Early birthday humor

Matteo, who will be 5-years-old at the end of February, asked me today to start making his birthday cake...

Me: Birthday cakes taste best when you make them the day of your birthday.
Matteo: Please, Mom! Just put in one ingredient!

Before bed, I asked Matteo what present he would like for his birthday.

Matteo: Some slippers that fit because Maria's are too big for me.
Me: That's all you want for your birthday?
Matteo: Well, maybe you can get me some slippers and the others can get me some little cars.
Me: Who else is going to get you a present?
Matteo: You know, Papa, Maria, Cati, Chiara, and Elena, if she grows up before them. But, Mom, if she doesn't grow up until after my birthday, tell her she can get me a car then.

Look at those icicles!

You know...I had to look up the spelling of "icicle" ?!

Anyway, back to the post. We've had a LOT of snow over the past week, and as it slowly melts (even though temps have not been anywhere near freezing) it forms these amazing icicles off the roof of houses here. I had to get a picture!

Cati, Our Resident Creator

Cati is always busy doing something, and it usually involves paper, scissors, and markers.

One of her Christmas presents was a card making kit, which is right up her alley. Here are some envelopes that she made with the kit.





About a month before Christmas, Cati decided to collect all of our doll house people and carry them around in a basket. She's always liked collecting things. Today, she decided to take them out, tie them together and make a necklace...

...or a crown!

She always has that smile that makes us smile!

Back to School

Well, the Christmas season officially ended yesterday, so it's time for us to start back to school! And, it was time to change my blog background :)

Have a great day everyone!!

Snowy Fun!

I measured the snow outside around lunchtime today. It was between 8" and 10"!

The temps were in the mid-20s, which is relatively warm, so it was a great afternoon to go play in the snow!

Maria worked hard trying to roll up a large snowball to make a snowman. However, the snow was too powdery. I went out to help, but I had a hard time, too! Maybe we'll have a chance to work on it some more over the next couple of days.

The only way I could get the kids inside was to promise them some hot chocolate, which they thoroughly enjoyed!!

Even Chiara had some even though she didn't go outside. She was napping instead.

Home again!

We spent a wonderful 3 weeks in GA celebrating the holidays with my family!

Today we flew back home. Here is what I arrived home to see...

Here is the snow covering Dany's car. He hasn't tried to dig it out since he returned home 5 days ago, and I don't blame him!

I haven't measured the snow with a ruler, but I think it's around 6" and it's still falling outside as I post this! The Southerner in me will always be amazed that I live in a place where it snows regularly!!

Time to get back to work now that we're all home. I've got to go to the store, organize the house, and get ready to start school again next week! Oh, and I'd like to post at least a few more photos from our trip to GA! And, I promised some baby photos of Cati, I think :)

Happy 7th Birthday, Cati!!

Yesterday was Cati's 7th birthday!! I can't believe she's 7!!

Somewhat unfortunate for her, she, Dany, and Maria spent 12 hours in the car yesterday driving back to Pennsylvania. So, we celebrated her birthday on Dec. 31 instead.



Aunt Ginny brought her a new hat that she knitted :)



She's ready to start opening those presents...you can see that she wasn't too disappointed to get to open them a day early :)



Ginny also gave her some new clothes.


We gave her a Jesus doll.


Aunt Pamela (her godmother) gave her some new American Girl books.


The Atlanta side of the family gave her a new birthday Barbie doll.



Grandma & Pipa gave her a couple of nice activity books...


...and, Kaya, her new American Girl doll! She drew a picture of this doll months ago and taped it on the wall next to her bed. Now, she's very happy to have the real thing!



Time for cake!!




And, some singing!





Happy birthday, sweet girl!! We love you!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. I usually like to post some baby pics of the kids on their birthdays, but I don't have access to them here in GA. I'll try to remember to do this sometime after the little ones and I return to the snowy, arctic North!