30 July 2010: Girl Power

So the sisters were back together again. My middle niece had been home with her parents because she had a softball tournament while the other two were here staying with us or their grandparents. I finally got the three of them together and have decided they were like the Spice Girls - Posh Spice, Sporty Spice and Baby Spice and if Angelee was still her she could have been Ginger Spice!

I also got to do some photos of "Sporty Spice" by herself. Did I mention my brother in law better be nervous as these girls enter their teen years and beyond! We also went to fashion show of the oldest's Fashion Design Camp she'd been attending all week. She made that pink polka dot dress!!! Beauty and talent in everone one of these girls!

28 July 2010: The Party's Over

My niece came to stay with us for a few days and today was the day I had to drive her home. She did great and only cried one night for her daddy. We had a full 3 days with photo shoots, playing at the beach, going to the playground, walking through the sunflower maze, painting, games, books...I was exhausted. However, my favorite part was when she would come downstairs in the morning (because she was an "early riser") and give me hugs and kisses! She is such a great kid and has been through so much in her short 6 years. She is growing up soooo fast and I can't stand it.

We left before 8am to start our trek back to Springfield. She was up at 6:45AM and hung out for a bit and look one final picture (taken with the iphone) because we realized she didn't take any pictures with Mona. She loves Mona and Mona loved all the attention, extra treats and belly rubs. We weren't in the car an hour and she said, I am going to take a little nap so my last picture of her visit was her sleeping in the car cruising on the NY Thruway! I think I have a similar picture from last year's trek home. I had to listen to Flo rida all by myself - it is much more fun singing "apple bottom jeans...boots with the fur" with my little munchkin!

27 July 2010: Tween Photo Shoot

My oldest niece is getting braces next week so we took some photos before the hardware goes on. She is absolutely beautiful and is growing up so fast. It took a bit of coaxing but I finally got her to take her glasses off for a few shots. My brother in law should be nervous as she gets older!

We went out to the sunflower maze to do the photo shoot and of course had to get a coupe of the little ones in there too. We also had fun making faces out of the sunflowers...shhhh, don't tell anyone!

26 July 2010: Divas In Training

I brought the girls to get their photos done at my friend Kim's studio. She does these Dress Up Parties and has a wardrobe closet with dresses and jewels and high heels! The girls were in Heaven. I took a few pictures but had to be the DIVA Assistant - helping the girls get changed and find the right jewelry and handbags. So a couple of the pictures are Kim's masterpieces!

Kim commented that she was very impressed by the girls' modeling poses. She also said she was always trying to get her models to pose with "awkward legs" - the girls were naturals at that. Check out Kim's website - she is an AWESOME photgrapher! http://www.bigpawphoto.com/

25 July 2010: Strike A Pose

My nieces are here visiting this week and everyone was ready to practice their posing for America's Next Top Junior Model. They had such a great time in the yard and when I tried to stop taking pictures (after about 120 photos) they said "HEY, I don't hear the camera clicking, you aren't really taking pictures!" So I think I ended up with about 160 pictures of my little models! I think the Charlie's Angel pose is my fave!

3 July 2010: Moses: The Next Generation

"We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies." ~Shirley Abbott

I went to our annual Family Reunion this year. I haven't been in several years and the older I get the more I am drawn to going. Why is that when we are younger, we can't be bothered with all the stories and history and as we get older, we can't get enough. Since I lost my mother to cancer at such a young age, I don't have the kind of access that many do and it makes me angry sometimes. As if my mother being taken from me at 17 wasn't bad enough, I sometimes feel like I have been robbed of our history. But then I realize, I have removed myself from it more than anything. My uncles and aunts are still around. My older siblings have more historical knowledge and stories. So as I get older, I recognize my place in this maze that makes up my family. I want to know more about the stories (good and bad). I need to understand where they came from to know where I came from.

So the photos above are of the next generation. The young ones who don't have much of a choice about being at the party since their parents are there and they are having a great time as children can in most situations; but they also don't understand how important it is for them to engage in our family now as they will likely drift away for a bit as many of us do before we return eager to know the history. I loved seeing the kids who have grown up in front of me and the newest members that I had never met. We are all a part of the history, our great grandparents...grandparents ...parents...siblings...
cousins. The Middle Eastern/Lebanese family genes mixed with a plethora of other heritages have created the faces you see above and aren't they just gorgeous!

The Moses clan has come a long way complete with some bumps, bruises, laughter, tears of joy and sorry, successes, failures, but most importantly love and connection.

28 December 2009 Photo: Boom Boom Pow!

We stopped by to see my brother and niece on our way back to NY. She was enjoying the drums that we bought her for her birthday. My brother, however, is not! :) Just a little payback for the crazy gifts he has bought in the past!

24 December 2009 Photo(s): Twas The Night Before Christmas...

Some people celebrate more on Christmas day, but in the Lombardo household, it has always been Christmas eve! We had 22 people for dinner at my sister's house which included the 6 siblings,spouses, children and a variety of extended family and friends. It was a feast filled with food, family, fun and reindeer antlers!

The 5 cousins, who have made their appearance in the blog before, are above in the official cousin picture of the year! It was pig pile on Jared year!

My niece went around putting her antlers on many people to get them to catch her infectious excitement...and with that smile it spread like the swine flu or the reindeer flu!

You will see money being given in multiple formats because when the kids say they want money, we can't just put it in a card and call it a day. No, we have to make it more fun. This year I made my oldest nephew play "Jeopardy" to get his money. He also got "dough" baked in Pillsbury dough because that's how he "rolls".

It was a great night and we have another year to recover before we do it all over again! I hope you Christmas was wonderful as mine!

26 November 2009 Photo(s): Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday to my sister Anne Marie.

Bill and I don't always come to RI for Thanksgiving but decided to make the trek this year. I am glad we did. It was a fabulous day and the only thing missing was the birthday girl. My family is crazy and loud but I wouldn't trade them for anything. Here is the yearly picture of the "dead end kids" minus one. My oldest nephew left and was supposed to come by but he never did so I will have to photoshop him in at some point.

Before dinner, Bill and I took Angelee down to the beach..here is one of Angelee and Uncle Butterscotch, which is what she affectionately calls him.

4 November 2009 Photo: Phở...Five...Six...

While I was at my conference, I saw my brother and niece and we went out for dinner to get phở. She is five and will be six next month. She is just too cute and I wish I lived closer so I could see her all the time. If you don't know what Phở is, you can check it out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph%E1%BB%9F

11 August 2009 Photo: Geronimo!

This phone made me think of people yell Geronimo when they jump from high places, which then got me thinking about where did that come from. So I did a quick search on line and found the following:

"The 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment's motto and slogan was named after Geronimo. In 1940, the night before their first mass jump, U.S. paratroopers at Fort Benning watched the 1939 film Geronimo, in which the actor playing Geronimo yells his name as he leaps from a high cliff into a river, depicting a real-life escape Geronimo successfully attempted in which he jumped off Medicine Bluff into the Medicine Creek with his Cadillac horse. Private Aubrey Eberhardt announced he would shout the name when he jumped from the airplane to prove he was not scared. The trend has since caught on elsewhere, becoming widely associated with any sort of high jump in popular culture."

10 August 2009 Photo: "Beach" Blanket Bingo

I have my niece for a couple of days and today we went to the "beach" since it was the hottest day of the summer. Beach is in quotations marks because as someone who grew up at the ocean, I still can't seem to buy that water and sand at a lake or reservoir is truly a beach. I mean really...where are the waves, seaweed, saltwater? There are seagulls but they are just looking for dumb people who leave food open on their blankets so they can steal it.

19 July 2009 Photo(s): Beach Bums

Another day of being a beach bum was coupled with Bill's brother and his family heading down to spend the day at Misquamicut Beach. It was a perfect summer day with lots of sun for basking, big waves for riding, sand for castle building and the laughter and smiles of the kids.

18 July 2009 Photo(s): Lazy Days Of Summer

I am in RI this weekend visiting my family. Coming to the place that I grew up always feels comfortable. The summer brings back so many childhood memories...long days at Misquamicut Beach, the Flying Horses Carousel and sunsets in Watch Hill, and good times with family!

18 June 2009 Photo: Get Out Of Jail Free Card

With this face and those dimples, how you resist squeezing those cheeks?

24 January 2009 Photo: I Want To Be An Obama Girl

Since I had a late meeting in Boston on Friday and had to sit in traffic for over an hour, I decided to stop in Springfield to stay with my brother and niece rather than drive all the way home and not get there until after 10pm. It was great to see my brother out of the hospital and spend time with my niece. It was heartwarming to see the two of them together back at home. It made me think of our new President and his daughters and the letter he wrote to Sasha and Malia. Several times during dinner and without prompting, Angelee went up to my brother and hugged him saying, "I love you Daddy!"

I asked Angelee if she watched the inauguration and what she thought Sasha and Malia. "I want to be one of them," she answered. Me too Angelee, me too! When my brother said he wanted to be one of them too. She said, "You can't...you're A BOY!!!" I may be biased by I think my niece is as cute as the Obama girls and has a daddy who loves her just as much!Ok...I couldn't resist putting up another picture or two! One of the tattoo that my brother had done of a mermaid with my niece's face and the other of Angelee acting like a goofy mermaid flopping into the sea.