Preschool Christmas Fun

Gabriel had his first school performance.  It was a breakfast with family, then a few songs and Santa came with presents for the kids.  Gabriel had invited Nana and Grandpa Ron to join in the fun.  We love Gabe's school, the morning was fun for everyone.  They even volunteered to watch siblings for the last hour so parents could have an hour of free time.  Needless to say, we left Bennett at school with Gabriel.  What a great day!

Gabriel's class lined up to sing.

Santa brought the siblings presents too.

Gabriel opening presents with his friends.

Christmas Crafts

We been busy doing crafts this Christmas season.  I'd like to say that everything we have done has been for gifts or I have not eaten way too many cookies, but I cannot.  I tend to make baking or crafting my go to activity with Bennett while Gabriel is at school.  It is much easier to do things with one child wanting to help.

Our first activity was baking cookies.  B is a great helper, he really likes to "help" stir the dough or sample it.

Those sugar cookies didn't last long.  Then we decided we needed to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, those didn't last too long either.

We took a break from baking to do some painting.  Scott had asked for a motivation reminder for his desk at work.  He wanted a flower pot with dum dum suckers, as a reminder that he won't always get the sucker.  I wanted a way to make the pot look a little more fun.  I decided to paint the boys initials in their "color."  It turned out awesome.  Bennett was a great helper and painted his own masterpiece.

We even made snowmen and sang Frosty.  

Then it was on to making chocolate covered pretzels.  This one did not keep their attention as well as I thought it would.  Gabriel was into it but Bennett just ate the chocolate and licked the pretzels.

Next Bennett and I made some ornaments.  I found a recipe for a 2 ingredient mixture and it was pretty easy and play doh like once it cooled down.  

I tried another recipe with Gabriel.  That one used cinnamon and was supposed to make the house "smell like Christmas."  It smelt great while I made the dough, but it wasn't;t sticky enough and play time didn't last that long.  

So I took 5 minutes and made more of the white dough.

Both boys helped making more cookies.  Actually, this time it was a suggestion from Gabriel that we make cookies for daddy.   Was a big hit and those did last long.  

It's been a busy Christmas season in the Allenzotti house.

Christmas in St. Charles

Every year in downtown St. Charles they have Christmas characters walk the streets and talk about who they are.  It's a lot of fun to walk around, do shopping and get in the Christmas spirit.  This year, we needed something to do on a Sunday morning.  So over the bridge we went to St. Charles.  When we got there, the characters were not out yet, they didn't come out till noon.  But we did see plenty of horse carriages and that entertained the boys.  They followed the horses and even took a chance and petted a horse.

We walked up and down 5th Street doing some window shopping and checking out the decorations.  

Once Thomas started getting fussy and the boys got hungry we decided it was time to head home.  On our walk to the car we ran into St. Nicholas, the Nutcracker Prince and a Russian Snow Princess.  Gabriel was into the stories that they told and each character gave out a playing card with their information on it.

We are going to have to go back next year and hope for a warmer day.

Gringerbread Train

I have always wanted to do a gingerbread house at Christmas.  It was one of those things that I want to do, but other holidays things took its place.  This year, I really wanted to make one with the boys.  I had been searching for kits that didn't cost over $10 and while at Michael's I found one.  Then I looked harder and found a gingerbread train.

Bennett is going through a major train phase, we watch Polar Express daily.  So, when I saw the train I knew I had to get that.  I left the box on the counter for a couple days and when it was time to make it, the train did not disappoint.  I think all boys, Scott included, had fun making this train.  I did get a tip from a high school friend, hot glue the pieces together instead of using the frosting.  No one is planning on eating this so, that was extremely helpful and saved a lot of tears from mom.

Sleeping through it all

I like to think the train turned out pretty good.  Of course the next morning the engine was broken and then hot glued back together.  Maybe this is our Christmas centerpiece?

Thomas Quinn 1 Month

I have yet to write about Thomas' birth, but we just returned from his 1 month doctor appointment today and he is officially 5 weeks old today.  It is just crazy how time flies and even faster with the holidays.  

Thomas has been a pretty easy baby so far.  He sleeps and eats a lot, mainly because this kid is growing at crazy rate.  He has gained 3.5lbs since birth!  This week he has started to be more alert during the day.  He is awesome at sleeping in the afternoon at the same time as his brothers - mom loves this time of day!  Overall he sleeps in 3-4 hour spurts over night and eats himself back to sleep quickly.  

His brothers are great helpers.  They still want to hold him and they like to feed him when it's bottle time.  In the car, Gabriel is great at calming and trying his finger or pacifier to soothe him.  

1 Month Appointment Stats

Height - 22 inches - 61%

Weight- 9.14lbs - 40%

Head - 37cm - 31%

Here are all 3 boys at 1 month.

Reilygirl

We said goodbye to our sweet Reilygirl yesterday(December 3).  She was 13 1/2 (14 in February) and she was my first child, fur baby. I bought her right after Scott and I broke up the second time.  I bought her from a breeder outside Houston and she was instantly a part of the Manzotti Family.

A runt dog that tried to prove herself to the older family dog, Millie. Reilly made it through many moves in San Antonio and even a couple moves around St. Louis.  She was never far from my side.  That continued even after the boys were born.  She was not happy to lose being an only child to Gabriel and tolerated anything Bennett did.  I'm pretty sure she said "are you kidding me" when we walked in with Thomas.

She was a great pup that loved to go hiking with me, loved the water and until the end, loved car rides.  She is missed beyond words.

Goodbye, Reilygirl.