December 2015

And just like that it's time to get ready for Christmas again. I just love it. All of it. I love getting all the old books out and rediscovering them every year. Now Gianna can read them to Joe.

I love the lights. We went to lights at the zoo. An event we skipped last year because it's outdoors and I think the high temperature for all of December last year was 10 degrees or something. But this night was 55 degrees and it was delightful!

I don't know what mustaches have to do with Christmas, but they're funny. 

I love Christmas jammies and snuggling together.

I love tree lightings. This is at our church. They do a lovely program for the children. Tree lighting, carols, crafts, cocoa, and cookies. It's so sweet.

Joe got a haircut. This lady takes her TIME! And Joe just sits through it happily. The promise of a lollipop at the end is too much to risk I suppose.

Gianna had crazy hair day at school. This is cupcake hair. It's a little hard to tell but there are candles sticking out of the buns.

We made a successful gingerbread house this year. I usually don't attempt them because the box makes them look huge and then you open it to discover that you have to somehow fuse together walls that are only 1 square inch. This was a good kit though. Great size and the kids really enjoyed putting all the candy on it. 

Every once in a while we do an activity that really highlights the differences between our children. Ice skating was one of them. Gianna has been once before and she was definitely more fearful this time, but she stuck with it and made some good laps on her own pretty quickly. Mark, on the other hand, basically quit after one lap. I managed to force him around one more time at the end and he did much better. If he'd actually stuck with it at first, he may have been pretty independent by the end. Interesting.

He's just cute. That's all I can say about this picture.

Of course, preparing for Christmas cannot be complete without a trip to visit the real Santa. This guy is great! He's so patient and personal with the kids. The minute Joe sat on his lap, he said, nay commanded, "Say Ho-Ho-Ho!" Also, I think they enjoyed the candy canes as much as the man himself. I don't remember ever loving candy canes at all. These kids devour them with great commitment!

Mark's 6th Birthday!

To say Mark was excited to celebrate his birthday was a bit of an understatement. He had his first on-location party with lots of friends. It was so fun to see how much he enjoyed himself!

The only girls present, Gianna and Bella did some hanging around at the party. 

 Mark got more presents than we knew what to do with! Such kind and generous friends he has!

Mark, you are such a great kid. You make us laugh with your silly jokes and voices. You make us proud with your kindness and caring. I love playing games with you and I love the way you look out for Joe. You are such a great playmate for little kids! Daddy and I are so proud of how well you're doing in kindergarten! We love you!

November 2015

With a day off from school, we headed to Crayola Factory for some fun! We went when Mark was a toddler and they've made it even better than it was then. We had a great time on this unseasonably warm day!

Taking turns in the laundry basket is always a fun time!

Both sets of grandparents were kind enough to trade off the children for a couple nights while we got away to exotic Alexandria, Virginia. Actually, it was quite nice. After a crazy few weeks of work for Doug it was just what we needed. It was a bit early for me to feel the Christmas spirit, but it was fun to see the decorations around Alexandria and National Harbor in MD. It was a lovely weekend and we are SO thankful to our parents for being such awesome grandparents and babysitters! And though I have no photo evidence, Mark lost his first tooth while we were gone...how can he be old enough to lose teeth?! I'm pretty sure he just got his teeth. 

Joe still likes to have stuff on his face a lot.

Shopping with Gianna.

We tried putting Samantha's hairdo on Gianna...it actually turned out pretty good!

Our one and only Thanksgiving picture doesn't show what a crowd we had! My parents, Doug's parents, two of Doug's work friends and their families. It was a beautiful day and the kids were even able to play outside. 

We always decorate our tree on Thanksgiving weekend. Nonna was around to help this year, so that made it even more special!

Our neighbor dabbles in photography and was kind enough to take some family photos for us. We used them for our Christmas card. They turned out quite nicely!

October 2015

Here's October. Joe's pants were too big.

Mark loved soccer.

We went to the farm with Batman. They have the best corn on the cob there!

Remember when Halloween was just one day?! The kids looked forward to it all month. Luckily Joe loves to dress up so he had lots of opportunities to "practice." Here's one of his costumes, "Red ninja" to match Mark's "Gold Ninja"

The witch and ninja ready to get candy!

Joe opted to be a dragon for trick or treating. Here we're on the way to the cousins for round 1.

The whole gang.

We went back to our own neighborhood for round 2 of trick or treating. Joe loved it. He was very polite and delighted to get a treat at every house. During round 1, he got a lollipop at the first house and then sat in the stroller and ate the lollipop for the entire event. I've never seen a 2-year-old so committed to a piece of candy...a tootsie pop no less!

These are actually Halloween prep. We grew our very own pumpkin! We carved it and I bought small ones for the kids to paint.

Gianna's 8th birthday

Gianna's 8th birthday was pretty special this year! We had simple pizza and cake with the family at home but then on a Sunday morning I took her (and her cousin, Aunt, and grandmothers) to the American Girl Store in NYC! Admittedly, this was something I had hoped to avoid, but it was very nice and actually made for a very special yet easy way to celebrate. We had a nice brunch in the store, did some browsing, got Samantha's hair did, and bought one new outfit. She loved every second of it and got to be with all her favorite people. I think I actually prefer this to a party where I do a ton of work for a party with a bunch of kids I don't even know. 

Gianna, you are a joy to have as a daughter. I am so proud of the young lady you are becoming. You are thoughtful, really thoughtful, and kind, and sweet, and smart, and funny. I can't wait to see everything you do in life. I love that you are not afraid to be yourself and not just do what everyone else is doing. You are super helpful and kind to your brothers and they adore you. My favorite thing about you right now is how we can share a good laugh together; you have a great sense of humor. Daddy and I love you so much!