If you fall down, get back up and try it again!

I can't believe it, but Sam is beginning to ride his bike without training wheels. It wasn't that long ago when he had trouble riding a bike... period. Now he is really coming along on 2 wheels. Below are a few clips from him and Daddy outside practicing. He kept getting back on the bike and trying again. So cute!!

I call this one... "YES!"

This one I call... "Ya-hoo!!"

This one I call... "Ahhhhhh!"

He is getting so big! Check out his big smile. :)

Go Steelers Go!

Well, we have reached the weekend of the Super Bowl and everyone in Arizona has Super Bowl fever especially with this being the first appearance for the Cardinals. Sam's teacher, Ms. Bridgett, is a big football fan. So she had all the students in her class wear their favorite football team colors or gear. This is how I sent Sam to school this morning.

He had to wear 3 shirts because he didn't want his Dad to be sad, so he wore the Bills shirt under his Steelers shirt and on top of his long-sleeve shirt (because it is so cold here!)

Well, Ms. Bridgett is a Packers fan, but has converted a bit into a Cardinals fan as they have season tickets. So obviously, she is rooting for the Cards. When she opened the door to release the students she had all 20 of them chanting "GO Cardinals GO!" and waving these flags they made in class.

So I said... "Sam!! You are wearing a Steelers shirt! You can't chant for the Cardinals!!" He proceeded to give me the little smirk that he does so well.... the one where he smiles and wrinkles his little nose.
After all of that, I was a little nervous, but asked Sam..."So, who do you want to win the Super Bowl, The Steelers or the Cardinals?" And he, with his unwavering loyalty said, "THE STEELERS!!" and JT said, "GO CARDINALS GO!"
Thanks Ms. Bridgett!

SNOW!! Thank you Aunt Barbara!!

No... we did not make a return trip to NY... Apparently Sam's Fairy Godmother, Aunt Barbara promised to send Sam some snow because he enjoyed it so much when we were there. He also promised her he would send some sun. Well, Aunt Barbara held up her end of the bargain. We received a package in the mail yesterday with the title "Snow in Seconds" The kids were all too excited to try it out. It was hard, but they waited for Daddy to come home tonight. Below are some pictures and video clips of our Arizona Snow Experience. THANK YOU AUNT BARBARA!! The boys got a real kick out of it. Sam is going to bring it in his brag bag to school tomorrow.

The boys opening the package.
In their underwear... they are always in their underwear!

What is it?

Cool... Snow!!

First you add the snow...
Then the water...Voila... Snow!

videos:

As JT says..."It's Stowin, It's Stowin!"

You can take the boys out of the snow, but you can't take the snow out of the boys, I guess?!

Happy Birthday to Carly!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARLY!! We wish we could be there to celebrate you becoming a TEENAGER!! OMG! but we are thinkin of you.
Hope you have a good day at competition and we will call you later.

GO STEELERS!!!

We had some friends over for a playoff party. We were looking forward to both games... Cardinals and the Steelers. To our surprise, they both made it to the Super Bowl! The only thing that could have made the Steelers' game better was watching it with everyone in NY too. We had fun. The kids roasted marshmallows and made smore's at the half-time of the Steelers' game. I only got pictures of that. But you can see we were decked out in our Pittsburgh Steelers' gear... Thanks to our cousin, Sammy!! We are all looking forward to the big game now. Jim is a big Cardinal fan and he proclaimed the party would be at his house if they won today... so we will be watching the game there. I just hope he is not too upset when the Steelers' romp all over them! ;)

Roasting Marshmallows.... you can see they are both wearing their Steeler shirts.

JT :)

Sam :)

I actually have to say, I kinda like Matt's new TV - all the kids laid in bed and watched a couple shows while we watched the game!! Imagine that! It is useful! (Don't tell Matt!)

Our first week back to the grind...

Hey everyone! Just getting ourselves back on our feet after being gone so long. It takes a while and at times I still feel the jet-leg! But, we have completed our first week back in AZ. Nothing too exciting going on here; catching up with our friends we missed, enjoying the nice weather (70's and blue skies) and watching Daddy's new TV! Here are a few pics.

First of all... a little late, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT BARBARA!!

This picture is supposed to show just how big the TV is... 42 inches. Don't I look impressed?

Up close.

The boys take after their Daddy... what can I say? I had to go out and buy these lap trays because I didn't want to wash my bedding one more time (Thank You JT!)

Enjoying the weather. We loved the snow, but we are enjoying the warmer climate. It has been in the 70s and blue skies every day. JT and Sam were outside playing soccer and riding their new bikes and Jeep.

I could not get a good pic of them actually kicking the ball!

Sam is so cool on his new Jeep. He loves it.

A not so exciting video of Sam driving the Jeep down our street. :)

JT needed my sunglasses it was so bright!! :)

He can really move on the scooter. He is still workin on his new bike from Santa, but he has Sam's old scooter down pat. If you have talk to us on the webcam, you will see JT whiz by. He is really proud of himself.

Here is a video of JT on the move...

This is a leftover pic from Rochester. The night before we left, I captured JT playing "This Little Piggy" with Poppy. It was one of his favorite games there. He really enjoyed it. We miss you!!

Our Last Week in NY

Well, it is surprising how fast 3 weeks passes. It is still a hard thing to say goodbye. Sam and I have already been a little sad for the last couple of days. Over the last week we have all gotten sick... and when I say all, I mean, Ya-Ya, Poppy, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins! Yeah, that was a family friendly stomach bug! Here is the updates since Christmas.

TODAY: The day before we leave to go back to AZ... We have really tired these boys out.
New Years Eve - The Making of the Pies. Our traditional New Years Day dessert is my homemade pies. I had a helper this year. JT was passed out after all the sledding. I didn't get any pictures of the night with all the family... I stink!

Check out the messy chef... look on the floor!

All Smiles!

Kisses, too!

Sam can do it all!

New Year's Eve Storm = SLEDDING!

The boys were too excited to break out the sled Aunt Lisa got them for Christmas. When the snow started fallin' again, they were ready! And thanks to the other Ricci clan, Daddy was ready too. Not me... Even though I grew up in this, I don't find much enjoyment in standing in the freezing cold. Call me crazy?! So, I drove up and took some pictures then left!! :)

This is Hayden, Matt, Jake and Fred at the top of the hill.

I can't even tell who that is! And yes, for you Arizonians... this is a DIFFERENT storm on top of the one I already posted!! ahhhhh... Rochester, NY! Come visit!

This is Jake helping Sam get up the hill. It took a while!

The sled in the middle at the bottom is Matt and JT. JT had fun sledding but was a little tired of the cold. When you asked him about sledding he said, "My hands were COLD!"

Saturday, Dec. 27th This is what it looked like prior to the storm. Snow was actually melting... you can see some green! But the winds were getting up to 50 miles and hour and Poppy and JT buckled down for the storm by putting all flyable things in the shed.

A very proud little helper with his Poppy.

Get Together with Friends. We are fortunate enough to stay in contact with a few close friends here in Rochester, and we were able to see a few of them. Everyone got sick, so we made it a small gathering. Thanks Sarah and Jay! It was great to catch up! The boys had lots of fun with Jack.