Christmas Advent Calendar Idea

How cool is this idea?  I may have to hijack this next Christmas for EMC. 

Christmas book Advent calendar

[Reblogged from Babyccino Kids]

Happy Birthday Violet!!

A year ago today, our first child Violet the Pug, was born to Belle by a crazy breeder. We never imagined what the next year would bring or if we (or Violet!!) would make it through, emotionally or financially, but despite its challanges we love our little Violet and are happy that she is a member of the Ciano (and Fisher) family. In between the frustration and tears she brings joy to our lives each day.

What we love most about Violet, other than how cute she is......she is a little clown and makes us laugh everyday.

What we would change about Violet, other then her OCD/craziness......her ability to be housetrained!! Uggh!!

Violet has improved over the past year but still needs lots of work and takes a lot of patience. Even though Cashina isn't born yet, I can imagine that it will be like having twins during Violet's high maintenance moments. Let's hope she gets better with age.

New Year and a New Addition

There is something about watching New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (that is if I don’t fall asleep before hand!!!), watching the ball drop and listening to Auld Lang Syne that brings a tear to my eye at the beginning of each New Year. It is a combination of the lyrics, the happy and sad memories of the past year and the excitement and anticipation of what the next year will bring that makes me a little emotional. I am clearly a sap but I feel the same emotion each New Year’s Eve and I have no doubt that this year will be no exception.

Even though 2010 hasn’t officially launched yet (only hours away now!!), Chris and I know that it is going to a BIG year for the Ciano household since Bambino Ciano will make his or her official appearance sometime around June 19th. We couldn’t be more excited to bring a new addition into the world and share the experience with our family and friends. I am looking forward to meeting the little one and holding him or her for that very first time but I also can’t wait to see Chris as a father, my mother as a grandmother, my father as a grandfather and my sister as the best Auntie a niece or nephew could ask for. And, I think they may like to see me as a mom too since I have a feeling some of them thought the day would never come. I have to admit that I am curious myself!!

But for now we plan to enjoy the days leading up to that big moment, give as much love and attention we can muster up to our current only child, Violet, without forgetting about each other, because I think there may be some truth in the saying, “a baby changes everything”.

Despite all of the happiness and tears, changes and challenges about to come our way we are looking forward to the New Year….well, I know I am, we may need to poll Chris. All kidding aside, we wish you all a happy and healthy 2010.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Well, dreaming isn't necessary this year since we just got about a foot of snow dumped on us. For the first time in awhile we have more snow in Ashland than in NH. Lucky ducks!! The snow is quite pretty and I can appreciate it more since I don't have to dig my car out of an on-street parking spot and have anxiety about whether or not I will find a spot when I get home or not. Oh the glories of a driveway. Now, I'm sure if you spoke to Chris he would have some gripes about shoveling the front stairs but that is the price you pay for home ownership....I think of it as good exercise. This year the deck and a landing area need to be shoveled for our little Violet so that is an added cardiovascular workout but thankfully this latest storm's snow was very light :-) Looks like we won't be using the grill for awhile!!

Autumn Update

It has been a busy few months, with some relaxing mixed in between me trying to fight off a never-ending cold (I think I may be improving though, knock on wood).

Violet is up to her old tricks but cuter than ever. She was spayed in October and wasn't even interested in her stitches so no Elizabethan collar was required. Thank goodness...I can't imagine her spinning with that thing on!! Ha!! She is a whopping 9.2 pounds now and we think she may actually break the 10 pound mark in the next month or so. Her doggie daycare person, Carin, wishes she would have stayed 4 pounds forever since she was a lot easier to handle. Arm cramping is a normal occurrence now a days. Violet also tackled a major milestone a few days ago, she climbed the stairs in the house all by herself!! We were shocked and wish we would have gotten it on video. Of course, she had great bait....her Auntie K and Cousin Mitzy were at the top of the stairs and she couldn't WAIT to see them. We have tried again since with no luck but still, first times the charm :-)

In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday and hosting the big day for the first time, we decided to finally paint the dining room and invest in new furniture. It has been fun, even though I am sure Chris would beg to differ since he did the painting. The gold color we chose really warms up the room and adds a nice splash of color to the first floor. And, having a real dining room table and chairs has made such a difference. The best part about the room is that we could actually host Thanksgiving dinner in comfort, and who better to host than Mom, Jim and Kerry (and Lilly and Mitzy). It was a great day with great food and not too much stress. Of course, Kerry was the Chef de Cuisine and I her Sous Chef. I think if I had to do it myself, I am now confident enough that I could...well maybe.

So, I guess the holiday season has officially kicked-off. I bought my first Christmas gift on Wednesday, heard my first Christmas carol on the radio today, I'm gearing up to put out a Winter wreath, put candles in the windows, and make out Holiday cards. Now if someone could do my Christmas shopping for me, and the snow and fridged temps could hold off, that would be excellent.

Slackin'

With Christmas, New Year’s, birthdays, family time, house “stuff” and making the transition to working a full work week again consuming most of our time in the past few weeks, I have been slacking on the blog front.

Since I know my dad is an avid blog reader (when his PC isn’t infected with viruses), I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to mention that while he was visiting NH from Ohio for the Christmas holiday, he and Kerry got to spend a day at 19 BHL. My dad visiting officially completes my immediate family first-time visits…yay!! For some time he probably thought the house was just a figment of our imaginations or random pictures on the web…but it really does exist!! Now if only the Pats where in the playoff we would be all set.

Thanks Dada for visiting and we hope you visit again soon!!

Holiday Gathering - UNH Style

Click here for more photos

Between the hustle and bustle of the season, family time and just life in general, I have found that during the holidays it is difficult to get together with great friends. New children, new houses, house hunting, busy work schedules, distance and short trips to MA really don’t lend themselves to quality friend time. Well, not this time!! Thanks to the recommendation of Aimee and the perfect timing of Lisa and Bruce’s visit from AZ and Oz, we UNH gals got to celebrate while Chris and I got to entertain once again at 19 BHL. It was a very fun evening full of excellent potluck fare, lots of laughs, wine (no accident victims this time around!!), and Paul and Jeff even took a chance on the Diabolique. It also just happened to fall on the one month anniversary of our big move to the ‘burbs; Happy One Month Anniversary to us!!

We missed Kate, Delia and Wally but I have no doubt they will be dropping by soon…I hope anyway :-)

Thanks all for coming and we can’t wait to do more entertaining in 2009!!

Buon Natale

Click here for more photos

This year, similar to the past 6 or so, Chris and I kicked of the Christmas festivities at his aunt’s/uncle’s in Medford for the traditional Italian Feast of the 7 Fishes. At last count, we think there were only 6 but really does it matter? When it comes down to it, I just enjoy knowing that Chris and his family have been celebrating the tradition for as long as he can remember. Although Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, it helps to bring families together and set forth the traditions that have been established throughout the centuries. You can’t beat listening to Uncle Tony’s stories and watching others munch on traditional fish dishes such as fried smelts and bacala as well as the original recipe for Ciano calamari pizza that was one of Chris’s dad’s specialties. I stay away from all and stick to clam chowder, Auntie Ro’s spinach balls and Ann Marie’s stuffed mushrooms. A part of me thinks that they weren’t part of the original Feast of the 7 Fishes but that’s okay by me. The last I checked, I was French and Greek so I can get away with it.

The pilgrimage continued to Concord, NH with our gifts and yummy chocolate and pear Panettone in tow. The Fisher/Henderson tradition began with a delectable breakfast before opening our gifts and watching the dogs fight over who gets the bigger candy cane raw hide knowing very well that Lilly will conquer all. The day was topped off with a fantastic Christmas dinner of prime rib and it wouldn’t have been the same if my dad wasn’t in attendance. Lots of laughs and wine later we headed to Manchvegas (responsibly) to visit aunts and uncles and drop dad off to play in the holiday poker game. They ask Chris to play every year and thankfully he says no or else I think we would go broke.

After a day of fun, family, great food and wine we retire into a slumber and still had visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Survey copied from my good friend Debi….my answers of course :-)

1) Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper but I need a training session to be a better wrapper

2) Real tree or Artificial? We have had an artificial tree for years since someone in the household doesn’t like picking up needles. Hopefully next year we can get a real one.

3) When do you put up the tree? Week after Thanksgiving.

4) When do you take the tree down? We like the ambiance of the Christmas lights so keep it up for a couple weeks after the New Year.

5) Do you like eggnog? Yes!! With nutmeg sprinkled on top.

6) Favorite gift received as a child? Cabbage Patch dolls, record player.

7) Hardest person to buy for? Mom or Jim

8) Easiest person to buy for? Chris

9) Do you have a nativity scene? No.

10) Do you send cards or email cards? Send cards via USPS.

11) Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Don’t remember…I am sure there were many or it came from a Yankee Swap.

12) Favorite Holiday Movie? Charlie Brown Christmas

13) When do you start shopping for Holidays? Typically around Thanksgiving, via the internet!

14) Ever recycled a Holiday present? Yup…but it wasn’t given to me by anyone in my immediate family.

15) Favorite thing to eat at Holiday? My sister’s Christmas cookies, mom’s twice baked potatoes and Aunt Connie’s fudge.

16) Lights on the tree? Yes, always white.

17) Favorite Holiday Song? Nat King Cole’s version of The Christmas Song.

18) Travel at Holidays or stay home? Christmas eve in Medford, MA; Christmas day in NH.

19) Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? I can but only when I sing the intro to Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

20) Angel on the tree top or a star? A gold angel.

21) Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning.

22) Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Crazy malls and traffic.

23) Favorite ornament? We have so many beautiful ornaments but I really love our first married Christmas ornament from last year and all of the fun ornaments we have gotten from the Tall Timber Lodge in Pittsburg, NH.

24) Favorite for Holiday dinner? Prime rib…yummy!!

25) What do you want for Christmas this year? Our house was our gift so all I want this year is to spend time with family and friends….and have a couple of days off from work!!

May you all have a happy and safe holiday season. Merry Christmas!!