Mom's Open House

Mom’s annual Open House is the Saturday after Christmas.

It was smaller than usual with only 62 in attendance but it was a great day. Most of the crowd were people we don’t get to see too often and so it was nice to have time to spend with them.

Among the highlights- most of the Lassonde’s along with Meagan and Gayle. Robin, Ray, Sebastian and Sabrina who we haven’t seen in years! Jessica and Joel came in from New York and spent the night with us in Scituate. Mary & Michelle Bogle came. Grammy’s former hairdresser, Diana. Lots of good friends and family. So much delicious food. It was a great day.

We got a shot of the cousins, minus Jamie who'd already left.the girls- Melissa, Megan, Meagan and me
Nana with Riley

christmas day is finally here

part two:

we enjoyed christmas evening at krissy & matt's house

our company included:

matt, krissy, willy

terri, doug, conor

megg, tom, emelyn, oisin

marilyn, kathryn and dave

oisin was clearly enjoying his first christmas

and was especially fascinated by willy's new story-telling elmo doll

emelyn got a leapster from santa

all pretty, pink and princessy

she was coloring in pictures on it

and assigning some to dan for him to do too
dan playing a princess pink video game- that's going down in history

we also took turns on megg's nintendo, playing old-school mario brothers

willy was having a ball with his new playset, set up in what will be his new big-boy room

it has a slide and a basketball hoop, a soccer net

hours and hours of climbing fun

can you tell he loves this thing?

so happy he almost looks possessed! kinda scary

but uber fun
is he a big kid or what?!

we ate krissy's talamazedi for dinner. so delicious
even in the vegetarian version she made for megg and me.
with scrumptious chocolate strawberry cake for dessert
we chatted, opened presents
{krissy gave me what could be coolest present ever-
a rake system with attachments, gardening gloves and knee pads,
an instructional book on how to grow veggies, and a vegetarian cookbook. bring on spring!!}

and the kids played with their toys
willy especially loved the Hess truck from Larry and Leslie
oisin played with willy's elmo and drum with light up balls inside
and emelyn mostly played with uncle danny- she loves him soo much its adorable

we headed home around 9:30

car full again

so many thoughtful gifts coming home with us

bellies full

hearts full

merry christmas everyone!

christmas day is finally here

part one:

...and a beautiful day it was.

after hitting three parties on Christmas Eve (Leslie & Larry's, Susan's & Shawn's)

Dan and I enjoyed a lazy morning, sleeping in until we absolutely had to get up.

we arrived at mom's a few minutes before noon.

presents in hand

it was a lovely afternoon.

and of course the star of the day was

Riley Rose

her first christmas and i think if this one was any indication

she's going to like this holiday as much as the rest of her crazy relatives

she loved her presents

or at least the wrapping

and most especially the bows

playing with the shape sorter and i got her and the handmade blocks that used to be jeff's

melissa, riley & jeff

and of course jeff was very much enjoying his first christmas with his little princess

look at them laughing. so happy! so much love

and a quick shot of me and the little cutie

our hosts for the afternoon

dad and mom

dad was just finally getting over the stomach bug

c/o riley

first day eating solid foods

steve, aunt milly & dan

aunt milly, barbara (melissa's mom) and linda

jeff, mom and grammy

we had our traditional Italian dinner

lasagne, meatballs, eggs, eggplant, artichokes

salad, shrimp, and far too much dessert

and every bite was as delicious as always

then we opened presents

for a long time (again, as usual)

we did our secret santa gifts one at a time

then riley opened hers while she was still awake (barely)

and then crashed hard for a christmas afternoon nap

the gifts were all opened by 5:00

and dan and i had to head out for part two of our day...

man down

remember that cute little elf from my last post
that coy smile?
that sweet face?

well, i'm pretty sure she gave me the stomach bug
{good thing she's so darn cute and i love her so much}
because that was some kind of sick i've never experienced.

it came on tuesday night when i was at mom's house...
which left me at mom's until thursday
when i finally felt well enough to drive home

sick of daytime tv and lifetime christmas movies,
it was a relief to have The Office, Season 3 on DVD to come home too
i watched the rest of that
plus all the deleted scenes
and bloopers
love that show

then friday afternoon the snow started
and didn't stop until last night!!
i took some pictures both saturday and sunday
will post those later for your viewing pleasure
we got totally socked!
its soo beautiful though :)
sad that it will be a melty mess by Christmas.
oh well.

Riley the Elf

Skiing trip got cancelled because Jeff and Melissa are sick with the bug Riley had on Friday. Dad and I opted to stay home. Riley came to Mom and Dad's for the day to give her parents a break
Will post more later, but had to get these cuties up here.

Elf Yourself

This is seriously one of the funniest things ever created! If you need a good laugh check these out-- or make one of your own :) {Thanks Kara for these!!!}

My co-workers, Waveney, Nghi, Kara, Kim and Me:
Disco Style
Ho Down Style

Crazy cousins, featuring Aunt Flo & Shea (the Tighe's dog):
Kara, Chris, Joe, Susan, Aunt Florence & Shea
And another Old School

Which then apparently got my Mom hooked because she made this last night:
Mom, Dad, Melissa, Megan (my cousins) and Me

And then I got hooked:
Matt, Krissy, Willy, Dan and Me
Classic
Disco

Edited YET Again!
The O'Brien family has also caught on!!
Disco O'Briens

Riley's Laugh

Sunday with Riley: Part Two

Sunday afternoon we headed to see Grammy & Pepere.
Lots of giggling and smiling, but it got even better when Riley spontaneously started cracking herself up. for no apparent reason that we could tell…
and she kept doing it.
laughing hysterically
and then squinting her eyes and almost batting them
which of course caused roars of laughter from the peanut gallery
and, being the ham that she is, she kept it up
mom managed to get it on video
check her out!!!
{Video in the post above}

Sunday with Riley: Part One

I rounded out baby-sitting weekend by watching Riley all day on Sunday. I got to Jeff and Melissa's around 5:15am [sleepy eyed and in my pjs] to be there so they could leave to go skiing for the day.

They had been out late the night before and by some miracle Riley slept until 8:45 so I actually got an early morning nap in (which I sorely needed). When she woke up, we rocked for a bit, then played. She loves her little farm with the cow and the horsey! And of course playing with Buffy too!

look at those beautiful eyes!

she's so sweet and precious

but difficult to photograph

because she quite literally

never stops moving!!

its cute

and funny

and very HER

but hard to get her

to not be

fuzzy!

She ate some breakfast and before I knew it, she was back down… napping from 11-2:00!! Poor babe's got a little bit of a cold so I think she needed some extra zzzz's. But she woke up in a delightful mood. Had some lunch and some cheerios (mmmmm)

tried to get some of the two of us, which again was tricky because she's a little squirmy-poo, but this one is passable :)

i like the tree in the background.

and while getting dressed for the day

i couldn't resist some diaper shots!

let's face it,

as a girl

this is that very short window

where seeing all those rolls is absolutely

adorable

cuteness

perfection

Sunday was also the first snowfall of the year here. Riley's first glimpse of snow (as far as I know). She was underwhelmed ;) but I loved it!! While Riley took her marathon nap I took Buffy outside, camera in hand to sneak a couple shots in the backyard. Here's the proof of the beauty that befell us on Sunday morning

I love New England!

Saturday with Willy

Saturday 12/6
I spent Saturday afternoon with my buddy Willy. Still getting over a cold, he was extra huggable and cuddly which I love. We played with toys, but mostly we read books. There was a word book in the basket by his crib that he picked out and he had me read that at least 6 times. Saying some of the words he knew and just listening intently to the rest.

After his nap he had some oatmeal, fruit and yogurt for lunch. I tried to share the apple I'd brought as a snack but as is typical lately he just sucked out some of the juice and spit out the rest! {as much as I love the honeycrisp, it might be a little too tart for him- or maybe he just realizes that it looks really funny when he spits out the apple chunks}

Some more playing. More reading. This book is one I got him last Christmas. Its full of vehicles. Cars, trucks, boats, tractors ("tac-tor! tac-tor!"), fire engines… you name it. Its in there. Lots of fun! And even more fun snuggling up to read it together.

Then it was time to roll around.

I swear he did this for at least a half hour.

Roll over.

Smile.

Ham it up for the camera.

Roll over.

Repeat.

Then his attempts at tumbling

only half way there at this point

I did a little laundry to help out Kris, since it was already started. Willy and I threw his clean socks back and forth to keep him entertained while I folded.

And then his found his dinosaur hat.

I put it on him, and surprisingly he kept it on

for probably 45 minutes.

He was playing around, on his horsey… these are my absolute favorite shots.

picture #1

Willy motions for "can I go upstairs auntie jen?"

picture #2

my response [in case you couldn't guess] "nope. sorry kiddo. no stairs"

poor guy was tired at this point. clearly!

he got over it in 2 seconds flat. but man that face is priceless!

and one last shot. after his bath. in his pjs.

on his rocking chair.

big boy that he is- getting on and off by himself (and then doing it over and over again to show off)

we had NO idea what he was doing here.

but per usual

its the cutest!

favorite story of the evening though- for which, sadly, there is no picture.

matt and i were eating pizza. willy was eating pasta with sauce which of course was all over his face. krissy walked in the door after work, and then willy wanted nothing to do with his dinner anymore. she gave him a kiss and then said he needed to hold on. he wasn't coming out of the high chair until he was cleaned off. "You're covered in sauce," she said "We need to clean you up! Do you want to have a sauce face for the rest of your life?" and one nanosecond later, without missing a beat, Willy says plainly "No." It was hysterical... you probably needed to be there... but it was just as if she understood exactly what she was saying.

thursday already

i can't believe its already thursday.
the week is flying
and i'm loving it!

last night i went to ritz and michael's after work
rushed home to spend a half hour working on my latest christmas-present project{kills me not to be able to talk about it here but i know some of my followers will be receiving this as part of their christmas gift and its no fun to spoil it beforehand}

then it was off to zumba
megg came with me.
her first time.
she loved it.
though in true zumba fashion,
it totally kicked her ass
if i'm being honest,
it kicked mine last night too.
a tough combo of dances
and i think having done shoulders
and zumba at the gym the night before
made it harder
but good-hard
liking the challenge
AND she reminded us
that the special
friday-90-minute-edition
zumba class
is this friday!
how excited am i?
megg's going to come too
hooray!

but tonight its a break from
the gym and the yoga studio
meeting megg and kris
and the kiddos
at the mall after work
do a little christmas shopping
or at least attempt to
eat some dinner
hang out
very excited
"see you soon" {as willy now likes to say}

Excitement for the Day

My favorite scrapbooking line is made by a company called Scenic Route. I absolutely love their stuff. I'd bet 95% of my pages or projects feature at least 1 thing they make. I can't live without it... just ask my scrapbooking friends. It borders on obsession (well, maybe "borders on" is being conservative)...

Anyways, I submitted some pages and projects for a call for Holiday themed projects and one of my Advent Calendars was chosen!

You can find it on their website by clicking here.

This totally made my day!

I will definitely be submitting some more projects to them! I love their stuff, and if winning their contests means I get some of their products for free (which in this case it does), that is a win-win situation if I ever heard of one!

Ok I'm done. Just had to share my excitement!!!

quick note

just a quick note to keep myself in blogging mode.

can't believe its already december! i am so excited. i decorated the house for Christmas last night. so weird decorating a new space. i didn't put up half my decorations... but i have a feeling more will creep out of the box once i spot a good Christmas home for them.

today i came up with another {hopefully} cool idea for homemade christmas gifts and will be experimenting with that tonight. fingers crossed.

happy december!

happy birthday dan!

I am sure you'd rather be spending today on the beach with a drink in your hand, but I can't exactly grant you that wish... still I hope you're having a great day.

You are so loved.

Happy Birthday!