random pictures

I just figured I would post some random pics.... here are Meg and Hannah with Katie and Allie this our adorable pooch.... Murphy
Grandma Vegas
smooches from Allie

Happy 6th Birthday Allison!!

My goodness time does fly. I cannot believe that my baby, my little one is now 6 years old, in kindergarten, has a loose tooth and can ride a two-wheeler. wow.

We have a dress...

This past weekend we went shopping for a communion dress for Katie. Gretchen, Katie, my mom, and I headed out for a day of shopping. We hit JcPenney, Sears, Burlington Coat Factory, Davids Bridals and Macys (which had nothing). After about 20 or more dresses on Saturday we called it a day with no luck. We had a nice dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and went home with a very tired Katie in tow. Sunday we were running some errands for Allisons birthday after church and drove past a place in Lake Grove called Little Dickens. We figured we would stop and check it out. They had quite a selection...but were also a bit pricey. Some dresses were over $300.00! After trying on a few dresses. Katie fell in love with one of them. I called Gretchen and she quickly came over and we bought it. Yay! She is super excited. I have some photos from our adventure. I will post them when I get a chance.

Kate's first concert

Right before Christmas I received a phone call from one of Katie's friends in her class. Megan had received tickets to the Aly & AJ concert as a gift from her parents, and she wanted Katie to go with her. Rich and I talked about it and finally asked Katie if she wanted to go... she said no- if neither one of us would be there. I talked to Megan's mom and told her that it wasn't going to work out. Megan's mom then invited me to go along (Megan really wanted Katie to share this with her). The concert was on 12/29/07 at Westbury (I had never been there before) and it was interesting. Both Kathryn and myself had never heard of Aly & AJ... but now we know they are connected to Disney. Below is a photo of Menudo... the "new" Menudo. They were the open group for Aly & AJ.

Here is Megan and Katie playing rock, paper and scissors...
Below is Aly (on the keyboard) and AJ on the mic. I have since googled them and found out more. They are twin sisters.

Katie SCREAMING something in Megans ear... it was the only way to communicate during the concert! LOL
Each girl got a CD that they were selling the lobby. Thanks so much Megan and Cathy for a great night!!

Merry Christmas 2007

Here are the girlies in front of the tree with the gifts around them... .they actually waited for me to take the picture before we dug into the opening of the gifts.
It was an American Girl christmas... lots and lots of doll stuff.
Below is the American Girl Feel Better Kit that Allison requested and received from Santa. It is really really cute. It included crutches, casts, ace bandage, finger spint and a ice pack and for the doll!! funny.Allison was super excited this year. She as really into opening her gifts. Below she is opening GrandmaVegas's gifts (also American Girl). She was hoping to get the bakery set....and when she opened it you can see her excitement.
Julie Albright quickly started baking cupcakes for her friends.and when she was done baking it was time to brush her hair! Below Katie was in heaven as Grandma Vegas let her feed Christopher his bottle.

After opening our gifts on Christmas morning we took a ride over to see Rich's mom. We exchanged gifts with her and hung around for a little while.




Merry 1st Christmas Christopher!

Uncle Dougie surprised Aunt Erica with this beautiful wedding eternity band for Christmas. Erica finally has a wedding band of her own. When they were married in January, she wore her grandmothers band. But now... she has her own. This picture doesn't do it justice.



I was surprised this year with a fantastic gift from Richard. He bought me a Canon Rebel digital SLR. He knew I wanted one, but I seriously never expected to get it. :) Rich has been playing with his ipod since Santa brought that for him on christmas. I feel so lucky this year to have had my family around. Having Doug, Erica, my Mom and Baby Christopher around all week was so much fun!!! I am truly blessed.

Just before Christmas....

As usual I am about a week or two behind... but in Leute family tradition we took the girls down to the Stony Brook Village post office to mail their letters to Santa in a magical mailbox that they put out every year. Both Kathryn and Allison requested tons of American girl accessories as well as a new doll each. Allison wants Julie Albright... the newest of the historical dolls. Katie wants Nicki who is the doll of the year for 2007. Below Allison is just making sure her went in.As I have talked about in other posts- I am teaching Katies 2nd grade religon class. Below is a picture of the class :) On the last day of class before the holidays we had a party. It was fun and the kids were completely wound up. Just a heads up... Katie and her classmates will be make their First Holy Communion on April 5, 2008.

The weekend before Christmas, the girls and I spent most of the weekend baking cookies. I usually had my hand dirty, but I did manage to snap just a few photos. They love helping me, and as they get older they are actually helpful!!!

On Christmas Eve...Dougie,Erica, my mom and baby Christopher arrived. I was so excited that he would be spending his first christmas with us. Below is a photo of Rich, this is actually the first time Rich is holding Christopher.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera when we went to Rich's Dad house for Christmas Eve. As always my father-in-law made a wonderful dinner. Everyone was there, and since we wouldn't be seeing Rich's family we exchanged gifts at Pop's house. We were home by 9pm... and had the girls to bed by 10pm... perfect for waiting for Santa to come.

Officially a Daisy!

Last Friday afternoon Allison officially became a Daisy. Her troop had their Investiture. It was adorable, but unfortunately I had forgotten my pocketbook at home and didn't have my camera. Karen took some photos with her camera, and she says she will send them to me. If I ever get them I will post :) They practiced walking in and saying the girl scout law... and singing a few new songs. The ceremony ended with all the girls getting their pin and a certificate. She was really happy. Also that night Allison attended "Daisy Dazzlers" it was a Daisy only event at one of the other elementary school in the district. A junior troop sponsored it, and only Daisies were allowed to attend. Most of her troop showed up, so she was pretty happy.
On Saturday morning the girls were excited because they got to spend some time with their Aunt Michy. Michelle bought them tickets to see Barnaby saves Christmas at Theater Three in Port Jefferson. After that she treated them to lunch at Friendlys. Rich and I took that opportunity to go and get our shopping done for Christmas dinner. Sunday brought us an unexpected surprise!!!! Grandma and Grandpa from PA attended a wedding in Manhattan on Saturday night and spent the night in a hotel in NJ. Well, I guess the storm that came through over the weekend really was bad in Montrose, PA. They decided that instead of traveling home through the storm... they came out to us for the day and stayed over until this morning. The girls were so excited to see them. Last night they went with Grandma and Grandpa to Aunt Michy and Uncle Steve's to celebrate Hanukkah. I took that time to start my gift wrapping. Rich has been working a ton of overtime... he is doing work for the Bright Nites at the Holtsville Ecology Center. The girls are really missing him, so they were pretty happy tonight to see Mommy go to work and Daddy stay home....lol.