Vince Strongman Bontempo!!!

Hi everyone. Well, the day finally came. This past Saturday was the competition in Madison.

It was so much fun. It was alot harder than Vince thought it would be. But he now

knows what are his strong points and his weak points. Some of these events are

impossible to train for. It was a very interesting group of guys there, too. But,

everyone was so nice and supportive of Vince, so that was good. I was real nervous the day before and the morning of. But once we got there, all of my nervousness went away. It was replaced by

excitement! We couldn't wait for this thing to start. Nicolas was so proud of his dad. He followed him around everywhere. He was constantly taking pictures of Vince, himself, the sky, etc.

This was hard for Vince, but he never, never gave up! I was certainly a beaming wife that day!!!!

I really can't express how proud I am of him!!

He is already starting to train for next year. We are certainly going to look into buying a " pull sled " that he can attach weights to and pull it around for practice. Plus, other things that will help him improve.

So here are his scores. He placed 37 out of 45!!!

This one is called the Log Press!! He beat his own record. He lifted 235lbs. A new PB!!!!

The next 2 are the Sled Pull. They were 565 lbs. that he had to pull 75 feet.

He pulled it 17 feet, 10 inches.

This one was the Tire Flip. The tire weighed 600lbs. He was able to flip it 5 times.

The last event was the Farmer's walk. They filled those cans with concrete and then they had to walk 150 feet with them. 350lbs, Vince walked 75 feet!!

We hope everyone is doing well.

Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there! Enjoy your special day!!

My back up-date.

Hi everyone. We have some news that we want to share with you.

In May, I had a CT Scan of my spine. It's been 4 years since the last scan, so I guess I was due for one. What they found is discouraging for us. I have a " nice size " bone spur that is resting on

my spine @ L5. They are not sure how I got it, but it has to be removed soon. This month

we are meeting with 2 different surgeons, so we can make the best choice for are family.

The doctor said that having hardware in already, will make this surgery a challenge.

We will keep everyone posted as we move forward. Remember, we would love to hear

from you. We want to hear about what is new with you and your family. So, please send pictures

and/or reply to us.

Take care everyone and much love to all of you:)

The next chapter in the local criminal

Hi everyone. We have an up-date on the break-in that happened in March that we want to share with you. On 5/26, I went to pick Nicolas up from school and the " loser " and a friend were there. He is NOT allowed on school grounds but there he was. As I waited for Nico, they started staring at me, pointing, and throwing up gangs signs. Then his friend charged at me. He ran full force at me, veering off at the last minute. They laughed and continued the harassment. We went home right away. We called the police and filed a compliant against him.

The following day was worse. Nicolas and I were walking home from school when I noticed him

and his friend following us home. We called the police right away and they ran back to his house.

Police showed up and questioned them and of course they lied. The cops let them go. Now Nicolas

knows what is going on. It took us a long time and a lot of talking to make him feel safe again.

I'm showing him how to unlock the front doors and we had to sent up a " code " word and where he should run to, to get help.

The crossing guards and some of the moms know as well, so they will help if needed.

We called the Police Chief of South Milwaukee to complain and to our surprise she called us back. He has 5 criminal charges on him that are pending, including ours.

Our case was given to CCC on 5/24. They have 40 business days to review it and send it to the ADA. He has 20 business days to review it. If he feels that it's worth the time to go further

then he gives the case to a judge to review it. Then we go from there.

We can't get a " no contact order " until the ADA has looked at it.

So, we are going to call the ADA on Monday( again ) and let him know what has been going on.

If need be, we will be the BIGGEST pain in the ass that he's ever had.

For the time being, we walk home with other parents and kids to be safe. Just 4 more days

to go. It can't come fast enough. I hope this all makes sense. I'm trying to get all of the facts in this, so I'm sorry if it doesn't.

We will keep you posted as we move along. Lots of love to all of you.

Nicolas lost another tooth!!!

Hello everyone. Well, we are finished with swim now. We go back in the middle of June.

Last Monday Nico lost another tooth during swim practice. Unbelievable!!!

This past Friday Nico and Vince had a " guys night out ". They went to an arena football game

at the Bradley Center. The Milwaukee Iron vs the Utah Blaze. The Milwaukee Iron won!!

They had a great time. The boys were dancing, cheering and high five everyone. But, during

all of the cheering they were doing, Nicolas lost ANOTHER tooth!!!! Can you believe it???

He has two more loose teeth to go and we think that's it. He should have all of his adult teeth then. He has friends that have lost only 2 or 3 teeth and here he is 2 teeth away from having all of his adult teeth. Only our boy!!!

Mother's day was nice. Vince was on call for the weekend. So he spent most of the time at

the hospital, which sucked! I'm use to it though.When you have a spouse working in the medical field, you have no choice but to accept it.

But before he left, he made me strawberry pancakes which were out of this world. My husband

is a great cook. I'm so lucky!!!

Nicolas and I went for walk and we took Montana with us. Nicolas loves walking her.

It was a nice day. The boys gave me the most beautiful flower arrangement I have ever seen.

Plus one of my favorite things to eat...... an ice cream cake!! YUM!!

Nicolas gave me a card that he made. He worked on it all week and it was beautiful.

We hope you had a wonderful Mothers day as well.

Love to all!!

Happy Mother's Day

Hi everyone. It's been awhile since I posted and I'm sorry for that. Life has been pretty busy

for us lately. We are doing some home improvements so we can put the house on the market.

Vince is working on the kitchen cabinets and Nicolas and I are painting the kitchen.

Well, I should say that Nicolas is painting the kitchen but I help when I can. We still have more

to go but it is a good start.

About the jerk that tried to break-in, he is 15 yrs old and lives with his aunt and uncle. His parents didn't want him anymore. He isn't suppose to be in South Milwaukee for reasons unknown to us. He has

left me alone now, but he was harassing me at Nicolas's school for a time. It got so bad that I was

scared to death to walk down to pick up Nicolas from school. My biggest fear was that he would tried to shoot me on the playground or hurt Nicolas in some way. One good thing through, we finally replaced our back door. It's a steel door with no windows. Now I can walk up the stairs without seeing his face looking back at me. That's a relief!!!!

We have some very exciting news to share with you. Nicolas is back swimming again. He had a meet

on April 30th and he did outstanding!!!

He swam the following:

. IM 100yards 2.24 which he took 1st place.

. Freestyle 25 yards 22.07 and took 1st place.

. Butterfly 25 yards 31.426 and he took 1st place.

. Backstroke 25 yards 28.41 and took 2nd place.

But even more exciting news is that Nicolas has set 2 new team records. They are....

. Butterfly 25 yards, 26.7. Backstroke 25 yards, 28.41

We are over the moon with happiness and amazement. He loves to swim and loves being on this team. He is

lost during down time. Honestly, so are we. It's so much fun going to meets and cheering on the kids.

It's great to see the confidence and pride they have for themselves. I know the first picture is somewhat blurring but I got him in midstream. He is swimming the Butterfly stroke.

We hope that everyone had a good Easter and are enjoying the sometimes warm weather.

Until next time, take care and lot's of love!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

"This would never happen to me."

Hello everyone. This past Thursday was one of the scariest days of my life. That day was an

eye opener and a reality check for us. It's something I never want to go through again and

it's something I'm struggling to get past.

Thursday morning, I dropped Nico off at school and walked home. I had a couple of errands

to run so I left right away. I came home briefly @ around 10:00 a.m. I left again because I forgot

something but I returned an half hour later. As I was driving past my home to go park in the garage, I noticed a black kid walking past our home. I didn't think much about it. We have cameras mounted in the front and in the back of our house and they are taping 24/7. We

have a sun porch that is connected to the back of the house. There is only a screen door,

so it's easy to enter the sun porch. So, I came through the back way. I locked our main backdoor

but not the screen door. I put my stuff down on the kitchen table and went

down to the basement to do laundry. When I finished I turned to walk up the stairs when

I saw this black guy staring @ me. It was the same black guy I saw a couple of minutes ago walking down the street.

He was in the sun porch for a minute and a half before we came face to face.

He was wriggling the door handle, trying to open it when I saw him. I ran up the stairs,

screaming " GET THE F**K OUT OF HERE!" " I'M CALLING THE POLICE!" etc.

He mumbled twice about how he was looking for his buddy. He finally left. I stood there for

a couple of minutes. just trying to process what just happened. Wondering if it

really happened. I finally snapped out of it and went and locked the garage door and closed

the gate. I then called Vince and told him what happened. He told to call the police, which

I did. They came right away. When we viewed the tape, I was in for another big shock.

The cameras showed him walking up the FRONT door first and looking in and wriggling

that door knob. He continues to try but fails. So, he walks away but immediately gets on the phone. But what is really crazy is as he was walking away from the front door, I was walking in the back door. Seeing that, everything changed. The cop took my statement and told me

he would be in touch. That night 2 cops came over to look @ the tape. They wanted to see if

they recognized him. Surprise!!! They did. He has been arrested twice, ( one was last week )

for breaking and entering and theft. They caught him and a buddy walking down the

street carrying a big flat screen T.V. We made copies of the tape and handed it over to

the police, which will make this a " slam dunk" case, as Vince would say. He was the same guy

3 weeks ago that came to the front door trying to get in. Montana spooked him off then. We think he was " casing out the place".

They targeted us for the T.V. I thank god that he was alone and that I had that main

backdoor locked. I'm going crazy with the thoughts of " What if". Well, as our

luck would have it, that wasn't the end.

Friday, I left to pick Nico up for school when, I SAW him. He was on the school

playground. Needless to say, I freaked out!!!! I called 911 right away. He was with 2

younger kids, roughly around Nico's age. But as the cops were coming he took off.

He ran across the street and into the alley. The cops got him. They arrested him, but

was free that night. Ready for another shock???

He lives down the block from us and those kids were his family members. They go to Nico's school!!!

We have spent the weekend rearranging the living room and installing dead bolts. We are having someone come out to give us an estimate on a steel door for the back. We still

have to buy shades or blinds for our french doors so no one can look in.

This was our " dream home " and now I don't want to be here anymore. I'm jumpy and very

nervous. I haven't slept since this happened. I'm hoping with time I'll start

feeling better and secure again. I don't want to be the " victim " and give him that power over me.

Of course, Nico does not know about any of this. I guess the next step to take is

to work on feeling better.

We hope everyone is doing good. Lots of love to all of you.

March 13, 2010 Swim Conference.

Hi everyone. On Saturday the 13th, Nicolas had his swim conference. It was a crazy but

exciting day. I guess it was a little nerve racking as well. We swam against 6 other

teams from all over the city. All the teams had to stay in the gym until it was their

time to swim. It was kinda of cool because each team had their corner where

they got ready or just hung out. We were able to meet and socialize with the parents

from our team. If the kids were not swimming, they were eating, playing with

their DS or other games. Some kids took naps while they waited. We had to be there

at 9:00 and practice time was 9:30. The conference started at 10:30. There were 86

events and 178 races. In the beginning it was somewhat confusing reading the 6 page

event sheet, but we got the hang of it. Some of the events were cancelled at the last minute because of "no shows". So Nicolas swam 3 times instead of 4. He was disappointed with that,

but after awhile he was fine.

The young guy walking with Nicolas in the above picture is one of his coaches. Now the way

this was scored is a little confusing. It took us a bit before we got it. The judges take the

kid's best overall time and compares it to the time he swims there. Also, if a kid comes in

1st place in a race doesn't mean he will get a ribbon. The judges reward only their overall scores. Only 1-3 received medals and 4-6 received ribbons.

So our team came in 2nd place this year!!! Riverside took 1st place.

So here are his times.....

He swam the 25 yards Backstroke. His best time for that was 26.70. At conference he swam 28.75

and took 3rd place. Overall, he took 9th place.

He swam the 25 yards Freestyle. His best time for that was 2.98. At conference he swam 23.56

and took 4th place. Overall he took 10 place.

Finally, he swam his 100 yards IM. His best for that was 2.40. At conference he swam amazing

2.21 and took 5th place!!! He took an amazing 19 seconds off his best overall time!!!!

We and his coaches were over the moon to say the least. At first, Nico was upset that he

came in 5th place, note knowing his time yet. But once he found out his time, he was

speechless!!! He did receive a 5th place ribbon for his IM! So, now we are done with swim.

We go back after Easter.

Last Saturday, Vince and I got to have a " date " night. We didn't know what to do with ourselves. But we figured it out and decided to go to dinner and then we caught a movie.

We saw Bounty Hunter. Great movie!! We certainly recommend it. I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend. All the running around is done and now it's time to do some spring cleaning.

I've been neglecting my house a little lately because we've been so busy.

So, we wish all of you a wonderful spring and lots of love!!!

Happy Easter!!