Fun Day Trip

The American Visionary Art Museum in downtown Baltimore is a funky fun place to visit. Luca wished he could ride to school in a bedazzled bus like this one. The place is full of crazy art...the welcome mat is made entirely of toothbrushes. They had a crown making craft for the kids to try. They're wearing them in the next picture.

They liked the lip shaped sofa seat.



There is a giant chess set made from scrap metals. It is a quirky fun place to see. Then we stopped at Sip and Bite for some of the best crab cakes I've ever had.

Mom-mom and Pap-pap also came to visit us. We all really enjoyed having them here.

My favorite Day of the Year

Christmas eve at my parent's house. We'd just finished our Italian feast with family and friends.

Miceli fam. I love them like crazy.

From Thanksgiving

Yes, It's almost Christmas and I'm just getting around to posting some pics from Thanksgiving. I'm a bit behind, but I'm catching up. Here are some pics from our exploration of the Cornell campus. That's one of our favorite things to do when we go to Ithaca.

We tried to take family pictures. This is one of my favorites...it really captures the essence of the whole experience. Especially the way that Libby is trying to escape my grasp.

We got to tour the new architecture school. The main highlight for the kids was the "slide and the bubbles".

Jer checked it out too.

Here's Libby about half-way up the slope. I should have taken a picture of the boys rolling down it.







And lastly, here is Libby in a chair that belonged to her great-great-great grandfather Albert Libby when he was her size. The story goes that he loved to drag it around behind him and that caused the legs of the chair to become worn down in a certain way. Libby also loved taking it with her, but she preferred to push it in front of her.

Independence

Normally I don't find pictures of messy kids all that cute. They just make me feel really tired. But I had to show you this one. The look of pride on her face while she attempted to feed herself a yogurt was almost worth the mess in her hair, on the chair, floor, tablecloth....etc.

She absolutely wouldn't let me feed her anyway. Libby is a very independent little gal. Now if only she would let me show her how to keep the spoon right side up.

And now a shout out to Pap-pap. He is about to under-go open heart surgery as I type this. We expect great results from the surgery, and hope for a quick recovery. About independent gals...I don't know if I ever will be. A girl needs her dad forever. Here's to mine, and many more days, and many more dances to come.

Vintage Baby

My mom saves everything. Everytime she comes to visit she brings something from her collection. Sometimes this is a point of tension because I live in a little house, and don't have much storage. And I don't like the responsibility of caring for things that she kept pristine for thirty years. However, I'm so lucky to have many of these items. She asked me if I ever use anything. So I wanted to show her some pics and say thank you. I'm glad she chose to save too much rather than too little. Maybe there is a happy medium out there somewhere...

This little handmade dress was mine. I added a little belt to it.

Libby looking at James, the co-photographer, who did not want to be photographed himself. His job was to try to make her smile.

Libby has a very serious expression a lot of the time. My family likes to tease her for it. She makes them work hard for a smile.



She didn't want to take the dress off after her picture, but I was afraid her legs would be cold. So we added some jeans to the dress, for a hip little shirt.

The best thing my mom saved for us is our book collection. She has brought us at least 100 books that belonged to all of us Miceli kids growing up. Many of them have writing inside, like The Beach Book- To Gerry from Susan...Ocean City MD 1984. Or Where The Sidewalk Ends...to me on my 9th birthday. Make Way for Ducklings...Thanksgiving 1985. I know I could read the same stories to my kids from the library's copy of the same story...(Well some of them that are still in print. But we'd loose some real gems like Worried Walrus, or Andrew Henry's Meadow.) I love seeing my hands on the pages and realizing how much they look like my parent's hands turning the very same pages. Don't worry brothers and sisters. I'll guard the books carefully so that you can have the same experience.

These little shoes were mine. They say made in the USA on the bottom, so you know they're old.


And this dress isn't vintage, but it is still from Mom-mom:)

Joy School

I've heard of middle child syndrome, and I think James displays many of the classic symptoms. But, here's the thing. I would estimate that James takes in about 75% of my "parenting" efforts, or attention. You know the saying that the "squeaky wheel gets the grease", well this little boy is very squeaky. Squeaky, hilarious, quirky, and loud. One of James's special activities right now is Joy School. It's a home based preschool program that you can download. A few of us moms are doing it together. James loves his preschool group. He likes to pack his backpack and pretend the van is a school bus. He loves the songs and rhymes we do. This week he and another kid called their farewells as we loaded our vans..."See you at the next joy school!" they yelled to one another.

This week we took a nature walk and it was a great opportunity to capture pics of all the kiddos.

This girl is a little ham. She will smile and pose all day for pictures.

Her sister, harder to capture. But look at the grasshopper on her jacket!

Collecting leaves, and talking about all the colors we could find in nature.

He was not really sure about me. But such a handsome little guy...wish I could have gotten a better shot of his eyes. They're amazing.

Soccer

Luca is on a soccer team. The kids voted on a name for themselves. They are the Tornados. Luca likes to play defense, and he plays with a lot of determination.