Italian Capers

H-bomb has been complaining about her hair all her life. She doesn't like it: combed, washed, brushed, touched, styled, dried, clipped, braided or pony-tailed! Enough was enough for both of us. I was sure she was sure, so we headed out to the stylist of choice- Anna in Compagna where we used to live! We let Anna loose with a pair of scissors and a beautiful, smiling, happy little gal appeared...here she is: I was concerned about how her new look would be received at school. But when she hopped off the bus- she was still smiling! Only one little girl made a negative comment. One of her pals stepped right up in H's defense and that was all she wrote. Happier kid, happier family. I caught up with Anna about the old neighborhood. I asked if Bruna was still alive and she is. She will be 94 next month. As we were about to leave, Bruna appeared in the door. At first, she just looked at me and I could tell she didn't know me. Then, I saw the veil lift, a spark of recognition in he...

This year, I decided to have a holiday wrap up weekend. It was the last weekend in January and we decided it was time to take down the Christmas tree and put away the decorations. We planned all the festivities to include: baking cookies (one last batch), listening to carols (that hasn't really stopped), un-decorating the tree, playing some games we received as gifts and putting away the decorations. The girls were very excited, and so was I..... The un-decorating of the tree was very fun and much easier with the girls helping me. It was kind of like a hide and seek, or an eye spy game. They were helpful and careful and it was fun. The cookies went well and we had fun playing games, but the BIG surprise was waking up to snow here in town on Sunday morning!!!!! We didn't have much, more of a dusting, really, BUT we had enough on driveway to give sledding a try. Now, for those of you who haven't visited, our driveway is VERY steep, which usually is NOT an asset, but for today...

I just spoke with my friend in Washington D.C and they are snowed in! To be truthful, it sounds like fun to me.....shhhh. For us, we have to go seeking the white stuff. A couple of weekends ago, we attempted to drive up the mountain for a little fun in the snow, but we stopped partway up. The conditions called for chains on our tires- which we don't have. We decided we didn't want to chance it and possibly spend our day trapped on the mountainside. (I think the only one who was disappointed was My Man- the kids had a great time playing at a little pit stop along the way.) This weekend, we made it to the top....H and My Man rented an inner tube and went tubing! You hop on and ride down this slope and there was a people mover at the bottom. You insert your ticket in the little turnstile and you can get a ride back to the top. (see the people on the left?) H-bomb was like an adrenalin junky. She was hyped up and loving it! Z-meister and I took the slower sled down the other side o...

H: "Mom, I don't think "love" is weird or gross." Me: "I don't either." H: "Some kids at school do, but I don't." Me: "Well, good for you." H: "I don't think I'll marry my sister, even though she wants to." Me: "Yeah, that's probably better." With our morning off, we worked on H's Valentine's Day box. I haven't thought about these little boxes in ages, but I remember making one in grade school. It was so fun to share this moment with her!