12/25/07

Christmas Dinner at the Jones'

Our friends Becca and Travers invited our family over for Christmas dinner with their family. Becca's parents were in town as well, so it was a fun evening. We had ham, this really good stuffing and corn casserole that is a tradition in Becca's family. The Mazzarelli's made mashed potatoes and desert- peach-bread pudding. It was the first time I had made it and it turned out really good! Very yummy for breakfast the next day. Carl had made brioche bread for brunch but it had a hole in the center so we used it for the bread pudding. The kids had a great time but everyone was tired from the excitement of the day so it ended up being a fairly early evening. We are so thankful for such good friends.

Getting ready to eat!

Carlo and Daddy!
(this is Jonesy, the
Jones' new puppy)

















Sophia scoping out
the table for food.

Allie waiting to eat.

The kid's table.

Decorating the Christmas
tree cake, mmm!

Sprinkles!!!!

A little post dinner
fairy fun!

Yes, Carlo is playing
Fairy Barbie with
Hannah

Christmas Morning

12/25/07

Well Christmas this year has come and gone. I can't believe how fast it has all happened! I had to work night shift 7pm to 7am on Christmas Eve. I felt bad because the kids had to wait until I got home. The kids had a great time and of course got too many things from Santa! It was really cool because Carlo got his Polar Express train and he was beyond excited! Sophia is now at the age where she realizes what presents are but I think she got bored after about 3 presents. She was really into Dora, dress up stuff and dolls this year and Carlo loved his trains, Little Einstein stuff and Spiderman. Carl and only did stockings for each other this year which was nice; one less thing to worry about. Note to self: Santa needs to buy less next year! Ha Ha!

Sophia all decked out riding
her rocking horse from
Xenia (our neighbor)














Carlo inspecting his
new birdhouse from
Grandmom (we waited
to paint it)












Sophia as Cinderella!

















Carlo finally getting
to open his presents.














Sophia digging in!











Finally- The Polar
Express train!

A Dora phone, perfect
for the girl who loves
the phone and Dora!

Opening gifts from
Grandmom- a
Spiderman toy.

Fun in the Snow!

12/23/07

After brunch some of the kids wanted to make a snowman and play in the snow. They made a really cool snowman and it gave us some time to clean up after brunch. Xenia (one of our neighbor friends) was so nice to hang with the kids and take some action shots.

Carlo and Hannah
next to their snowman!

Silvia, Carlo, Hannah
and Leila with their
work of art!

Silvia, Carlo and
Hannah sledding
with their butts!

Christmas Brunch at the Mazzarelli's

12/23/07

A few friends and our family decided to have a get together for Christmas; brunch style. The parents thought it would be fun for the kids to do a Secret Santa at the get-together. We had a total of 6 families in our home that day for a fantastic brunch. Everyone brought something to add to the feast and Carl cooked eggs, waffles, and pancakes to order. The kids had a great time playing, exchanging Secret Santa gifts and decorating snowmen cookies. The adults had to do some refereeing but overall it was a great day of good food and good friends.

Everyone enjoying
their brunch.








The chef hard
at work!













Wakely helping
out in the kitchen.

Hannah and Addison
caught with their
hands in the cookie
jar!

Bridget hanging out
with Ella and Sophia.

Sophia and Kristian
checking out the gifts.

Cameron, Carlo
and Leila decorating
snowman cookies.

Connor, McKayla,
Silvia and Addison
decorating their
cookies.

Sophia and the aftermath...
eating icing right out
of the container, mmm!

Presents From Nana!

Carlo and Sophia's Nana sent them some early Christmas gifts. Needless to say they were so excited! The goodies kept them busy for hours; coloring, play-doh, stickers and new clothes!

Carlo opening his
gift bag.

"It's so gooshy!"

Sophia inspecting

her new outfits.

Sophia using her new

princess purse.

Santa lollipops!

Enjoying their new goodies!

12/13/07

Making Christmas Cookies with Addison

Carlo's friend Addison came over to make Christmas cookies and they had such a good time! We used pre-made dough and the kids used cookie cutters and decorated them. They worked really well together and they made really yummy cookies! I think they had a better time eating the dough and the sprinkles though!

Rolling the dough!

Eating the extra cookie
dough! Mmmm!

Decorating the cookies and

eating the extra sprinkles!

The yummy results!

Testing their cookies!

MMM! Delicious!

Ella had to try some

too! (Addison's little

sister)

12/11/07

This is just a really
cute pic of Sophia!
(Look at those
pigtails! So cute!)

For the real news... Aunt Carol was so thoughtful and sent us an adorable snowman to decorate our new home. He is sitting in our living room and the kids just love it! He is very sparkly! The other note-worthy event was that Sophia is now in a big-girl bed. Well, we used Carlo's top bunk and put it in her room so it's not really her bed but that is top priority after Christmas. The first few nights were just awful but now that she is used to it we even get naps out of her! The crib now resides in the garage!

Carlo and the

cool snowman!

Sophia all snuggled
into her "big-girl"
bed.

The House All

Decorated for Christmas!

Carlo very excited to
put out the moving
reindeer!













The pretty wreath
Charlene sent us on the
front door!














Frosty on our
front porch.
(Carlo's favorite
decoration!)














Our tree!

12/04/07

The First "Real" Snowfall

(approximately 18" in 24 hours)

Well the first snow fall came and it was amazing! The snow is so pretty! It has imposed some changes for us though. Because it stays cold and the snow doesn't melt (it was 2 degrees the other night!), it's important to wear snow boots whenever you go out. And it takes longer to get Carlo ready in the morning for school because they play outside whether there is snow or not. So they have to wear snow pants and snow boots to school or else they can't play outside. And hats and gloves are a must! It sounds very tedious but it's not bad at all. In fact we have really been enjoying it! We haven't been sledding yet but we can't wait! I also noticed they are preparing the park near our house for the ice skating rink.










Our house covered
in the pretty snow.
(Carlo's favorite
snowman decorating
our front porch)


















Our neighborhood.













The view from the
front porch.












Sophia waiting
to go out in the
snow.








Sophia wearing
Daddy's boots!












Carlo using his
handsome smile
to get us to let
him outside
to play in the
snow.