2011 Happenings

Well 2011 is off to a good start so far. Gracie has recently started dance and seems to be enjoying it. So between dance and Daisys she seems to be pretty content. Jacob is doing great in karate and is now participating in what they call "fight night" on Wednesday evenings - so he is at karate 4 nights a week and soon will be starting baseball as well so he is going to have his plate pretty full come March. School is going well for all three kids. Georgie is done with winter break and back at West Chester and Jacob and Gracie's holiday break ended shortly after new years and they are back to their normal school routine. I am in the process of planning this years vacations/trips/activities. We are hoping to go down to see Pop Pop in North Carolina again. The kids had a wonderful time last summer in NC and love spending time with their Pop Pop (let's face it...he spoils the heck out of them!). I might even take a trip to North Carolina without the kidos and spend some quality time with my dad all by myself. I also might be attending my 25th high school reunion in August which will be back on Long Island. I am excited, but nervous at the same time about that trip. If I decide to go I want to see some family - especially my grandmother (it's been a long time since I have seen her and the rest of the fam). I will also be taking another roadtrip to West Virginia to see my sister. I saw her a few months ago and would love to be able to go back and see her again. The drive to West Virginia was just beautiful and my buddy Audie said she would make the roadtrip with me again. My buddy Carlos and his family plan on coming up from Florida for a visit in June - I am very excited....it's been a long time since I have seen them and we will be visiting Hershey Park when they come. Not sure what all hubby has planned for this year. I was hoping he might meet up with some old Navy friends from back in the day - I guess that's up in the air right now. Right now, we are all getting ready for the Super Bowl - very exciting time for all of us. Steelers v. Green Bay on January 30th - we are counting down the days - GO STEELERS.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!

Steelers v. Greenbay Packers - Sunday, February 6, 2011

Update: Sadly the Steelers lost to Greenbay - maybe next year!

New Years 2011

Adam, Missy, Annie and James came down to spend the New Year with us. I must say we were all rather excited for their visit. The kids always look forward to seeing Annie and James and I know Big G enjoys spending time with his brother (Adam) and watching football (the norm in our house). Me and Missy either go shopping or veg out and watch TV/movies. This New Years was very relaxing. I am normally never up at midnight but this year I happend to be up. With 1 minute left in 2010 I ran into Jacob's room because I heard the kids chit-chatting and I told them to come into my bedroom for the final countdown to 2011 - after 2011 rang in my nephew goes "I did not see the ball drop" - I told him we were looking right at it as we were saying the countdown (he just looked at me with a blank stare - LOL - the kid just cracks me up). New Years Day was a day of pork and saurkraut, football, relaxing, napping, watching movies and enjoying the sound and laughter of the kids running about the house. I attached a few pics of New Years Day - you will notice a pic of my newphew and a pic of Georgie with Jake in the background sound asleep - they went to bed pretty early on the 1st because they stayed up so late the night before to watch the ball drop. Oh...I also got to watch the Penguins lose (I enjoyed that too).

Reflecting on 2010

Well 2010 was a year of ups and downs. Unfortunately, back in May I lost my mom - very sad, but I know she is finally at peace and there's no more suffering - she will forever be missed. I find myself thinking of her a lot these days and pray she is looking over me, George and the kids. Gracie turned 6 and started 1st grade, Jacob turned 9 and started 4th grade and Lil' G turned 18 and in June and he graduated high school and was moving on to the next chapter in his life (COLLEGE). Gracie stared Daisys this year and Jacob moved up to a yellow belt in karate. My dad was able to attend Lil' G's high school graduation which was a blessing. In July me and the two little ones went down to NC to spend a week with my dad and let me tell you...he spoiled them rotten - it was a great vacation and it gave me a chance to see how my dad was coping with my mother's death. I am proud to say he is doing great and moving on with his life and I am extremely happy for him - I think he is at peace with my mom's death and is trying to build a new life for himself. I had the privilege of visiting a few colleges with Georgie. After some thinking he decided on going to West Chester University (near Philadelphia, PA). While I was very happy for him I was also very sad that my baby boy was leaving home and moving on with his life and the day we dropped him off at college and I left him behind will be a day I will never forget for I sobbed the entire roadtrip home and still find myself crying from time to time at the thought of him gone and on his own. He has brought our family so much happiness and it truly is an honor to call him my son - we are very blessed with three great kids and I will never take that for granted. My dad also was able to make it up to spend Christmas with us and you can just imagine how excited we all were that he was coming to spend the holiday with us. Adam, Missy and the kids came down to spend the New Year with us and it was a really nice visit - we have a great family - life is good! Oh...after becoming a member of this wonderful thing called FACEBOOK I was able to find family and friends I have not seen or heard from in many many years and thanks to Facebook I got to meet up with my Aunt Lenora who I have not seen in over 20 years and she got to meet my husband. Like I said, life is good - I am a very blessed woman.

Christmas with Pop Pop

This year was an extra special Christmas at our home - why? Well it's because Pop Pop drove all the way from NC to spend the holiday with us. We took him to see the Hershey Sweet Lights which is about a 30 minute drive-through a holiday light display located in Hershey, PA).

Christmas Eve we all went out for a nice dinner and opened our stocking stuffers when we got home and George read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to all of us. Christmas morning is always something the kids look forward to (what kid doesn't?). Gracie got her American Girl Doll that she wanted so bad and Jake was happy to see that Santa got him the Ipad Touch he wanted so bad. Santa even got Pop Pop a few nice gifts;). The kids and I had a great time preparing for the holidays. Between decorating and baking cookies we all had our fair share of fun and weight gain! Oh....Jake and Gracie thought it would be nice to write Santa a letter to go along with his cookies and hot chocolate - I got a kick out of the signature request Jake wrote down for Santa to sign (I believe this would be Jake's proof that there's really a Santa Clause). Lil' G took the honors of signing the note as Santa - which I later put away in Jakes memorabilia box. Jake did ask me this year if there really was such thing as a Santa and boy did I wing that one....I came up with some story let me tell you. LOL.

Georgie, Jacob, Grace & Moosie - Christmas 2010

My babies - Georgie, Jacob, Grace & Moosie!

Christmas Morning 2010

Navy Days - Unit K147 (1989)

Dawn - Kindergarten - Many Years Ago

Back in the Day - Me and My Sister (Hollie)

Halloween 2010

Family Day at West Chester University

Trip to Pop Pops - Wilmington NC

Mommy, Jacob and Gracie took a trip down to to see my dad in Wilmington, NC. The kids had a blast and Pop Pop spoiled them the entire trip. We went to the beach where I spend 3 hours putting sunblock on my kids and I was the one that ended getting sunburned. We also took trips to the zoo, aquarium and the carnival. Like I said, the kids had a great summer vacation and we hare hoping to go back again next year. I got to drive my dads new 2011 camero - sweet car (NASCAR Pacer Car - I believe my dad said there are only like 100 to 200 hundred in existence). Nice ride!

Jacob Turns 9

This year we had a Jacob's birthday celebration at home with a pizza and slip & slide party where we invited family and friends to celebrate the special occassion. It's hard for me to believe that my baby boy is 9 years old...I just shake my head and wonder where all the time has gone. Fortunately, we had a nice sunny day for the slip and slide party but we won't be doing that again - WHAT A MESS! Should have listened to hubby!

Jake's Mohawk

Yes...it took some convincing but hubby finally gave in and allowed Jake to get his first (and last) Mohawk. We waited until school was out. I must admit, it did look kind of cute but I believe after a few short weeks we are ready to go back to the normal military style cut that he gets.

Baseball Appreciation Day

On Saturday, June 12th we attended Jacob's Baseball Appreciation Day at Adams Ricci park where he and his team mates received participation medals. Afterward I took some pictures of my dad (Pop Pop), Grace and Jacob and they all enjoyed some ice cream - it was a very very hot day!

Georgie Graduates from High School

Georgie not only turned 18 on May 29th but 2 weeks later he graduated high school and is moving on to the next chapter in his life. I am so excited for him. He will be leaving for college at the end of August. He will be attending West Chester Univeristy (near Philly). He was accepted into their Athletics Training Program - we are so proud of him.

Getting Ready for Graduation at the Forum - Downtown Harrisburg

My dad came up from North Carolina for Lil' G's graduation. It was a nice visit and we are hoping to do that again real soon. We had a busy weekend with graduation and Jake's Baseball Appreciation Day and on Sunday June 13th we had an early Father's Day celebration for my dad - George made steak and we had jumbo crab legs - it was a great dinner and like I said a nice visit. I am excited that I am heading down to North Caroline on July 1st to spend the holiday weekend with my dad and get some stuff done around his house - I am looking forward to the trip.

Princess Turns 6

We celebrated Gracie's birthday with her kindergarten class. The night before Gracie and mommy made cupcakes for all her friends and a mini-birthday cake to celebrate with her brothers. That evening we gave Gracie her the birthday present she wanted so bad - a Hello Kitty Scooter and we sang happy birthday to her and at some cake. It was busy and hectic day but it was also a perfect day because it was my princess's special day.

Senior Prom - Lil' George