Haircuts

We recently rid our boys of their excess locks. 

It was a hard transition, but now I like the new cuts.

Here are all the before and after shots.

Love, Us.

A New Advent Tradition

So... you know those mischievous elves on the shelves? 

Well... I thought that was a cute idea, but wanted to "Catholicize" it for our family this year. 

I purchased the "Journey to Bethlehem" Mary and Joseph.

Every morning the kiddos find where Mary and Joseph were waylaid the night before on their way to the stable. 

Whoever finds them starts singing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel",
 and then they all join in as they bring them to the crèche.

It is a fun new tradition, and we are really enjoying it!

Oh... in case you were confused, the reason why we have started this already is

due to the fact that we are now going to a Maronite Catholic parish.

Their "Glorious Season of the Birth of Our Lord" started two weeks ago!

Love, Us.

A First Guitar Lesson, Etc.

T had her first guitar lesson on daddy's little guitar last week. 

She really enjoyed it.

This next picture tells much more of a story than that, though...

The bookcases are packed. - Another move is quickly approaching.

P is tapping himself out of a choke. - Amidst the chaos and transition, life goes on, as usual, at the Librandi home.

Love, Us.

Apple Bombs

Just in time for Thanksgiving, I've come up with a super simple and DELICIOUS way 

to use up the little bits of extra pie crust!

We always have plenty of apples around, so this is the perfect treat for the kiddos.

Just slice up an apple, put it on a small piece of cinnamon sugar-dusted crust, wrap it up, bake, and enjoy! 

Yummy!

Just in case I don't get around to posting again before Thursday - I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Love, Us.

The Littlest Roller

We have a lot of white belts around our house these days. 

Even Romeo decided to try it one on for size.

I think it suited him quite well!

Love, Us.

Packing = Indoor Jungle Gyms

Romeo is LOVING this packing phase of life here at the Librandi home.

Even though 90% of his toys have disappeared, he now has numerous obstacles to climb throughout the house.

Life is good for this little guy!

Love, Us.

Marbles

We tried out a new family game.

Dad (the only player with any previous experience, I might add) won handily.

Don't worry... there will be rematches at the Librandi home.

Love, Us.

NAGA

We had a fun day out last weekend at a NAGA tournament. 

The kids had a good time... how could they not when lunch was a huge, soft pretzel?!

I don't know how soon T and D may be competing at one of these, but it was fun to check it out as spectators first.

Love, Us.

This is NOT a torture device.... I promise.

In fact, Joe and I had nothing to do with D getting in this position. 

It was all his doing, and he and T think it is the best!

Yeah... kids sure are strange.

Love, Us.

Our Attempt to Recreate a Classic Family Pic

There are a few classic Librandi family pictures. 

This is one of the best:

On All Saints Day morning, we were having some group wrestling/snuggling time in the big bed, 

so we decided to try and recreate the classic pic as a larger family.

Well.... it definitely wasn't a success, but we at least tried.

Love, Us.

Our Little Saints

We celebrated both the secular and religious sides of the holiday this year. 

Here are our All Saints Day costumes, which we gathered together all within about 5 minutes time!

They include, from youngest to oldest: Saint Christopher, Saint Sebastian, Saint George, and Saint Gianna.

Love, Us.

Romie and his Weaponry

 Our littlest soldier was looking pretty cute last week!

He is so much fun!

Love, Us.

Our Halloween

As I mentioned in a post a bit ago, one of Patrick's birthday presents decided our costume "theme" for the year.

Also, it was perfect timing for us to use our hand-me-down airmen suits from dad and Uncle Adam.

They fit T and D perfectly right now!

Romie joined us in the wagon for just the first bit of T-or-Ting on our street.

Then he stayed home with dad to pass out candy while we visited a few more neighbors.

Here are the kiddos at the end of the evening... excited to enjoy a few pieces of candy when we get home!

Love, Us.

Some Pre-Halloween Fun

Yeah - I am pretty behind on my posts. Sorry.

Here is some of the fun that we had right before Halloween this year.

We were out of town for a medical appointment on the 30th.

So, the kiddos got FREE "scary face" pancakes at IHOP on our way home. 

They LOVED it!

We also attended a great pizza and pumpkin-carving party at the parish.

We had a blast!

Dad is our expert carver. 

The swirly-twirly abstract pumpkin and Mr. Smiley are our creations!

Love, Us.

Some Recent Lego Creations

We've packed 90% of our toys, so Legos are the go-to entertainment from here on out.

Here are two of their most recent creations.

Love, Us.

Patrick is Pedaling

Patrick has been one of those little kids who has wanted to be on a bike since the day he could walk.
This was getting very frustrating, though, because he could easily walk/run much faster than he could bike. 

He only recently became interested in pedaling. 

Until now, he was just doing the Flintstones type of biking - with his feet.

After just a couple of quick lessons from his big sister and brother, he is now a pedaling kid!

Today's video was taken by Thérèse. I apologize for the shakiness.

Also, this is a good reminder of why I require the kids to ALWAYS have the camera strap
around their neck when they are holding the camera.

Love, Us.

The Long-Awaited Hair Picture

I know that I may be the only one that has been waiting for this picture, but even if I am... here it is!

My three boys, with their very different hair, all together for some comparison.

However, the picture doesn't "tell the whole story", so I'll have to narrate a bit.

Let's start with David:  His hair is brown, very thick, and has great body. 

He pretty much has "Verly hair".

Next, Patrick has very thin, slippery and stick-straight brown hair. 

Concerning his hair, he is definitely a little Joe Librandi.

Romeo is the wild child. He has this awesome dark red hair with big curls, which is very thin, but SUPER wiry! 

I swear he is ours, but if there was such a thing as a baby catalogue from which you 

pick your future kiddos... I would have NEVER guessed him to be mine! 

Love, Us.

Another Great Zoo Trip

Our time here looks like it is quickly coming to an end.

So, we are trying to get everything checked off our to-do-before-saying-goodbye list. 

One thing was completed last week - Getting Dad to the Zoo!

The elephant was still smiling!

The baboons even had a cute new member for us to see!

All smiles for the zoo (Romie WAS smiling, I promise.)!

It was an absolutely GORGEOUS day!

Goodbye, Zoo!

Love, Us.