Giada's date night with Daddy

Warning super cute pictures to come!!


Giada is coming of the age that Chris and I think date nights with Daddy are important.  They are something she will remember forever, cherish and want for her children one day!  Chris took her to her first Miami Heat game, courtesy of her Grandpa.

Not only did she get to go to the Miami Heat game but she also got to stay out late, on a school night!!  That's big business in our house!!

Just a little pre-game ballet

I think it's pretty evident that Daddy was just as excited as Giada.  For the date, not the popcorn.....even though the popcorn came in a close second!

Giada is working on her selfie skills

Daddy is better at taking selfies ;)

This date night was a perfect way to spend some quality time with Daddy.  Good thing she loves the Miami Heat and popcorn or she may have been a little bored!  Next time it Nicolette's turn, lucky Daddy!!

Let's talk chalk

I have been loving chalkboard anything these days.  That love turned into the itch to get it in my house somewhere!!  Insert my garage door in my kitchen......

I thought it would be a cute place for the girls to color and to have some fun in the house.  So off to Home Depot I went to buy my paint.

One day, after dropping the girls at school I went to work.  Since the door was already white it was going to be pretty easy to get the chalk up before the girls came home.

This was one coat in.  I was loving it!!  But it needed an additional coat, so I waited a bit for the first to dry.  And then this happened............

I had placed the paint can on the dryer (to the left in the picture) on top of a towel.  Since the can, quart size, was pretty empty it didn't have the weight I thought it did.  And before I knew it I was in the middle of a murder scene of chalkboard paint!!  Thank goodness it was just the garage and I was able to wipe most of it up.  And that I had enough for my second coat!  I still have a stain by the rug.  I have dubbed it the house's chalkboard battle wound.

And just like that I had a nice crisp chalkboard door, with time to spare to get the girls.  And just in time for decorating it for our Halloween party in a few days.  Here is the door for Halloween....

A friend of mine had used these chalk markers on a project of hers and I loved them.  They are a clean look and didn't leave chalk dust all over the floor.  I found them at Michael's.  They come in packs of 4 with different colors, but are pretty pricey.  Hello Michael's coupons!!

And here was our Christmas design!  I have to say I was pretty in love with it.  Pinterest was my go to for fun ideas to make the door as festive as could be.  I decided to use classic white chalk this time because all of the ideas I loved on Pinterest used it.  I think it made the snow look more real on my directional sign and gave the whole door a more wintery feel.

I will keep you guys posted with how it goes now that the Holidays are over!!

Ending 2014 with a bang!!

FYI this post will be pretty long :)

December was quite a busy and eventful month for us!!  To say the month flew by would be an understatement.  I swear it was just Thanksgiving and not 3 weeks into the New Year!!  So I am going to do a little recap of how we ended our year.  And get excited for a full slate of DIY and Casa della Scala happenings to come this year!!

Since Thanksgiving was so late this year I decided to decorate the week leading up to Thanksgiving.  I knew how busy we were going to be after that........and I LOVE Christmas!  Our decorations were not complete.  We anxiously awaited the arrival of Glitter, our elf.  And this year Glitter brought a friend with him.  Giada and Nicolette named her Sweetie Pie.  She was a perfect addition to the family.

Our little ladies went to their Grandparent's house to make some festive Christmas cookies.  They had a blast cutting them out, icing them and of course eating them!!

Then we were off to Disney!!  We have made Disney in December an annual event.  It's so pretty and really gets you in the mood for the Holidays.  And both of the girls' Grandmothers were coming too!

Glitter and Sweetie Pie gave the girls a gift for their trip.  Princess Elsa dresses for Disney's Very Merry Christmas Party.  They were very excited.

I am just going to post all the Disney pictures.  It is very obvious that we had a great time!!

The castle during Very Merry Christmas

Nicolette was most excited to meet Princess Jasmine and The Genie

Animal Kingdom's safari ride

Of course they chose Frozen Elsa for their design

Sofia!!

Oh! And their new obsession....Toy Story's Buzz and Woody

Toy Story Mania....I highly recommend this ride at Hollywood Studios

Our last day of the trip was at Magic Kingdom and it was a great day!  Giada rode her first roller coaster, Thunder Mountain!!!

And then we got to dine with the Princesses in the castle!  To say they were in love would be an understatement!  Another must see when planning your trip to Magic Kingdom.

Once we got home we did not stop!  We went on our annual visit to see Santa with the girls' best friends.  And this year I got a photo of both of the girls with him and smiling!!!  It did take some time.  And since it was a Bass Pro Shops the girls had to get in a little shooting practice too, don't panic the guns are not real ;)

And after finally having my Christmas cards since before Thanksgiving I thought it would be time to mail them out mid-month.  That was typed with a bit of sarcasm......I just could not get my act together.  But I mean Disney and Santa are more fun than addressing envelopes.

And before I even had time to process what was about to happen.......my oldest baby turned 4!!!!  We had a nice Mommy & daughter date to get our nails done for her birthday.  She was so excited to get pink and purple painted on her nails.  She was a natural in the salon!  

And then she woke up a 4 year old!!  Glitter and Sweetie Pie brought Giada balloons for her birthday and were waiting for her next to her presents from Mommy, Daddy and Nicolette.

Later that day we had her birthday party at the "bouncy place" as Giada calls it.  She had a blast celebrating her 4th birthday with her family and best little friends.

Nicolette only wanted to go down the big slide with Mommy and Daddy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mommy and Daddy's little princess!!  We love you to the moon and back!

Now we geared up for Santa to come!!  The girls left him cookies with milk and some carrots for the hungry reindeer.  And lastly before bed the girls said goodbye to Glitter and Sweetie Pie until next year.

Santa came!!!

Pure joy!!

Santa was good to them!!

We hosted brunch for our family to come over and enjoy Christmas together

Everyday is a Holiday with these 3!

And they ended the year making more cookies.  I am going to have quite the little bakers on my hands!

I hope you all ended the year just as happy and started 2015 even happier!  Sorry for the post hiatus, as you have seen we have been quite busy around here!!  But I am gearing up to keep this blog busy with what we have going on around here!!  Only 3 weeks into the New Year and we are up to a lot already!  

xo,

Kristina