Santa Claus is coming to Amherst!

We attended a pancake breakfast with Santa at Jacob's school. It was perfect, not too crowded, free crafts, cookies and all you could eat pancakes! All-in-all a fun morning.

Jay and Theo.

Jacob eating ALL of his pancakes!

Some of the girls working at the craft table asked if they could put a Santa's hat on Theo. He looked cute, although you wouldn't know it from this picture.

Waiting for Santa on the steps. They were super excited!

Raphael asked Santa Claus for trucks and Jacob asked for boxes and workbooks.  They were so excited waiting in line!

All three of our little men. 

Thanksgiving!

 Our own little Theo turkey. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. As usual my pictures were rather limited.  We spent Thanksgiving with both sets of grandparents, Aunt Laura, Uncle Chad, Gianna, Chad's parents and Uncle Dino. We missed Aunt Maria, Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Jim!  The menu included, turkey, Poppy's stuffing, Grandma's sweet potatoes, Scott's green beans, Uncle Dino's fruit salad, rolls, potatoes, apple pie and pumpkin pie made by yours truly.

 Gianna is almost 9 months old and Theo is getting close to being 6 months old! They are both so cute together. Theo was cracking up with laughter when he was looking at Gianna.

Poppa reading to the boys on Thanksgiving.

Uncle Dino and Poppy, cooking in the kitchen.

I love family so much!

 Playing with Aunt Laura!

 The weather was fabulous. The boys played outside with Grandma and climbed up in the tree!

 Some beautiful girls!

 Jacob and Jay made quite the lincoln log fort at Grandma and Poppa's house.  It lasted until Raphael knocked it over.

 Raphael playing in the leaves.

Here's a nice view of Raphael's missing tooth (it still makes me sad).

 We are now preparing for Advent and Christ's birth. Here is our Advent chain.

This year I made an Advent wreath at MOMS.  I added some pine cones, ribbon and silver stars. The boys love lighting the candle(s) every night!

To be thankful

It is during the month of November that we often take the time to look at what we are thankful for within our lives.  We have so much to thank God for in our lives. I am thankful for the air that we breathe, our Catholic faith that gives me strength and encouragement, our health, a warm house, our family and friends and the gift of each new day.  Mostly, I am so very grateful for the three little men in our lives.  They make each and every day a new adventure.

 Jacob is our inquisitive little boy who doesn't miss a trick. He insists he is child #3 (since this is his age).  He's curious about everything and is always ready for you to read him a book or two.

Raphael is quite the little man. He loves to eat, is constantly talking and runs everywhere he's going. 

 Theo is the perfect little baby. He's adorable (of course I'm bias), happy and content and a snugly little baby.

I am thankful for a caring husband and father to our children.  Jay is very creative with the boys and the boys just love spending time with him.

Personally, I am grateful for 30 years of life! It has been a wonderful, crazy, scary, exhilarating, unpredictable ride so far.  I enjoyed a great 30th birthday and I'm looking forward to going away for a night with Jay this weekend.  Where to you might ask...it's a surprise!

The Halloween Happenings

We had a very happy Halloween. The boys were super excited and off the wall most of the day! Jacob decided for a second year in a row to be a robot. Raphael is a puppy dog.

 Theo as a little bee.

 Trick-or-treating at Miss Nance's house.  She's the best! A few of the neighbors even had special goodie bags for the boys which was fun. 

 An attempt at a group shot. Notice the sign in our window. 

 Theo at 4 1/2 months.

 He's such a happy little boy!

He loves rolling onto his belly and is now starting to grab for his toys.

Kelkenberg Farm

After church on Sunday, we headed to Kelkenberg Farm in Akron. It was a gorgeous day. I love Kelkenberg Farms because it is a small farm that is not over commercialized. We enjoyed a barn tour, pony rides and a wagon ride to the pumpkin patch.  Their kettle corn is amazing and I love their quaint gift shop. 

The boys attempt at a group photo. Raphael was more interested in looking at the tractor. 

Our little cutie. He is so smiley most of the time!

Daddy and Theo.

Jacob was super excited to ride the miniature pony. For some reason Raphael did not want to go on at all.

Here we are riding the wagon to the pumpkin patch.

Picking out a pumpkin. 

Jacob found the perfect one!

A professional photographer emailed me these pictures of the boys eating lunch. Too cute.

When we came home the boys painted their pumpkins.  They can't wait to dress up for Halloween and go trick-or-treating.  Having children always makes the holidays more fun!

A weekend trip

 Jay had some time off so we headed to Ithaca. It was a gorgeous weekend! I only have a few pictures since our camera died. Thank you mom for letting me borrow yours!

 Here are the boys playing with play dough after church.

 Our beautiful Theo at four months of age!

 Grandma Albanese kept the boys busy with play dough, homemade lemonade, wagon rides and walks around the yard.

 I love this picture of Poppy and Theo.

Fall is officially here! Yesterday I made old-fashioned pumpkin cookies. Last week I made pumpkin whoopie pies and pumpkin bread.  Delicious! This weekend we are planning on hitting up the pumpkin patch, if the weather cooperates.

Our Theo

Our camera is currently not working, sigh! I wanted to take some updated pictures of Theo since he is getting so big. In another week and a half he will be four months old. He started rolling from his back to his tummy this past weekend! He is giggling and overall a very happy boy. We're starting to have him learn how to self soothe himself to sleep (always fun). Since he is overly addicted to being rocked to sleep until we can put him down. Last night he slept 10 hours straight, which was awesome.  He is really a great baby! He is smuggled with kisses and hugs from the boys throughtout the day. Jacob especially enjoys "helping" him roll over.  Stay tuned for more pictures, when we get around to purchasing a new camera....