Corey & Sarah's Rehearsal Dinner

This rehearsal dinner was certainly one of the most fun I have ever attended. As my in-laws began the planning process, we knew we wanted something uniquely "Corey" like and after having lunch one day at Gator's Dockside (a sports themed restaurant), we knew it was the perfect fit! Corey was of course thrilled with the idea and we ran we it. We asked everyone to wear their favorite college football team colors and gear and come join us for a fun evening!

Since Corey is a Gator and Sarah is a Seminole, we did alternating flower arrangements in orange/white and garnet/white. And we did printed menus with pictures on the other side. It all turned out super cute!

We had name tags for everyone with team stickers on them.

And the part that totally made the evening was this AMAZING cake that my very talented and dear friend Evie made for us. She drove it to us all the way from Jacksonville and put so much energy and love into this beauty that I can't imagine how it could have been any better. =) Here she is doing the last minute decorations.

Here we are - Gator and Nole - but still best of friends.

The adorable cake toppers!

The finished product.

This was a pretty funny moment during the rehearsal when Mr. Heath told Corey that Sarah would be "all his." Everyone got a good laugh.

At the end of the rehearsal we presented Corey and Sarah with a special Papal Blessing that we ordered from the Vatican as a special gift on behalf of all their Catholic friends and family.

Sebastian got a gift from Uncle Corey and Sarah too for being the ring bearer. A soccer ball! Yay! He was pretty thrilled with it.

We also put together a photo slide show to music of Corey and Sarah growing up and then of them together. It was a big hit.

And the happy, excited couple really enjoyed it too.

A house divided - soon to be united!

Awwww!

And here are a few good group shots!
The cousins from the Giammarinaro/Cummings family.

Cummings family. So nice to have them here! There were no family shots of Uncle Joe and Family or Aunt Debbie, but it was nice to have them visit as well!

Great-gram Helen with her kiddos - Aunt Paulette, Uncle Joe and my father-in-law Jim.

Sarah and Corey with her grandparents - they certainly had the coolest, most in spirit shirts of anyone there! And what an inspiration - they have been married more than 60 years!

The Giammarinaro men. So handsome in their orange and blue!

Me with my sweetie - and not looking 23 weeks pregnant in this outfit I might add! But I love this picture. =) And of course the man in it.

My Week at a Glance (well, most of it!)

Matteo....my little sneaky boy! Every time I need to get dressed we take a field trip to my closet (I can't leave them alone for anything!!!) and the boys have a ball hiding in my clothes. They are so cute.

These days I have some very good helpers. Sebastian loves doing his "silverware job" and asks about doing it everyday. He does not like the days we don't have to run the dishwasher!

And of course, Matteo has to have a job too, so I leave him all the plastic dishes and bowls in the top and bottom rack and hands them to me or places them on the edge of the island for me to put away. He loves it too. I love these willing little workers!

Mami forgot to move the bowls closer to the edge!

Sebastian had to fill the letter bucket this week with things that start with W. He loves doing this and I left my camera with his teachers so they could take a few pictures and video him. It's long, but cute (especially since he seems to have forgotten what many of the things were!).

VIDEO - Sebastian's Letter Bucket
(Click here to watch the video if it does not appear below.)

This week, all three boys went to the mall to get $5 haircuts. It was Matteo's first not-at-home haircut and Sebastian hadn't had one in well over 18 months besides at home either. They both did great! The haircuts are okay - I mean, really, I'm not going to be too picky when it's only $5! But we wanted to make sure they were looking spiffy for Uncle Corey's wedding on Saturday!

Daddy took the boys to the Zoo the other day. The zoo is a daily request by Sebastian - he just loves the place!

VIDEO - Matteo Scares the Alligators
(If the video does not appear below, click on this link to watch.)

This past weekend, we celebrated Christmas with Angelica and Titi Monica since they were in Puerto Rico during the holidays. The boys were SOOOOOO happy to see their cousin. They were dancing around and having a ball the whole time. And of course, they opened presents!

Matteo tore right into the candy canes. What a sweet tooth!

This weekend I also hosted a "Girls Night In" party for my very soon to be sister-in-law Sarah! This is the Honeymoon Basket I made her full of fun essentials. =) Paul hosted Corey and the guys on a fishing trip that was certainly memorable too. (The whole weekend was memorable as we unknowingly brought a horrible stomach bug/plague with us, I had it first, followed by Paul a few hours later and then Sebastian in the middle of the night. It made things very interesting...ugh. It's been rough!)

The bachelorette with her cake.

Sarah with her friends. I think everyone had a great time. Next post - WEDDING weekend!!!! Yaya!!!!


AND - I AM OFFICIALLY CAUGHT UP ON THE BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fiesta de Reyes - Epiphany!

Sebastian and Matteo had fun collecting the hay and putting it into their baskets.

We put the baskets in the hallway outside their bedroom door and we hung up our star right above them so that the Reyes and camels would know where to find them.

We also put baby Jesus by the baskets since that is who they are really coming to see!

VIDEO - Reyes!
(If the video does not appear below, click on this link.)

Once they were fast asleep, the camels came and ate up all the hay and the Reyes/Wise Men left them each three presents.

They were excited in the morning to find the presents! Sebastian also couldn't believe the mess the camels made with the hay all over the hallway and to the front door. He thought maybe they didn't like the hay very much and wanted something else to eat. =)

Matteo loved his new beads! They each got some new, safer beads to play with since they love playing with the mardi gras beads and they are not very safe...

A new game for Sebastian.

And Cheetos for all! This was so sweet because Sebastian hadn't opened his Cheetos gift yet and he really wanted some, so Matteo was very kind and shared some with his brother. It was a special day and we are so glad we are able to carry on this tradition in our family!

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!