BOO!

We carved pumpkins, roasted the seeds, got all dressed up for Halloween, had parties at school, trick-or-treated with friends, and ate lots and lots of candy!

Matt Broke His Tooth

Matthew broke his front teeth at school. The big new top ones. He threw his head back and came foward, hitting his teeth on his desk. I brought him right to the dentist, and she put something on there to protect it. He chipped the very bottom off one, and a tiny corner off the other. But it hurts. He squirmed and cringed when she worked on his teeth, and I could feel the pain just looking at him. But he was a trooper and went right back to school. He insisted on having the school lunch, his favorite, pizza bagel. Just in case, I dropped off another lunch, so he ate both.

Happy Birthday Christina!

Christina is 9 years old!


She wanted muffins (from the bakery) for breakfast, and opened her presents before school. I brought in cupcakes for her class. After school Christina helped out Courtney and Mackenzie's Brownie Troop on a trip to Petco, while Matt and I picked up her birthday cake. Then she had her party at Celebrations, where she and her friends stuffed animals and picked outfits for them. Christina had a ball leading the dances, winning at musical chairs and playing name that tune. She got a gift certificate for the hippest place for girls to shop, the Limited Too, and got herself a cool outfit.

Still Lovin' Leaves

Can you believe they still love to jump in a pile of leaves?

Sunsets and Worms

After raking up a pile of leaves and jumping in, we walked, skipped and ran down to the beach club to see the sunset. The clouds were so beautiful, all puffy and pink.

Mackenzie decided to bring her pet worm to school, the one she found while raking leaves. It was safe and snug in a ziplock bag full of dirt, with it's friends Melman the slug and a snail. For decoration they had a flower and an acorn. Mackenzie wrote a note to Miss Griffin warning her, in case she didn't like slugs and worms, and that she needed to bring them to Courtney's class when she was done. Courtney wrote a note to her teacher, too.

I sure hope Miss Signorile and Miss Griffin have a sense of humor.

Funday Sunday

The rain put the kibosh on our camping plans this weekend. We even bought a new tent. All the games were still on, tho. I ran in a race this morning, so John took the kids to sunday school. From there he took the kids to Matthew's football game. I stayed after the race, because I had to get my award (trophy for 1st place Masters and another check for $100-yeeha!). Home for a quick shower before I go to watch Matt play for awhile. Courtney and Mackenzie then go with me to Christina's soccer scrimmage (because there's a playground there). The boys met us there later, and I took Courtney and Mackenzie home for lunch. It was after one o'clock by then, so we were starving.
The afternoon consisted of their pretend playing with complicated scenarios that I can't keep up with, and a big wiffle ball game while I baked muffins. Mackenzie and I went to a local market and got lots of fresh fruit and corn on the cob for dinner. Sounds like 'Leave It To Beaver', huh. Except our house looks like the 'Adam's Family'!

Back to School! (yay) (waa)

The kids are back to school, and we're all happy and sad. They all love their teachers. Matt says Mrs. Morgan is soooooo nice. She hasn't called me yet, so that's a good sign. After 3 days Courtney was already bored and mad. (We told her 2nd grade would be harder, and it's not.) Mackenzie's annoyed at the library teacher because she won't let her pick out harder books. Christina is happy her friend Amanda is in her class.

Sunday I ran in the Ocean to Sound Relay, a 50 mile race that crosses the island. I ran through Massapequa, so John and the kids met me a couple of times. The kids thought it was funny when Mrs. Stankard, their computer teacher, nailed me with silly string as she drove by. She was on another team.

While I spent the day with my running buddies, John took the kids to the P.A.L. sports skills fair. Mackenzie won a trophy, but was mad because Courtney got two. One was for running bases, and I don't know how she won that! They all got trophies for playing baseball and softball this summer. Christina had a soccer game, and they lost, but she got the only goal for her team.

No Amatuer

I ran a mile race on Saturday in under 6 minutes (first time ever in my life!) If that wasn't cool enough, I won 1st place in Masters (40 & over), which got me a nice trophy and MONEY!!! I didn't believe it until I had a check in my hand for (get this) a Hundred Dollars! Yeeha!


That was the beginning of a fun weekend. Went to a block party around the corner. John came reluctantly, but I ended up walking the girls and their friend home later because he was caught up in a poker game. Visited north shore buddies on Labor day. John and I celebrated our anniversary on Tuesday. Fourteen fabulous years! (I'm not even being sarcastic. For all my complaining, we have a great life together.)

Florida Keys!

We spent a week at Gin & George's beautiful house on Duck Key. Our friends Lee, Laraine, Ben and Allie came, too! Here's some of the fun things we did...

We played in the water with a dolphin named Pax...

We explored Key West (an eye opener for the kids!)...

We caught fish in the canal out back...

Found cool snails and coral at Sombero Beach...

Saw amazing fish on a snorkel trip (Christina's got a little scar on her arm from a jellyfish sting!)...

...and visited Monkey Jungle in Miami before getting on the plane back to NY.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

All the summer softball and baseball games are over. No more sitting on benches or on the grass getting bug bites and hearing "is it over yet?" from the whoever wasn't playing. And tomorrow we go on vacation! Yahoooo! We'll be in the Florida Keys for a week with our pals the Tunicks.

Go Mom Go!

I ran in the Massapequa Merchant's Mile on Saturday morning. Not a big race, maybe 50 women, but I came in around 11th with a time of...(drumroll please)...6:05! I beat my high school time of 6:06! John and the kids were at the finish cheering me on. I felt great and I still can't believe I did such a good time. I won 2nd in my age group. Yay for me!

Christina's Overloaded Week

Christina survived a busy week. It started last Monday with playing cello at Summer Music class, then to Summer Rec, after that she went right to soccer camp where I picked her up early to go to a softball game. She was pooped, but happy. Fortunately there was no schoolwork to do, or there would be some whining. This schedule went on through the week, with a concert with the whole orchestra and band.

Went to Adventureland, our local amusement park, on Monday. We were supposed to go with some friends, but they couldn't make it. John was supposed to meet us after work, but he had to finish cutting down a dead tree in our yard. So we had a great time by ourselves, and rode just about every ride. Courtney wouldn't go on the Musik-Express ride that spins in a circle at 90 miles-an-hour, but we got her on the Lady Bug roller coaster. This is a pretty decent little coaster and has some fast turns. By her 3rd time on it Courtney had her arms in the air! I told her we're training her to become a real roller coaster rider.

We played alot of squirt gun games to win junky stuffed animals. I hate 'em. The kids love 'em. Some favorite rides were the swings, the Hip-Hop (up and down drop), and the Alligators. You get soaked on that one if you can stear your alligator through the water fall. Matt was great at this, and Courtney finally just went with him so she'd get wet. It was so hot out it felt great. The others tried to get Courtney on the Musik-Express, but she refused, saying "Hey! I'm just in training!"

We all rode the log flume. The ferris wheel is great because we can all sit together, but my favorite is the carousel. It's one of the nicest ones around.

Liberty vs. Minnesota

Aunt Betty, Carol and Brittany joined us for our 2nd WNBA game, and the Liberty won! The kids loved it, and can't wait to go to another game.

More Summer Fun

After a day at Summer Rec Christina went to her friend's house for dinner, Courtney went to the St. Rose Fair with her friends' family, and John took Matt to his baseball game. So Mackenzie and I tried to weave a string bracelet craft, but then she just did my hair up in clips. (Lots of clips!)
I didn't get to make brownies for Christina to bring to her friends' house, so she asked me "What did you do all day?" Hmmm. Pack 4 lunchboxes, brush knots out of 3 heads of hair, drive them to camp, clean 2 bathrooms, 3 loads of laundry, complete lesson 9 of my online course for PHP & MySQL, catch up on phone calls while driving to go see bunkbeds for sale, do the dishes, pick the kids up, skim the pool while they swam, pick up all the bathing suits, towels and toys left outside after last night's storm, and make dinner while listening to thier stories about their day.

WNBA All-Star Game

The East beat the West 98-82. A couple players tried to dunk at the end, and one of them did. The kids got to shoot some hoops at the fanfest outside before the game. The kids' favorite was the Liberty mascot, Maddie, but they really enjoyed the game and were cheering and following it to the end. There was a ceremony and awards for the 10th anniversary of the WNBA, and we got a kick out of seeing Rebecca Lobo and Theresa Weatherspoon honored together, because that's whose shirts Mackenzie and Courtney were wearing.

Cradle Of Aviation Museum

We saw balloons, airplanes, jets and space ships with Uncle Allen on Tuesday. We sat in a cockpit and saw all kinds of real planes and models. Didn't take us very long to go throught it all, but it was cool to see all the ways people have tried to fly.

Just Another Day

Uncle Allen & Aunt Donna joined us at Tobay Beach to swam in the waves, soak up the sun and take home some sand in our pants. After a dip in the pool, Mackenzie made us some Rock N Roll smoothies from our new kids cookbook. Not to be outdone, Christina baked some pizza cookies with Mackenzie's help that were awesome. We ate them after Christina's softball practice. YumeEEE!

Suffolk County Farm

Friday we drove out the the Cornell Cooperative Extension - Suffolk County Farm. We had a great afternoon feeding carrots to horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, and bunnies. We also saw peacocks, a lumpy headed turkey, and ducks. There were some pretty wild looking chickens, from fuzzy to spotted. Their favorite spot may have been the butterfly tent, where Mackenzie befriended a caterpillar she named 'Squishy'. But climbing the hay bales in the barn was pretty cool, too. Later in the evening Uncle Allen and Aunt Donna arrived for a visit.

Saturday we all went to the Met Game with John's company. We were in the picnic area, which had a big buffet with free food and drinks and we sat in the bleachers behind left field. It was hot, but fun.

Christina Runs her first 5K!

Christina and I ran the Massapequa Firecracker 5k. She placed 3rd and I got 2nd in our respective age groups. The triplets ran in the Fun Run and got medals.
Daddy saw Christina off at the start, met her at the halfway point, and I ran back after my finish to run the rest of the way with her down the part that was on the trail.

What happened to the LAZY days of summer?

Our first full week of summer vacation and we've been busy. Mornings are quiet time, reading or writing while I try to get some work done. Took 'em to Chuck E Cheese, just to get it over with so they could stop nagging me to go. It's actually pretty fun there. Yesterday we climbed up the Fire Island Lighthouse. It was kinda creepy walking up the metal stairs in the small brick tower, but the view was worth it. Mackenzie whined the entire way down.. "I'm never ever ever doing this again...." I tried to hug her at the bottom and got "I'm NOT touching you!" We walked over the beach and the fog rolled in, but that didn't stop us from playing in the surf.

they're SEVEN!

My little babies are 7! It's alot different now than it was when they were babies. (Major sleep deprivation!) I'm continuously amazed by how smart they are, how beautiful, so funny, and kind (mostly). I baked for days on end, making cupcakes for each class party, number 7 cakes for the actual day, which fell on Fathers Day, so I also made Poppy his favorite apple pie. Yesterday they had their party at All-American Gymnastics. They had a blast, and it was only 30 kids. Unfortunately, John had to leave for Dallas right after the party, so he didn't get to play with any of the new toys.

Science Fair

I'm so proud of the kids. Every one finished their project for the Science Fair and did a great job explaining it to the judges. There were fancier projects (a 1st grader did a wind farm), a few volcanoes (done that - baking soda and vinegar - zzzzz), but not many that stuck with the good old scientific method: Ask a question and test it.
Here were their projects:




Christina: Does the length of the force arm on a lever make it harder or easier to lift an object?

Matthew: What conducts electricity?

Courtney: What shape is the strongest? (She made square, circule and triangle-shaped paper buildings and piled books on until they crushed.)

Mackenzie: What size parachute goes down the fastest, and which goes the slowest?

Guess Who Got In Trouble At School

With four kids in school, I figured sooner or later I'd end up talking to the principal. But I didn't think I'd be the one in trouble! (It's all Joanne Vanella's fault. She ratted on me.) We were on our way to the PTA meeting when I said "Let's peek on the kids." Matt's class was at library, so Ms. Cardone started chatting with me while Joanne goes to peek in her son's classroom. Mrs. Dempsey catches her and asks her if she's "peeking." Joanne points to me saying "She said we could 'peek' and she does it all the time." A few minutes later in the cafeteria at the PTA meeting , the principal comes over and scolds us about school security and child safety and being in the halls, and jokingly says she hopes she doesn't have to talk to us again. We spent the rest of the meeting drawing wanted posters of ourselves to post in the school office. I guess they were serious about the situation, because Ms. Cardone called me later about it.

Mother's Day

The best part of Mother's Day were the Mother's Day Tea at each of my first graders' classes. I heard "What A Wonderful World" three times, and got choked up three times. Mackenzie got a big laugh when she recited her answer to "The Best Thing my Mom ever did..... was marry a nice man."

Friday night was Birch Lane's "Little Ladies Dance." Daddy bought each of the girls a corsage, and Poppy accompanied them to dinner and the dance. So Matthew and I had a date. We ate at Friendly's (his choice) and got a new bear at Build-A-Bear. He named it Derek.

Just Another Weekend...

I ran the Long Island Half Marathon this morning, and came home to see two posters for me tacked to the front fence. While I was running, John took Christina to a birthday party and the triplets to breakfast at Friendly's, then to Christina's softball team photo's that he also coaches. After Matt's soccer game he washed the back of the house while Christina and I finished up her Science Fair project. While John was at hockey I put together one of the benches and the fire bowl I got for Mother's Day. (I like assembling stuff.) Now he's getting marshmellows for the kids to roast.
So day's when I think our house isn't the nicest looking on the block, I like to think it's the most fun.

p.s. Saturday was even busier... After Christina's softball game in the morning, we had 3 games at the same time. So I went to Matt's baseball game, John took Mackenzie and Courtney to their soccer game and Poppy took Christina to her soccer game. In the afternoon we all went out to get those beautiful benches, an arbor and the fire bowl for my Mother's Day gifts, after which we went to Gino's pizza (where our neice Brittany works) for dinner. Then home for showers, TV and bedtime. phew

Remember when....

After cleaning out the garage I decided it was time to get rid of that old triplet stroller. The kids thought it would be fun to get in one last time. At least I didn't have to lift each of them up and buckle them in. I used to hoist that thing upside down and put it on a bike rack on the back of the van, go to the mall, get it down, load up the kids and go shopping.

Easter in Virginia

We spent Good Friday driving down to Staunton, Virginia, to visit Uncle Allen & Aunt Donna. Uncle Peter and Aunt Laura came too, with Maxx and Kyle. After an egg hunt on Saturday at the Lyndhurst Fire Department, we went to see Aunt Donna's brother's horses. Then to Sherando Lake where we stuck our feet in the water, fished a little, caught a frog and skimmed rocks.

Miss Smarty Pants

Christina was accepted into the Magnet Program at school. It's like a gifted & talented thing. Her teacher recommended her based on Terra Nova State Test scores and grades. She even got an I.Q. test. So about once a week she goes to another elementary school for the day and works on special projects with kids from other schools. Next year she can pick 'interest strands.' Anything from geology to folk tales and puppetry. It sounds so cool, I want to go. The only drawback is making up the school work you miss that day. I hope she likes it. Either way we are so proud of her. Y

introducing... Charlie Brown!

He's cute. He's cuddly. He poops alot. Charlie Brown prefers to be held, or hanging out on Christina's shoulder, hiding behind her hair. Place him on the floor and he climbs right back up in your lap.

Reflections Awards

The kids got medals and certificates for participating in the Reflections program. The theme was "I Wonder Why..." Matthew made a poster, Mackenzie recorded a song she sang, and Courtney and Christina wrote stories. Mackenzie won first place in music for k-3, and she was proud of it, even when Christina pointed out that she was the only one who entered that category! Courtney was disappointed even though she got a trophy for honorable mention in literature for k-3, because she expected to win 1st place. (It was a really good essay. She wrote down all the questions she asks....see 'Courtney Question of the Day.')
Matt got upset that he didn't win a trophy, even tho he got a medal, and only about 5 kids from his class even participated. I told him the girls worked harder on their projects. He yelled at me "why didn't you tell ME to try harder!" I thought I did.

Marshmallow R.I.P.

Our little cute Marshmallow met an unfortunate end. She died monday morning. Daddy came home monday night with a new little guinuea pig. Christina chastised him for breaking the pet rule. (Can't get a new one right after you lose one.) But we were all much happier, even tho we miss Marshmallow. The new guinea pig is Charlie Brown.

Christina's new 'Do'

Christina finally did it. Got her hair cut and donated it to Locks-of-Love. She loves her new look.

Before:
After:

Rapunzel Shouldn't Bake

I've never heard of anyone doing this before: Christina got her hair twisted up in the electric mixer while helping me make banana muffins. I heard a little "uh-oh" as I was standing on the stool to get the paper liners, but I couldn't figure out why her face was in the mixing bowl. Then I realized what happened. I got her hair untangled and she took a shower, but I had to laugh as I was rinsing out the batter and pulling her hair out of the mixer things.

Crazy Thursday

Just another one of those days where everyone has to be somewhere at the same time. It's like the opposite of a black hole. That one point in time where everyone is pulled to a different place. (No carpools today.) Before that, when it was still normal time, Matt and I did some cool experiments with pennies and vinegar while the girls were at Brownies until 5:00. I tried to pick them up early because I had to hand out flyers to the 3rd graders about a patch program, but we got stuck as the leader was yelling about not running in the halls, so I had to wait. As we're driving Courtney to a birthday party at 5:00, Mackenzie and Christina are putting on their soccer gear in the back of the van. (Courtney had to wear a bathing suit to this party, but had it on under her clothes all day.) Then we got Christina to her 5:00 soccer practice, which was way back behind Unqua school (as in walk a mile to get there). Then off to Mackenzie's practice which started at...5:00. Matt hung out and kicked a ball until we had to go get Christina. We had Burger King for dinner and picked up Courtney, who was tired and cranky and couldn't find her clothes. At home the fun really began when everyone still had to do homework. While I'm trying to help all of them at the same time my friends are calling to see what they can bring for the following night, because we invited three families over for a St. Patrick's Day get-together. After all that I went out and ran 4 miles. Just what I needed. (really.)
We have days like this about every other week. Just often enough to appreciate the days we don't have anything going on and everyone just comes home, has a snack, does homework and then plays. Yay for boring.

Name Update

Piggy's name is now... Marshmallow. Although I think it should be Poopy Pig! She leaves little presents everywhere she goes. (And I mean everwhere!) But at least they're tiny.

What's in a Name?

The furry critter name update: at any given moment the guinuea pig has been... Petunia, Penelope, Pookie, Snickers, Snicklefritz, Peanut Butter, Coco Puff and Miss Piggy. It is now officially Petunia. But it could still change....

A New Critter

Her name is Coconut. Yesterday it was Patches. When we got the new little guinea pig on Saturday her name was Giggles. Then Princess. And Sweetheart. It might be Jelly Bean by tonight.
We were looking for another hamster for Christina, but somehow ended up with a guinea pig. She's cute, doesn't bite and makes the strangest noises. So we now have 6 fish (including a new goldfish Mackenzie named Gumball), Courtney's ladybugs, and a guinea pig.
Beethoven went to cat heaven two weeks ago. I explained to the kids that she was old and getting sick and how the vet gave her a shot and she died peacefully. Courtney looked sad for a moment and said "Can we get a guinea pig now?" I told her to give me a few days, because I actually miss my old cat. She'd been with me through at least 5 apartments and 2 different states, and even before I ever met John.

No Mo Sno

The snow's already melted, but the boots, hats, mittens and snowpants are still in a pile near the door. Maybe by summer they'll find their way into a closet.

(And why do they always throw snowballs at the cameraman?)

Matt can MOVE!

Check out Matthews dance moves at MOVIEs!!!
(You can use the MOVIEs! link on the right, too.)

Ho! Ho! Ho!

We hope everyone had as nice a Christmas as we did. We got lots of nice gifts from everyone in our families, and we thank you all.

We put out gingerbread cookies we made for Santa and sprinkled oats outside for the reindeer. Santa even answered the kids' notes. (He does know the Tooth Fairy!) The kids must be growing up. I woke up at 7:30 listened for the whispers and chatter, but it was quiet. The kids got their stockings down and waited for us. Mackenzie was the last one up, and then we went at the presents. There were gameboys, american girl dolls, sunglasses, nerf guns, science kits and cool games. PJs and pants and sweatshirts, too. All kinds of fun stuff and we're still enjoying it all.

Holiday Shopping

Don't know what we were thinking when we took the kids to the mall on a sunday a week before Christmas. John and I wanted to get each other sunglasses, but the whining kicked in two minutes after we got there. While shopping for Granny Matt knocked over two racks of shirts at JC Penneys. We were done after that.

Uncle Donna & Aunt Allen

The kids think its so funny when I say it wrong, but they love their velcro aunt and uncle. At no time when they were in our house did they not have a kid physically attached to them.

Ears To You!

Daddy finally let Christina get her ears pierced! She didn't even say "ouch." In her honor I got another earring too. It was the start to our girly day with Aunt Donna. Matthew, John and Uncle Allen went to the Jet game today. Us girls went to lunch and the bookstore.

It's Pitch White!

We got some snow early in the week. When the kids first saw it in the morning, Mackenzie said "Whoa! It's pitch white outside!" They can never figure out why other people's yards are still full of snow in the afternoon, but ours is all gone. That because it's all been trampled and rolled and snow-angeled!