Halloween

I thought I should hurry and post my Halloween pics before December officially starts. Check the post date, it's still November for 4 1/2 more hours.

My kiddos wore a few different costumes over the 2 days of Halloween events because they just couldn't decide which one they liked best.

The pilot and pirate. This is what they wore at Nanos school while watching the parade. I'm diggin' the kids' mustaches, but the poor Black Pearl has seen better days...

Nanos and his best friend in their class. They are so freaking cute.


On our way to the church for indoor trick-or-treating. The kids love this because they know most of the people, and they hit the sugar-coma jack pot in less than an hour. Honestly, they walked away with several pounds of candy each.


Jojy looks so cute as Elvis!!!! He loved wearing it too. Even though he has no idea who Elvis is, he proudly declared it when asked. I also taught him to tell people "Thank yuh, thank yuh veruh much"- surprisingly he actually said it a lot and soaked up the laughter and attention. Not usually his thing, so it was even more fun for me to watch.

Bear as a "Wild Thing". Very appropriately dressed. ;-)

The baby "King Max" and his Daddy. Sure the baby is adorable and all, but look at Jeff- swoon! He is so handsome!

My niece as Minnie Mouse. Awwww. I especially love the cartoony shoes! I wish I'd gotten better pictures of her.

My nephews as Mario and Luigi. Why do I think mustaches on kids are so HI-larious? And yes, my mother made every costume you see here. She's pretty awesome.

These two pics were after our outdoor trick-or-treating with Jeff's family. I just love this costume, this is my third child to wear it because I love it so much!

We still have a ridiculous amount of candy left. I'm ready to throw it away. Thankfully the kids are good about it and haven't throw one fit about me mixing everyone's candy together or restricting it's consumption. Whew. My kids are awesome.

Home made Apple Pie...mmmmm

Clearly, I've dropped the ball on blogging our trip. I'm going to take my friend's advice and create a web album, it will be MUCH easier and faster for people to view if they're interested. Moving on....

The other day after school Bear asked if we could make an apple pie. Um, I NEVER bake pies, but sure, let's give it the old college try.... er, whatever. Here are the results.

I prefer a peach, or berry, or chocolatey cream pie normally, but this turned out pretty dang good. Go us!!!

The Food

When we decided to go to the Piazza Novana for dinner we had no idea we'd be attacked by restaurant managers as we passed their displayed menus. We got good at walking away after the first few, but then there seemed to be an all out battle between two of the managers. Looking back, it was kind of funny how the one guy kept talking trash about the other, but honestly it was stressful. And then after we'd made our decision, the other manager kept giving us the stink eye. Whatever dude, you lost, take it like a man.



The food was good. Amy Waldron was right, everything tasted good, everything was beautiful. However, my absolute most favorite thing I ate was bruschetta (I got corrected on my pronunciation of this word "brew-sketta"). I LOVED this more than anything. I had a few different kinds, and all of them were exquisite. There isn't any in these pictures because it was always quickly devoured.






The were two other foods I loved. #1- The tomatoes. NO WONDER these people have so many foods based around tomatoes. If they tasted like this in the U.S., I'd eat them at every meal too! For those of you that know me, or even read this blog, you'll know that I have some issues with tomatoes, so you may understand how good these would have to be when you hear me say that I ate a tomato like an apple. It's true. I did. Even I was surprised.

#2-Gelato. MMMMMMM. So good. We ate this stuff every day. No joke. There was a gelateria at every corner! We never had to walk more than a block to satisfy a gelato craving. These people take their ice cream very seriously.

I'm not sure why, but I just couldn't get over the image of this beggar woman. She had small religious cards you could take in exchange for your donation, and when I gave her some change and took her photo up close she smiled sheepishly. Her face was scared and her jaw and teeth appeared painfully crooked, but her eyes were so sweet and kind that I just kept thinking how beautiful and honest she seemed. I can't say that for a lot of the people that were begging. She was somehow unique- she fascinates me. How old is she? Is she married? Where is her husband or children? Where does she get those cards? Why does she have to beg? I'm actually very frustrated that I didn't get a better photograph.

Another history lesson...

This is the Pantheon. It was originally built in 31 bc, and then destroyed in a fire in 80 ad. The current building was rebuilt in 125 a.d. as a temple to all the pagan gods. In 609 a.d Emperor Phocas gave the building to the pope who then converted it to a Catholic Church. It is still being used as a church to this day. It is the oldest and best preserved building in Rome.

Just like all the amazing Roman sites, it sits among restaurants and buildings in the center of the city.

In Rome we also visited the Basilica Di San Pietro In Vincoli (Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains). We wandered the streets looking for a church until a nun pointed out that it was right behind us. It wasn't labeled and it didn't look like any other churches from the outside, but I was taken aback as I stepped into this surprisingly vast building. This church is special because it houses a shrine which displays the actual chains that held the Apostle (or saint) Peter before his execution in Rome. It's other unique possession, which is the reason we actually wanted to find it, is the impressive sculpture of Moses by Michelangelo.

The Colosseum

I was surprised that many of the famous historical sites are not set atop a grassy hill like I imagined, but rather are squeezed in among the busy city streets and apartment buildings. They are part of the background of everyday life. My first view of the Colosseum was from inside an insanely swerving taxi. We came screeching around a busy corner and there it was towering above us. It honestly made me gasp, and then the taxi driver paused from his phone call and looked up from the planner balanced on his knee to tell us what we were looking at. Amazing.

The facade of the Colosseum is pocked with holes. A guide explained that this structure was once covered with marble, and decorated inside with columns and statues, but all those things were ransacked and removed hundreds of years ago to be used in other buildings and upperclass homes, leaving it permanently scarred.

What you are looking at in this photo is what is left of the Colosseum. This building was built in 4 years by 40,000 slaves and was completed in 80 a.d. It once seated around 50,000 spectators and has been estimated to have housed the public deaths of somewhere between 500,000 and 750,000 gladiators, criminals and slaves. I always thought that these events took place on a dirt floor, however they actually constructed tunnels and cells below a wooden floor (which has been partially reconstructed to show were it was).

Too much information? Sorry if it is, I was just so excited to learn all this stuff!

Italy, October 2008

For all those of you that have asked: Italy was perfect. Each thing I saw and experienced seemed to outdo the last. My close friends and family know that I'm a fascinated by history and I love museums- what place could be better??? There were times that I was so overwhelmed by an ancient site or breathtaking art that it brought tears to my eyes. I know that may seem nerdy, but I don't care. My sweet mother and father in law were a delight to be with. I love the way Jeff's dad plans trips: non-stop-see-it-all.

We started in Rome, got to Florence in the middle, and ended with Venice. On top of that, we hit about a dozen or more quaint towns in between. The towns and countryside of Tuscany were gorgeous, no wonder so many movies are made there.

I took about 700 photos. Wanna see 'em all? Hahaha. I'll post a few photos of each of the best things we saw and did in the next few posts.

For me, this was a dream come true.