gift!

The birthday boy and his big boy cousin, Joseph! (apparently I couldn't crop Christian out of the photo while he was eating!)

Years past...I couldn't resist!

Some of my fave pics of the little guy!

Celebrating his 2nd birthday in 2007!

Blowing Out Candles!

Opening Gifts...while Joseph and Liva watch!

And on this occasion, Cameron absolutely enjoyed his ice cream....so cute!

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has sprung and I was extremely excited to choose a new background design as a result. Although this time of year is somewhat rough for me because of my horrible allergies, I am trying to bear through it with the best of them. With that being said, I'm looking forward to much warmer weather, which means more pedicures, flip flops and sandals. The latter I have already been sporting in full effect, except to work of course.

I want to take this time to wish everyone a HAPPY SPRING...hopefully, in the coming months, I will have more springy pics to post...especially some of Joseph playing baseball. He's moved up from t-ball, which is extremely exciting and I CANNOT wait to catch one of his games. More to come....

And, I use it a lot

Let me first start by saying that throughout school, you’re taught to not begin sentences with conjunctions. It’s during this time when you also learn how to diagram sentences and construct creative paragraphs, essays, etc. But, as you proceed into the writing world, you are given some freedom of expression – well, somewhat. So, when I begin a sentence in one of my articles with the word “and,” it’s technically fine. But one of more recent pieces my mother read (Having Seconds - South Philly Review - March 11, 2010), made her stop and ask why I decided to write incorrectly. Well, she actually said, “I just wanted to ask you a question, are you supposed to start a sentence with “and?” And, I realized exactly what she was asking since it wasn’t the first time I've encountered this interrogation.

Whenever I have Joe read over one of my pieces before sending it along, he always points out the sentences beginning with that little conjunction. It’s definitely a pet peeve of his, he just doesn’t like nor approve of its use at the start of any sentence – and it goes against all grammatical usage he and my mother have ever learned.

After being the brunt of their questions, I decided to research a little bit (basically, I googled it) to find out who was correct or if the whole topic was simply a matter of taste.

Apparently, it’s not standard practice to use “and” at the beginning of a sentence, but that doesn’t mean it’s incorrect. But, you should – as with any conjunction in the beginning of a sentence – follow it with a comma (although I didn’t follow that rule in the above mentioned article). It’s also a good idea to use it as an effect or to accentuate an aspect of the content. And, trust me, many writers have also used "and" in the same way. I even noticed it while reading Elizabeth Gilbert's most recent venture, Committed. So, I'll finish by saying it's a matter of taste whether you prefer to use conjunctions at the beginning of sentences or be more grammatically rigid and not.