Girls' Day Out

Gabriella woke up on Friday morning and exclaimed that she was getting her ears pierced on Saturday. News to me! Last time I brought up to Gabi about getting her ears pierced was in October and she totally freaked out on me. So when she decided Saturday was going to be the day, we made sure to take her over to the mall before she changed her mind.

We had a great day planned, just Gabriella and mommy. We were going to go to get Gabi's ear pierced, go to Build-A-Bear and then get lunch. However, if she didn't go through with the ears, we were going to head home. Luckily, we had an AMAZING day! What a big girl I have. Now that she got her ears pierced she has been looking at jewelry in a new light. Only diamonds, and they have to be BIG!

Just Say NO!

The next time your husband comes up with a brillant idea to steam clean the carpets on a Sunday- during an important football game...just say NO! What started off as a great idea of steam cleaning some rooms in our house turned out to be complete chaos. First Tony started with our room since he said it smelled of Towson (he sleeps in the corner of our room on a pillow). Out came our giant bed and dressers. Our mattress was now in Gabi's room and the bedframe was in the hall and the dressers were in the bathroom. While that room "attempted" to dry, Tony took his adventures downstairs. Next came the playroom. Mind you I just reorganized that entire room the week before. Anyone who has tons of toys in the house knows that is not an easy task.So, all of the toys that weren't in the closet came spitting up and landed in the small living room. While that room was drying, Tony made his way to the family room. He disconnected the t.v. and moved all of the furniture into the kithen. The house looked a total disaster area. It is now 5 P.M. on a Sunday night. We couldn't even make dinner in the house. So we quickly gathered up the troops and headed to Chinese (of course) and tried to watch the Cardinals game. We got back home and naturally none of the carpets were dry. We still had to get to the kids in baths and ready for the school the next day. Lets just say it was a rather long night. After putting kids to bed and opening every window for the carpets to dry, we still had to joy of moving all of the furniture back in its place. Next time, we are paying someone.

Enjoy the Silence

Moments like these are golden in our house. My kids truly do love each other, but when they have had enough of each other all hell breaks loose in the house. Normally these precious moments of "love" happen on Gabi's schedule. If she is not in the mood to deal with Aidan she lets everyone know. However, when she is being an awesome big sister she is amazing. With Gabi knowing how to read now and Aidan always wanting to be read to, this was truly a beautiful moment in our house. Maybe because noone was in the "naughty chair" or because Tony and I weren't screaming, but because our kids were showing love for one another. I'm hoping to capture more of the moments on film.

it's a snow day!

We headed up north to Flagstaff with some friends to take the kids sledding. We haven't been in the snow for almost 2 years and figured it was time to find out what the cold felt like again. We left Phoenix at 9 in the morning and the weather report had said it was going to be a high of 70. We were hoping that the snow up north was still there. Nonetheless, we bundled up with layers, tried to find warm clothes and left for our 2 hour car ride. For many miles there was nothing, except catcus and mountains. But little by little, we started seeing some white stuff on the highway. By the time we reached Flagstaff we definitely knew we had come to the right place. The town was covered with white stuff from a storm the week earlier.
We had a great time sledding down all the different hills, having snowball fights and building snowmen. We slipped on the ice a few times, lost one mitten and crashed into a few incident bystanders. We had a great day, however, I really missed the blazing Phoenix sun.

Jews on Christmas Eve

Ever wonder what Jews do on Christmas Eve? The answer is not much. We decided to make our own yearly tradition of going to the drive-in movies. Last summer I attempted to take Aidan to the real movie theaters, but it was too hard and long for him to sit. We figured we would give the drive-in a try instead so we could actually see a first run movie together as a family. Normally, either Tony and I take Gabi while the other stays home with Aidan. This time, we were going to go together and if Aidan needed to talk (or scream) or even needed to get out of the car we could do that.We got the kids in the jammies, got some pizza and then headed to Scottsdale to watch the Princess and the Frog. There were only 6 other cars watching at our screen. It was great! The best part of the entire experience (according to the kids) was that Gabi and Aidan got to sit up front in the driver's and passenger seats without car seats! Have no worries, on Christmas Day we went to the Chinese Buffet and finished celebrating Christmas watching a Christmas Story and Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas.

The Year in Review

So it is a few hours before the end of 2009 and I decided to take a quick and brief look back at the year. Overall it was a good one. We have a roof over our heads, food on the table and we all are in perfect health- so we have nothing to complain about.
Gabi lost her first (and second) tooth, started reading, started Sunday school, started Girl Scouts and continues to be an amazing daughter. Aidan moved out of the toddler bed and now has a big boy bed, is talking up a storm, went to his first movie, he is enjoying reading books rather than eat them, and is always ready with big wet kisses. Tony is happy at the bank and I myself faced my biggest challenge...changing grades from Kindergarten to First.
We did lots of amazing things as a family. We were fortunate enough to have the Weissberg's come visit in Feb. for my birthday and for Gabi's first show production. We got to fly to Pa. to visit with the Calabretti's for a week and be with family. We went to see the Liberty Bell and go to the Crayola Factory. Then again in June, I took the kids to Florida to visit my mom and dad. The kids experienced Disney World for the first time, go to the beach and aquarium. We got to spend the 4th of July in Lake Havasu, be with our amazing chavurah and spend time together.
It was a great year but I am excited to see what lies in the future for the Calabretti's in the months ahead.
One exciting event will be that in 2010 Tony and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and we are going away WITHOUT the kids (something we have never done before). I am going to yet 2 more U2 concerts. Most importantly we get to watch Gabi and Aidan (and of course Towson) continue to grow and amaze us.
May the new year bring amazing things for all of us.

Hanukkah, 2009

We made it! Another successful Hanukkah has come and now is quickly gone. The kids had lots of surprises and received great gifts from the Weissberg's and Calabretti's. Here is a quick recap of our first four nights. Night One: the family received the Wii from the Weissberg's. It was a nice treat to have the kids open it over Skype so my parents can witness the screams for themselves. Night Two: we surprised the kids with new bedsheets. When they got upstairs to put them on their beds the real surprise was in their rooms. They both got new beds. Gabi got a full size captains bed and Aidan got Gabi's old twin bed.
No more crib/toddler bed for him :( Night Three: Zhu Zhu pets for both. Night Four: Easy Bake Oven for Gabi and loads of cars for Aidan. The rest of the nights the kids made out like bandits. They both got tons of videos, Wii games, clothes and lots of books (courtsey of the Calabretti's). They were completely spoiled by friends and family alike. It was a Happy Hanukkah, but now it is time to relax.

Pictures: A surprised Aidan walking into his "big boy" room for the first time, Gabi's new bed and the kids opening the Wii.