Mom asked us a few questions about you for Father’s Day.  We wanted to share a few of mom’s favorite answers here on the blog for you.

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Q: What is your favorite thing to do with daddy?

E:  I like to play choo choos with daddy.

C:  Break ice.

E:  Oh, I like to break ice.
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Q: What does dad do to make you laugh?

C: Tickle me.

E:  Tickle me.

C:  He’s a pretty funny guy, but since he’s so funny I can’t think of any funny stuff he does.  He did teach me a cow joke.  I forgot it but I know he taught it.  I’m best at knock knock jokes.
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Q:  What makes daddy happy?

C: When I go places with him and stuff.  And when I give something to him.

E: Hug
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Q:  What is the silliest thing about your dad?

C:  He calls me punk!  And C-dog!

E:  Nothing.

C:  Can I answer for him?  He calls him E-dog!
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Q:  How do you know daddy loves you?

C:  I just do.  He gives me hugs and gives me a kiss and he’s just my dad.

E:  He gives me hugs and kiss.

Mom:  Do you have to say everything your brother says?
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Q:  What makes your dad the best dad?

C:  He’s my dad.  I just want my dad.
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Happy Father’s Day to a wonderful man, a loving husband, and a terrific father!  We love you!

Mom Blogging:

I consider myself to be incredibly blessed, and whenever I look at my kids I am amazed at God’s goodness and so grateful for everything that has been given to me.  Our daughter recently turned six months old and Jason photographed her six month pictures.  Her beautiful smiles just melt my heart!  In six short months she has changed from a tiny newborn to a crawling, babbling, laughing baby!  She has three (almost four) teeth already, she is pulling herself up to stand, and she loves playing peek-a-boo with her big brothers.  They are great with her, and both of them are very proud to be big brothers.  Our toddler even gives up his toys without complaint whenever she reaches for something he is playing with, and that is saying a lot for a two year old!

I love my family and am blessed with an amazing life!  Time goes by so quickly when you are trying to hold onto all of the moments with your kids as they grow.  Jason and I are taking it all in and holding these memories close to our hearts.

Our daughter, in the hospital just born:

From her newborn session:

3 months old:

And now at 1/2 a year old!

I love this face with her scrunched up nose!  She makes it all the time and does this funny nose laugh sound when she is happy

So maybe she outgrew the swim suit before she even got a chance to really wear it.  I’m a proud nursing mom!

New Year’s Eve Toasts and Cheers:

What kid doesn’t loving staying up super late and being allowed to make lots of noise?!  (and no, if you look closely you will see that is NOT Jason’s middle finger you people with bad minds!)

It is going to be a fantastic year, we just know it!  Our lives are filled with love!  We have our own wonderful family and we get to work with amazing couples and families and capture their love for each other.  We are blessed!  A sincere thank you to all of you who make that possible.  Happy 2010 to everyone!

Getting ready to leave for Mass on Christmas Eve:

Making a gingerbread house:

The only problem with making a gingerbread house with two young kids is that the frosting is so yummy that you run out before you can finish using it to decorate!

Peek-a-boo!

Our whole family spends the night with us on Christmas Eve so our Christmas tree ended up half buried in all the presents:

Some of the toys Santa left out on Christmas morning!

Little brother checking out the goods in his stocking:

Big brother got tons of Star Wars stuff!  He found a few left out from Santa Christmas morning:

Baby’s First Christmas:

She got a ton of presents!  At just 5 months old, how many presents do you really need?!

Both boys asked Santa for new bikes:

Big brother also asked Santa for a Leapster, and he loves it!  Dad tried to tell him to “turn off the game” and big brother corrected dad, telling him it isn’t just a game, it is for learning.  Besides the leapster, Santa brought big brother a VMotion system and little brother a VSmart Baby system so needless to say we had to set up new tv rules and limits to include video games.

Spike the Dinosaur was a big hit with big brother…and with dad!  Thanks Grandma!

Baby sister got some super cute new girly toys!  It is fun to have a girl in the family .

One of mom’s favorite things that little sister received was this adorable Chloe doll from Pottery Barn.  Thanks Grammy!

What do you get a photographer for Christmas?  The new Fuji Instax for some poloroid style fun!

Dad has been reading the Dexter books and now he can watch the show:

There aren’t any pictures of little brother playing with his new toys because he crashed during dinner and stayed asleep the rest of the day!  All the excitement of getting ready for Santa the night before and then opening all the presents Christmas morning caught up to him.

Of course presents are just a small part of our Christmas.  We have the most pictures of that because we put the camera down for “quality time.”  We spent the rest of Christmas day eating a yummy dinner and then having fun trying out new toys and playing games with family and friends.  We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas with your loved ones!  Spending Christmas with our family is part of what gives the day its joy and magic.  These are the memories and traditions that we will carry on and pass down to future generations, just as mom and dad included traditions from their own childhoods.

Have a safe and fun end to the year. We hope the next year and the next decade is filled with hopes and opportunities and blessings and love for all of you.  2009 has been so wonderful for our family.  We cannot wait to see what God has in store for us in 2010!

Happy New Year!

…and lots of fun!

Glory to the newborn King!  He is born!

We also want to thank Stacy of Meant to Be Wed for doing such an awesome job helping us put everything together, and Catering by the Family who served yummy food and were terrific to work with.

Our guest of honor at the party was none other than Santa himself!!  He was there for pictures with the kids, and for the adults too .  Santa’s elves were at the party too and had an activity table for kids to make a Santa’s workshop scene, choo choo trains, ornaments, and other Christmas crafts.

Big brother showing off his creation of Santa’s workshop:

Little brother was not that excited to see Santa.  He wouldn’t sit on his lap but with coaxing he was okay to stand near him briefly.  We thought he might cry but he was just nervous.

Stacy and her beautiful family:

Some of the kids were so excited to meet Santa!

But mom’s favorite pictures are those were only some of the kids were excited and some were…not so much:

Megan showing that you are never too old to sit on Santa’s lap!

As the party ended, little brother slowly walked back over to Santa’s chair.  After being so nervous earlier in the day we were interested to see what he was going to do.  Dad asked him if he wanted to sit on Santa’s lap and little brother slowly nodded.  He was hesitant, but soon sat on his lap, asked Santa to bring him “toys” for Christmas, and then even smiled for his picture!

You can see more Santa pictures in the album on our Facebook Page.  Just look for Jason Angelini Photography’s Fan page.

Santa of course is a celebrity!  Some of the kids were star struck to see the man that had the magic of Christmas walking around the party.

Big brother followed Santa around the room every where.  He would come to mom and excitedly tell her everything that Santa was doing.  When Santa sat down to eat, big brother couldn’t let him sit alone.  He brought over the Santa he made out of stickers and tried to act cool despite his excitement as he casually chatted with the man himself!

We also had the talented Kathryn Flocken of Silhouettes by Kathryn there creating hand-cut silhouettes.  Everyone loved it!  We are going to frame all of our family’s silhouettes together.

Chelsea posing for her silhouette:

Jessica and Del looking at their silhouettes:

Del’s silhouette:

One of dad’s favorite silhouettes was David’s.  The hat and facial hair looked so cool!

Of course Santa’s silhouette rocked too!

The other hit of the party was the entertainment.  There were live carolers singing traditional Christmas songs.  They were absolutely amazing!  Sean thought they were good enough to text about.

Besides the yummy dinner and desserts from Catering by the Family, mom also had a hot chocolate bar set up.  Most people enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate, but a few people thought a lid full of toppings was better.  Marshmallows and chocolate chips make a great treat!

Kids help make Christmas special with the innocence and wonder they bring to the holiday.

Our family wants to send all of you happiness, love, and blessings this holiday season.  We hope you are surrounded by friends and family and looking forward to a great year ahead!

Little brother loved the pumpkin goo!  He squished and squashed and put it on his head…then started throwing it across the kitchen and onto the wall behind him.

Baby sister’s first Halloween and first pumpkin carving experience!

This was the first year that big brother carved his own pumpkin all by himself!  He used the pumpkin carving kit and did the face on his own without help.  We think he did a terrific job!

Earlier in the week, we stuffed scarecrows to make a scarecrow family of us and had those out as our Halloween decorations.

Big brother picked everyone’s costume this year:

Baby sister as Leia:

Little brother as Yoda:

Big brother as Luke Skywalker:

“Luke, I am your father.”

Our trick or treating crew:

Jack-o-lanterns:

Our house was haunted!  Check out the ghosts!

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Mom Blogging:

Our Feed the Hungry Can Contest has ended, and we are so grateful to all of you who turned in cans and other non-perishable food to be donated to our local food pantry.  The need is so great, especially now with many people unemployed or under-employed in this economy, and the food pantry has been getting more demand than they can meet.  It is wonderful that all of you who turned in grocery store gift cards, cans, and other foods are making a difference for the poor in our area!

This was not only a wonderful way to help the hungry in our community, but it was also a project that our oldest son got very excited about and involved in.  He helped stack and count cans, went can shopping with the gift cards to get more non-perishable food, and would ask all the time if any more food came in.  This was not just a contest, but also an important lesson for a young boy about being grateful for what you have and sharing those blessings with others.  As a mom, I am so proud of my son and the heart he showed in all of this.  It makes me very happy that our contest was a success!

In the past 4 weeks, we collected a total of TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE food items that we will be taking to the food pantry!  We had 188 cans of food, 10 boxes of pasta, 8 jars of peanut butter (with 1 jar of jelly!), 5 boxes of rice, 4 boxes of mac and cheese, 3 boxes of cereal, and a variety of other foods as well!

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And now to announce the winner…

Jamie and Tristan turned in one hundred and one cans and are the WINNERS of our contest!  They have won a free session that they can use any time before February 1st and a free 8×10 gallery wrap from that session, a value of over $200!  When they have their session, any profits from prints or products that are ordered will be donated to Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity.  Congratulations Jamie and Tristan, and thank you for all of the cans!

And everyone who participated received .40¢ in credit for every item donated which can be used toward any session or product.  We have given away almost $100 in gift cards from this contest!

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Once again, to everyone who was a part of this, we want to send you a big…

Here we are doing our final count:

Some of you have asked if you can still turn in food or grocery gift cards even though the contest has ended.  The answer is YES, OF COURSE!  We donate food to the local food pantry almost every week and would be happy to drop off any of your donations as well.  In fact, our son’s class is now having a canned food drive and is collecting cans and non-perishable food items from now until mid-December!  If you didn’t get a chance to turn in any food yet, you can still do so now!