Christmas 2007

We had a wonderful Christmas with our whole family. Christmas Eve Day was spent with Colombo, Karen, Jonathan & Andrea, Nick and Uncle Joe. Karen made a beautiful brunch spread and the kids enjoyed openning up presents. Nathanael got some of the hockey equipment he was hoping for, and Madison and C4 got their DS games.

Jonathan and Annie shared their exciting news that they will be having their first baby in July. We are so excited for them!

Christmas Eve we went to church with both sides of our family including Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Lee, Melody and Johnny from New York. After church, we all (24 of us) had dinner at our house.

Christmas Day was spent at Lisa's house. The kids made out very well, of course. It was just great to all be together; to reflect with each other about God's goodness throughout the last year.

The Christmas Story

"She gave birth to her first baby. It was a boy. She wrapped him in large strips of cloth. Then she placed him in a manger. There was no room for them in the inn."

"When the Wise Men had left, Joseph had a dream. In the dream an angel of the Lord appeared to him. 'Get up!' the angel said. 'Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you to come back.'"

Only in the DiSalvatore home would Joseph use a hockey stick for a staff! Or a couch for a donkey and a tae kwon do belt to lead it. Madison and Nathanael got this all put together themselves. Since the 1st time, they've done it every day. They've packed up wise men outfits, treasures, an angel outfit, etc. in hopes that their cousins will help them recreate the story on Christmas Day. Be warned, little Amanda...I think you're a sheep!

One more funny story

I remembered another Fan-Man story from several weeks ago. We had my friend's 15 year old and 8 year old here for a few days. We were all around the table having dinner and I was trying to make conversation with Rebekah, the 15 year old. I was making sure she'd had a good lunch at school. She was talking about how her cafeteria has pizza, quesadilla maker, pasta station, salad bar, etc. She said, "My school has really good food for high school." Nathanael chimed in, "Yeah, we have really good food for homeschool."


Pictured here is an Edible Arrangement from another friend for Christmas. It lasted about 26 hours. The kids loved it.



The video is from the other day. Let's call it Interpretive Music Class.

Funny Stories

C4--C4 and my husband were sitting in the first service in our new sanctuary at church Saturday night. The Pastor was announcing that our dedication service will be January 6th. Pastor said to the congregation, "This will be a chance for you to invite your aunts, uncles, grandparents, the dog, the cat to come to this special service to dedicate the new building."

C4 leaned over to his father and said, "We can't have food or drinks in here, but we can have dogs and cats...nice!"

Nathanael--I brought all three to the dentist a couple weeks ago. They all checked out great!!! It was C4's turn to get up in the chair. Nathanael turned to the dentist and very seriously said, "You might be missing some of C4's teeth because he lost them."

Baby to Boy

I had a "this-might-be-my-last-baby" crisis and decided I loved Trevor's long baby locks. It got quite long and people started really making comments, so I started thinking, "What if he looks back on Christmas pictures and says, Mom what were you thinking-I look like a girl!"

So, I broke down (literally) and did the deed. It was all over before he finished his lollipop. It aged him at least a year, I feel, and he looks like a different kid...sort of. Now it's deja vu of C4 at that age. When Maddy first saw him she said, "Oh my gosh, it's a mini C4!"

'Tis the Season

We're getting in the Christmas spirit here as the big day quickly approaches. On Tuesday, we went caroling at the nursing home with some other homeschool families. Then on Friday we had our friends, the Cards, over. The kids made cookies (that was interesting!) and then they did a little yankee swap of gifts. Now I just need to finish my last minute errands and we'll be ready!

Back from D.C.

Madison and I, along with 85 others from church, just spent the weekend outside of D.C. at Word of Life Church in Springfield, VA. We presented "The Richest Man in the Valley" on Saturday and Sunday night to almost 2000 people. We had a great time!!! We had a great girls' road trip and late nights in the hotel room. Our group got along really well and the host church was warm and welcoming and thrilled to have us there. The best part was that we witnessed many receiving salvation. That's what it's all about.

Picking out a tree

Well we happened to pick the coldest day so far to go look for a tree. The kids and dog didn't seem to notice. We settled on a nice, small white pine for downstairs, which I get to decorate and a smaller one for upstairs, that the kids can decorate. It all turned out well. The only casualty of the day was Colombo's gloves, which apparently were left on the roof of the van. Whoops!

Let It Snow

Connecticut got its first white covering this morning. The kids were so anxious to get out in it, that I caved and gave them a mid-morning break from school. Of course it's always fun digging through the bin and trying to figure out which mittens fit who and who's going to need new boots. A little trivia...guess who is wearing ONLY underwear underneath?

Colorado

Madison, Trevor and I just got back from Colorado Springs visiting my brother, Tim, his wife, Beth and daughter, Alaina, who live there. It was quite a trip! My mom, me, Madison, Trevor, my sister Lisa and her two girls, my sister Bethany and her daughter all went out together. (Thanks, Mom!) So--there were 6 kids 6 and under. Their pastor opened their finished basement for 1/2 the crew to stay and also lent us their minivan.

We did a lot of hanging around visiting.

A lot of 'horsie rides'.

Visited their church.

A trip to Focus on the Family.

We also squeezed in a little shopping. Aunt Elizabeth spent some time giving Maddy a couple piano lessons, which was very special for her. The weather was gorgeous, so we even made it to the park a couple times. On Saturday, we celebrated an early Thanksgiving. It was so good to see them and for so many of us to be together.

Feels like fall

It's finally feeling like fall! There's a nip in the air and the smell of leaves. The kids "helped" Daddy rake today. On the left is our neighbor, Logan.

Auntie Annie with Nathanael at Buell's Orchard.

Columbus Day at Buell's and still in shorts!

Happy Hallelujah!

Our church throws an annual Halloween alternative party called 'Hallelujah Night.' The kids dress up and can do carnival games, face painting, moon bouncies, tickets and prizes, and of course, plenty of candy. See if you can guess who these guys are.

And we got to do it with all the cousins except for Lainie. (Maybe next year.)

From L to R, that's a bunny and her carrot sister, Annie, Luke Skywalker, Spiderman, Tinkerbell, Father Trevor and a candy corn.

Trevor was definitely a hit. That was a very last minute idea, because he didn't like the stiff pumpkin costume that was supposed to go over all the black. Gramma made Madison's Annie dress and Allie's candy corn costume. The homemade ones are always the best.

Since I wasn't blogging last year, I'm throwing in a couple more pics. ('05 and '06)

Hockey Tournament

We just got back from the "castle hotel" in Framingham, MA. C4 played in his 1st hockey tournament. Hundreds of players descended to this area for a huge tournament. The complex had 5 rinks and the games would go all day starting as early as 6am til 11pm. Although his team came in last scoring 0 points in three games, he and his buddies managed to have plenty of fun.

My mom and Russ came up Friday and got a room with Russ's grandkids so all the kids played and swam together. We got to do a little cake for Mom's birthday and then they came to Saturday's game with us. Ninny and Papa met us there for that one, too.

He skated hard. They are all so cute on the ice. We were very proud of him. He is well liked by all of his teammates and all of his coaches made it a point to compliment him and tell us how respectful and well mannered he is and how he's got great instincts and knows the game. He should...he's been in rinks since he was 8 days old!

Shake your bootie!

Trevor's getting so confident in his walking now that it has turned into climbing and dancing on the coffee table. He can clap and he can dance, but he can't do both at the same time. Sorry, TJ, looks like you'll take after your mama.

Happy 4th, Nathanael!

My little man is 4! We celebrated his birthday at the Foster Farm corn maze. It was a beautiful fall day. The kids played on the hay bales, pet the animals, went through the maze, picked a pumpkin, dug in the sand, and rode the pedal carts. We celebrated with apple pie instead of cake, which is a tradition on his birthday. He got some cash, clothes, books, movies, a game, remote control hummer, and many other cool gifts. He enjoyed reading the cards before openning, also. Time just moves too quickly and it's hard to believe he's 4.

On his 1st birthday, we were away in California on his actual birthday, so I left this letter for Lisa to read to him. The words are still so true 3 years later:

My Precious Birthday Boy-Nathanael,

I can’t believe it’s already been one year since I first laid eyes on you and fell instantly in love! You are such a joy! I am so blessed that God had enough confidence in Daddy and me to entrust such a treasure to us.

You fit perfectly into our family. We were so surprised to hear that you were coming. We didn’t even know that there was a hole until you filled it. Now you have captured all of us. You’re such a love! Such a snuggly guy! We all love the way you are always happy and always up for a good time. We all love how easily you laugh at our silliness and how you humor us when we’re making fools of ourselves for the satisfaction of seeing you smile. You are always smiling. You delight us everyday.

It just seems impossible that you weren’t always here. You are so special! I pray today for 3 things. First for the past. I thank God for His loving kindness to us in loaning you to us and making you a part of our family. Second for the present, I pray for you on your special day that God will bless you and that you’ll enjoy your day. And third for the future, I pray that God Almighty would bless you and keep you your whole life through. That His face would shine upon you. That He would protect you, strengthen and sustain you your whole life through. And that you would find salvation and peace in Jesus Christ.

Stay as sweet as you are for a long time. I know ‘one’ is going to be a lot of fun. I just can’t believe I’m so blessed to have you. I love you. Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mommy

California

We're just back from a long weekend in California. Colombo had an annual business meeting there. On top of his meetings, we managed to get some golf, massage, shopping and site-seeing in. The conference was in the Sonoma area, but we also did a day in San Franscico. We hit the Golden Gate Bridge, saw Alcatrez, drove Crooked (Lombard) Street, and as an added bonus, saw the Blue Angels fly over the Bay. It was just beautiful and great weather, too. Everytime we go we enjoy the cities and scenery there, but it's just so far away.

Fan-Man, the Comedian

Nathanael is soooo much fun! He's a walking party. He's always in a good mood. He's a trip! We hope and pray that kid won’t need therapy down the road because all we do is laugh at him. He’s funny without trying. His mannerisms and antics…he’s just a fun package. I tell him 3 is fun because you got all that diaper and terrible 2 stuff behind you, no worries in the world, totally naïve and innocent and still no responsibilities like school. I'll try to re-tell a couple of his funny moments, but there's no way to do it justice.

A few weeks ago, he hurt his head at a friend's house. So after, I kept checking him, making sure there was no bump, loving on him, etc. About the 4th time I put my hand on it and said, "How’s your head?" He looked at me and said, “Better when people aren’t touching it!”

At the fair, the kids were talking about going on a ride. Nathanael said, "I am so gonna rock out that blue car!"

At my dad's, the kids were mini-golfing and Nathanael was very concerned about who won. "Who won? Pop, who won?" My dad finally said, we ALL won because we all had fun. Without hesitation, Nathanael shot back, "Well then I won because I had the most fun."

The other day, Nathanael went to the dump with his dad. He said, "This place stinks." A couple minutes later, "Boy! This place really stinks!" After a moment of thought he said, "They should really move this place somewhere where it doesn't stink so bad."

Practice Makes Perfect

In just 4 short days since my last post, Trevor is up from 60% to 90% walking. (top)

He's even getting fancy. Although he's just barely walking, he's already playing hockey. I guess it's in the DiSalvatore blood. (middle)

The bottom video was intended to capture Trevor, but as you'll see, Nathanael got in on the action.

Look Who's Walking

TJ's finally getting it. Just in time for his 15 month birthday. He took his first steps several weeks ago, but now is getting more confident. I'd say he's 60% walking, 40 crawling at this point. It's so darn cute, though. I'll post a video right side up when I can. I didn't realize I couldn't rotate the image when my camera was on video mode. It's cute all the same...especially his sounds.

School's in Session

We're well into our school year. It's exciting to be on the brink of another great time of teaching, learning, being together, but oh, man, am I sad summer's over!!! C4's in 3rd grade and Madison is in 1st. Nathanael's doing some preschool and Trevor is cooperating as best he can between naps and a certain nursery rhyme video he loves.

It should be a fun year. I know that I cannot do it alone and am trusting God to get me through.

Family Reunion

We ran up to Wales, Maine for a Family Reunion. This is Karen's side of the family. They have a beautiful house on 85 acres with ALL the toys. The kids enjoyed 4-wheelin', slip n' slide, etc. The night before we stayed over in a hotel.

Climb Mt. Washington...Check!

Here we are at 6,288 ft., the Summit of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. It is the Northeast's highest peak. It was quite a satisfying feeling to make it to the top. It was the perfect day for the climb, especially since it is self-proclaimed to have the "world's worst weather." The 4 + miles took us just over 3 hours on the way up and the 5 + miles took over 3 and 1/2 to get down. We all agreed that up was better. Boy, did the hot tub feel good afterwards!!! It was such a fun adventure and the workmanship of God was breathtaking. On top, it felt like the top of the world.

Locks of Love

We took the plunge and had a fabulous Mommy / daughter morning getting hair cuts together. Both Madison and I were able to donate 10 inches to Locks of Love.

We had been on their website and Madison understood, but it became personal 2 days before our appointment. We were camping and met a 7 year old girl, Haley, who was completely bald due to some type of chemo or treatment. As we walked away Madison asked, "So, Mom, is a little girl like that going to be able to use my hair?"

I was so grateful to be on the giving end. On the way to the salon, we prayed that our hair would not only be a blessing to whoever it went to, but we also prayed for their complete healing. We both love our short hair!