Welcome to Senor Frogs

We only ate at one restaurant while in the Bahamas. This is Senor Frogs in Nassau. The food is Mexican and very yummy but the food is only secondary. You go to Senor Frogs for the decor and the view. Yes, those are bums in inner tubes on the ceiling. The also have some hilarious posters on the wall like "extreme sports" showing a mouse with a helmet on nearing a mouse trap. There is also have a person doing balloon hats. Emily got a flower hat & bracelet and Matt got a tiger. The kids loved climbing & sitting in the life guard chair outside the restaurant. They look a little like genies with those balloon hats on. If you are ever in Nassau, eat at Senor Frogs.

Slip Sliding Away

Both kids absolutely loved the slide on the cruise. This was one of Emily's rides from the beginning to end.

The kids spent a lot of time at the pool. Matt loved the main pool and slide while Emily's favorite was the kid's hot tub and the slide came in second.

Karaoke Anyone?

Its a fact that one of the main draws at night on a cruise ship is listening to karaoke. Some very good, some just awful. The nice thing about our ship was that they had 3 private karaoke rooms. So, the one afternoon we surprised the kids by renting one of the rooms for an hour. Emily's favorite song to sing was Kelly Clarkson's "Since You Been Gone". There was also a lot of Bon Jovi too. The only bad thing was that their play/song list was very out of date but we had a ton of fun. Oh, the room we were in was the "red room" in honor of Matt's favorite color.

Towel Animals

One of the favorite things about the cruise for the kids was coming back to the room after turn down and seeing the towel animal created by the steward. I didn't get pictures of them all but these were 3 of the favorites. The pig, elephant and the night before our last night on the ship the monkey. Matt's other favorite was the snake - not pictured. The kids wouldn't let us take them apart....it was like we had our own floating ark. Thank goodness we didn't tell them that there was a class for making the towel animals or they would have been sending mommy to learn that "craft".

Do you need a fireman?

Matt has recently come up with some new pajama get ups. On this particular morning, he decided it was the day to be a fireman. He even had the boots on to match.

This getup was a product of the fact that his favorite one just HAD to be washed. It is his "doctor" outfit. He wears his button down flannel pajamas that has snowmen on it. Puts on these John Lennon looking sunglasses - he says they make him look smart. He wears a key strap holder that holds a badge around his neck and clips a pen to the neck area of his pj's. The kicker is he carries a Lightening McQueen folder and his yellow plastic tool box with tools. It is hilarious. The other day he took the play drill to my arm like a shot and said "this won't hurt a bit".

With Matt, you never know what you'll get from day to day.

What are you doing?

So, I know a big question is "now that the kids are in school what do you do with your time?" First, let me say I keep very busy and have enjoyed having extra time to do things more completely and do things I enjoy personally.

This summer I was approached to be on a ministry at our church called Heart to Home. One aspect of this ministry is making the church more "homey" and doing bulletin boards. Let's just say I found my niche with the bulletin boards....and this is what has been occupying some of my time. The first two done were our missionary board reaching the world (made the world) and for our VBS program (made the castle). The next one is our main church board which was for the July 4th holiday and there are quotes regarding God and our freedom on the paper. The two most recent are for the start of school and for our 82nd church anniversary - and just a note the school house, stop sign, flag, tree, leaves, flowers & Bible are not purchased items....with the help of my Cricut machine (my "requested" birthday present) and apparently the artistic gene that runs in the family they were handmade. Okay, I'm tooting my horn a bit but I am so happy that I have finally found a way to serve in my church doing something I absolutely love to do.

Today I just finished making the bulletin board for our annual Trunk or Treat event. I forgot my camera at home so I didn't include it here, but I will post it at a later date.

So now you know what is occupying my time besides cleaning the house, laundry, grocery shopping, cooking and going to the gym. Then of course the kids come home and that starts a whole other list of things to do.

Matthewisms

One of the kids favorite shows to watch is Americas Funniest Videos. I guess they enjoy watching and laughing at other people in pain.

The other night when we were watching it. There was a video of a man proposing to his girlfriend. At first, he held up a box and as she turned she was like "no" in disbelief and said "if your joking, I'm gonna kill you". Sure enough it was a pair of earrings. He told her too take them to the mirror and look at them by her ears and while she was turned he pulled out the real box. Well, of course, the audience was like awww which made Emily join in on the gushing....okay even I was awwwing too. Then out of the blue Matt says "that's lame". It was hilarious and so typical of Matt to make an appropriately funny comment. I guess with that attitude it is going to be a while before this boy get married.

Peeps

In National Harbor, MD, Matt & Emily found a store they both have agreed on that they "LOVE". It is the Peeps store...yes, there is a store devoted primarily to the marshmallow treat. Besides Peeps they sell Mike & Ikes, Hot Tamales and Jelly Belly jelly beans. The few days we were there Matthew always wanted to go by the store and he would hug the Peep door pulls. He "loves that store". So, we did buys some edible peeps and both kids got a stuffed "non edible" one. To this day, Matthew will tell us he wants to go back to the Peeps store.

The Gaylord at National Harbor, MD

After our cruise, we headed to Maryland. Our second stop was to National Harbor. These pictures were taken at a hotel close to the resort we stayed at. Their common area was amazing. It was filled with fountains, greenery and these amazing sand sculptures of Washington DC monuments and buildings. The rooms of the hotel looked out into and onto this massive atrium. Their gardens outside were just as beautiful.

We've got Fish

This summer the kids have come a long way in their swimming abilities. Both prefer underwater swimming. Matt just took off one day underwater. He will now stand on the step and swim underwater to you in the pool and he doesn't "drink" the water. Emily is now on to "tricks". She mastered the forward somersault, is still working on the backward somersault and is attempting hand stands....those are her feet sticking up in the picture. Wherever we go now, the kids first question is "is there a pool?" The pool becomes our leverage for getting other things done without complaining. It has also become a natural way of wearing them out and getting a good nights sleep. Emily's wish is that we had our own pool....I think most kids feel the same way. Keep up the good swimming guys!

Future Musician?

Matthew really loves music. On this particular day, I had a Jim Brickman CD playing in the kitchen. Whenever I listen to his music my desire for wanting to play the piano comes back. It seems that listening to it also "possess" Matt with the same desire. He had just gotten a Yogurt "tube"" out of the fridge put it on the island and started playing it like a piano. He even had this intent look on his face like he was "feeling" the music. It is probably a mother's bias but Matt has shown interest in playing music by playing the yogurt tube, strumming the guitar (a few string are missing), trumpeting his hands, etc. Hopefully in the future we can tap into this and see if there is some music in him.....you would think it would be in the genes.

Wings & Wheels 2010

The boys made their annual trip to Wings & Wheels at Teterboro airport. Matt was most fascinated in telling me about the lady helicopter pilot he met. He always loves going and seeing the different planes, race cars and trucks they bring to the event. Matt came home with a bag of goodies and immediately used his "Navy" cup to drink some apple juice. It is so nice that he has this special time and experience with his dad.

Emily and I spent the time food shopping, making chili, homework and Emily's biggest request - changing her room around. Yes, she is getting as bad as her mother was as a girl with changing her room around. Looking forward to the day she can manage it on her own.

All in Emily's Time

Yes, Emily got her ears pierced. Last Friday, Emily came up to me at 4:45 a.m. and told me she had a dream that she had pierced ears and we need to get them done. Of course at that time in the morning, all I said was "okay, jump in bed and we'll talk about it later". So that morning, we talked and I told her if we get it done the next day (Saturday) we would be able to change them for Halloween (Emily is going to be spider girl so she bought spider earrings). All day long she told me and everyone at school that she was getting her ears pierced tomorrow, so I knew she was serious.

I think what helped is that the previous Saturday we had gone to the mall to the movies and went into Claire's after. There was a girl who was getting a secondary hole and was probably in her early 20's so I knew there wouldn't be any crying so I had Emily watch it being done. Emily said not today and I told her "no" when she is ready she can get it done. We looked at earrings as an enticement and I think it worked.

When we got to Claire's, Emily was nervous. She asked if the girl had something for her to hold (the other store had a teddy bear). Yes, I was smart enough to request that both ears be done at once. Emily had wanted pearl earrings but they didn't have any so she chose her birthstone. She also told them she wanted 2 holes (she remember that the girl she watched only got one piercing and Emily wanted one in each ear - too cute). The ladies marked the spots and shot their guns. Emily squeezed her eyes shut and it was over....no crying, no screaming, no telling me "you lied it hurt". She was in a little bit of disbelief at first joking around asking "where am I?" Then, she looked in the mirror and was ecstatic.

We spent the next 15 minutes choosing earrings for future wear and an earring holder.

Emily was so proud of her earrings she showed them to everyone at church the next day and at school on Monday.

They are healing very nicely. Emily always reminds me, "mom we have to do my earrings". Clearly she was just ready for it to happen but I do have to say I now know why people get their girls ears pierced when they are babies. Another sign of Emily growing up.

Sleeping Matty

Matthew is amazing. One minute he is a whirlwind of activity not being able to sit or stand still and then in the next minute it is lights out.

On this particular night, he was going and going. He went in got his pajamas on came out with his pillow pet, blanket and stuffed Peep and laid down. We were watching TV for only 5 minutes and he was out cold - as you can see.

We have noticed the last few weeks that Matt seems to have major ants in his pants here at home. At dinner, I can't tell you how many times we say "sit down and eat". When we are watching TV, he is on the couch, off the couch, on the couch, walking around. It has been crazy.

When we went to Back to School night we found out why. At school, Matt sits the whole time he is suppose to and listens to and follows directions on where and what he needs to be doing. So by the time school is over, Matt has sat for a long time and is ready to MOVE. Dave & I were actually relieved that he is sitting at school and we'll deal with the craziness at home. Plus we really don't mind the out cold sleeping, it means we get a good nights sleep too.

Emily's First Day & Week of School

Although she wasn't happy summer was over, Emily was excited to get back to school. Originally I was a little concerned because at the end of last year there was talk of there being only two second grade classes with 20 children in each classroom for this school year. This is after she was in a class of 15 in first grade. Then, I found out that the teacher, Mrs. Manno, who is primarily used in second grade for special ed/IEP students is pregnant with her fourth child. Well, we got notification that the teacher selected for Emily was Mrs. Manno. Emily was very excited because she really wanted her. In first grade, Emily's class mainly interacted with Mrs. Manno's class so she was very familiar with her. When we got to school for the first day, we found out that over the summer 16 additional second graders were added to the school (Catholic school closings) so there were 3 second grade classes. Well that eased my mind somewhat - there are still 19 kids in her class. I did speak quickly with the principal about the teacher going on maternity leave and he reassured me that the substitute coming in will be able to adjust to the class. In the past, he has proven that he is very in tune with the kids and places them in classrooms where they flourish, so we are feeling very comfortable at this point. Also, we think it is important to experience a little bit of an "imperfect" setting in order to see how Emily responds.

So, her first day was great....she loves her teacher, loves second grade. They did a getting acquainted game. When we met the teacher at the end of the day, she told us she heard all about our cruise, that it was just my birthday and I am 43. I laughed and told her that Emily is very "informative".

Homework has been going very well. Emily is more eager to complete it and it seems like less than last year at this point.

Unfortunately, I am not able to see her teacher every day as Emily comes down to Matthew's dismissal door so I don't have to be in two places at once. However, I went this Friday to check in with her and she said Emily is doing just great. She is eager to get her work done, is liked by all her classmates and is very creative. I was able to tell her a little of Emily's previous schooling and how she repeated first grade last year. She is going to let me know if she sees any areas we need to do extra work with Emily. On the 21st, we have Back to School night so we will be able to speak with her a little more in depth but so far things seem to be going very well. Here's to a smooth and successful year!

Matthew's First Day and week of School

Matt was excited for his first day of Kindergarten. Although he wanted to pick out his own clothes and was disappointed that he had to wear the clothes mommy chose for him. He looked so cute wearing the humongous backpack he chose for school. The first day of school the Kindergarten and morning Preschool class are taken into the gymnasium by their parents to be paired up with their teacher after the principal reads a story to them. Matt's teacher is Mrs. Borometti, who has been teaching at Washington school since she came out of college 17 years ago. She is definitely the kind of teacher Matt needs. The second day of school the kids line up with their class outside the school with the other grades. Matt had a harder time this day. He kept asking me "you'll pick me up" "your sure" over and over again which ultimately lead to tears. His teacher said he was perfectly fine once he was in his class. Each day this week got a little better. Now, he just waves at me the whole time he is waiting in line to go to class....cute, but my arm gets very tired. Our biggest obstacle so far is his name. His teacher is not one for nicknames, so Matt has to write "Matthew" on his school work. So, each night this week, I had him writing his name 7 times - which was torture for him. Homework is so not going to be fun! Well, yesterday he came home with his first paper with his full name written on it....only issue was he used a capital "A" instead of lowercase. I was just so happy he remembered and attempted to write "Matthew".

We found out per a requested items list from his teacher that she is a bit of a germ fanatic which she proudly admits to. My personal take is that a extra clean classroom means Matt may just get perfect attendance this year.

Matt has adjusted well to the full day of school. He was tired yesterday from the four day week of school and after a fall down a few of our house stairs, which sent him into an emotional meltdown, he slept for about 2 hours. He loves telling us all about what happens in his classroom - we got a very detailed report on how his teacher knocked a picture frame from her desk and how, why and who cleaned it up. One thing is for sure, he is going to have a lot to say this year.