A Week of Fun with Cousins

From L to R:

front: Allison, Trevor, Amanda, Nathanael, Alaina, Katie, Colombo, Juliet

back: Avery, Madison

My brother Tim and his wife and two girls stayed with us for a week. As it stands now, there are 10 kids under the age of 10. By this time next year, it will be 13 under age 11!!! It makes for a very interesting, LOUD, fun, playful time laced with minor spats, germ swapping and naptimes.

Although every day was a fun, new adventure, here are a couple of highlights:

My Dad set up this cool cardboard house for the kids and they had a blast decorating it- just listen. Madison and Nathanael slept in it one night, and then Maddy and C4 the next.





Katie and Gunner made fast friends. She loved crawling all over him and he liked the attention. He is soooo good with kids.
Katie also celebrated her 1st birthday a few days early so we could all celebrate with her. She was a pro at cake demolition.
Madison enjoyed some time in the snow as we got 4 new inches on New Year's Eve Day.

My Mom and Russ played countless games of foosball with the kids. We ate and ate and ate. We also made it to a children's museum. The news crew was there doing a story. All 4 of my kids were seen throughout the story that was broadcast, but only for seconds.

It's always way fun to get the whole gang together and definitely hard to say goodbye to Tim and Elizabeth. Next time we see them they'll have their little boy.

Christmas, her side

Christmas Day is usually spent at Lisa's. The morning is started by waking up all the sleeping children. That's right...I've failed as a mother and my kids slept til 8:30 on Christmas morning! Next to do is stockings...a favorite part for many.

After a yummy breakfast break of breads, coffee cakes, keish, hash brown casserole, cinnamon buns and fruit, we moved onto opening gifts. We've always gone one at time around in a circle so that everyone can see who got what, to make all the work that everyone put into making the day happen last longer, and so that proper thanks can be given.

Lisa always puts on a feast for dinner, and everyone chips in with appetizers and desserts. Some change out of their p.j.'s, some do not, but NO ONE goes hungry.

Then naps, games, chatting, fun, fun, and more fun. And ALWAYS, reflecting on God's unbelievable goodness in my life.

Here is Uncle Lee, playing the part of the donkey as Madison orchestrates the cousins for a Christmas Story play.

My brother, Tim and wife Elizabeth

Tim with daughter Alaina

Christmas Eve

It's been about 10 years now that we have hosted Christmas Eve. The evening is two-fold: the candlelight service at our church and an Italian dinner at our house. The wonderful thing is that it is both sides of our family. We started this in our first house before kids and this year with almost 30 people, we were grateful for more room.

This is Colombo's side. On the left, his brother Nick, his brother Jonathan, wife Andrea and their daughter, Gabriella. On the right are his parents, Colombo Jr. and Karen. Unfortunately my side scattered before we could get a group shot.

My sisters, Bethany and Lisa.

My Mom and her sister, Bonnie

Also present were my Uncle Lee and cousins from New York and Pennsylvania, my brother Tim, his wife and two girls from Colorado who stayed with us for a week, Bethany and Lisa's husbands and each of their two daughters, Russ, and the six of us...I think 30 all together.

After dinner we did our traditional $5 Yankee Swap. Then all stocking stuffers and bow makers moved the party to Lisa's to finish up details for the Big Day. This year was the first (I think) that I hadn't finished wrapping, so I was up til 2:30 doing that. Colombo was up til 4 am wet-vac-ing the basement of all the melting snow and heavy rain of the day. Thankfully we both caught naps on Christmas Day.

Christmas, his side

We celebrated with Colombo's side of the family on Christmas Eve-Eve at his parent's house. The best part was having everyone together. Karen made a delicious turkey dinner. The kids waited in the bathroom while 'Santa' laid out all of their goodies.

C4 got monogrammed hockey gloves from Jon and Annie.

Madison got cowgirl boots. She had 3 things on her wish list this year. One night a few weeks ago, it was laying on my pillow as I crawled into bed.

"Dear Mom, this is my wish list for Christmas. #1 Cowboy boots. #2 Collectible shoe (from 'Just the Right Shoe'). #3 Love. I love you, Mom. Merry Christmas."

Here, the kids have put on their elf hats to begin a treasure hunt for their 'big' gift from Ninny and Papa. A little poem gave them instructions and they followed a string all around the house, up stairs, down stairs, in and out of rooms, finally ending at their new Foosball table!

Another special treat was celebrating Baby's 1st Christmas with our new little niece, Gabriella. She is just too cute and an angel of a baby.

Winter Fun

It's tradition that my friend and sister and I all get together every year for one big cookie bake. Each of us makes 4 or 5 kinds and then we all split them up and end up with a nice spread to use through Christmastime.

The kids performed their Christmas program at church on the 20th and 21st. C4 was in the kids' choir and Madison was a dancer; as usual, one of the smallest.

Juliet in the middle

That same weekend we got snow...about 10 inches over the course of a couple days.

Crazy Uncle Nicky (Colombo's brother) stayed with us for a couple days.

Trevor stood in one spot in the snow and wouldn't move.

Goofy kid

The kids loaded up just a couple days before Christmas to deliver plates of cookies to all of our new neighbors.

Christmas Letter

The following is what went out this year (on festive letterhead, of course).

Dear Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas to you all! As I reflect on the past year, I think Psalm 40:5 sums up most appropriately the way we feel, "O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them."

This year brought two big changes to our family. The first was our move into our ‘forever house’ in August. We were very content in our duplex still, despite occasionally feeling a little cramped, so we were not even looking at houses, yet God found the perfect one for us and worked out all of the details. After 5 years, we said goodbye to the ‘Big Blue House’ and quickly settled into the new one which affords us more living space, a bigger yard at the end of a cul-de-sac, a great office for Colombo, and a school room for the kids.

The second big change came in October when we found out that we were expecting our fifth baby! We are so excited about the new addition! The kids are thrilled, although they have differing opinions about wanting a boy or girl. I feel fantastic and we expect to meet our new little miracle in late May.

Our extended family continues to grow as well. My brother, Tim, and Colombo’s brother, Jonathan, each welcomed little girls, Kaitlyn and Gabriella.

Colombo (a.k.a. C4) will be 10 in January, which seems impossible. He plays hockey, has his purple belt in Tae Kwon Do, plays baseball in the spring, and still takes drum lessons. In July, he was away for a week at our church’s Kid’s Camp and, of course, had a blast!

Madison will be eight in April. She has joined a competition team for dance. That really seems to be her ‘thing’, although she also completed her second year of indoor soccer. She is sweet and considerate and constantly in tune to the needs of others. She is passionate about God. The highlight of her year was loosing her first tooth, plus two more.

Nathanael, 5, began Kindergarten this year and is already reading short-vowel words and other basics. He pretends to not like school to be cool like his older brother, but he really does like it and almost always asks for extra pages. He is the clown of the family, often without even trying to be. He also learned to swim this summer.

Trevor is half-way through the ’terrific two’s’. He is fully potty-trained and has an extensive vocabulary that seems to grow every day. He likes to stir things up around the house. If it’s quiet for more than a couple of minutes, I start to worry about what he might be into.

Colombo is going into his eighth year with C4 Communications. It’s so great to have him work from home. Most days we eat 3 meals together as a family. He plays hockey on a men’s league and also sits as the chairman of our homeschool support group and leads our church small group.

I had a particularly busy spring as I was Assistant Director for our church’s Easter production, “The Passion of the King.” It was an incredible learning experience to bring 200 adults and children from nothing to performance-ready in eleven short weeks; the best part being that nearly 4,000 people came to the 4 performances and saw the Gospel brought to life, in the form of a musical. Other than that, homeschool remains my priority.

Here’s a quick snapshot of our travels: We went on a family vacation to San Antonio in February to visit Colombo’s brother. We also went to Virginia Beach in June for a family reunion on my Mom’s side and then spent a day in D.C. on our way back. We went to Pennsylvania for my cousin’s graduation, spent the 4th of July in Maine, did our annual Cape Cod and Block Island get-a-ways, Boston for a business convention, Maine for Nana’s 80th, and Vermont for our anniversary.

We pray that your family is drawn closer together through this season. Our hope is that you find time to reflect on the Greatest Gift that was ever given when God sent His son to this earth as a baby. That Gift is ours to receive into our lives to be changed forever.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Colombo, Amy, C4, Madison, Nathanael & Trevor

Tiny Dancer

Madison LOVES to dance. She's fine with any partner. Remember Nathanael's first lesson? Or Trevor's first lesson?

Yesterday this little lesson, as well as dressing room time, kept TJ busy for an hour while I was working on school with the boys.

Trevor's Terrific Two's

Yesterday was unbelieveable!!! Trevor took it to the limits and tested me like crazy! Besides the 'normal' defiance that comes with being two and testing his independance, here were some highlights:

• He dumped the dog's food into the dog's water.
• He poured a container of chocolate sprinkles out onto the dining room floor and rainbow sprinkles in the foyer. I swept them up and while I was getting the dust pan, he spread the piles out again.
• He totally ripped apart an ornament that Nathanael had made.
• He emptied a bag of craft beads onto the carpet...like 1,000 of them.
• He used a stick to 'shovel' some ashes from the fireplace onto the rug.

Thank God nap time came! But it didn't end there.

I had to run to JoAnn to pick something up. Have you ever watched a mother in a store with their unruly child and thought, "Tsk, tsk. My child would never act like. What's wrong with that mother that her child would act like that?" Well yesterday, I was that Mom. And I could audibly hear all the "tsk, tsk's" around me.

We're trying to figure out if this is just Trevor...stubborn, defiant...or if we have gotten lax in dealing with issues. After three kids, I was feeling pretty confident, but Trevor just seems to stir things up. He hates sitting in a cart. He hates keeping his clothes on at home. He likes to push the limits and test, test, test.

New York City, take two

I'm part of a theatre group and this past week our director and 5 others from the group were invited down to New York City for a "Showcase." It's where several differenct actors perform different scenes they've been working on in hopes of booking an agent. So, the 6 of us loaded into my van and headed into the Big Apple. I was so excited to go back so soon. I love a day in the City!

When we arrived to dinner, we met with one of Brent's (the director) friends and two other acquaintences, one of which writes reviews for the the N.Y. Times and 'may' be able to publish something about our "Passion of the King" when springtime rolls around.

After dinner, we ran two blocks to where the showcase was, just to realize that we'd gone two blocks in the wrong direction. The showcase was cool. It reminded me of several scenes from "Friends" where Joey is auditioning / performing.

After, we went to a pub for coffee and dessert and met up with another friend of Brent's who was actually one of the actors in the showcase. It was a very fun evening and we got to make some new friends. The only let down was sitting in traffic during the time I had hoped to pick up a few stocking stuffers. Oh well. Oh, and let down #2 was I carried my camera around all evening, but never took it out.

Christmas Everywhere

'Tis the Season!!! Nothin' to get you in the Christmas spirit like a couple of Christmas parties! The first one was our small group from church. I think we had about 14 adults and 14 kids. We had dinner and dessert and did a $5 yankee swap for the kids. I had everything prepared for the kids to make and decorate cookies and then forgot all about it. I was so mad at myself. I think everyone still had a great time. The women congregated in the family room and the guys sat by the fire. The kids had a blast running around and pretty much left the adults alone. And thankfully, we had no injuries!

the boys

the girls + Trev

the men

the gift swap

Our second get-together was for our homeschool group. First we met at the nursing home to go caroling through the halls, then everyone came back to our house for dessert.

Happy Birthday, Pop!

We celebrated my Dad's birthday by taking him to breakfast. Lisa and her girls met us there. Thankfully we had a back room to ourselves for most of the time. They had candy machines out in the lobby, so the adults were able to chat in peace for a few minutes while the kids raided the machines. Madison asked if she could buy some candy. I said sure, thinking she only had a quarter. All the kids came back with a wad in their mouth and a fist full. Apparantly she had 4 quarters!

I'm thankful I have the Dad I do. As a kid, I thought of him as fun and adventurous. Now I appreciate his constant love and support. He's one of my biggest cheerleaders.

Afterwards, we stopped in at G&L Christmas Barn to get something personalized. Outside I made an attempt to get a shot of the kids on the train for our Christmas card, but this is NOT the one we used.

The Tree and Lights

Part of the fun of a new home is decorating for Christmas! Colombo agreed to do all the outside lights. He had a printout of the house with all the measurements and very carefully calcuated his shopping list and put his plan into action. Of course, the first time is the hardest. Next year will be so much easier, but the final result is so worth it. I love how it all came together!

Next on the list was the tree! We got it earlier than ever (Nov. 30) in preparation for hosting a Christmas party. It was cold and rainy (Ick!) and the pickins for BIG trees was extremely limited.

It's 14 feet tall and we will NEVER go that big again. I really wish I'd taken a picture of it on top of the van. It took several hours just to trim, get in the stand, pull into the house, and get it standing straight.

My very patient husband didn't mind adjusting things the next morning when I thought it might be leaning a bit. Again, the result is very nice and we've had many neighbors compliment the lights outside and how lovely the tree looks through the window.

What in the world??!!

This afternoon I pulled down Trevor's pants to have him go pee and was shocked to see a maxi pad in his underwear! What the heck? Upon further investigation, apparently Trevor had found and opened 2 of them. Madison thought she'd put one in his underwear. She thought it was hilarious! When C4 asked what it really was for, Madison told him that it was girl stuff and nothing he needed to know about. Oy vey!

Thanksgiving, his side

Yes, his sweater is a joke!

Why do I love Thanksgiving?

• the premise of the day: a time set aside to offer thanks to God
• the 4 day weekend
• festive family fun, without the 'work' of Christmas
• officially ushering in the Christmas season
• reflecting on the blessings in my own life, too numerous to count

"O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them." Psalm 40:5

We spent Thanksgiving at Jonathan and Andrea's. We went up on Wednesday to see him win his home game, then we, Andrea's family, and Colombo's parents (15 of us, plus 2 dogs) spent the night.

Thursday, of course, revolved around a lot of food and not much of anything else!

Wii BaseballWii Racing The 2 sweet girls

Napkin Rings

Me n TJ

Me n Gabby