Fourth Christmas

The Saturday after Christmas, we headed to Clifton for the annual family Christmas party which includes my Stepdad's Mom, his siblings and their families.  Its a huge group of us, and we have a blast.  Its full of kids, food, gifts, and fun, and one last opportunity to celebrate the holiday.

 

Christmas Day/Minute to Win It!

After a lovely, relaxing Christmas morning and bellies full of french toast, we headed to my Mom and Robby's for our afternoon of gifts and dinner.   This year we added a fun twist on the day - Minute To Win It party games.  Hilarious! A new holiday tradition was born.  We laughed so hard!

It was really great to take the focus off of gift opening and spend time laughing and enjoying each others' company.

So lucky to have a family who loves to have fun!

My Mom's tree, always beautiful.

The gift frenzy...

 

 



Minute to Win It - Pantyhose Head, it was the favorite game!

 



Cotton Ball Nose Game

 



 

Marshmallow Bucket Head

Christmas Morning 2012

Christmas morning was pretty much perfect in my book. Slept in a little, watched the boys open their gifts with glee, enjoyed some delicious breakfast and settled in for a few hours of trying out new toys. 

The best part about Christmas is how the whole world seems to stand still for everyone to enjoy this magical time together with their family.  On one hand, you never want it to end. On the other, you know that in a week or two it will all seem so far away until another Christmas sends us into a frenzy of baking, shopping, wrapping and gluttony. 

This Christmas was precious, even more so than usual.  I couldn't help but think of all the families in Connecticut who didn't have their precious children with them to open gifts, hug them and nestle in their arms as they relished in the joy together.  This Christmas, we were all reminded to hold our kids more tightly than usual and treasure the moments.  I said a little prayer in my head as I held my two boys, and felt so lucky that we have each other.  Life is truly a blessing. No matter how hard it can be at times, every single second is a gift.  The best gift in the world.

 

 

 

The big gifts this year were a laptop for Dylan, and a Kinect for the XBox..

 

And bb guns for each boy, which was a total surprise for them.  They were overjoyed!

 

Look at that grin..

This was the BEST french toast casserole ever.  It will  not be a Christmas only recipe!

 



 

The sausage egg casserole was a winner too...

And of course, another wearing of the Madagascar 3 rainbow afro wig!

 



Christmas Eve 2012

With two sets of parents on my side to celebrate Christmas, we have a tradition of spending Christmas Eve with my Dad and Stepmom, Christmas morning at our house, and Christmas Day/Evening at my Mom's with my Stepdad and all of my stepsisters and their spouses/kids.   I'm pretty sure that sentence was a serious run-on full of grammatical errors but I'm too tired from all the holiday hub-bub to think of another way to word it.

We hosted  Christmas Eve at our house this year, with my Dad and Stepmom arriving on Sunday the 23rd, and Chris, Jessica and the twins arriving early Christmas Eve afternoon.   Lots and lots of yummy food, drinks and gift opening.  But the biggest gift of all was an unexpected snowfall!  Not a lot but just enough for the kids to have a snowball fight and get their taste of the first snow of this season.

 

My Dad and Stepmom

 

 

My bro and Jess

 

 

Maya cuddled with Dylan..

 

 

 

 

 

 

My two favorite boys, right before bedtime.

 

 

 

 

 

partying at school

We're enjoying a nice, mostly quiet and relaxing holiday vacation at home with the boys.  A good mix of family time, parties, quiet time and together time.  Many more photos to come, but for now I thought I'd share photos of the boys each at their school holiday parties December 21st before the winter break.

Hope you're having a wonderful holiday!

 

 

illuminating!

Yesterday was a rare day around these parts lately.  Andrew was home from work early, the boys didn't have much homework, and there was no Odyssey of the Mind, taekwondo or Webelos keeping us busy in the evening.  It wasn't very cold out, either, so we decided to hop in the car and check out a new walk thru holiday lights exhibit at a beautiful park in Vienna called Meadowlark Gardens.

These photos don't do it justice.  Trust me, its spectacular in person! And at the end, they have a giant bonfire where you can make s'mores!

Meadowlark Gardens Winter Walk of Lights turned out to be fantastic.  We all enjoyed it, and I highly recommend it to local friends!

 

 

 

I loved the purple lights the most, it reminded me of the Magic Kingdom at Disney last holiday season.

 

 

 

I don't know...maybe the blue ones were my favorite.  So pretty!

 

 

 

Happy Holidays!

we all need the magic

December 12, 2012

Dear Dylan,

You asked me today if Santa is real.  You’ve asked a few times this month and I asked you in return “what do you think?”  You didn’t push it any further until today, and now it seems like you really want to know the truth.

The answer is no.  Santa is not real. There no single “one” Santa.

Dad and I are the people who fill your stockings with treats.  We choose the gifts we think you’ll love,  and wrap them and place them under the tree.  It’s the same way my mom did for me, and the same way her mom did for her.

I know someday you will do this for your children too, when you are an adult with a family of your own.  You will love the anticipation of seeing your children’s excitement and wonder as they open the gifts you’ve chosen for them.  You will keep this special secret from them as long as you can, and explain that  Santa is magic.

This won’t make you Santa, though.

Santa is bigger than any one person, and his work has gone on longer than any of us have lived.  What he does is simple, but it is powerful. He teaches children how to believe in something they can’t see or touch.  He also keeps magic alive in all of our hearts as we grow into adults.

It’s a big job, and it’s important one. Throughout your life, you will need this capacity to believe: in yourself, in your friends, in your talents and in your family. You’ll also need to believe in things you can’t measure or even hold in your hand.  Here, I am talking about love, the great power that will light your life from the inside out.

Santa is a teacher, and I have been his student.  Now you know the secret of how he gets down all those chimneys on Christmas Eve: he has help from all the people whose hearts he’s filled with joy.  With full hearts, people like Daddy and me take our turns helping Santa do a job that would otherwise be impossible.

So no, I am not Santa.  Santa is love and magic and hope and happiness.  I’m on his team, and now you are too.

I love you and I always will.  Please don’t tell Logan or talk  about this with any other children.  Every kid deserves to ask their own parents and find out about Santa when the time is right for them.

Love,

Mom

2012 ornament

A couple of weeks ago, I met up with my mama and we spent a few hours browsing an arts and crafts fair.  There's just nothing better than spending time with your mom, is there?  I came across this ornament and had to have it as our official Lopresti family 2012 ornament. Can't wait to put it on the tree once we get it up later this month!