THE MARINI FAMILY

WELCOME TO THE CRAZINESS OF OUR LIFE WITH TWO BOYS!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Family Pictures

A couple of weeks ago we took some family pictures.  First of all...getting my family to take pictures is like an act of Congress.  Second of all, it is always so expensive!!!  The last time we took family pictures it was an outrageous amount of money and I liked two of them...And the two I liked were single shots of the boys by themselves.  Not really what I was going for.

Fast forward to our October break when Matt's teacher got married and the photographer tagged her in some pictures on Facebook.  As I was looking through her pictures, I noticed the photographer was running a mini-session for the holidays.  I looked at Rich and said this...."Listen, the total price for everything is $75.  I need you to show up, with a positive attitude, smile for thirty minutes, and we are done.  Do you think you can handle that?"  He just stared at me for an extended amount of time, with a look on his face that was funny and little annoying...so, I took that as a 'Yes' and booked it!

I am still a fan of black and white pics...

I do like this one...however, we can't see where the top of Rich's head ends. :)

Love...

Why must he look so old???  Why?
 
 
And Ryan...I think that smile says it all.

And I put this one on only because we were laughing so hard when she was taking this series of pics of us together.  When she turned and said look at each other, we both started laughing and said..Really?  Because we have to look at each other EVERY DAY!!!!  And really...these aren't engagement pictures capturing our love...I hate those!!!

Having said that...I don't hate this one.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Saturday Fun!!!

On Saturday, Matt had some of his friends (and some of Ryan's) come together for his birthday and play flag football.  This was all his idea and I am giving him all the credit because it was a huge success.  We had about twelve boys come and meet at the park for a friendly game of flag football.  When, let me tell you that these boys played for three hours straight...THEY PLAYED FOR THREE HOURS STRAIGHT!!!  The only time they took a break was to have cupcakes and open gifts, and I think we timed that at about eight minutes, and then they were off again to play.  It was the easiest birthday in the history of birthdays.  I merely fed them if they were hungry and kept them hydrated....everything else they worked out themselves.

The other great part about the boys that came was that they were mostly all brothers.  We have a lot of friends who have boys both Matt and Ryan's age and so they both came to play.  And boy, were they serious.  Jerseys on, cleats optional, and flags everywhere.  So much fun! 









I also loved that many of the dads came and stayed, even though I said, "Go, go enjoy your afternoon!!"  They wanted to be out and playing just as much as the kids!

And I have to include this picture....we went to our friends house, Brent and Sharon's, for dinner that night.  They have girls, we have boys, but somehow they still love hanging out together.  Here they are, late in the evening after some serious indoor four-square games, playing Mindcraft.  They could not have been happier.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Last year in the single digits....

I told Matt yesterday that this birthday kicked off his last year in single digits.  He couldn't be happier, I wish his mother could say the same.  For his birthday he wanted to change his room around.  It was like he was transitioning from kid room to big kid room.  He wanted a new desk, a new dresser, a nightstand, an alarm clock, and all new bedding.  After all was given (yes, all) we each stepped back and looked at the room with a heavy sigh.  It definitely looked like a big kids room.  As I was processing the entire thing, feel sad about what I saw, all of a sudden my eyes locked on two items that made me breathe a little easier.  There, in the midst of this transformation, was a table full of Legos and a few stuffed animals on top of his bed.  It was a gift.  Like a small sign that this childhood wasn't quite over yet.  At the end of the night I went in to say good night and see how the new bedding was.  He grinned and said it was perfect.  I grabbed the covers and crawled in bed for a second, watched a little Tom and Jerry with him, loving the quiet, and that is when he said it....

"In five years, that's when I get my cell phone, right?"

Talk about a mood killer.  I told him that we will discuss it as it gets nearer.

This what nine years old looks like.

Of course the cake had to be fishing!!!
 

 
 
And quickly, not to forget Halloween.
 
Representing the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers

 I'm not going to lie....this was the first year that I didn't make a costume and it was depressing.  As much as it stresses me out, I do love making them.  I was all set to make a Pacman costume for Matt when he changed his mind and just wanted to be a football player.  How boring.
 
Trick or treating almost did them in.  They were EXHAUSTED by the end of the night.