What a way to end 2008 - WITH SNOW!!

Well the storm has arrived and here on Tall Tree we are supposed to get hit pretty hard. Here are Daddy and Matteo gearing up to go out and enjoy some flakes on their tongues. I loved watching Daddy bundle Matteo in all of his gear, as it seems like such a process!

I really think Matteo should have asked Santa for a sled for Christmas. When we purchased the sled below, it said for children 1-3, however I don't think they had Matteo in mind. We'll see if we can't go out and find a new one on Friday.

Matteo enjoying some snow with Walter (note: one minute video, if you see the first 10 seconds, you've seen the whole 60 - then again, who can resist those giggles!)

Gearing up for the big 2009~
!

I see Santa....Tues

Well if you recall for weeks Mommy had Matteo asking Santa to bring him a kitty for Christmas. I, being the ever so impatient one, decided to get Matteo a kitty before christmas, with the hopes that Santa would still bring a real one (orange and from the pound of course) come Christmas morning. However, I have soon come to understand why Santa did not fulfill Matteo's request. See picture below, wherein Matteo has taken to sitting on kitty (notice her tail in his hand). Yes indeed, Matteo sits on kitty, breakfast, lunch and if she isn't hiding - dinner too :-)

Don't worry Kitty isn't the only one we torture. Notice here our live fish (turns 1 yr in January). Matteo is scaring him so much with 2 kitties that he may not make 1 year!

So you see folks, on days when the wind is roaring and the outside looks just too cold to venture out in, we enjoy our animals (even if they don't enjoy us back).

SCRABBLE Monday

Because as I've told Jules so many times in the past, working during "normal" people hours is so beneath us.....besides who needs $$ when you have family??? Ok so as you may or may not know Santa gave Jules the board game Scrabble for Christmas and to my shock, he has never played it before! Ever. So when Matteo napped today (in the kitchen as I had pity for him) and Mommy was too energized to nap, what is a fairly newly (6 yrs) married couple to do, but play scrabble? So the game started out fun, with Jules making the first spelling error "qute" for the word "cute"........(please see below where he spelled "christsas") hence, he lost a turn and received no points for stupidy. I should preface MOMMY is the one that has trouble spelling.

Mommy made a great word "ax" double word points 16 points!!!!!

Oops, below is where I caught Daddy knowingly cheating...."writen". Look at his facee, he knowingly cheated! Cheat No. 2.

Mommy caught him red handed and hence called him out, causing Jules to lose a turn and receive no points.

When Mommy decided enough was enough and it was time to wake Matteo, below you will see our finished product.

Oops, I failed to mention who won. Welll, that has yet to be determined as DAddy once again CHEATED (oh yes you heard me right). You see, Daddy was score keeper and he says the score was: 504 (Daddy) to 194 (Mommy). He didn't use numbers to keep score, he used "tally" marks, each one representing "5 points". Ok well what happens when ytou get "16 points" or 1 point? Clearly you see how I am not affected by this score as I know he 1) cheated and 2) cheated or really messed up counting (i think the first).

But all in all, Santa's whole objective of purchasing/making/building Scrabble for Daddy was achieved, for some good old fashioned fun. Clearly I could have turned on the TV while Matteo napped, but instead we enjoyed a good laugh. I suggest you try it next time your loved one is home, you may just learn how much of a cheater you live with :-) "haha" (which by the way is a word).

Clean it up Sunday!

With Sunday being nice and warm in the sixties, we took the opportunity to clean out our garage as junk/halloween decorations seemed to have accumulated there since the end of October. Daddy did most of the work, while Mommy kept saying how tired she still was from all of the festivities the week previous. THEN Mommy had a great thought, we needed more carpeting in the garage - - so Daddy went hard to work making our garage have carpeting. You see, with more carpeting, it allows me more space to move with Matteo in addition to taking his shoes on and off. Besides, I asked Gramps (aka Carpet Surgeon aka 40+ years in the installation business) to come out and help, but he was too busy going to the movies with his OTHER grandchildren. That's okay Gramps, I don't forget :-)

So here is Daddy hard at work. Always one with attention to detail, he gets every last string up, leaving none behind.

Next, as every good carpet installer does, Daddy took to vacuuming the newly laid carepting. Notice how well the two Laura Ashleys blend. The only difference is one has been down for 3+ years and the other is newly down. But wait, there is still more cleaning to do.....

About 3-4 years ago, we redid our master bathroom. Mommy originally purchased this porceilin base, however after it was installed "we" (Mommy) changed her mind and decided to put down all tile instead. So after looking at it in our garage for all these years, we moved it to the attic. Don't worry, I keep telling DAddy we'll use it one day, just not today (or for the past 4 years of todays).

PRESTO! Here is our finished product, plenty of room for shoes, sitting and standing and we need not trip over everything. I just wish we had 3 Laura Ashely's instead of 2 and a brown (puke). Oh well.

And in case, you are wondering how the movie was for Gramps---he didn't go he got sick HAHAHA :-) Oh I always love a story with a happy ending.

Saturday dinner

So tell me, do you allow your children to bring their "friends" to the table to eat with them? For dinner Saturday night, Matteo invited Kitty No. 2 (white), his piggy bank, Kitty No. 3 (black) - which also serves as a doorstopper, dolphin and ducky. With all those friends, it's a good thing we had turkey soup, which you can spread easily among that many eaters.

And for dessert, Matteo and Mommy enjoyed some of Grandma's marble coffee cake (mmmmmm can't you just taste the chocolate)!!!

I think Matteo certainly enjoyed it more than Mommy.

Really Walt.....AGAIN?

Well dear family and friends, today would not have been as eventful as it was had it not been for having a D O G. You see we started our day with simply cleaning up, cleaning out, and putting away all toys, clothes, you get the idea I'm sure. however I think our faithful friend Walter was upset at us for not being home for 3 days, because what does he do first thing this morning...yes, you guessed it.......rolled around in something! So that's it, the gloves are off. No bathing in the nice warm inside tub, no towels, no warm water, just hose hose hose. Not that it is cold out, 50 degrees or so, but still, maybe next time he will think twice before taking part in such activties (doubtful).

Below is a picture of still good sport Jules and Matteo bathing Walter.

And in case you are wondering why Jules is still a good sport, I bribed him with a yodel. Not a package, just ONE (overkill, you know).

If only Santa would have given me a cat like I asked for for Christmas, I doubt ccats are this disguisting. :-) Next year Santa, next year.

Toys toys toys

With all the toys Matteo received for Christmas, he had the most fun yesterday morning with his foot!!! Not sure what prompted this string of giggles, however Matteo and his foot had a ball together for about 5 minutes. Oh the simple things money cannot buy :-)

Well now, you must be wondering why Matteo is so dressed up the day after Christmas. You see, he has yet to be to Grandma and Gramps' house where no doubt a slew of presents await him. So come along if you will, good times await.

Below is a picture of Grandma and Matteo opening presents together.

Next, while waiting patiently to open presents FROM Matteo, Andrew enjoyed some snuggle time with Gramps.

Ok now that the presents are open, it's time to clean-up. Andrew received this really nice wheelbarrow for Christmas and Matteo delighted in using it and piling in lots of garbage, and even some non-garbage items.

And that was our trip to Grandma and Gramps' house. We are so exhausted today and it seems our house is bursting at the seams with presents. Don't worry, Mommy has safely put away 85% of the presents in order to take them out on a rainy day. I believe it was in the month of November that we finished last year's presents (no kidding) and while putting away the presents I recognized some of his birthday presents that I forgot we had. Matteo sure is a lucky boy to have a life filled with so many people who love him, however recall the first picture of his foot - - sometimes it's the simple things in life that bring the most delight.

Christmas Day has ARRIVED!!

Well after four weeks of talking to Matteo about St. Nick, he finally arrived at Matteo's house and not a moment too soon it seems. While Matteo and Mommy slept peacefully (have you read about Christmas eve yet, we were exhausted!), Santa crept down our chimney, busily put out our toys and gifts and before leaving stopped for a snack of cookies and milk.

Here is a picture of our modest little Christmas on Tall Tree before the family woke up to check out what Santa left.

Santa also left Matteo some light up ducks, because if you know Matteo, you know how much he likes objects that light up.

After opening our presents, poor Daddy got the worst present of all. You see, I am convinced Walter (dog) was not happy with his bones that Santa left him, hence he went outside to spite everyone and rolled around in things that do not smell nice (insert your imagination). Here at 8:30 AM is Daddy bathing poor Walt, and yet having a good sense of humor about himself while doing it. NOTE TO WALTER: That was not very Christmassy of you.

And here we are on our way to Oma's house. This is the one and only picture of Matteo in his Christmas outfit. The other pictures he kept wiggling, not looking at the camera, etc.

More importantly, please let me point out how we have to travel just about 90% of our car time. Notice Kitty in the upper left corner hanging? When cousins Jay J and Andrew visited over Thanksgiving, Andrew hung a prize he received "up high" in the car and Matteo has never ever forgotten and if we fail to hang Kitty "up high" Matteo throws a fit liek you cannot believe! Matteo always has to be just like cousin Andrew - - when he is not attacking him of course :-)
Daddy, just could not resist trying on the new sunglasses that Santa gave Mommy. Still on the fence about who looks better, but DAddy does look very posh, wouldn't you agree?

Our Christmas would not be complete without a picture of the two who made it all possible and hosted this madhouse of relatives, Poppi Lou and Oma.



Gramps, the ever so festive one, saw present opening time as a time to catch up on some zzzzzzzzzzzzz's. Poor limpy.



Matteo enjoyed some quiet time drawing and Daddy loved this photo shot, as does Mommy. Look at his concentration level and the innocence of his hands, so small and tender :-)Matteo is not quite sure what to make of Poppi Lou's piggy slippers.



And when Matteo received a penguin outfit from Aunt Lois and Uncle Frank he HAD to wear it then and now.
Once again, during all of the festivities Gramps is STILL sleeping.


Here is Cousin Frank and Matteo, kind of playing together. Matteo kept confusing Cousin Frank with Uncle Frank and hence the name switch.


And showing that he still remembers his signs (my heart is all a twitter), Matteo is showing Mommy that there are deer on his pants.
And once again, recall Christmas Eve, Matteo ended the night running around yelling, "I'm naked, I'm naked." Also, notice the way too sweet candycane lolly pop in his hands, so much sugar that he stayed awake 80% of the way home.

Finally, in closing, as Santa says: Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. And remember dear friends, it's never too late to be good for next year as Santa is always watching and listening and really we should just be good to be good.

Chistmas Eve - All Day Long

Happy Christmas Eve my fellow family, friends and bloggers. I can hardly believe Christmas Eve is over, but boy did we pack a lot into our day. "So sit right back and I'll tell you a tale, a tale of a" ...oh wait, that's the song I sang to Gramps, the Gilligan's Island song, after his "4" hour job took over 12 hours!!!! (Please recall on Gilligan's Island, they originally set out for a 3 hour tour which then took them to an Island for years and years, until the show was cancelled - only difference is they could all work upright, where Gramps was bent over like a hunchback all of Christmas Eve and Christmas day and yes, I can mock as I was not in the pain and hence my nature) :-)

So our family started Christmas Eve by making cookies for Santa. Of course Mommy the ever so prepared one (sadly not), had to have Daddy save the day and run out for some chips for our chocolate chip cookies.

Next while Mommy cleaned and straighted up, Matteo enjoyed some alone/busy time cutting. He does enjoy the adult scissors very much.

Then, please recall we made our Christmas ornaments earlier in the week), we took to PAINTING our ornamnets. Here is Daddy decorating Matteo's hand ornament that Mommy worked so hard on...please notice the spelling of "Christmas". So after some mocking of Daddy (of which he was a great sport), Mommy said from now on I'll do all of the spelling for the family, which is very scary if you know my lack of phonics.

AND THEN THE MAILMAN CAME, AND ANOTHER PACKAGE FROM KATELYN!!!!! This package was extra special as it contained so many surprises for Matteo (can you say play doh and a cars placemat that is personalized) but also some goodies for Mommy and Daddy! Thank you Ambrose Family, you ceratinly made our Christmas Eve extra special :-) and getting mail is always such a treat, especially these large boxes (did I mentioned I wanted an orange live cat?).

Ok having saved that train sweater for over a month, Matteo is all set to go to Aunt Lois' house.

Next, we attended Christmas Eve mass with Oma, Poppi Lou, and Grandma. And really all I have to say is a 2 year old at mass, eating Peanutbutter and Jelly after a 1.5 hour nap is not a good combination :-) Some people encouraged his behavior by laughing, others gave "the look", however DAddy made Mommy feel better by telling her if they chose to sit next to us, they knew what they were getting into. Maybe I should take DAddy's advice and next year sit FAR AWAY from Matteo.

Ok, so we are off to Aunt Lois' house now.

And here he is::::ST. NICK HIMSELF!!! How he always manages to stop off at Aunt Lois' house, I will never know, however there is Aunt Lois letting him in. I must say, Matteo was very chatty with Old St. Nick, even went up to him a couple of times, shook his hand, told him what he wanted for Christmas, etc. etc. And, in my humble opinion, this was the best St. Nick ever. Lastly, please take note at the end of the video, not even Christmas Eve can stop Matteo from attacking Andrew, and Andrew the ever so good sport, takes it.

Here Santa has some pre-Christmas goodies for Matteo

Limpy Gramps got a much needed cane.

And it is with the following present that Mommy relized that Santa really is listening and watching our every move - - if memory serves me correct, I can remember over and over during the summer DAddy saying how much he needed a "studly" apron that featured his body-double in a g-string (red of course). And here, Santa gifted exactly that to Daddy and Uncle Jason. In addition, Santa also gave Daddy a g-string candy underwear -edible of course, because what else would you expect on Christmas Eve?

Finally, we ended Christmas Eve at Aunt Lois' house with Matteo running around, sans clothes, saying "i'm naked, i'm naked" (obviously Mommy was trying to put on his pj's, however he had much more fun streaking :-)

Such a great and fun-filled Christmas Eve, I can hardly wait to see what awaits us Christmas Day. Hope you check back to find out.

Grandmas Grandma!

just not our own!! Today was filled with two friend's Grandmas and what delightful surprises they showered us with. First when the mailman came, we received this friendly penguin in the mail with a return address from TX!! Who do we know in the Lone Star State----who do we know, who do we know----CALEB'S GRAMMA OF COURSE!!!!!! Well Adel hugs to you too of course and thanks for the delightful surprise.

Next our friendly neighbor called andd told us HIS Grandma prepared some reindeer food for - of course- Santa's reindeer and made a batch for Matteo as well. Naturally Mommy - being pregnant and all - inquired if she could eat it, to which I was told No, as it contained glitter. You see my fellow friends, you sprinkle the glitter and oats in your yard and the light from the moon reflects the glitter, hence ensuring the reindeer find our house. Because here on Tall Tree, the trees are t a l l ! !

A day filled with two delightful Grandmas remembering our sweet and most of the time, but not always (wink wink) precious Matteo. My heart is all a flutter :-) Thank you.