Update: Peter Facinelli, Jennie Garth, and girls in Redbook
Update: Additional quotations added.
Originally posted March 18th: The Facinelli Five appear in the latest issue of Redbook, Crocs and all. Damages star Peter, 34, 90210 alum and DWtS finalist Jennie Garth, 35, and their three daughters — Luca Bella, 10, Lola Ray, 5, and Fiona Eve, 17 months — were photographed for the magazine. Inside, Jennie and Peter discuss their marriage, ‘dates,’ and their daughters.
Click below for the highlights.
On their dates and finding alone time:
J: Probably the hardest thing is finding time to be together just as acouple. I can usually carve out an hour a day to exercise and shower,but the time I get just with Peter is at the end of the day when we’reboth exhausted.
In fact, we just decided to leave my mom with the kidsfor a weekend and spend more quality time together, where we won’t beinterrupted or distracted.
P: There are times when Jennieand I are driving to the supermarket and it almost seems like a date’cause it’s just the two of us for a change.
On their craziest yet funniest moment:
J: When Luca was about 8 and Lola was 3, we were trying totake their picture for our Christmas card. I’d even picked out theperfect matching red dresses for them to wear. But the girls would notstop fighting! We ended up using a picture of the two of them fighting,and the card said, "’Tis the Season to be Jolly." It’s definitely oneof our favorite family cards.
P: So many people told us it was such a great honest momentbecause every parent tries to get the perfect shot of their kids forthe Christmas card and it’s always traumatic, ’cause kids will be kids.But it’s those wild, crazy, seemingly out-of-control moments that makethe stories that you laugh about later.
When there’s complete havoctaking place, Jennie and I look at each other and it’s just the two ofus for a second.
On having a family of five:
P: The other night we were having dinner, and our 5-year-old, Lola,wasn’t eating her food. I said, ‘Lola, one way or another, you’re goingto eat that food,’ and she looks up at me and says, ‘Well, Daddy, Idon’t like it this way. What’s the other way?’ And she wasn’t being asmart aleck about it! That stuff just melts my heart.
When we eat out as a family, we joke that we’re like bandits that hitthese restaurants and leave this huge mess. Sometimes under Fiona’shigh chair there’s a mountain of mashed potatoes and peas. I tellJennie that there are probably pictures of the five of us all over townwith a warning: "Don’t let these people into your restaurant!"
On being outnumbered:
J: [Laughs] Peter and I always say that since Fionaarrived, we are totally outnumbered. When I’m at home and not working,it’s easier to find and keep the balance. But that too becomes a fineart of figuring out how to divide my time among the three kids, myhusband — and also find just a little time for myself. Oh, yeah, andthen there are the dogs too!
On playing good cop/bad cop:
J: I’m more the nurturer and caretaker, and Daddy is morethe fun, crazy one. They play us against each other all the time — infact, they’re masters at it. Whenever the two oldest are starting toteam up and conspire against us, suddenly instead of fighting they’reextra affectionate to each other and there’s a lot of whispering andholding hands going on. So we always know something’s up!
On birthday parties:
J: When we were taking that birthday-party photo, I thought, This is for real. I’ve been in this moment before! It’s usually a big and completely overdone affair, though now with three children, things are changing.
P: One year we did an Alice in Wonderland party forLuca, and I thought it would be fun to make mushrooms out of wire andnews-paper and put them all over the yard. I spent at least a weekmaking mushrooms — and then I had to paint them! I had no idea how muchwork it would be. Now that we have three kids, the third one is gettingthe shaft. Of course, she’s just 13 months, but Jennie bakes a cake, afew friends come over, and that’s it.
On the three girls as sisters:
J: Peter and I are really trying to teach Luca, our10-year-old, what it means to be a big sister. And, of course, sincethe other girls are 13 months and 5, she doesn’t really want to grow upand is struggling with that role of being the big sister in the family.But I find when I’m not there she is so nurturing and very much like amini-me, so I know she gets it.
P: Luca always tells me she wants to live in a house withher sisters, and Jennie and I will live in another house on the samepiece of property, and it will be one big Facinelli commune.
On being together 13 years and feeling grateful:
P: Sometimes we’re in a store together and I’ll lose Jennie for a second,and then I’ll see her out of the corner of my eye and she’s just themost beautiful woman to me. And I say to myself, ‘Oh, that’s my wife,I’m so lucky.’ Those moments just hit me — and they hit me often.
But once you get past that, nice family photo.
