Christmas in Connecticut

We had such a fantastic holiday this year!  Dan, James, Emma and I headed up to Connecticut to celebrate with my side of the family. It is great when we are all together because it doesn't happen very often.  My brother, Peter, lives in LA and doesn't get home too often. My sister, Nina, lives in Boston so she is fairly far from us as well.

Christmas Eve we headed down to Shelton for our Feast of the Seven Fishes.  My dad's side of the family is Italian so the is a really special tradition that has been carried on for so many years.  This was the first year without my grandmother, who passed away in March, so it was tough not having her there to manage everything. It was a very special celebration for her that she always took the time to do and keep the traditions alive.  It was still very special though because James loves seeing his cousins!  The Zoppi/Cote cousins are very special to James and Emma and they both treasure the time they spend with them.  They are all getting older and could easily not want to play with the little ones but all five kids are so patient, kind, and really really good with both James and Emma.

On Christmas Day, we opened gifts, had awonderful breakfast,  went to church and then headed to Winsted to celebrate with my Mom's side of the family.  All so much fun,  here are a few pictures showing our Christmas morning!

And here are a few from our time up in Winsted at my Sitto and Giddo's house (Grandma and Grandpa in Arabic). This was the first time in 3 or 4 years that we were all together.  Woo!  It was crowded, hot, but very good to be with everyone.  These photos are from my cousin Marin because I didn't take a single photo that afternoon!

We are home now, relaxing, and getting ready for Round 2 with the Confer/Krebs Family!

"This Holiday is Perfect"

We are really enjoying December this year.  Getting ready for Christmas has been so exciting.  I started an Advent Box with James that gives us an activity to do each day.  One is fun (like watching a holiday movie or singing Christmas Carols) and another is a way for us to think of others during this season (like bringing a toy to a child in need or food to the food pantry).  He loves doing both things and loves knowing how long we have until Christmas.  James just said to me today, "This holiday is perfect, Mama!  Our tree is so pretty and everyone loves everyone." I am really glad that the things we discuss at home and are promoting are making an impact on him.  He is still really into getting things and wanting things which is expected and fine but we really wanted to make sure he understood all the other aspects of the holiday season.

James drinking his hot chocolate!

James and Emma both loved decorating the tree and we had so much fun watching them find the ornaments and place them on the tree.

Emma kissing the Snowman

The music is also in full effect here and we are listening to Glee Christmas, Raffi (a great tradition), and the Hotel Cafe presents Winter Songs with some free Pandora thrown in for good measure.

We also have a visitor who is staying with us until Christmas.  His name is LP (named after my dear friend Emily's little boy).  LP is an elf who comes from the North Pole each day and watches James and Emma to see the good and naughty things they do and then report back to Santa each night. The Elf on the Shelf is a big hit and the kids love finding him each morning (he appears in a different place each day).

Meet LP

Playing with the Nativity is a big hit with both James and Emma.  James really knows the story about the birth of Jesus now and can retell it to Emma using the nativity.  Emma loves Joseph and would love to carry him around all day. He has a rather sharp stake that he holds so we discourage this and she plays with a wooden version that we have.

Our Nativities

We are up to our heads in crafts as well.  We have made Advent Spiral Bread (which was yummy and now gone) which we found on Rhythm of the Home.  Made some frozen ice lanterns which we found on Ordinary Life Magic.  We are also working on some holiday cards, homemade wrapping paper, and handmade gifts for friends. James is so proud of the work he has done on his cards and handmade gifts.

A very cold search for festive brush

It is bringing Dan and I such joy to watch James and Emma at this time of year, the excitement, the anticipation, the awareness of others, the building of traditions and the learning about the birth of Jesus and Advent as been amazing.  More to come later with our finished crafts and baking ideas!

Mary and Sophie- A Love Story

On Sunday I headed out with Mary and Sophie for a little photo fun. I love Mary, she is sweet, friendly, and really easy to talk to. I love the way she handles Sophie, with such a good sense of humor and love. When she asked me to take pictures of her and Sophie I was really excited. I love this dog.  She is super sweet and playful.  She is gorgeous to look at and she is HUGE and STRONG and just a little nutty, which makes her perfect!  I am used to nutty! Anyway, we had such a good time walking outside in the FREEZING cold.  My fingers were little icicles at the end but it was totally worth it for these pictures. I had some ideas in mind about where to go and what I wanted to accomplish but Miss Sophie wasn't having it :).  Mary warned me and told me she wanted a more photo-journalistic look and less portrait looking photos which is exactly what we got.  I think the pictures tell such a good story about each of their personalities and how much they love each other.

Heading out through town for our walk.  

Stopping for a photo...

Not for too long!  So many things to see.

True Love in Sophie's eyes.

Love this one!

Mary's face says so much in this picture.

Another Favorite. I can't remember if this was before or after Sophie jumped 4 feet up onto the wall!

Thanks Mary and Sophie for giving me a little look into your world!