Conversation with Roman

Wipe out!

A tale of perserverance......

We were invited to go iceskating for free at the rink at Reston Town Center (Thanks Brown family). I thought it would be a fun adventure. Turns out I was right...but not until after I was pretty sure I was VERY wrong.

We had had a very busy weekend and the kids were overtired...which makes Rocco extra whiny and Roman turn into a hyper active combative 2 year old...recipe for disaster you ask? well it started out that way....we were ready to head home about 30 minutes in..

But after some hot chocolate and a few brownies, Rocco wanted to stay and try again so we headed back out on the ice much to Daddy's chagrin..

Roman was not thrilled about being on the ice since it definitely thwarted his attempts to take off running...

But the true triumph and the reason I am glad we perservered...is that I just decided to let go of Rocco and see how he would fare...and he took off on his own...I felt like a mother bird who has released her baby out of the nest and watched it fly off into the sky...although I can take very little credit since I barely know how to skate myself . It was still a moment that will long be remembered and cherished by me.

I already have plans for the Ice Hockey scholarships and the NHL future that my son will have....only kidding but what a fun night. I highly recommend ice skating. This winter sports thing may not be that bad after all.....

Granny Time...is Mambo time...

We had a lot of fun with Granny here and this is the proof....

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Future Amerian Idol

Roman has recently discovered his singing voice but he only knows one song.."Jesus Loves Me". He has always wanted me to sing it to him at night before bed which tells you that he is either desperate to prolong the bedtime routine or does not have an ear for good music...because my voice is well, its just not that pleasant (perhaps the understatement of the year)...but anyway he seems to enjoy performing for the camera so here you go...and it does melt my heart to hear him sing.

Car Show 2009

Daddys dream vehicle... the Dodge Challenger...aka "The General Lee"

Climbing around in all the vehicles was a blast!

Life is better in a JEEP!!

The Germani "Dream" machine

"German engineering at its finest" Max the Lovebug made an appearance...

Trucks beds are great for movin' and groovin'

Cool robot...which made cracks about Daddys missing hair

Grannie car...doesnt it suit me? I could dig one of these for sure...

This was Romans first car show and he loved every minute of it...and slept quite soundly that night so it was so worth it!

St. Sugar day (aka- Valentines Day)

I have to say that I feel hugely like slack butt mommy after todays Valentines party at preschool. The "party" mom went above and beyond sanity with everything she planned and schemed...honestly....it stressed ME out and I was completely uninvolved except for the measely cheese and crackers displayed on a "non themed yellow platter" that I brought. First, she had this craft that involved hundreds of cut up tissue paper squares, cut out hearts and cut out contact paper for each child (17 total).

Then she baked huge heart cookies (again-one per child) and provided all the decorations and carry home boxes. I asked her if she had a lot of the heart shaped baking tins and she said she only had two. So I can only imagine how long that took!

Then all the valentines that her son gave out were handmade heartshaped rice crispy treats dipped in chocolate. Clearly this woman needs help because I then found out that she has two older daughters who also needed valentines for all their classmates and who knows what else.

She appeared a little stressed out and I just kept thinking why do people feel the need to do WAY more than is necessary? I certainly dont mean to put her down at all because it was quite impressive but I certainly won't be volunteering to be the next "party" mom and have to follow this production!!! I have a strict rule against doing things that cause me to have to wake up at 4:00 am (which is when I overheard that this poor mother woke up)...sleep is sacred in the Germani household.

Anyway, Happy Valentines Day to all those out there that we love and are near and dear in our hearts....XOXOXO heres hoping you enjoyed a stress free one...

Here are some more pictures of the Valentine Party

and a video........