Mary had a Little Lamb, piano by Sofia Vincenza

Eliza Jane, sung by Olivia Maria

I mean, come on now. Can she get any cuter?!? Eliza Jane, a favorite song sung at her music class. Dancing and singing and then distracted by a book. Too cute my Olivia bella.

Zio Antonio comes to babysit!

Zio Antonio came up for the day/night this week to babysit for us so we could go to a Christmas dinner with Anthony's work group. The girls loved having him around, playing with their toys, reading books, coloring, watching a movie and eating their meals together. I don't think they could have been happier. Antonio seemed to have fun with them too.

When we dropped him off today to my mom, Sofia says to me "I wish they lived closer." She hears me say that a lot and even though I know she feels the same way, today she said it on her own and she really meant it. Mom, Dad - there are plenty of homes for sale in the neighborhood!!! Just a thought!

Disney on Ice with the princesses

Yesterday morning was an incredibly fun morning for us. Started as a normal morning with breakfast and play and then when it was time to get dressed the girls' smiles couldn't get any bigger. Who wouldn't want to wear an adorable princess dress for a little adventure?!? My little Snow White and Rapunzel had the best time at the ice show and I'm not going to lie...I did too!

The kids sitting together just as the show was about to begin...

First up was Princess and the Frog

And what's a princess show without Cinderella?

During intermission. Sofia was so excited and bopping up and down to the music during the show. She was so excited to wear the rapunzel dress.

Sofia and Nonno Mario

Back to the show with the final performance of Tangled, so awesome!

The three cugini right after the show finished! Very fun morning, left with smiles on our faces and great memories in our heart.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning we opened gifts at our house and after a small breakfast, we headed down to Maryland for Christmas with the Pitocco's!

Chase's First Christmas!!! He had so much fun crawling around the wrapping paper, bows and gifts and was so good all day long.

Normal family picture...

"Funny Faces!"

We are so thankful for very wonderful and giving families. The girls loved all of their gifts and I am sure are still in shock from all the great stuff they received. It's going to be a very long time (about 365 days) of them going through the books, games, puzzles, crafts, toys and videos and still loving them.

Christmas Eve

Christmas has come and gone and it still feels like Halloween was just last week. I get so excited for the holidays and every year I say that I don't want to rush through them but it seems as if it's out of my hands and rushed through they are anyway.

A few pictures from Christmas Eve at Casa Palumbi after Mass:

Home to read 'The Night Before Christmas,' leave out our reindeer food on the lawn and Santa's snack near the tree.

'Twas the night before Christmas...

His eyes - how they twinkled! his dimples how merry,
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Merry Christmas Eve!

A couple pictures of the girls last night dressed up and ready for a Christmas Party. They looked so cute in their coordinating outfits and while I was able to get one decent one of them smiling, I couldn't get by without a "funny face" picture too.

Happy Birthday to Anthony!

We celebrated Anthony's birthday last night with his family and had a great time. Good food and good company made for a great evening. Happy 34th my love!

Jingle all the way...to Maryland

We had a quick visit to Maryland earlier this week to spend some extra pre-Christmas time with the family. My mom loves the holidays, especially Christmas, and any time she has to share in the joy of it with her grandchildren, she loves. And the girls love it too! Sofia was upset that it was only one night, but when I explained to her that it was better than 0 nights, she stopped whining.

There was fun in the kitchen, listening to Christmas songs and playing under the tree and our annual trip to Lights on the Bay outside Annapolis. I forgot my camera when we went to see the lights. I know, I'm serious. I don't bring my camera to something...Wow! But my mom was happy to snap some pictures on her phone and share them with me. The girls loved the drive through Sandy Point State Park and taking in all the Christmas displays. Later we stopped in at my brother and sister-in-law's house for a visit with Chase.

There was more baking the following morning and then off to see some friends and their horses. First time meeting them (the horses, not our friends) and the girls were not impressed. Beautiful, gorgeous animals but I think the size of them really through them off. That and they snorted at them once and it was all over. As Sofia put it later "they're not small like my toy horses." Maybe they'll warm up to them.

More Christmas Bokeh

Jolly Ol' Saint Nicholas

The reason for the season

I'm in total bokeh love these days with the twinkling Christmas lights around the house.

More Philly Fun!

We took the girls into Philadelphia this evening to the new Comcast Building for the Holiday Spectacular. There is no fee for the show and if you're in town, you should try and stop in. Every hour, on the hour for a little Christmas cheer. The girls loved it, it "snowed" bubbles at the end which of course was their favorite part.