Looking forward to relaxing...

Last nights dinner at Tellers was very good!! Rich and I has a great time, and really enjoyed our dinner and time alone. I recommend this restaurant for anyone. Today however, was crazy!! I get the girlies on the bus after a very trying morning with Allison. She is normally very cooperative, but this morning was the exception. Nothing was right, first her milk, then her clothes, then her hair... ugh... it was whine after whine. We thankfully made it to the bus stop on time and off they were. I ran right away on fumes to the gas station and filled my car, and then headed into work. I was there all day handling tons of administrative tasks. This new position is really keeping me busy. It seems that everything started this week. Katie's first brownie troop meeting for the year was today from 3:30 until 4:30, Allison is supposed to start her Daisy meetings tomorrow, but since we are going away for the weekend, she will unfortunately miss the first meeting. Religion also started today. I am co-teaching with another mom Katies 2nd grade class. It went really well, except that religion is from 4:30 to 5:30 and there are 4 girls from the the brownie troop in our religion class... and they ended up being 20 minutes late. We will have to figure out a new system. Rich dropped Allison off at the parish center at 5:15 because he had to go a commissioner meeting at the firehouse. After class was over the girls and I hit Target for some stuff and then had to run and pick up Grandmas Leute laundry and drop that off to her. We didn't get home until 8pm. I made them hustle and get ready for bed quick- skipping the showers tonight and finally they are asleep. Now I am taking a deep breath and doing some laundry. We are heading upstate to Catskill tomorrow for the holiday weekend. Rich, Nancy and the kids will be there as well as Freddy, Pam and the girls. My Father in law and Pat and my mother in law are also coming. I really look forward to the time we all spend together up there. I am charging the camera battery as I write and I will make sure I post lots of pics from the weekend.

Ten Years

Richard and I are married 10 years today. I cannot believe that ten years have passed... it seems like just yesterday we were standing on the altar at Infant Jesus Church saying our vows and promising to love each other forever. People tell you all the time how fast time flies and how you need to treasure every moment... and really you think "I know- I know", but these last ten years have flown by. I guess it is true what they say- time flies when you are having fun. These have been the best years ever... we have a wonderful life together, and I couldn't feel anymore blessed. We are celebrating tonight by going out to dinner. One of guys at work recommended Tellers, it is a steakhouse in Islip. http://www.tellerschophouse.com/ It looks like it will be a really nice dinner. I was checking out the website for the restaurant and realized they own one of my all time favorite restaurants H2O in Smithtown.http://www.h2orestaurant.com/. SO now I am super excited. I don't think that Rich and I have been out to dinner just the two of us in a long time. Usually if we get a sitter to go out, it is with friends- friends that we don't get a chance to see often and really enjoy going out with. I think taking this time to go out and enjoy a nice dinner will be special for us. Big thanks to Pop-Pop and Grandma Pat for babysitting for us tonight!!!
You know originally we had planned our wedding for October 10th. We had booked the East Wind, the church and photographer when my Dad approached me and told me that October 10, 1997 was Yom Kippur that year... and because my step-mother and her family and a bunch of their friends were Jewish, he asked if we would consider changing the date. Naturally I instantly thought "I can't" so much is booked already... but I told I would try and see what we could do. After making phone calls it worked out that the hall, the church and the photographer were open for the 3rd. Everyone else is thinking great, done! no problem... but not me, I was concerned and superstitious about that date because that was the date my parents were married, except they had been divorced nearly 20 years at the time. I thought it might be bad luck until one conversation I had with my Dad where he told me that it could never be bad luck... because if he hadn't married my Mom on that day he would not have had 2 wonderful children. So October 3rd it was.
I still look back on our Wedding day with such wonderful and heartwarming memories... it is one of best days of my entire life. That day however was just the beginning of a life filled with love and happiness. Richard is my best friend, my companion, my teammate and my lover, and without him by my side I would be lost. My heart is full and overflowing today as I count my blessings...

ps- Happy Birthday to Tom Gallagher and a Happy 3rd Anniversary to Jon and Julie Cohen!!

A Baby Shower for Baby Lotten

On September 22nd we has a baby shower for my Sister-in-Law Erica. She and Doug and expecting their first child at the end of November. They do not know what the sex of the baby is... which is so exciting!!! I am thinking that it is a boy...but you never know. The shower was a success and I hope everyone had a wonderful time. Above is a picture of my cousins Maria and Jenna. It had been too long since I last saw them and I cannot believe how big they are now. Below is a photo of the radiant mom-to-be!!! Pregnancy definitely agrees with Erica and she looks fantastic.
The Parents-to-be Doug and Erica. I think with all the wonderful gifts they received they are pretty prepared for the arrival of the little one.

How appropriate for Doug's child... a firetruck placemat.
As standard for me... the photos are out of order... one day I will get a handle on that.
One of the "activities" at the shower was to have every guest pick a number and take a notecard. They were asked to write a card or letter to baby Lotten to be opened on his/her birthday (the number they picked was the age at which their letter will be opened). I think this is going to be wonderful the baby as he/she grows up and also for Dougie and Erica to enjoy for many years to come! Below even Katie and Allison participated in the birthday letters... Allison wrote a card for the 1st birthday and Katie for the 2nd.

Surprise!!

ok.... so clearly I am behind.... it is has been over two weeks since I last blogged. Two weeks ago Grandma Vegas returned to NY for a short two-week visit. She decided pretty last minute to fly in for Erica's baby shower. So because it was sort of last minute, and she had just left in July after a long stay, it was pretty easy to keep it from the girls and make it a surprise. She arrived on a Saturday night at Islip... so we told the girls that we has to pick up one Daddy's friends (Rich had been in FL for the 2 days before inspecting a firetruck that is being built, so we told them that one of his friends has flown home one day late). They fell for it... and were very surprised to see Grandma walking toward them from the gate. Kathryn ran to her and gave her a big hug!! After Allison gave her a welcome hug and we started walking toward the baggage area....Allison asked Rich why we were leaving and what happened to his friend ( so cute).

Finally.... some photos from the aquarium

These photos are from the day before the first day of school. Rich's dad took Kate, Allie, Taylor and Emily to the Aquarium in Riverhead for a special day. I gave my camera to Taylor so she could take some pics for me. Here are some of the pics they came home with.

September 11th

Six years have past since that horrible and tragic day. I cannot believe it. This morning after the girls boarded the bus I went in the house to go to sleep...I put the tv on and caught the reading of the names. It is so sad. I did not know one person who was lost that day... which is incredible and fortunate for me considering the number of FDNY firefighters I know. This past school year however Kathryn became friends with Julianna. Julianna is a Minnesauke 2nd grader and in Kate's brownie troop. She is a beautiful and spunky little girl... probably one of the most outgoing kids I have ever met. Julianna's father was a FDNY firefighter and died on September 11, 2001. He was also a former volunteer firefighter for Setauket, although I never had met him... he had resigned before I joined. Setauket FD took charge and gave him a Line of Duty funeral here in town- which I attended. I switched the channel to MSNBC where they were playing all the footage from 9/11/01 as if real time.... it was as if it were happening all over again. Watching the footage again brings you right back emotionally to that morning- the fear the dread, the shock, the nausea... and today as I watched the towers collapse all I could think about was Julianna, her brother and her mom Margarite and how hard today must be for them. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well as all the families and loved ones of those who died.

Happy New Year

This is a pic of all the children at the bus stop.... from left to right we have Allison, Lauren (kindergarten), Hannah (2nd grade with Katie), Megan (kindergarten), Brett (1st grade), Katie, and Brooke (kindergarten). This is a nice change- to have a big group.... when Katie was in kindergarten she was the only kid, and it was sooo boring for her.

Happy New Year... as I read once that every mother knows that the new year "really" starts in September. I believe that. Last Wednesday marked the start of the 2007-2008 school year. Kathryn starting 2nd grade and Allison is a brand new kindergartner. In the picture above Katie and Allison are all dolled up for the first day. I think Katie really enjoyed being the "big" kid and helping her little sister. Allison was really excited... she didn't seem to have any apprehensions at all.
As it seems standard for me... these pics are out of order. The pics above and below are of her getting off the the bus on the first day. I was sooo happy when she got off the bus smiling!!
In the morning... my neighbors and I put together a "New Years" party for the kids. We met about 1/2 hour before the bus came and had fresh bagels and juice. There were party hats, and my neighbor even provided the entertainment by making balloon animals. It was a great send off... the kids loved it. My camera battery died just before the bus came (thanks to Taylor... the day before I got great videos and photos from the aquarium). My Dad had his camera, thank goodness, all the photos of her getting on the bus are on his camera.

Allison on her first day with her HUGE backpack.
Allie and Kate's backpacks... side by side.
This is a pic of the bus stop on Wednesday morning. We had quite the group. Allison is so lucky to have so much family local. Besides myself and Rich (who took the day off) we had my Dad who traveled from PA, Rich's Dad, Uncle Freddy, Uncle Bob and Aunt Gretchen and even Jill, Christopher and Natalie (their first day wasn't until Thursday).