The long hair days

For those who haven't seen me with long hair, a friend and neighbor of ours took a photo of us at his going away party less than a month ago. I believe this was just about as long as it got before ONU told me it was too long. It was sad to see it go, and I think I would have enjoyed growing it out even longer. One of the things about having long hair that I won't miss is paying to have it cut/dyed. It gets to a certain length where I can't just put the clippers to it, and it costs a ton to get it taken care of by someone who knows what they are doing. I am spoiled with short hair and never paying for a haircut.

Here's a before and after comparison. Just for fun

Time for an update

So I thought it time for an update. No. I thought it past time for an update, and thought I'd better get on the ball again. So to make up for lost time, I have videos and pictures to make up for it. But don't think I'll be gone for months again though. I'll be back with updates more often now.

Here's a video glimpse into our family night at the Sox game, followed by some additional information and photos.

From July 4th 2008

The forth was great, we spent it with my mother and sister at a friends house from my mother's church. The kids loved swimming and running all over. We even had smores before we left. Our plan was to get going in time to see the fireworks in town. We got there (early for once) and saw the amazing show.

From IT Sox Game

Every year we are offered tickets to see the White Sox from work, and every year we usually make it a point of going. This year was just as fun as all the rest. I had a good time explaining to Noah what was going on, and I really do think he was understanding. As each guy got up to bat I would ask him, "I wonder what that guy looks like." And after a while he would know to look up on the jumbo screen where they display the players photo. Frencesca had a good time as well, and she fell asleep before the game was over.

From Day at nana's

We drove down to Downers Grove for a day trip to see my mother and sister on father's day, and enjoyed the nice weather outside. We swam in the pool across the street, and went to the park for some grilling. To Noah's luck there was a really cool playground at the park we cooked out at, and spent lots of time exploring it. Frencesca took a nap on our blanket nearly the entire time! She was a tired little girl. We ended off the day with a stop at Dairy Queen. I had fun framing this photo of Amy, and Holy Cow! Look at that hot mama!

Noah spends some money

Noah gets money when he helps with chores around the house like: Helping mom with laundry, help emptying the dishwasher, and putting clothes away. He only gets a penny here and a penny there, but they really add up. Nana Giove also gives him money and teaches him how to save in the bank that she bought him. All in all he really enjoyed putting money in his bank, and thought it is a cool thing. Now I think he understands that his money is amounting to something, which is a cool realization. We made the whole process a real big event for him: We dumped out his little piggy, counted it (which was really boring for him), went to the mommy bank and made bills out our of change, went to the store, picked out his precious cars, and paid for them. Of course the best part for him was in the car afterward, opening them all up and examining them closely. Here's a video of him lining up all his favorite cars, and naming them one by one. (I really love this video!):

Noah and his new cars from David Giove on Vimeo.

Our trip to NY: Revisited

So I found a very sweet site today called animoto. It makes something sweet out of your pictures, which looks something like a movie trailer for your pictures (taken directly off their site.) I thought I would share my most recent creation:

Here's a link to see the rest of the photos from our NY trip.

(If you haven't checked them out already.)

---

Also, if you want to sign up to try Animoto for free, use my referral code by signing up through this link: Animoto

Trip to IA

Hey! We had a wonderful time in Iowa with our friends the Robinsons! I'll post more later, but for now check out these photos and videos from the trip.

Below is a great video of Josiah and Frencesca at the table. If you would like to see the rest of the videos from IA, click here or check out my videos section.

Easter

Easter this year was great. Amie and I made the decision to make Easter more of the big holiday around our house, and this was our first year at doing so. We really think that Easter is the more important holiday in light of the weight it carries in Christendom. Christmas will always be a special time of the year, but the death and resurrection of Christ is something that we think should be celebrated more than his birthday. We haven't really nailed down completely how Easter will work around the Giove house, but we have a good idea. Church, presents, painting eggs, easter egg hunt, communion (for the adults), big meal, and lots and lots of candy. Noah probably had more candy than he has ever had, all in one day.

Here are some photos from the day. (More after the jump.)

After they unwrapped all of the presents, I pulled out a very large package and told Noah, "We have another one to open." I was expecting Amie to say something like, "What is that?" But she didn't. I was talking to her later about it, and it turns out she was thinking something along the lines of, "Oh my gosh, where are we going to put that toy." Then she realized that it was a present for her. :) Check out the video below to see her expression!

And now the video...

Conversations with Noah

We had a full day of errands yesterday, and after lunch I put Noah in a tree. He loved it up there, and he probably would have sat there and talked for a lot longer as well. Here is some of our conversation. He talks so well! I can't believe the things he says sometimes. Hope you enjoy!

Oh, and his hair dried like that after his shower today, and we think it looks great! He's such an '80s boy today!