The Riccobenes

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Valentine Art and Music

We saw a cute idea on a blog for making Valentine Shakers. The kids love music, painting, art, and so this was a great hit!

We got to talk about mixing colors to make new colors too.

Baby B used a sponge for painting.

Dominic and his friend Pryce tried out an art poject we found at artprojectsforkids.org that has them trying out techniques of different artists. They loved this foil coloring project.

Kinzley's finished shaker! You can't see it in the picture, but the heart is see-through so when it is shaken they can see the jingle bells, pom-poms, and confetti.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Vinny went to a conference on Wednesday and met Marzano, an education consultant. When he arrived to the carpool, he and his good friend Shawn (another principal), were wearing the same sweater! Too funny!

Dom's Dune Buggy

It was Drive-In Movie Night at Awanas last night, and each kid was supposed to make a car to sit in during the movie...well we had missed last week so we had no idea until a couple hours before Awanas that this was going on! We madly rushed about town, getting the last box at Sears, cutting it down frantically in the parking lot so it would fit in the van, racing to Wal-Mart for colored duct tape, paper plates, and rope, and lastly getting butcher paper- although my source for that will remain unnamed! At this point my head was screaming and I was wrestling with a huge box trying to get it through our doorway to decorate it.

Here is the final product, courtesy of Dominic and Mommy! His was a buggy built for 2, since this was the smallest box Sears had. His face was so full of joy as we decorated the car...he couldn't believe his fortune at being able to use all that duct tape!

The Before...(or at least not all the way decorated)

Once Daddy got home, he helped Dom to make the inside with the dials, and steering wheel, handles etc.

Gianna was so happy to try it out with Dom.

Kissing her brother-he was not really into that part!

The next day when Kinzely and Bjorn were here they had a great time playing in the box-car!

Even though it was a mad-rush for 2 hours, it was worth it in the end...Dominic was so happy!I say this because at first thought I was not that excited about taking on the project. I was tired that day! The day had been long and I only saw it getting longer...but then I remembered-these are the times he will remember!

Our girl

I was getting Gianna dressed to go to Nick's game this past weekend and she had on the whole outfit except shoes. She looked at me with wide eyes, hand going to cover her mouth in amazement and said- "oh my wood (word) mom, my pink boots will match my shirt!" She was very excited about that! She got her puppy, and her purse and we headed out the door! Our little social butterfly was all over that gym, visiting with various families. One minute she was sitting on some grandma's lap, the next she had moved over to talk with a new mom, then on to pose for pics with Papa, then playing catch with a cute little boy, and last over to hug her new grandma-friend goodbye...I could not keep up with her! Every time I looked up she was with someone new, chatting away. She definitely needs a talk about stranger danger!

Monday, January 18, 2010

It's a "Shell-a-bration"!!!

SHELLEY is CANCER- FREE!!! We had a "shell-a-bration" where we celebrated all things Shelly and the wonderful news! After such a scary time in November/ December we were very giddy on this night!

The 6-Pack ready for a time of rejoicing! After finding out suddenly that Shelly had cancer in November, her going in for surgery the next week, and then recooperating the last few months...and wondering what the tests would reveal...we were all over-joyed at the news!

Matching rings that Shelly got for us to wear! (Funny that I had just bought her the same exact ring earlier that day...our minds are often on the same page!)

Doesn't that say it all? (The sign at our restaurant had this posted!)

"It's cozy mom"

At Dominic's preschool last year (which is where he goes to Kindergarten Enrichment this year) they had cut off the tops of socks and used the bottom part for an art project. The leftover tops were put in a bag until Dominic saw them and asked his teachers if he could have them for his wrists! So for quite a while last year he was seen with these "cozies" on his wrists, every day...driving me crazy! They got so disgusting, but he refused to take them off. Well just last week he came home with the "cozies" on his wrists AGAIN...and asked me to cut holes for his thumbs. I did. And then I noticed he had some "cozies" on his ANKLES too! What in the world??? Silly boy!

A Very Fun Game to Watch!

Nick plays on a basketball team here in Sequim with his buddies. Their games are very exciting to watch! Each year it is surprising to see the growth of these guys. We were on our toes until the very end!

They won by two points in end. They came back from an opposing team member making a three pointer with only seconds to go!

I don't know why, but I could not get my camera to take clear action shots. I tried several settings, but I just kept missing the good shots! There is always next week!

Candlelight Dinners...or Breakfast...or Lunch!

The kids have been very into "candlelight meals" lately. Ever since Christmas Eve when we had a candlelight dinner, they have had about one candlelight meal a day! Tonight it was dinner, and it was very special because it was Dominic's new puppy's FIRST candlelight dinner!

Dominic and Gianna set up this table for their puppies all on their own. Dominic bought the husky today so that the fight over the lab would STOP! No joke-all day long we had to have a timer on and designated times for when who gets to hold the puppy...no longer! Dom spent his own money on the husky and there is no more fighting!

These kids sure love stuffed animals...funny since I tried to clear all stuffed animals from the house early on!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Ringing in 2010 with Dance Party USA

The Glassers hosted (again!) for New Years, but this year was a little different with Dance Party USA! What a FUN night! (and morning) The scene was set for bunco first at the long table, and then dancing when the tables were cleared away!

Gianna and Hope all dressed up for the dance party!

Dominic and Pryce...we barely saw these guys the whole night! We asked them the next day what they did while everyone was dancing...Dom said with a sly smile "eating chips!"

The arrival of the FANCY dancers! We LOVE, ADORE these 2 girls...both in college, and every year they WANT to spend New Years with their family! Of course their friends love to join them too, but they are excited about our New Years Celebration each year! I hope my kids still want to hang out with us when they are this age!