At home with the Genovese's, 2008

I must first give kudos to a fellow blogger, Kelly, who gave me the idea behind this post. She had a great post about documenting the decorating at home during the holiday. I am proud of some of my Christmas decorations that we have. Last year I finally found the time to follow through on some of my ideas for the house. Here are some of them:

Each window of the house has a wreath, red velvet ribbon, and a candle. The bushes all have lights, and the moose in the yard lights up and moves! It looks really nice at night and we stand out on our street-- we are the only decorated house! On the front porch is an antique sled and a small Christmas tree. The front door sports a pair of antique hockey skates.

In our old house our tree swallowed up the living room. In this living room, it is right at home. The angel on the tree top is the same one that adorned my family's tree at Christmas when I was a child. There are numerous ornaments on the tree-- many gifts we have received, but also ones that document places we have traveled to. I love unpacking them and reminiscing about our time there. The most special ones are those that Tyler has made for us, though! Tyler loves to play "I Spy" with the ornaments on the tree. (This shot was taken right after Santa stopped by our house this year.

This is our "Charlie Brown tree". When Frank and I lived in our apartment, this was tree we used! It took all of 10 minutes to hang the lights on and decorate! But now it is one of many and It sits in our family room. The ornaments on it are all reindeers that I made from Popsicle sticks and panted brown:

Our mantle in the family room. I bought the stockings this year. Why should this fire place not have anything hanging from it? The lights on it are red and along with the "Charlie Brown tree" lights, which are clear, that makes this the Indiana Christmas room!

These are the trees in our dining room. There are 3 of them, a mommy tree, daddy tree, and baby tree. The daddy tree is covered in denim ties. The mommy tree has all button ornaments. The baby tree is waiting for me to be inspired! I am sure that next year I will come up with something to hang from it! These trees I decorated last year and am very happy with the way they came out.

Our staircase, covered in garland! The ribbon has painted Santas on it and my only regret it that I did not purchase more of it to decorate with. The garland goes the entire way up the stairs, including the banister in the upstairs hallway.

Our living room mantle. This is where Santa does his magic. Everyone here has a stocking, even Grandma, Grandpa, and Puck. When the tree lights and mantle lights are all lit, the room is bright enough to enjoy without any other lights on.

I hope you enjoyed the brief tour through our house this year! I hope that next year I will remember to do this in the beginning and commemorate all of our decorating! My goal is to expand into the bedrooms more. No sense at stopping on the main floor! Happy holidays!

Twelve Days of Christmas

As Tyler gets older, Christmas has been getting a lot more fun! Having him around Frank and I at Christmas reminds Frank and I of our childhood Christmases! Here are 12 fun facts about Tyler this Christmas season:

1. Tyler loves Frosty the Snowman. And Rudolph. And Charlie Brown's Christmas. Our DVR is filled with every Christmas special that has been on since Thanksgiving. Watching these shows with him has been an immediate time warp for Frank and I. After all, who doesn't love the Land of Misfit Toys? Tyler wanted to make a Frosty of his own last weekend, but the snow was too light and fluffy.

2. Tyler did not grasp the whole "Santa is watching" thing for a long time. He would say to us "but I don't see him" and "where is he?" when we would tell him that Santa is making sure that Tyler makes the nice list.

3. There is a house in Springfield that is totally decked out in lights and coordinates to the music on a radio station. It is a great sight. One night I remembered about the house and Tyler was in a bit of a funk. I drove him by the house and parked on the street. We sat and watched the house "perform" for 15 minutes. In one of the front windows there is a Santa image that moves around and waves. Every time Santa waved, Tyler would wave back. The first night we were there, Tyler said "See you soon, Santa!" Tyler now refers to this house as "Santa's house". Since that night we have made a few stops at this house each time to see if Santa was home.

4. During our visit to Santa this year at the mall, Tyler was not easily convinced that Santa wanted to see him. Tyler even requested that Rexy, his Tyrannosaurus Rex come with us. We hung back for awhile and watched some infants take their place on his lap. Eventually Tyler decided that he wanted to get in line as well. We made our way up there and he introduced Rexy to Santa, and when Santa asked what Tyler wanted this year, Tyler said "I don't know." Santa then said to Tyler "Do you know what I want?" and Tyler said "Yes." Santa replied "I want you to sit on my lap and take a picture!" Tyler did just this and now we have a great picture of Santa, Tyler, and Rexy!

5. After our success at Thanksgiving with donating to the Food Bank, I decided that Tyler needed to also help make another child happy at Christmas. When I asked him if he would like to help give presents to another child who may not get any thing year he said "Yes!". I arranged to "adopt" a 3-year-old boy, Alexis, from my old job at MSPCC. Alexis wanted trucks and blocks for Christmas. Tyler and I took some time and wandered around Target and found a car carrier, some Matchbox cars, and some car-themed warm clothes. Tyler was not immediately thrilled about the prospect of giving these really cool things away, but we kept explaining that he was going to make some other people really happy. We wrapped the gift and dropped it off at MSPCC, and when we did, he said "That is for my friend, Alex."

6. On our Christmas tree, there are numerous ornaments that are significant to events in our lives: first house, first Christmas together, baby's first Christmas, etc. Tyler loves to go around the tree and check on these and make sure that they are all still there. His favorite one is a silver ornament which opens to a baby picture of him. It has to be on the tree in the open position!

7. A few days ago we were in the kitchen making dinner. Tyler walked through and he was humming! After listening to him for awhile, I realized that he was humming "Jingle Bells"!

8. We have two fire places in our house. The other night, we read a book called "In a House With No Chimney, How Does Santa Get In?". I guess it was food for thought for a 4-year-old. He really could not figure out which one Santa will come in. After a lot of thought, he did settle on the living room chimney because it is closer to the tree.

9. While watching television and seeing a commercial for toys, Tyler will say "I want that!" or "I don't want that, that's for girls!". I had to explain to him that as a boy, he can play with girl stuff and vice versa. After all, he plays house with his friends and cousins!

10. Tyler loves to see mangers and look for the baby Jesus figures. Trying to really instill the reason for the Christmas season, I reminded him that Christmas is Jesus's birthday and he was such a loving and wonderful person that he wanted us to receive presents instead of taking them for himself.

11. For the first time, Tyler and I baked cookies this year. We had a lot of fun following the list and finding the ingredients in the grocery store and taking them home and following the recipe. Tyler likes to pull the stools up to the counter, it takes him to the right height to help out. While we rolled the sugar cookie dough out, he insisted on helping with the flour. Did I mention that the stools are covered in a dark, denim material? Did I mention that white flour and denim do not mix? On the other hand, my white tile floors and white counter tops survived a 4-year-old and flour just fine!

12. Eventually, after a lot of prodding, Tyler asked for 1 thing this year. The Matchbox Fire Ball Track. When we got back in the car after seeing Santa, he said "I forgot to tell him what I wanted!". He was almost in tears. That was when I explained to him that Santa already knows what he wanted, he is magic. Hopefully this will hit home when he actually opens the gift tomorrow! There is nothing better than seeing excitement on his face!

Merry Christmas!

Snow Day!

This is the scene at our house over the last 3 days! After a very mild winter season so far, we paid for it this weekend. Dearly! Up until Friday, the only snow we had received so far was the inch the weekend before. I knew it was too good to be true! Frank, on the other hand, was so excited to fire up the new snow blower and put it to work!

Frank had no school on Friday because the snow was predicted to start around noon. He decided that morning that he would keep Tyler at home with him. Me, on the other hand, I dragged myself out of bed, showered, dressed, and left the house at 7:30am. On the way to work, I checked the "snow line" for our company. For ha-has only. After all, it wasn't snowing yet and I could work most of the day before it got really bad outside. But what did this snow line say? At 7:45am on Friday it said we were closed! UGH! I quickly remembered that I now had a snow day and could stay at home with my guys and rest, too! I made a quick trip to Target and a few other places (after all, I was dressed and ready for the day!), and then circled on back home!


This was the view on Saturday. If you look really hard, you can see that it is still snowing! We got about 10 inches from Friday into Saturday. The weatherman said that there would be a few intermittent snow flurries on Saturday....

Tyler and I bundled up mid-afternoon and headed out to play. Brrr, it was cold!

Tyler helped clean off out moose in the front yard. As you can see in this picture it is still snowing! (Few intermittent snow flurries, yeah right!)

Tyler kept falling in the snow. It was light and fluffy, but there were a few drifts that were quite deep. His poor cheeks were so red!

Here's Ty practicing his snow angels! He can hardly see what is going on!

The deep snow was a great workout! He really had to work to get up after he fell! We made attempts to build a snowman, but it was not snowman making snow. Even after playing outside for an hour, he was still smiling and not complaining of the cold! I decided that it was time to go in after seeing the color of his cheeks!

Little did I know that Saturday was only a taste of what was coming on Sunday. It eventually stopped snowing after dark on Saturday. But on Sunday, by the time we woke up, it was already snowing again! This was the scene out my side door (thank goodness for the red ribbons, otherwise I can't see my wreaths!):

This time Frank took Tyler outside. They had so much fun together!

For Christmas, Santa dropped off an early gift-- a toboggan! Frank had to show Tyler how to use it...

...and it didn't take long for Tyler to learn how to use it!

Monday brings the sun and clear skies (what, no snow?)! Until then, we will keep our mittens dry and our snow blower warm!

PS. Our snow total right now is 15 inches!

Holiday Hockey

Guess who came to hockey today?

Santa, that's who!

Tyler was so suprised, he stopped in his tracks!

Tyler and his friend, Chloe, chased Santa around the ice and played lots of fun games!

Daddy, Tyler, and Santa all posed for me!

Tyler racing after Santa, with the walker...

... and without! What a great surprise, who knew Santa could skate?

In the kitchen with Tyler...

Yesterday Tyler and I did all of our Christmas baking. Tyler wanted to make some cookies, too, and when I asked him what kind he said "with sprinkles!". We rolled out the dough, found the cookie cutters, and went to business!

"Cheese! I think I want to make the Santa cookie shape!"

"Can I lick this spatula? I want to eat this frosting. Is there more for me to eat?"

Getting ready for the sprinkles! Tyler picked out mini green and red Christmas trees to put on top of his cookies. I am not sure where most of them landed, on the cookies, or on the floor!

Almost done!

The finished product! (Tyler is reaching for his first one of the day) When I put them in the container, there were Christmas tree sprinkles all over the place! On the counter, stool, and the floor! Tyler ate as many as he could before I wiped them up! When Frank got home from his game, Tyler was so proud to show him what he made!

Dear Santa....

Dear Santa,

I want a Hot Wheel Fire Ball. I have been a good boy this year. How are you reindeer? Rudolph is my favorite. I love you Santa.

Love,

Tyler Genovese


(Tyler on his way to go and see Santa at the mall.)

A little flaky....

This past weekend we finally got our first snowfall of the year! On Sunday when Tyler came into our room, we told him to look out the window! He was so excited! It was not very much, about an inch (which was fine by me!), and enough to cover the ground and melt off the roads and driveway. (Frank will have to wait a few more weeks to fire up the new snow blower!) After we returned home from hockey practice, everyone changed into their snow gear and outside we headed!
Seeing that it was a Sunday in December, Frank grabbed the football on his way outside. He and Tyler practiced a few plays and after awhile I had to join in. After all, someone had to help the little guy!

Tyler-- running his heart out! He has that ball tucked under his arm like a real pro, though! Where are those scouts when you need them?

"Don't you have enough pictures, mommy? Can't I go play now?"

Tyler tackled Frank right to the ground! I bet Frank was wishing there was a bit more snow to soften the fall!

Making snow angels!

Christmas Spirit!

In all the chaos that is called the holidays, we did find time to decorate the house for Christmas! I am shocked to report that we did it the weekend before Thanksgiving! We knew that once we returned from New York we would be too exhausted to want to do it. So on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we dragged all the boxes, bins, and bags from the attic and went to town! We even braved the single-digit wind chills outside to make sure that the lights and wreaths went up as well!
Tyler got to choose the first ornament to put on the tree. his choice? A New York Islander one, of course!

Frank and Tyler made several attempts to put the angel on the top. After almost knocking the tree over several times, we had to resort to the old-fashioned way-- a ladder! the angel that Tyler is holding is the same one that topped my Christmas tree when I was younger. I think after 25 years, things are considered antiques, right?

Last year Tyler had so much fun looking at each of the ornaments. He loves finding his favorites. There are a few on the tree that we given to us at special times-- our wedding, moving into out first house and then this one, and baby ornaments. One of them even features his picture inside. It is the photo that was taken in the hospital right after he was born. He simply loves to look at himself as a baby. The ornament he is studying here is of Madeline.

Even Puck got into the Christmas spirit! While the tree is up, if ever the cat is missing, simply look under the tree and I will guarantee that you will find her hanging out!

My little guy, waiting anxiously to see what Santa will bring him this year! only a few more weeks, bud!

Happy 40th Birthday Uncle Jim!

Dear Uncle Jim,

Happy birthday Uncle Jim! We wish you all the best in your 40th year on earth!

May your heart be light and happy!

May your smile be big and wide!

And may your pockets always have a coin or two inside!

Love,

Tyler, Frank, & Jen

Thanksgiving Weekend

Needless to say, it is Wednesday and we are still wiped out from our holiday weekend. We had so much fun in New York, but trying to catch up and go back to work on Monday it NOT FUN! We hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and had happy bellies! I know we did! Here is my quick synopsis of the weekend...

Getting 3 rambunctious kids all showered, dressed, and prepped for the afternoon turned out to be an pretty easy task. Even taking a few shots was not a chore. What made the whole thing great was Laurette and I realizing that Tyler and Conor were in very similar outfits, on accident!

The toy room took a beating throughout the day. Here are all the kids chilling and horsing around with each other. Skylar will never miss a chance to be the life of the party! Such a great girl!

Thanksgiving means one thing in New York. The Annual Fagan Family House Lighting Ceremony! Other than the food, it is truly our favorite reason for being on long Island. My brother-in-law, Jim, strives to be Clark Griswald himself! Tyler and I took a moment to capture a shot under one of many blow-ups!

The complete view of the Fagan homestead. It is fantastic to watch the cars creep by and take a peek every night! I only thank goodness it is Jim doing this, and not myself. I am not really sure I want to see the electric bill!

As if Uncle Jim's display wasn't enough... On Friday night, Grandma and Papa took all three of the kids. Overnight. The entire night. And morning. And bedtime. Catch my drift? The kids helped them decorate their Christmas tree and then on Saturday they helped put out all the lawn decorations.

After the tree was done and the yard looked festive, Tyler moved inside Grandmas and Papa's to do some touching up to Grandma's Christmas village.... I guess he thought that the town looked naked without some Great White Sharks added to the display!

The boys, Grandma, and myself took the time to play some board games. Conor, Grandma and I all played Clue Jr. and tried to figure out who ate the chocolate cake, when, and with what drink. While Tyler made up games of his own. It had been a long time since I played Clue!

"It was Mrs. Scarlet, drinking chocolate milk, at 5:00PM!"

Tyler opted for a game of Candyland. In true Tyler fashion, the game pieces were body checking against the imaginary boards before to long!

Left to their own devices, these kids can entertain themselves for a loooong time. At one point on Saturday night, all the adults were sitting around, talking. We realized that it was a bit toooooo quiet in the toy room. So I went in to investigate. These kids were so caught up in their game of "school" that they didn't even look my way when I walked in! Of course I interrupted Mr. Conor's counting lesson to snap a few pictures!

His pupils-- listening intently. I watched them for awhile to see what they were being taught. Conor had drawn some dots on the board and was asking them to count them and throwing in some addition here and there. Tyler and Skylar even were raising their hands and staying in their seats until he called on them. Now why won't Tyler listen to his mom and dad that well? Hmmmmm.....

Ahhhhh.... the car ride home from Long Island. Let me tell you how different it was from the ride there. On our way there on Wednesday, we weren't even out of Wilbraham yet when Tyler asked "Are we almost there?" Ye gads! He did not stop talking the entire way to New York! On the way home it was another story...

Now granted I wished I was able to move like this following a holiday weekend, I couldn't. So I grabbed the camera and let the little guys show off their moves and all their pent-up energy (what? they had some left???!?!?!?!) here in this clip from Saturday night. if you watch all the way to the end, you will see my little guy busting a pretty good gymnast moves!

Just in case the previous picture just wasn't enough, here is a video with the sound effects... Over the rain, radio, and cars whizzing by, this is what we heard from the backseat: