christmas eve

for the first time in the history of the calascione-soto family we hosted christmas eve dinner at our house! my mom [and dad] got to take a break from the cooking and cleaning this year ;)

before we could eat, we had one rather imortant thing to take care of... Christmas Eve Mass.

i was able to get the kids a part in the children's nativity mass at our church (which didn't work out for us last year), and natalie was to play an angel while russell was to sit at the altar with a group of kids while Father Bernie narrated. even though a lot of time (three rehearsals!) and stress (planning christmas eve dinner on the same night!) went into this, i'm so glad we participated. the kids were so cute up there on the altar in front of so many people!

it was recommended to take pics and video at dress rehearsal since it would be less chaotic, so here are some pictures from that day:

natalie waiting for her part to come up:

russell waiting for his part to come up.

the little girl next to him just happens to be natalie's former gymnastic teacher's granddaughter! - what a small worldthe angels on stage:

after rehearsal

***

immediately after mass we all gathered at my house for some yummy pot roast (thanks to the slow cooker!) and then it was time for our secret santa exchange. the kids (who aren't included in the secret santa) were so excited opening all of their gifts from the family. there were so many, we really could have cancelled christmas morning from "santa"! after opening some incredible gifts we broke out the karaoke game for some good laughs. we had a lot of fun that night and i am thankful to my wonderful family for everything they do!

some pics from that night:

leading up to christmas...

i'm going to do my best to remember all of what's taken place since my last post (which seems like ages ago). it's really been a whirlwind of events which is why i had to take a little break from the blog. all good things to report though -- and i hope i do a good job of updating you on all of them :)

***

natalie's been out of school on christmas vacation for the past two weeks and returns tomorrow. on the last day before the break, all of the pre-k classes put together a little christmas show. russ, little russell, "grandpa" and "nana" all went to watch natalie perform on stage for the first time ever. it was SUPER cute and i wish i could share some pictures/video on here but i still haven't gotten the footage off of my dad's video recorder. she was very shy (despite the fact that she would belt out these songs at home) but she looked so adorable on stage with her classmates.

***

as we did last year, once again we went to the kuhn's flower shop to see their christmas window display. it was quite crowded that night but i still managed to get some pictures:

***

i took the kids to the library to make their very own gingerbread houses. they had so much fun and created some cute little houses that were displayed on my counter up until christmas. every time i walked by them, i would think: i need to take a picture of these! but unfortunately the "after" shot never happened...

***

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

stay tuned for some more updates -- coming soon!

natalie:

russell's not going to have a baby in his tummy. because he's a boy. only i'm going to, right mommy? but oooonly when i get married.

i'm gonna have a married dress on!

that is what my daughter said to me today.

christmas happenings

this past weekend was a busy one for us. it seems like all of the sudden the parties and festivities just crept up on us!

on friday night, natalie spent the night at grandma & grandpa's house, and titi celena babysat russell while russ and i went to our friends brittani & jonathan's house to play some games. all i have to say is: SANTA, if you're listening, i would REALLY like a Wii fit game. (but that might take a miracle to happen).

on saturday, we attended my office's annual "santa party" which revolves all around the kids of the firm. we went the last few years and it's always been a lot of fun. watching the kids' faces as santa comes down the stairs is just priceless. in fact, this year, my kids pretty much attacked him and were the first to sit on his lap. i couldn't believe it -- what a difference from last year! in addition to sitting on santa's lap, they also enjoyed getting their faces painted, making a snowman ornament, watching the magic show (and petting the bunny and bird afterwards), the yummy christmas treats, and of course the present they got from santa :)

later that night, mommy and daddy had yet ANOTHER grown up function to attend. our friends charlie & emily were having a cocktail party at their house. cheers to good food and good friends!

sunday we tried to relax and went to church later in the day than normal, then went to a late lunch with russ's parents (aka: nana & papa). we ate so much that we had to skip dinner!

later that night we took a ride with nana & papa to check out some christmas lights around our side of town. there is this one house that goes all out and sets up a light show to music from their very own radio station. it's absolutely amazing. somehow they managed to make improvements from last year's show! i think we are going to drive out there again before the holidays are over.


so without further ado, here are the pics fro our weekend:

russell got a snow scene painted on his face:

natalie asked for the same butterfly that she got last year:

they were so cute on santa's lap:

russ holding the ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE lauren!

the magic show:

it looks like russell was hogging the bunny

later that night, on our way out to the cocktail party:

the kids wanted to take a picture too :)

tea, anyone?

natalie went to her friend (from school), ava's birthday party last weekend. the theme was "fancy tea party" (as if you can't tell from these pictures).

they all brought a doll to the party and got to make fruit loops necklaces and big sun hats. needless to say, the girls had a lot of fun!

the next day, she went to another friend from school's birthday party. cooper had a "mad science" themed party and that was also a hit! i got to learn about polymers all over again :)

can you believe that there are a total of 5 kids in her class with december birthdays -- and there are only 15 kids in the class!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

silly santa

room makeover

sometime a year ago...

last weekend, under construction:

new room!

as much as i love how it turned out, it's still not the finished product. just need a few more wall hangings...

color: "guacamole" -- with a name like that, how could we refuse!

Christmas throughout the years

putting this together made me want to cry...

*2005*

Natalie's First Christmas, 11 mos. old

*2006*

Russell's First Christmas, 10 mos. old

*2007*

*2008*

*2009*
[coming soon!]

our REAL tree!

for the last few years, i've been talking about buying a new [fake] tree after christmas, when they go on sale. it still has not happened. so as i was putting up our old tree, i thought "WHEN are we going to get a new one?!" before we decorated it, we went to the park with the kids, and while we were out, we got a text from a friend letting us know about a great deal on christmas trees. russ and i thought, let's do it -- let's get a REAL one! so on our way home we stopped and picked one up for $30! and we are so happy we did!

our old tree:

our house smells so festive and the branches are so soft and pretty! i think i might be allergic to the tree, but i'll be able to live with it for the next month :) i don't know if we'll be getting a real tree next year but at least we were able to experience our first real tree as a family this one time!