Happy New Year 2011!

I love New Years. I always want to have a party, but you know how non-committal people are on New Years. But this year, we decided to host a New Years Eve NOON party for all the kids. And it was a huge hit! I got pretty excited about it....here are some of our decorations, starting with a balloon drop. And YES, it worked!!!

Entrance.

Playroom.

Water and lemonade. I felt like I was setting up for a crazy college bash or something. But knew it would be even more destruction with 20 or so toddlers and preschoolers running around!

Jackson, Sebastian and Matteo enjoy some hot dogs.

To get ready for the big noon/midnight countdown the kids wore hats and all had noisemakers or instruments. We watched a 2010 countdown on YouTube that we hooked up to our TV, followed by fireworks.

Matteo was ready too!

Parents and toddlers starting the countdown!

The balloon drop frenzy! Pretty hard to catch in a picture, but it was awesome!

Sebastian LOVED the balloons! Very exciting and totally made the party!

Attempt at a kid picture. We could only get these 7 of the 16 or so kids to sit for it.

Handing out sparkling cider to all our adult guests.

Matteo really wanted to try it. =)

He was a happy camper double-fisting the goodies - cupcake and cookies, oh my!

The aftermath in the playroom after the party.

Some happy boys with their Daddy.

Playing superman with Lelo.

Funny picture...and adorable shirts thanks to Auntie Tiff.

Later that night we went to church, had dinner and then Skyped with our family in Bogota and in Puerto Rico. So nice to be able to see and talk to them on special days.

Sarah and Sebastian had fun playing on New Year's Eve. Sebastian asked to go to bed around 10 pm though, he just couldn't make it I guess. Maybe next year!

We stayed up though and watched/criticized/laughed at/were embarrassed at not knowing most of the New Year's Rockin' Eve Party entertainment.

Happy 2011! Many blessings and wonderful things to everyone in this new year!

New backsplash and other fun thing

Merry Christmas to us! Paul and his dad completed the kitchen backsplash last week, just in time for our New Year's Party. I LOVE it - what a difference it makes! Now I get to see this beautiful background every time I cook.

Long view - we did the whole length of the counter.

And this is what the hard workers did when they were done. =)

The boys had so much fun playing in the hammock the other day. Adorable. My new favorite picture of both of them together.

True smiles.

Sebastian pushing Mami in the hammock.

Teo being silly with his brother's glasses.

Playing with Papa.

Matteo loves playing with Papa's phone! They even called Nana in the next room.

Smiles!

After more than 3 years since our last reunion, it was great to meet up with Lauren (my childhood best friend) and her boyfriend Brian. She got to meet the kids (last time I saw her I was pregnant with Sebastian) and we had a nice time catching up.

Like so many other pictures of us throughout the years!

I also got to meet up with another childhood friend, Melody and meet her two adorable boys. They all played and we got to catch up too. So nice to reconnect with old friends!

The boys sharing a snack.

Sometimes, everyone just wants Mami. Although lately everyone REALLY wants Daddy, which is a nice change! Three should be interesting!

I think we need to get Matteo a helmet too for when he wants to ride the tricycle. He is always putting on his brother's new helmet.

Even though it was really, really cold, Sebastian wanted to go outside and ride his new scooter.

He did really good with it right away. Although about 3 houses down, he said his hands were too cold and he wanted to go back inside. =) Ah, Florida children!

Happy 31st Birthday!

For Paul's birthday, Sebastian had very specific instructions about his Daddy's cake. He wanted yellow cake with white frosting and sprinkles. But Daddy wanted chocolate frosting, so we ended up with a 1/2 and 1/2 cake.

After dinner, both boys helped me decorate it.

Our family.

Sebastian helping blow out the candles.

Presents! More presents!

The only present Sebastian wanted for his Daddy was for him to have a birthday crown. Thank goodness I thought to ask his teachers at school before the break, what this birthday crown was all about. So they told me what they were like and Sebastian and Matteo had fun making Daddy his crown. =) Happy Birthday to the best Daddy and Husband ever!

Christmas Day - Giammarinaro Family

After the early morning Christmas craziness was over, Nana, Papa, Corey, Jeff, Kim, Tyler and Great Grandma all came over to celebrate Christmas with us. Opening more presents was first on the agenda! Sebastian loved his new scooter from Nana and Papa.

And Uncle Corey's softball set was a hit with Matteo. (And later on, only took about 5 minutes before Sebastian got a literal HIT on his poor brother. But everyone was okay, just a cut lip.)

Both boys likes the Dance Star Mickey, although Paul wasn't too keen on having a rodent in the house again. =)

Cool space shuttle toy!

Reading his new book from Aunt-to-be Sarah.

Presents from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Kim. Here Sebastian is saying, "Oh, COOL!" as his brother opens his gift.

Presents from Auntie/Godmother Tiffany.

Yay! New shoes!

A special Christmas story - ready by Auntie Tiff!

Very cool Big Brother shirts for both boys.

STICKERS!

And MORE STICKERS! They love them!

Big family dinner time. I don't think we will all fit at one long table for our next major holiday once we add Sarah and the new baby!

Christmas dinner (minus the ham and salad that didn't fit on my plate).

Giammarinaro Family, Christmas 2010.

Nana and Papa with the grand kids. Matteo had completely fallen asleep by the time we were finished with the photos! He was so exhausted!

With Great Grandma Helen.

Sebastian doing his "show" for everyone.

More presents! But these were special Jesse Tree presents. We wrapped up all of the baby Jesus from all our nativities. And then Sebastian got to open each Jesus - the greatest Christmas gift! Not sure he quite got the whole message yet this year, but it is still a neat tradition we plan to continue.

This was his favorite one to discover - his Little People set Jesus.

He knew right where this one went right away!

He needed some help with the other ones since they were up higher, but he still had lots of fun.

After a long day, once everyone had gone, we decided to have a light, late dinner with some leftovers. We were exhausted, but happy about how wonderful our family Christmas turned out. We are so blessed. Merry Christmas!!!