Fun at the Circus!

We took Gia to the circus this past Friday.  It was her (and my) first time at the circus, so I was really looking forward to it.  I kept telling Bobby, "we need to leave at 6, because otherwise we won't get good seats!"  Of course, he told me that we would be just find leaving at 6:15, and he was right.  There was a good crowd there, but plenty of seats.  

Gianna enjoyed the circus for the most part, but she was really more interested in eating snacks, climbing under the seats and taking walks with Daddy & me than watching the show.  She did enjoy when they had a bunch of dogs parading around.  Other than that she wanted to stand on my legs and watch the kids sitting behind us.

Just as the show was going into the second half and getting good, she got tired & orney and we had to leave.  Of course the one night we want to keep her out later, she takes an early nap and is ready for bed by 8.  Oh well, it was a fun experience and now we have some circus memories.

Eating goldfish as Daddy explains what's going on.

Gia loved climbing under the blechers.

Watching the puppies with Daddy.

Coming back from a walk around the arena with Daddy.

Bring on the Snow!

About a week ago we had a ton of snow fall in our town.  I have been waiting for this since we moved to Utah!  We have had 3 mild winters, and finally this year we got a good deal of snow.  We even got enough snow to close school, which doesn't happen often at all around here.  We got about a foot of snow, but it came down so fast that the plows couldn't keep up with it all.  Fortunately, we didn't lose power, so we just got to have a fun, snowy weekend!

First off, Bobby got our car stuck.  The traffic was AWFUL coming home, so he took a short cut around the back of the neighborhood.  Unfortuantely, one of the hills was covered in ice, and the Accord slid to the side & couldn't make it up.  My dad, Bobby and I spent a while trying to dig the car out, and then someone tried to toe us up the hill.  It didn't work, so we just left our car there until the next day.  

We took some snow walks.  It has been 11 years since I've seen this much snow (we had a big snow storm in Cary when I was 16 that closed school for a week), and I had such a blast stepping into the knee-height snow mounds and throwing snowballs.  Nola is in 7th heaven, and she just rolls around in our backyard to cover herself.  At times she was so covered in snow that had been falling that we had to really search to find her (she blended in!)  

We still have all this snow in our yards and driveways because it hasn't been above freezing in over a week.  I think it's supposed to warm up soon, so I'd better take advantage of this snow while I can!

Shoo-wee!

This is a short post, but I had to record it.

Bobby was sitting in the chair and had just passed gas.  I smelled it and sat on the opposite couch.  Then Gianna walked over to him to get him to play.  As she approached the chair she said, "Shoo-wee."  She smelled his fart and knew it was a bad smell!  Hilarious!

Christmas 2012

Christmas day was awesome.  It snowed the day before, so we had a white Christmas, and Gianna got spoiled.  I got my first taste of a late-night-Christmas-Eve-Mom; I was up until after 1am because of wrapping gifts, putting away food, getting Gia's toys & stockign ready, etc...  Despite this, Bobby and I were up early on Christmas morning.  Bobby kept asking me if my parents were awake yet so that we could go look at the tree (I think he was excited about giving me the big gift he had gotten me).  When we finally got them up, we made coffee and went out to see the tree.  The stockings were overflowing (mine with chocolate, Bobby's with candy) and the living room was filled with gifts. 

Christmases at my house growing up always lasted all day.  We didn't live near family, so we spent the whole day opening gifts and eating leftovers.  My dad always went overboard with gifts, which made Christmas morning so exciting as a kid.  Christmas for us lasted from morning to late night, mostly because there is a 5 minute story behind each gift.  We also tend to wrap our gifts 3 times, so it takes three times as long as a normal family to open everything.  This year we opened our stockings before Gianna got up, then opened some gifts with her & some of ours, and opened more after she went down for a nap.  We took a break when Gia got up so that we could enjoy her playing with her gifts, and then continued after she went to bed.  I think we finished around 10:00pm this year (because of the long break) :o) 

Papa Joe putting Gia down for her nap.

Both sides of our family are very giving people.  Bobby's big gift was an iPad that everyone had chipped in to get, and my big gift was a TV for our bedroom (insert big smile here).  I also got two seasons of the Duggars (my favorite show).  I love me some Duggars.  We were able to Skype with the Wood side as Bobby opened his iPad.  That was really special. 

Gianna of course got spoiled.  Bobby and I got her some leggos and play food for her kitchen.  Bobby's grandma had gotten her the most amazing rocking horse, which she LOVES.  My parents got her a tent & tunnel, train made of blocks, books, clothes, winter clothes & a stroller-sleeping-bag thing.  Bobby's parents had sent her the most amazing floor-piano (remember the piano from the movie Big?), a shopping cart, and later got her a baby doll (another post coming about that later) along with a ton of other things.  Gia and every other kid we ever have are totally set wtih toys until they're 5.  We are so grateful and blessed by the love of our families.  They are too good to us.

Here are some pictures from our Christmas in Utah.  Be prepared for picture overload :o)

Christmas Eve pictures:

Gia's tent that Bobby put together.

Go App!  Nana & Papa Joe got Gia a great sweatshirt.

We love to read The Polar Express.

My Dad and I opened our traditional candy bar gift!  The cure for that Christmas cough :o)

Bobby was pretty excited to get a deep fryer from his mom.

Our puppies even cuddled on this special day.

Christmas Eve menu

Every Christmas, whether by Skype or in person, my family (the Montanarella side) sits down and writes out our list for our Christmas Eve dinner.  My dad and I are the ones responsible for cooking all the food (for the most part).  Our meal is not like the typical Christmas dinner... you know,: ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, etc... Instead, we make all of our favorite foods that we don't normally eat through out the year.

Every Christmas Eve, we have orduerves while watching The Polar Express.  I made chocolate covered strawberries & black bean dip, along with shrimp cocktail and summer sausage.  It's such a fun time!

This year, Bobby got in on the action.  He came up with a genius idea to make buffalo chicken sushi!  It. Was. Awesome.  I was super impressed (as I always am) at his culinary skills.  Everything he puts his mind to in the kitchen turns out great.

The rest of our menu consisted of: Homemade Ravioli with Parma Rosa sauce, clam dip, pumpernickle boat, cheese & crackers, cheese sticks, fried califlower and stuffed mushrooms.  Mmmm, so good! 

Who Does Comet Belong to?

So, one Christmas when I was in high school, my friend and I got these reindeer stuffed animals for like $1.99 at Khol's.  I bought a bunch, gave most of them away as Christmas presents, and kept one for myself.  His name was comet, and he used to be mine.  Before I knew it, my dad had claimed Comet as his own and insisted that Comet was happier with him, on his recliner.  So, for the past 11 years or so we have joked each other every Christmas about who Comet belongs to. 

Since Bobby and I have moved to Utah, my dad also kept a Muppet's Christmas Carol movie that he & my mom had given to me when I was in college.  It's been in NC since we moved here, so it added to the fun joke that my dad kept my Christmas stuff. 

This year, my dad got me a special gift for Christmas Eve.  He got me The Muppets Christmas Carol and Comet.  I was laughing so hard as I opened his letter and then the package.  I was so sad to see the joke end that I planned on giving Comet back to him on Christmas day, but it turns out he was able to find one on Amazon!  So, now we both have Comets!

Christmas Cookies

I am way behind on these posts, so I have a lot to catch up on...

We have so many traditions at Christmas time, and one of them is making ginger bread cookies with my dad.  This year we got Gia in on the fun.  I even shot a video of my dad teaching Gia step-by-step how to roll out the dough and cut the cookies, but for now I'll just share the pictures.  It was a precious sight for me that I had been waiting for since last Christmas.  

First we roll the dough...

Then we choose our favorite shape and cut the cookie...

And there we have a cookie!

We got a Mama-daughter picture with our aprons on.

The chefs for Christmas Eve dinner!

This is the cutest little chef I've ever seen.  She was so happy to be helping in the kitchen.