TheCalabrias.com

Just finished watching the “Avatar” movie in 3D with Lorenzo (boy’s night)…we both loved it!

I must say I was a bit concerned about watching a 160 min movie in 3D. I thought I might get a bit queasy, or worse, a massive headache. It was actually quite fantastic.

Lorenzo and I give a resounding A+.

Roger and Beverly drove up on the 25th to visit for a couple of days. We all love when they come, and we all wish we could see them more often.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

We shared another wonderful Christmas Eve with Family & Friends last night. Very cozy and relaxing! Great food, a nice fire, and, of course, fantastic company.

You are all so caring and generous. Thank you for all the gifts, cards, and warmth. We are so lucky to have you in our lives.

Much Love, The Calabria’s

As most of you know, Ashley and I took a very quick trip to Brazil this past October.

Ashely attended the IFLA Conference in Rio, while I went along for the ride. I was able to leave a couple of days early and go to Recife first to see Mom and Dad and Nando. I had not seen them for quite a while, and it was great to spend time with them and find everyone in great spirits and in great health.

After a few great days in Recife, I met Ashley in Rio for the conference. While there we were very pleasantly surprised by And & Luis and Clavio & Monica who flew in to meet us. (Thank you guys!) We really enjoyed seeing them, and we had a fabulous Dinner at Gera in Ipanema.

We are planning to go back next summer; this time, hopefully, for about a month. We can’t wait!

I’ve uploaded the photos into the Brasil 2009 set on  flickr:

• Recife – Boa Viagem
• Rio de Janeiro
  • Floresta da Tijuca
  • Copacabana
  • Corcovado
  • Parque do Flamengo
  • Sitio do Burle Marx

While in Rio, I took one morning to walk from Humaita’ to the Jardim Botanico to take pictures of the graffiti.  They are quite amazing…check it out:

• Graffiti @ Rio set.

Take care everyone!

Now that work is slowing down due to the Holidays (and everyone is taking vacation), I will try to catch up uploading our family photos into Flickr.  Here are the first sets:

1. Lorenzo and Chloe Wall Climbing
2. Summer 2009:
   • St. Simons Island
   • Hammock Beach
   • St. Augustine
3. Atlanta Zoo

We are a bit late this year, but we finally set up our Christmas Tree.  I wonder how long it is going to take for Paolo to “clear” the bottom half of the tree.  We love the holiday season!

Paolo had his first haircut this morning.  It took both Ashley and I to keep him “entertained”, but he was very good — barely cried at all. Now he is more adorable than ever.

Hello There!

I hope everyone had a great Summer, a great Thanksgiving, etc.

Obviously I haven’t been able to keep up with our family posts this year. (What a difference an extra bundle of love makes, eh?)  But I’m not giving up. I’ve decided  to change to our posting style and try the twitter approach: several short and quick messages.

Let’s see how that works…

Summer is almost over, and I’m falling way behind on my posts…I will try to catch up in the next few days.

Starting with the Spring Soccer Season and the “Every Goal Saves a Life” challenge…the kids did not disappoint us! The Gladiators had another undefeated season, scoring a total of 75 goals:

• Game #1: Gladiators 15 x 2 Athens United (Green)
• Game #2: Gladiators 9 x 0 AU (Gold)
• Game #3: Gladiators 15 x 2 YMCA-Team 2
• Game #4: Gladiators 6 x 0 AU (Gold)
• Game #5: Gladiators 13 x 2 YMCA-Team 2
• Game #6: Gladiators 9 x 2 YMCA-Team 1
• Game #7: Gladiators 8 x5 YMCA-Team1

And, being the proud “Soccer Dad” that I am, I must add that Lorenzo received the “golden boot” honors once again — scoring 23 goals this season.

Cute story:

As I mentioned on my last post, Coach Matt and I struggled with giving all kids a fair share of time on the field, while trying to keep the scores from not reaching double-digits.  So, the “bigger” kids ended up getting more bench time and “defense duties” than last year — which, of course, they didn’t like it.

By mid-season, Lorenzo started getting frustrated and even a bit upset at the end of the matches, even after winning big.  He got especially upset after being told we were going to skip his rotation and keep him in the bench on the 4th quarter of Game #5.  He kept saying that he wanted to score a couple of more goals.

Later that day, I talked to him to find out what was going on.  I explained that we had a very comfortable lead, and that coach Matt and I just didn’t want us to score any more goals. Then, he finally told me why he was so upset. He just needed to score a couple of goals to bring his total to 20.  This way he could save the life of two kids.

Since we were donating $1 for every goal the team scored, and since it took a $10 donation to buy a mosquito net, he had set a target to score at least 20 goals for the season.  I finally got it. So sweet!!!  I gave him a nice hug, and I promised to let him play his fair share the final two matches.

In the end, the Gladiators scored 75 goals, and the Calabria Family ended up donating $120, or 1 mosquito net for every kid in the team.

I found out the other day that Fox Soccer Channel (FSC) is donating $10 for every goal they broadcast towards the “Every Goal Saves a Life” campaign against Malaria.

After checking the campaign’s web site (http://www.malarianomore.org/), I decided to get involved by challenging the Gladiators – Lorenzo’s soccer team.

At the end of last practice, I explained to team what FSC was doing; I told them a little bit about Malaria; and I explained how easy it should be to prevent it – given the means.  Then I told them The Calabria Family will donate $1.00 for every goal they score towards the same campaign.  In other words, for every 10 goals the Gladiators score, we would be donating one mosquito net which could save a life of a kid in Africa.

Since we had 5 matches left,  I challenged them to score 50 goals between now and the end of the season. The kids were pumped!

Given the first two matches, I must admit that I did hesitate a little before announcing the challenge.  Even with four new “novice” players, the Gladiators have outscored their opponents 24 to 2.  And coach Matt and I have been struggling with giving everyone a fair share of time on the field, while trying to keep the score from getting too out of hand.  We have been playing the “older” kids on defense and sitting them on the bench more then usual…but the goals keep coming.

Game #3 was no different: Gladiators 15 x 2 YMCA…so much for a $50 donation, eh?! All for a good cause.