Once Upon A Dream

After running a million errands on a dreary/cold day, Gianna came over to play. The girls played with legos...and built a pattern wall. They also released sponge creatures from capsules! It was cool. We ate pizza at Gennaro's with Gianna's family, and the girls all got gumballs...The big highlight of the evening. Gillian tried her first piece of gum (a very small piece)... She chewed it for a few minutes...and ate it. She loved it....but won't be having anymore anytime soon!

We took the girls to church on Sunday. Gabby, Gillian, and Isabella had matching outfits. They looked like baby ballerinas...It was so cute. Gabby went down to kids church with the big kids, and Isabella and Gillian were in the nursery. They had fun playing and coloring. I am also including a funny shot of Gabby from last night...She was dressing up like Daddy!

Aunt Nicole came to visit for a few days, and we got into cookie baking mode. The girls helped, and they got really messy. We found a new gingerbread recipe that calls for a package of butterscotch pudding. It was the best so far. We tried about 4 other new recipes that we discovered. They all turned out surprisingly good! Gabby and Aunt Mandy decorated most of the Gingerbread boys.

We had pizza for lunch today at Gennaro's because Gabby had perfect attendance at school last month and recieved a free slice. She was joined by Daddy, Mommy, Gillian, Isabella, Aunt Lena, Aunt Mandy, and Grammy. Later in the day, she was helping me to do some sewing on the machine. She is dying to use it by herself, but she will have to wait a few more years.

Eileen, Milena, Nailah, and I went up to the Boston area today for Sarah's bridal shower. She is marrying Alex Morales...an great guy. We had a lot of fun traveling up there and back. Eileen had her first trip over the Triborough bridge...Milena got us there with the help of her bun (bun-hulio)...just a joke. We won't even say what Nailah contributed to the trip because...well...we just won't go there. Debbie, Sarah, and Alex were great. It was so good to see them. We are so happy for Sarah and Alex! (xoxoxo Congratulations)

Counting today, Gillian only had two days left of Gymboree. We have absolutely loved it...Gabriella started it when she was 10 months old and continued until she was three. Gillian started a year ago...and she will be ending on Thursday. There will be no Gymboree at our new house, but there will be other programs. Most of all we have loved our teacher....Ms. Fran. She made the classes outstanding. Here are a bunch of shots from today, and there will be more on Thursday.

Today was Gillian's half birthday. We celebrated with our usual tradition....Half Birthday Brownies! We have more fun in store on Saturday when Isabella joins Gillian in turning 1 and 1/2. How time flies...It seems that Gabby was this age just yesterday. The two girls (Gabby and Gillian) got so messy eating brownies that they had to jump right into the bath. They made more messes for mom to clean up with their bath crayons. It was fun and they cleaned most of it themselves. What good girls!

PS - Gabriella at 18 mo. with her 1/2 Birthday brownies!

Well....today was the last day of Gymboree. Gabriella came along with us to say her goodbyes to Ms. Fran. The girls helped me to make a quilt for Ms. Fran. We gave it to her when we said goodbye. It was sad, and we will miss Gymboree and Ms. Fran so much!

We celebrated Gillian and Isabella's 1/2 birthday by going to the Manhattan Children's Theatre to see a live production of Goodnight Moon! It was so cool. The girls all loved it. They were able to go on the stage afterwards to see all the props, and they met the actors. Then we went over to Milena, Tony, and Isabella's house for more fun. The girls all played, and Aunt Lena made a really yummy cake.....which the girls devoured!

Milena wore an Irish sweater to church yesterday, and Dave was a little jealous because it was made by his Nana (Helen Carten). The girls- Gabriella, Gillian, and Isabella - didn't have the fortunate chance to meet Nana because she passed away back in the 80's. They caught the vibe from Dave (though) and they wanted to try on the amazing sweater! That sweater is famous.

We spent most of the day doing Thanksgiving crafts. Ally came over to play in the morning, and the girls painted turkeys (a gift from Aunt Lena-thanks). Then they did their fingernails...and played. Gabby went to school and came home dressed like a pilgrim. Gianna came over and they painted more turkeys. They also did a craft that was sent over by Gianna's Auntie Teresa. They made turkeys and wrote what they were thankful for on the feathers. Gabby's first answer was family, but her funniest answer was that she was thankful for her body parts. We simplified that by just writing "HEALTH". I threw in a picture of Gillian being thankful for her dinner the other night...and a picture of Dave with his mom and sister dressed as pilgrims a long time ago.

Our "once a year" family photos....taken by Amanda (of course).....

Here are the pictures from our Thanksgiving celebration yesterday. We started the day off at Grammy and Grampy's house...having a Thanksgiving breakfast with Milena, Tony, Isabella, Amanda, Steve, and Grandma Wiggins. They all had to be somewhere else later in the day. The girls played and watched the parade on TV. Gillian and Gabby danced along with the children in the parade. That was their favorite part. They also loved the floats and Santa. Mary Wiggins is about to turn 92...doesn't she look great! After Gillian took a nap we went on a monster hike...about two miles...and then we were ready for turkey. Gabby's favorite thing about thanksgiving dinner was the mashed potatoes. Gillian loved the turkey and gravy. She had a great time dipping her green beans into the gravy and licking it.

We had a girl day and took Gabby to see the movie Enchanted. This is one of the only movies that she has been to, and we couldn't resist because it is a princess movie...(right up her alley). She loved it! She had a good time. Grammy and Aunt Lena were holding all the doors open for her like she was a real princess...She begged to wear a princess dress, and we said...."of course!" After the movie...we set up the Christmas tree. Gabby helped the entire time. When Gillian woke up from her nap, she helped too. Her face was priceless when she saw the tree lit up in our living room. It was magical! The first picture is of Gillian wearing her favorite slippers from Aunt Mandy.

We met Gianna at the mall today for a little ride on the train. The girls loved it...especially Gillian. I can't remember if she rode the train last year, but she did twice today. The first time..I rode with her because I didn't know if she was going to get crazy and make a move. She was very good...so she went with just Gabby and Gianna the next time. She is getting big so fast.

We went over to Ally's house to play today. Of course there was dress up going on, but then there were rounds of Zingo and Elefun. These two games were a big hit!

We spent the morning making sugar cookies. The first batch completely charred. The next batch was ok...Nobody noticed. The girls had fun making and eating them.