It’s been so long since I updated the blog, I feel it necessary to include Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years all together. Hopefully I can keep a new years resolution to be more faithful to keeping up the site.
October
We spent Halloween at Aunt Ginny’s house, as has become our tradition. She and Uncle Joe love to dec
orate, stringing web everywhere and using lots of talking toys – dangling spiders, witches cooking over a black pot, etc. We went early for dinner of corndogs and taquitos before setting out to collect all our candy. This year, we were excited to have Grandma join us. This was the first year Florence was really getting into the trick-or-treating. Charlie, after two years of being a ninja, went as a Secret Agent. Tony helped him shop at Goodwill for his costume, complete with fedora and gun. Lucy dressed up as “her mommy at 7”. We f
ound a fantastic polyester plaid dress with a giant collar at goodwill and dressed it up with a scarf and some black leather boots. Alex went as Black Spiderman, and Florence inherited the giraffe costume. They had a lot of fun checking out the decorations in the neighborhood and collecting the candy. Without sharing too much information, my surgery in mid-October was to repair some hernias caused by having kids. The initial pain was much more than what originally caused it - I can't imagine anything worse...though I've never actually been on fire. The recovery is still taking place, though the most difficult part - not being able to pick up my baby girl, took about 8 weeks. It was difficult to wrap my mind around that part when even my longest cold was only 2 weeks.November
November 3rd was Charlie’s first concert with MYS. He placed 6 out of 27 after c
hair auditions – not too shabby for someone who only auditioned for the experience. Grandma was still here, so he was especially proud to show off his abilities in his adorable black pants/bowtie formal attire. We were so proud of him as well. Speaking as a formally trained musician, I was really impressed with the quality of playing from the kids. The music was well chosen according to their level, and with the exception of 1 or 2 places, was executed nearly flawlessly. The kids watched the conductors closely, used dynamics and different bowing styles, and all began and ended together. As a mom, my kid was definitely the cutest.
November 3rd was Charlie’s first concert with MYS. He placed 6 out of 27 after c
hair auditions – not too shabby for someone who only auditioned for the experience. Grandma was still here, so he was especially proud to show off his abilities in his adorable black pants/bowtie formal attire. We were so proud of him as well. Speaking as a formally trained musician, I was really impressed with the quality of playing from the kids. The music was well chosen according to their level, and with the exception of 1 or 2 places, was executed nearly flawlessly. The kids watched the conductors closely, used dynamics and different bowing styles, and all began and ended together. As a mom, my kid was definitely the cutest. November 12, Monica finally got to play a concert with her ex-music minister, Jaime Cortez. She was robbed two years ago when Florence’s early arrival forced her to cancel her appearance at his concert at church. This time, she only did a few songs, but was excited to be included, at a concert celebrating Christ the King’s 50th Anniversary.
Thanksgiving was tame by past year’s standards. Only mom and dad made the t
rek since 
Kathleen had a show to prepare for and John Gilbert had used all his time off (and money) taking care of John Rocco’s arrival and surgeries. We had our dinner at Aunt Eileen’s house, as usual. The kids had a great time playing outside, doing races with grandma and jumping in the bouncehouse while waiting for dinner. Every year, as the kids get a little older, it gets a little easier to sit down and eat without chasing toddlers everywhere. Next year, we may actually have a “kid table” that doesn’t need an adult monitor. On Friday evening, we made what may become an annual trip to Rawhide in Chandler for a very nice steak dinner. They had a live band and we were a
ble to keep the kids entertained with dancing while waiting for our food. The town didn’t officially open until the evening, so after dinner we wandered around and took the train, burro, and stagecoach rides. Even Florence rode a burro this year, with Tony marching close by, of course. Florence’s birthday was actually on Thanksgiving this year, and while we actually found a candle to stick into a turkey leg for her, in the hubbub, we forgot to light it. Oh well. She didn’t go without a party. We all gathered on Saturday morning to celebrate with Elmo cake and chick-fil-a. Florence really enjoyed opening presents this year – her favorite being 
the magnadoodle or maybe the Ariel pjs. That evening, Tony offered a chance for everyone to come over and enjoy Who framed Roger Rabbit on the big screen in our driveway. Only Grandpa came over and braved the cold night air – everyone else was still worn out from the night before.
rek since 
Kathleen had a show to prepare for and John Gilbert had used all his time off (and money) taking care of John Rocco’s arrival and surgeries. We had our dinner at Aunt Eileen’s house, as usual. The kids had a great time playing outside, doing races with grandma and jumping in the bouncehouse while waiting for dinner. Every year, as the kids get a little older, it gets a little easier to sit down and eat without chasing toddlers everywhere. Next year, we may actually have a “kid table” that doesn’t need an adult monitor. On Friday evening, we made what may become an annual trip to Rawhide in Chandler for a very nice steak dinner. They had a live band and we were a
ble to keep the kids entertained with dancing while waiting for our food. The town didn’t officially open until the evening, so after dinner we wandered around and took the train, burro, and stagecoach rides. Even Florence rode a burro this year, with Tony marching close by, of course. Florence’s birthday was actually on Thanksgiving this year, and while we actually found a candle to stick into a turkey leg for her, in the hubbub, we forgot to light it. Oh well. She didn’t go without a party. We all gathered on Saturday morning to celebrate with Elmo cake and chick-fil-a. Florence really enjoyed opening presents this year – her favorite being 
the magnadoodle or maybe the Ariel pjs. That evening, Tony offered a chance for everyone to come over and enjoy Who framed Roger Rabbit on the big screen in our driveway. Only Grandpa came over and braved the cold night air – everyone else was still worn out from the night before. Sunday afternoon we attended the local production of The Nutcracker at the Mesa Arts Center. It happens to be put on by the company housed in Lucy’s ballet studio, so we saw her teacher in a few dances. It was intimate, there were no bad seats in the theater. It reminded me a lot of how we went to see The Nutcracker with Huntsville Community Ballet, with the recorded music. (I remember watching from way far away a production in DC with a live orchestra. My friend was a percussionist and, just for fun, he stroked the chimes 13 times instead of 12 to denote midnight). I still am always amazed at the way they do the scenery to help you imagine you are, at first, in someone’s glamorous home, then in a rat’s basement and finally in a candy cane castle. The kids enjoyed the production – maybe this will be a new tradition.
December
December was a crazy time. Preparing for Christmas, in addition to all the end of the year performances, was made extra difficult by my continuing recovery. Tony really had to take on extra work helping Santa out. Charlie played with MYS again, this time a holiday concert at a local hotel. Charlie and Lucy both sang with their school choir and Charlie also performed with his school orchestra. Every year, they play the Theme from Ice Castles as they march around the audience…every year, I’ve thought it SO CHEESY, until my own child serenaded me this year, of course.
There were also tons of celebrations. In lieu of exchanging gifts with the neighborhood kids, we gather them together to decorated cookies and ornaments. We set up out in the driveway (you can do that here in the desert) and let them make as big a mess as they like. We also hosted our Marriage Encounter Secret Santa Revealing party, where Santa actually came and brought gifts for the kids. The little kids were blown away – the older kids were very suspicious…
I, myself, prepared and played for 3 masses on Christmas Eve and one on New Years’ Eve, in addition to normal Sunday playing. Charlie and Lucy joined me at the children’s mass to perform Silen
t Night on violin and Away in the Manger on piano. It was adorable. I’m not sure why they make the 4:00 mass the children’s mass, when anyone who actually has kids will tell you that’s an awful time for them. Granted, this was Florence’s first appearance at Mass (she normally goes to the nursery), and Tony did sit right up front by me where she could see me and come over and play a few notes on occasion…(btw, she played the correct bass notes 4/5 times…it was freaky). Anyhow, Tony wound up so frustrated that he left during communion – unfo
rtunately trying to drag out four kids (one screaming) against the flow of “traffic” of people going to communion. A few days later, I couldn’t stop laughing about it, but at the time, it looked ridiculous. I love what I do at St. Bridget’s, but this year, I was as close to burnt out as I’ve gotten in a long time. I will say, our director did a fabulous job planning everything. His family came and played with us, so we had drummers and extra flutes and a trumpet even. It was beautiful.
Between all the chaos of preparing for Christmas masses, we did our normal assembly of gifts – this year the big one was a kitchen set for Florence. It had no less than 800 pieces to pop out of plastic handcuffs and screw together. Charlie even got in on it – he still believes in Santa, but he may use this moment to put all the pieces together next year. We did get it together in time, though, and since I had wrapped the presents a few at a time for the previous week, and Tony had gotten Lucy’s new bike already assembled, those were set as well. I was able to come home before the midnight mass to help lay out gifts and set up breakfast for them in the hallway behind the baby gate so that Tony and I might get a few minutes extra sleep in the morning…especially since I wouldn’t get home until 1:30.
December was a crazy time. Preparing for Christmas, in addition to all the end of the year performances, was made extra difficult by my continuing recovery. Tony really had to take on extra work helping Santa out. Charlie played with MYS again, this time a holiday concert at a local hotel. Charlie and Lucy both sang with their school choir and Charlie also performed with his school orchestra. Every year, they play the Theme from Ice Castles as they march around the audience…every year, I’ve thought it SO CHEESY, until my own child serenaded me this year, of course.
There were also tons of celebrations. In lieu of exchanging gifts with the neighborhood kids, we gather them together to decorated cookies and ornaments. We set up out in the driveway (you can do that here in the desert) and let them make as big a mess as they like. We also hosted our Marriage Encounter Secret Santa Revealing party, where Santa actually came and brought gifts for the kids. The little kids were blown away – the older kids were very suspicious…
I, myself, prepared and played for 3 masses on Christmas Eve and one on New Years’ Eve, in addition to normal Sunday playing. Charlie and Lucy joined me at the children’s mass to perform Silen
t Night on violin and Away in the Manger on piano. It was adorable. I’m not sure why they make the 4:00 mass the children’s mass, when anyone who actually has kids will tell you that’s an awful time for them. Granted, this was Florence’s first appearance at Mass (she normally goes to the nursery), and Tony did sit right up front by me where she could see me and come over and play a few notes on occasion…(btw, she played the correct bass notes 4/5 times…it was freaky). Anyhow, Tony wound up so frustrated that he left during communion – unfo
rtunately trying to drag out four kids (one screaming) against the flow of “traffic” of people going to communion. A few days later, I couldn’t stop laughing about it, but at the time, it looked ridiculous. I love what I do at St. Bridget’s, but this year, I was as close to burnt out as I’ve gotten in a long time. I will say, our director did a fabulous job planning everything. His family came and played with us, so we had drummers and extra flutes and a trumpet even. It was beautiful.
Between all the chaos of preparing for Christmas masses, we did our normal assembly of gifts – this year the big one was a kitchen set for Florence. It had no less than 800 pieces to pop out of plastic handcuffs and screw together. Charlie even got in on it – he still believes in Santa, but he may use this moment to put all the pieces together next year. We did get it together in time, though, and since I had wrapped the presents a few at a time for the previous week, and Tony had gotten Lucy’s new bike already assembled, those were set as well. I was able to come home before the midnight mass to help lay out gifts and set up breakfast for them in the hallway behind the baby gate so that Tony and I might get a few minutes extra sleep in the morning…especially since I wouldn’t get home until 1:30.The next morning was fun, fun, fun. Florence really enjoyed unwrapping everyone’s gifts. We just had to try and keep her slow enough to see what everyone was getting. The kids got lots of 
wonderful presents, most everything they had asked for, as well as the requisite books and clothes. Charlie’s favorite was probably the new Zelda DS game/book. Lucy’s favorite was her new Touch-n-brush (as seen on tv), though her new bike came in a close 2nd. Alex graduated to t
he real legos – the tiny chokable ones. Florence loved her new kitchen, though not as much as the shopping cart which she pushed around the house for days afterwards. Our family gift from grandma and grandpa was a new camera. Our old one was becoming unreliable so we were able to replace it. And FINALLY, the big gift from Tony’s mom and uncle (and us) was the Wii. We’ve been talking about it for some time, but we finally made the leap. Tony, who had been put in charge of supplies and games (after I bought a “bad” one) made sure each child had a wii-mote and numchuck, as well as several steering wheels, special remote holders for the mario games and more games than we can play in a month…though we did give it our best shot. The kids love it, of course, but I have to admit, even Tony and I occasionally race into the night or fight the dark side with Star Wars Lego. We’ve even taken it outside to share with the neighbors as Tony hooks it up to our projector and displays it on the carport wall. Talk about a kid magnet.
wonderful presents, most everything they had asked for, as well as the requisite books and clothes. Charlie’s favorite was probably the new Zelda DS game/book. Lucy’s favorite was her new Touch-n-brush (as seen on tv), though her new bike came in a close 2nd. Alex graduated to t
he real legos – the tiny chokable ones. Florence loved her new kitchen, though not as much as the shopping cart which she pushed around the house for days afterwards. Our family gift from grandma and grandpa was a new camera. Our old one was becoming unreliable so we were able to replace it. And FINALLY, the big gift from Tony’s mom and uncle (and us) was the Wii. We’ve been talking about it for some time, but we finally made the leap. Tony, who had been put in charge of supplies and games (after I bought a “bad” one) made sure each child had a wii-mote and numchuck, as well as several steering wheels, special remote holders for the mario games and more games than we can play in a month…though we did give it our best shot. The kids love it, of course, but I have to admit, even Tony and I occasionally race into the night or fight the dark side with Star Wars Lego. We’ve even taken it outside to share with the neighbors as Tony hooks it up to our projector and displays it on the carport wall. Talk about a kid magnet. January
Happy New Year. We actually stayed up until midnight this year. I had to go and play mass at church, but then some friends of ours came back with us and played Wii and arcade. We had planned to play a bit and toast at 10:00 with the east coast since we all had young kids, but before we knew it, it was midnight. I even let Lucy have a tiny sip of champagne. We have had a good 2009 – some ups and downs – but all things considered a very blessed year. God has been good to us, protecting Tony’s job in this rough economy, keeping us healthy and surrounding us with amazing friends and family. We’re looking forward to 2010.
Happy New Year. We actually stayed up until midnight this year. I had to go and play mass at church, but then some friends of ours came back with us and played Wii and arcade. We had planned to play a bit and toast at 10:00 with the east coast since we all had young kids, but before we knew it, it was midnight. I even let Lucy have a tiny sip of champagne. We have had a good 2009 – some ups and downs – but all things considered a very blessed year. God has been good to us, protecting Tony’s job in this rough economy, keeping us healthy and surrounding us with amazing friends and family. We’re looking forward to 2010.
