Activity Advent Calendar

It's that time of year again! Time to hang the stockings, decorate the tree and put up our activity advent calendar. New house, new location but same tradition although I changed up some of the activities. 

A few new favorites: 

- donate to an animal shelter in memory of Chicco

- removed the names of our favorite Christmas movies and added a quote instead to see if the kids can name them Ex. "Mom! The box is meowing!" Can you guess the movie?

- Visit A Longwood Christmas - this will be our 3rd year visiting as a family and it's a lot of fun - dress for the cold, get hot chocolate as we stroll the gardens and then head to dinner afterwards

Happy Merry-Making! 

 

It's been awhile...

 No photos to go along with this post. Just that it's-been-awhile and a lot has taken place. Namely, we've moved. It was emotional and a lot of work but we're getting into the groove of our new house. I've taken a lot of photos to commemorate what I think was a huge moment and memory making for our family. 

AND we made it back to Italy this past summer too. It was emotional as we welcomed new family and friends into our lives but also had to say goodbye to others. What a couple of years it has been for the entire world. So happy we were able to go back and continue our traditions but also start new ones too. 

Olivia Maria Rose celebrates her Confirmation

My wonderful Olivia celebrated her Confirmation, it was such a beautiful evening for my girl. 

Cousins who celebrate together. Olivia and her cousin Simon are in the same class and it's been so nice that they can share their big moments together! 

Honored that Simon asked me to be his sponsor! Simon Patrick Francis

My girl has such a sweet tooth, like her mama! 

Mario's First Holy Communion

We celebrated Mario's First Communion with family and friends this past weekend. The weather was perfect, the smiles of the 2nd graders at church could melt anyone's heart, there was an abundance of delicious food and my little man was so happy. Couldn't have asked for anything more!

A little late, but my first born turned 15!

 

We will miss Chicco forever

Our Chicco passed away one week ago today, we are so heartbroken. We will miss everything about this amazing cat whom we adored so much and was such a perfect fit for our family. The house is so quiet without him. 

Diagnosed back in November with a rare condition that there is no cure for, we hoped and prayed he would be with us longer. As I sit at my laptop typing this out, he would typically be right by my side, sitting near or on me or swatting at my fingers as I typed along. Perhaps he is still by my side, just in spirit. I'd like to think so. 

So many memories in his 3 short years with our family. Planning to continue to post a photo here and there so that they come up on our dashboard at home where photos from this blog are highlighted and we can continue to enjoy our Chicco. 

 

Not ready to take the tree down