Christmas Exchange...revealed !!!!!!

Lucky me again......Jill was my secret Santa (2nd year in a row) !!!!! She made me this DARLING clock !!!!! I LOVE it. It is on top of our piano, so I see it everyday !!!!!!!! Also, the Christmas tags. They are just darling. The biscotti(inside the cute bucket).......YUMMY !!!!!!! We devoured it !!!!!!!!

How CUTE is that clock !!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Jill, SO much !!!!!!!!! I just LOVE everything. Love you too !!!!!!!

Christmas Faves.......

Christmas Day at Rosalyn and Jerry's is the BEST !!!!!!! We eat non-stop, laugh non-stop and have so much FUN !!!!!

This is the kids opening gifts :)

Claire got her Uggs !!!!!!!!!!! Yea :) Her new bike, that Santa brought her.

John got this new roller blades, a Wii game and the hat he as been asking for.......happy boy :)

The girls :) Claire, me, Jenny, Jeanine and Giana !!!!!!

What a wonderful Christmas !!!!!!

Our annual trip to SF......

There is nothing like the feel of the hustle and bustle of a big city at Christmas time. It is magical !!!! SF is beautiful at the holidays. Every store and building has lights and/or decorations.

Love this picture. It is coming out of the tunnel over the Bay Bridge. We had the threat of rain on this trip, but it never did.
Claire and I at Union Square :)

The beautiful, 3 story tall, Christmas tree inside Neiman Marcus.

Love Macy's windows......

View of (part of) Union Sqaure.

FUN trip !!!!!!!

A crafty share.....

How CUTE is this little Christmas photo box made out of cardstock !!!!! I got it from one of the little first graders yesterday. Her Mom thought I would love it since I am crafty :)

There are 3 layers for photos. Can't wait to fill it up !!!!

Had to share this as well....is it not theeeeee sweetest birthday card EVER ?!?!

This melts my heart.....

Olga sent this to me yesterday. My Dad and I at Thanksgiving :)

What's Christmas w/out a Christmas play......

Here is John the Elf...... Doing his narrator job :)

The whole class singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". DARLING play !!!!!!

Glitter and Martha love.......

These cuties are on the Martha website. To fun to make and easy peasy :)

I made a few of these to add onto some packages......

I *heart* Anthropologie !!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean, I need to stay FAR away from this place !!!!!! Not so much their clothes, which I love, but way to pricey for me....but all the fun home stuff. I have bought lots and lots of gifts from there. As a matter of fact, their Christmas wrap this year, the ribbon is twill tape with buttons sewn on it. Anyway, I got this DARLING goodie in the mail today. It is a 15% off coupon to celebrate my birthday. Forget the coupon, look at the darling little pouch it came in !!!!!!!!!!!! Oh how I LOVE Anthropologie :)

December 1st......

Don't get to busy you forget to enjoy the little things this holiday season.....hohoho !!!!

Thanksgiving Day/weekend.....

Quality time with friends and family.....does it not get any better than that !!!!!!
Olga and I :)

Scrabble with Grandpa. Serious cheating and making up new words.....but lots of laughs !!!

A table with Grandma's china :)

The boys......this picture reminds me of the show, My Three Sons. I have had that theme song in my head all weekend !!!!!! Goobers.......

Claire and Julia.....lots of manicures, pedicures and make up !!!!

Had a wonderful time !!!!!!!!

Squirrels.....of the large variety !!!!!!!

Man, is this dude bulking up for winter or what ?!?!?!? He is huge !!!! I know a lot of people don't like squirrels.....they eat much of our bird food than the birds, but I think they are cool. Bon Appetit :)

My fall photo shoot.....

Can't believe they are 8 and 10.....where did the time go ????

Got my Christmas card pic during this shoot as well :) YEAH !!!!!!!

Do we look alike ???

My school picture this year....although my hair is much darker now...got my fall/winter color going on since they took school pictures....John says I look teacher-ey :) This was my Mom's last school picture in 1988....do you see a resemblance ?

Scrappy Christmas......

Here is some of the abc book I am making Giana for Christmas.....the first page.....
This is "G" for grandparents, Giana and giraffe :)

Had to use a picture of our horse, Annie....

I used as many pictures of family as possible. All the kids, Aunties, cousins, etc.......

I've got all the pages made and a list of pictures or stickers I need to complete it.

Happy Halloweenie :)

Pumpkins carved by Big John, Lil John and Claire.....

John the ghoul and Claire the 50's girl :)

Race for the Cure.....

Once again....truly an amazing experience !!!! 8000 people all walking and running for the same reason !! We were the 5k crew.....this was at the end :) Here we go.....

These are the surviviors they honor with flowers and a walk across a stage with their loved ones clapping and cheering. The sea of pink is beautiful :)

The fringes on the stirngs are ribbons with names of loved ones on them. Really cool !!!

Wouldn't it be great if this was the last race they had to have because they found a cure ??!!

Back to himself :)

We had a great visit !!! My Dad is doing so well..walking everyday, fun sense of humor is back, happy as can be !!!!!!!! Thank you God :)

I thought Sunday's were a day of rest ??

What a marathon day !!!!! It started out with a soccer shootout at 7:45, which we missed because Claire had her first Altar Serving. Msgr was gracious enough for a picture :) This was the 5th soccer game of the weekend and this was the girls best game. They played GREAT !!!!!

BFF's :)
Who is this masked man ?????? The glasses on the outside kill me !!!!!!! John won for scariest cosutme at the Halloween/Costume Bowling for Scouts.

Time for some R&R !!!!!