Fainting

As we're sitting down to start our reading lesson...
Thomas: "I'm about to faint!"
I look at him with a puzzled look.
Thomas: "Mom, what does faint mean...?"

Valentine's activities

Today, all our school activities are St. Valentine themed. During the below conversation, the kids were coloring heart-themed papers.

Cecilia: Why are you coloring your heart all red? I'm coloring mine all different colors.

Thomas: Because hearts are red. I think hearts are red because of all the love inside.

Creative Music Class

Cecilia and Thomas are taking a Creative Music class at the Manchester Community Music School. They are playing lots of musical games, learning to play the xylophone, and always end class with crafts. This week, they worked with clay. Cecilia walked out of class with 3 creations (since she couldn't decide): a violin, a butterfly, and a snowman. Thomas went for a more minimalist approach and only created one item... a clay snowball. Ah, the difference between my type-A, first-born girl and my easy-going, second-born boy :)

Anna is 1!

Ok, so Anna turned one on September 29... but I'm catching up now. Since we're in the new house now, it was the first time we were able to host a big birthday party for one of the kids. We absolutely love the house! (Maybe I can get Matthew to take some photos once we have our Christmas decorations up.) Anna is growing fast, still not walking, and turning out to be a very fun, funny, cheeky little girl. Here are some photos from her party.

Late Summer Photo Session

Matthew set up a little studio on our front lawn to get these photos. I was very happy with them!

Summer at the Lake House

It's been some time since I've posted (Matthew's commandeered a couple of times), so I'm going back to the summer. This past year has been super busy. We sold our condo and bought a house four months ago. Somehow, in the middle of all that, we still got to sneak away to Belmont for a week. This summer vacation is one of our favorite traditions--a week of relaxing at the lake with some of our very favorite people.

Life is still very busy. We still have more sorting to do in the house (and lots of things to hang). Cecilia is in 2nd grade and Thomas is in 1st this year. Homeschooling is going well, but of course keeping us all busy. Still, I hope to post more regularly now. Enjoy!

Cecilia, photo assistant

Cecilia was awake and out with me early on Sunday morning for her first job as an assistant. She mostly held the reflector, since there was no wind--but insisted on holding the lightstand at the end (b/c that's what my assistants do), so we complied.

Other tasks included: walking the location host's dog, model for lighting tests, and retrieving fresh batteries for the strobe.

at the comic book store

I took Cecilia and Thomas to a party at a comic book store last weekend.  They enjoyed looking at some original artwork, as well as the food and a couple books I chose.  They were the hit of the party, of course (especially thanks to Thomas' Star Wars Lego t-shirt).

Lunch with Kiddos

Cecilia: Whose birthday is coming up next? Oh yeah, Grandmemere. What do you think she'd like. (She's looking through her kid's cookbook.)

Me: Eliana, remember Grandmemere? She has animals where she lives: bunnies, birds, fish. She's in a wheelchair. Do you remember her?

Thomas: I know. What about a power chair!

Me: A power chair? Well, I think they're pretty expensive.

Thomas: No, mom, they're not . It doesn't cost a penny out of pocket! Really, it doesn't. And it goes anywhere you want to go!

Me (to myself): Have I been letting them watch too much Price is Right? Hmmm... Really, these kiddos crack me up! I love my job.

St. Nicholas Day

The Plante Christmas party was on St. Nicholas Day this year. Memere got to meet Anna for the first time. Anna was perfectly content sitting in her lap for quite some time. Later, St. Nicholas left some presents for the kids. They all got books and the next picture shows Eliana cracking up about something in her nativity book. She's hysterical; she actually laughs like that! What a fun kiddo.

Such a Boy

Cecilia: Has your grandmother already died?

Me: Yes.

Cecilia: Was she my great-grandmother?

Me: Yes.

Cecilia: I remember her because I've seen pictures.

Thomas: What did she look like?

Cecilia: She had white curly hair. Her face was kind of round.

Thomas: Oh, so if her head fell off, it would roll?

Hmmm.... well, I guess so. He certainly thinks differently than I do. I guess it's a boy thing?

Beautiful Girls

I decided I needed to practice using Matthew's camera more and there was some nice light coming in through our slider. Anna was just laying on her mat in the living room and Eliana came to check out what was going on. (And, yes, I know Eliana needs a haircut...)

Afternoon with Eliana

My mother took the two older kids to her house one day, so Eliana and I got some alone time while Anna was sleeping. We decided to bake; Eliana loved it when I used the mixer :) She was a good helper and very enthusiastic.

Cecilia's costume

So, here's the picture of Cecilia dressed in my old costumes. She had fun looking through my old stuff when I took the bag out before Halloween. You can see the pile of costumes behind her. I took this picture before she put the fishnet stockings on. :)

Halloween

Here are the kiddos before heading out to trick-or-treat in Londonderry. I'd say these photos show the kids' personalities pretty well. Thomas is a very serious Jedi (he takes his Star Wars very seriously). Eliana just laughs and smiles all the time; she's also a goofy monkey. Cecilia is very dramatic and insisted on striking this pose. Their personalities are all very distinct. I'm eager to see how Anna will fit into the mix (although I'm enjoying the cuddly baby phase right now--her big smiles are just melting me).

The weather was unseasonably warm for NH--70 degrees! It was great. Anna was a skeleton, but I don't think we got a picture of her. She didn't actually go out with us on this day.

Anna's Photo Shoot

I know this is a ridiculous number of photos, but I just couldn't decide! I love this little outfit. Adorable.

Introducing Anna Lucia

Anna Lucia Lomanno
September 29, 2009
10:40pm
7 lbs. 9 oz.
20 in.

Here are the much-anticipated pictures of Anna. We can already tell how sweet she is. She's very quiet and content. Aside from the expected sleep-deprivation, I'm doing quite well. The kids all love her. Eliana goes up to her and yells "hi!" every time she goes by her and gives her lots of kisses. Thomas tells me, "I just love Anna Lucia." Cecilia is my big helper and will hold her any chance she gets. Overall, I'd say we're all transitioning very well. (Although we haven't all ventured out together yet... that'll be later today.)