xoxo

xoxo

Friday, June 6, 2014

"Christmas" with the Mamminas--Nov.2013

LOVE these low key days!  On November 29th, we decided to kick back, play, and do a little project.


Does this ever happen at your house?  Probably not!  My boys decided to make a big ol' pile of stuff!
"Hmmmm, let's see how many things we can heap on top of each other...."



Nonno and Anthony share some cracked nuts--
Anthony was fascinated by this!



Mario and Dad got to work replacing the old tile countertop on my kitchen island.
Man, oh, man!  I was NOT sad to see this one go!



Dad was the supervisor, and he taught Mario what he needed to know to do the work!
Great experience we have having him around!  LOVE it!




TA-DA!!!
LOOOOOOOOOOVE it!
They did such fantastic job!!!
(Now, if I can just get around to painting all my cabinets white, I'll be a happy camper!)




Ma made some homemade turkey soup for dinner!
Soup is always my favorite way to use up leftovers!!!



This little one can always make me smile!  :)
He always has something important to say these days.



Anthony loves to be warm and cozy--just like his mama!
I can always convince him to snuggle with me in front of the fire--
it doesn't take much convincing!



On Saturday, we decided to have our Christmas celebration!  The presents start coming out of the woodwork!


Do you think Anthony is just a little bit excited?!?




Anthony loves reading the names on the tags this year!




Both boys have so much fun passing the gifts around!




Lucas decides to sit with me for a snuggle and a rest.  I'll take that anytime!  ;)




I think they were just as excited watching Nonno and Nonna open the gifts we got them as they were about opening their own gifts!




And the LOVE to help open!  ;)




Nonna gets thank you hugs!!!




Sweet little faces anticipating what's behind the wrapping




TICKLE TIME!!!




not sure if he's not feeling the outfit or is just pretending to be a tough guy!  haha!




you better believe they were excited to receive THIS gift!  THANK YOU Nonno and Nonna!




Hilarious story:
Dad and Ma saved their BIG gift for the kids until the end--their first set of little legos.  I just KNEW they would love it!  They had no idea and were so excited to open this final box.  What do you think happened?!?




Do you see what I see tipped over in the corner?  Yep.  The boys both screamed, "BUBBLE WRAP!" as they opened the box from Amazon, and the lego bin totally got tossed to the side!  They literally had NO idea there was anything in that box besides bubble wrap--and they were THRILLED about it!!!




Finally we pointed out the legos, and they were thrilled about that too!  In fact, they played with them for a VERY long time!
(but, oh, the joys of bubble wrap!)



these two sat outside enjoying the warm sun and some good laughs




the boys join in, having some snacks and playing a little catch




In the afternoon, we headed to downtown McKinney for our photo shoot--those lovely family pictures that I already posted about.  But here are a few more I just couldn't leave out.  



sweet little Lucas




big boy Anthony




giggles
(these two adore each other)




and I adore THIS!
even though we live far apart, I SO appreciate the time and effort and love that Dad and Ma invest into these boys' lives



after the pictures were done, we decided to walk around downtown to see what was going on





Nonno explained all about the fire trucks!




These two still love their trucks!




3 generations




the boys had done such a wonderful job posing and smiling earlier that Nonna treated them to a ride on the carousel




Lucas loved this blue dragon



we popped on over to the Cadillac Pizza Pub for a little dinner




what a fun day!




love my little sweetheart Lucas
(growing up too fast)



a special candy treat and a few books before turning in
Nonna always makes time for reading



the boys get creative with their glow sticks from Nonna--
she always thinks of fun ideas!
The boys were begging for these each night at bedtime!




Sunday morning, off to church!




what do they want to do right when they get home???  play legos, of course!




Mario makes a banana pancake brunch for the crew--
we're a little obsessed with banana pancakes at our house!  ;)




Nonno reads a special Planes book the boys had opened the day before--so fun!




Mr. Rod and Ms. Carol came over later to surprise the boys with some remote control cars--
they were a HIT!




Ma and I sneaked off to squeeze in a little shopping, so the boys had a "guys afternoon"




HUGE treats at Culvers apparently made the list of manly things to do...




...as did an impromptu football game in the park1




and a little follow-the-leader--
Nonno is a lot more active these days since making some dietary changes, and we are LOVING it!




and last but not least...
THIS is what unabashed joy looks like!  
These two embrace life and live it to the fullest every.single.day!
I need to take some lessons myself!  ;)

Thank you Dad and Ma for making the trip down to see us.  You always have a way of making things so special.  We love every minute that we get to squeeze out of life with you two and feel very blessed to call you ours.  Sending our love...

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