Christmas in January

I am really late posting our Christmas pictures, but the year of 2009 has started out with a bang! Everyone has been sick and we have been single-handedly funding the pediatric practice that we go to. Anyhow, better late than never! Here is nonna reading to the boys some Christmas stories on Christmas Eve. We had lots and lots of presents. Thanks to our family and friends who were so generous!

Anna having her first Christmas.

Christmas morning. The sunrise was beautiful.

Anna even found that it is fun to play with others presents as well.

Our table and everyone getting ready for dinner.

Joyschool Nativity

For Joyschool the kids went to a senior center to perform a "service" for the holidays. They were adorable. Here is Mark singing. He was quite the charactar. He played a double roll as the innkeeper and a shepard. The picture perfect nativity.

One of the residents enjoying the performance.

Jerry for President

I wish I had gotten a picture of this one. Christopher was making signs around the house," No Obama, Jerry for President". As he was chanting, "No Obama", Mark said, "Who do we want for president, McCain?" Christopher loudly reprimanded him and said, "We don't want him either. Jerry for President!!" For those who don't know and haven't read some of the previous blogs, Jerry is Christopher's gerbil. I guess political enthusiasm comes from living in Washington DC and Christopher did overhear many political discussions between Alex and myself during the campaign period, so it was funny to see that transformed into his play and him be so enthusiastic for his candidate! So, Jerry fo President!!

Making Pasta

I have discovered (a bit by accident) that making pasta from scratch can be quite the fun experience with kids. A few weeks ago, we made homemade ravioli and the boys LOVED using the pasta machine to crank out the pasta. So, this time, we made makaruni (no, it's not misspelled macaroni) and the boys loved rolling the noodles. It keeps them from bickering while I make dinner and they feel a part of the whole process. I have found that including them in these activities is actually a fun and bonding experience. And, believe it or not, there really wasn't even that big of a mess afterwards! These are the times that I realize that there is something to be said for being less frenzied and just enjoying the day to day activities with our children. I happen to love to cook and I love good food, so why not mix all of that together with the people I love?

Mark's Birthday Party

This is a post about Mark's party, but I am starting out to show how I kept Anna entertained so that I could focus on the party. She loves food and is happy to have a plethora of snacks and watch the goings on! Mark wanted a Rock N Roll theme, so we started off by making guitars out of shoe boxes and decorating them.

Some of the kids played while others who liked to be a little more detailed in their guitar designs took their time.

We had good food. Well, that is good for the taste buds...Pizza and juice boxes!

We had some games...

We rocked out with out newly made guitars.

And we danced and played to Elvis!!

Then we ate cake, which, of course had to be a guitar. Overall it was a success and everyone had a lot of fun. The Elvis dance contest was surprisingly successful and we gave out dance awards (to everyone, but with an individual touch). It was even fairly easy to organize! Whew!

Mark's Trip

The day before Mark's birthday party, Christopher had a friend over to play and Mark was feeling a little left out, so he was quietly packing his bags (there were 3 in total) and announced that he was going on a trip to Russia. I was in the kitchen cooking and asked when he thought he might be back. He said in a day or two. I told him that Russia was far away and would take a long time to get there. Then after a little thought, Mark said he might stay 3 weeks. I said Russia was very cold and that he would need a jacket, but since he didn't want to undo his packs, he thought about that for several moments and then said that he would buy a jacket at the airport (this was after he was informed that he couldn't drive to Russia and so he decided he would have to fly). The entire exchange was quite amusing. Mark made several exits out the door (after giving me a kiss on the cheek) and set out for Russia. Each time he would make it about halfway to the elevator and then decide he had forgotten something. The first time, he came back, went out on the balcony, and then left again. When asked why he did that, he said he was checking the weather. The second time he forgot another kiss and finally he decided that it was such a long trip that he might want to rest first. I told him that was a good idea and got him a snack and reminded him that he had his birthday party the following day and he wouldn't want to miss it. Oh, and somewhere in there when we were talking about Russia and how cold it is there, he changed his mind and was going to go to Texas, but when I told him that Texas had just had a big storm, he decided to stick with Russia. Where do they get this stuff? Anyhow, it was one of those adorable moments in childhood!