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).

Thanks Pop-Pop

My father-in-law has been watching Allison (and Kathryn when she isn't in school) on Tuesdays for about 2 years now so I can sleep. I cannot thank him enough for all he has done for us... giving us peace of mind know that she is well cared for and loved when her parents cannot be around. I feel that this regularly scheduled time together has brought him much closer to the girls. Allison even more so than Kate has a special bond with him. During the summer he has also been watching Taylor and Emily because Gretchen works a full day on Tuesdays. Today he watched them for the last time this summer... and for Allison it was the last time since she is starting full day kindergarten. He made the day very special for the girls by taking them to Atlantis Marine World. They has a blast!!! The girls were also treated to a Wendys lunch ( I am sure with the frosty included) I gave him my camera to take with them this morning... I think each girl had a chance to be the photographer. I will download the pics as soon as I can and post them.
Thanks again Pop!!!

Pictures from last weeks visit to Minnesauke

This picture above is of the girls as the were wandering around the classroom.... it is small than most of the classrooms- but there are only 18 students in her class.

This is a photo I took of Ava and Allison with their teacher Mrs. Sheehan. :)
Katie's classroom was not open, but I took this picture in front of the door to her classroom.

The girls were really excited to see their names on the board!!

Allie's spot was already labeled and ready to go, she is starting at the red table.

This past week....

These as always for me are out of order... the girls were rinsing off in the showers at the beach. I don't know how they do it the water was freezing.
Katie spent most of her time down at the water...

Allison relaxing at West Meadow. Katie is in the background collecting water.
Christopher and Allison hanging out and goofing off.

Natalie and Katie.

It seems like every week just flies by. I really need to get my photos downloaded ( I don't know how Denise and Tracy get it done so fast!). Wednesday I had a meeting at work and had to go in for few hours. My girlfriend Karen watched the girls... which was great because we haven't seen them too much this summer and Katie and Allison are buddies with her daughters Hannah and Ava. After work I picked them up and had to run a few errands... I hit the bank, and then stopped at Old Navy with the hopes of getting some school clothes. Allison is such a riot when in a store- she LOVES to shop!! I was really there looking for clothes for Kathryn- who is never as enthusiastic as Allie is. I am searching the girls section looking for pants in Katies size, and Allison is picking up every skirt and or skort she can find "Mom, can I try these on?" "Sure Allie! why not." I respond. She then picks up shirts that are too big, and ballet flat shoes that are too small. I tell her that she is picking the wrong size... so she proceeds to bring everything that she thinks is pretty too me so that I can check the size. They cooperated in the dressing room... and I was out of there for under $100!!! Next we stopped at Target to complete the school supply shopping- which btw is still not done- I cannot find the scissors that Kathryn needs. Thursday morning I had to stay home for a few hours and wait for a bed that Rich and I had bought. It was to be delivered in the morning. It came pretty early... so as I promised the girls we hit the beach. We went to the local town beach here... West Meadow. We love it there. It is small and never too crowded. It has a nice playground and a sprinkler section, it is on the north shore so it is a rocky beach... but it has great sandbars that the girls love during the low tide. Jill, Christopher and Natalie met us down there and we hung out for a few hours.

It was really nice. When we left there we went home and jumped in the pool... which was cold and very refreshing after being in the sun for so long. That night the girls were going to their first sleep-over birthday party. It was really exciting for them. My niece Emily turns 9 at the end of September.... but because she wanted a pool party, they had the party early. It started on Thursday night with a slumber party in the pop-up camper and continued the next day with a bunch of additional girls, until 3:30... poor Gretch. Rich and I were alone in our house overnight for the the first time in many many years. It was strange. I think it was even more strange to wake the next morning alone (Rich leaves for work at 5:30am- before I wake up). I was lonely. I had plans to meet Doug and Erica at Buy Buy Baby in Huntington to add items to their registry... after that we went to lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen. They were coming to stay over a for the weekend. I had to work on Friday night at 7pm... :( but it was ok- I was home by 8am (I stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up some things) Saturday was fun because the girls went for haircuts... Katie probably had about 3 inches taken off. It looks so healthy and nice. Rich, me and the girlies went with Uncle Dougie and Aunt Erica to look at a house for sale in Port Jeff Sta. :) They are thinking about buying a house and in the process of deciding where they want to live. They have looked as far up at Orange County and and possibly out here in Suffolk. I would LOVE for them to come out here... so we looked at a nice house. I have my fingers crossed. We all then went to Bob and Gretchens house for a Labor Day BBQ. It was fun, the kids went swimming and turned VERY blue. I was so tired after working overnight, so we left a little earlier than everyone else. I needed to sleep good. On Sunday we hit Target for portraits. I paid extra for the photos be online... so I can post here when they are available. I will take lots of pics in the morning- of the girls and the bus, and hopefully will post right away.