Another New Year!

I love that we stay in with the kids for New Year's Eve. I can't think of a better way to ring in the new year. Baked some cookies and threw together some snacks, watched the New Year's specials. Leah and Gabriel stayed up all night but Louis fell asleep right before midnight.

Christmas Evening Family Photos

Our second attempt at Christmas Family Photos, all dressed up.

Christmas Morning Family Photos

We attempted to take some family photos this morning of the kids together. The kids all cooperated as best they could. I really love how the photos turned out.

Leah being her silly self as always. Love it!

They love their brother...

And he loves them.

5 point harness for the win

Leah recently went from booster back to 5 point harness car seat and she couldn't be happier. She says it more comfortable and she does understand it is safer. Also it was one of the only ways we could safely fit 2 seats rear-facing plus Leah in the car.

I hear a lot of parents complain about how inconvenient it is to have their kids in one seat or another but for us? Safety comes first. Leah understands this. She's great about it too. She often has to climb over or under one of the other seats to get into her own and she's never complained. As for space? She has plenty. No less than she would if she were in a booster (which she really is not quite big enough for anyway).

Family Fun at LICM

Due to Leah's very busy dance intensive schedule our time together as a whole family has been cut down some. It's well worth it, as she absolutely loves dance and is thriving. Still we miss being together. We try to spend as much of our free time together. After the Festival of Trees we rode Nunley's Carousel, had some lunch and headed over to the Long Island Children's Museum. All three are located on Museum Row.

The museum is perfect for our kids. There have plenty for both Leah and Louis to do.

Matt and Leah bicker and fight much like children do at times. He has a special relationship with her and I suspect she finds this type of bickering amusing.

Here they are fighting over who gets to play the instrument in the music room.







No fighting, only helping.




There is a special exhibit on Vietnam and life there. This was taken in the engagement hut.


Messy Afternoon

Baby It's Cold Outside

Leah had her first dance performance of the current dance year. She and her dance mates danced to "Baby It's Cold Outside" at a local charity event, Annual Festival of Trees hosted by the Cradle of Aviation Museum to support the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County.

Contrary to the song's lyrics it hasn't really been cold out at all. Still we were able to stay in the festive holiday mood.

The dance studio had a number of performances featuring holiday songs. The kids danced beautifully and had a lot of fun. Afterward we wandered around the museum looking at the exhibits. We were joined by Grandpa George and Grandma Ruth. It was a nice way to spend the morning.

Leah worked really hard on getting her grand battement en attitude (think Rockette kicks) for the past month. I was so proud of how well she did them.

She's the dancer at the far right.





There was a Santa for a photo op.


There were also various characters walking around greeting the children, taking photos. We stopped to say hi to Elmo. Leah may be 7 and some would say a bit old to get excited over the characters but she isn't. Not one bit. She loved meeting and taking photos with them.


There were activities for the children. We decorated cookies and Grandma got the kids stuffed kitties.

A Devilish Halloween

We had a great time trick or treating today. Went to the old neighborhood and did what we've done every year. It was so nice to catch with Laurie and Julia. I'm sorry we missed Toni. Halloween continues to be one our best family traditions. I love that the children enjoy it as much as I do.

Leah put together a beautiful devil ensemble. She carried it well.









Trick or Treating in the same neighborhood that her dad grew up in. There is one house that has a huge collection of handmade wood cutouts. All sides of the large lawn are decorated and set up for photo opportunities.













We collected an obscene amount of candy. Leah donated some to a local charity collecting candy to send to soldiers overseas. And we still have a lot left over.

Playing Catch Up

I've been attempting to catch up on the blog updates and our photo books. Finally got around to completely our photo book of our camping trip last year.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

Sleepover with Abuela

This weekend Leah spent the night with my mom, Abuela, in the Bronx. They had a great time together. Went out to dinner, stayed up late watching a movie, spent the next day getting haircuts & having their hair done, went shopping. All the things any girl would love to do, especially Leah.

My mom took her to the salon & after her haircut Leah got her first professional blow out. What a big girl!

She also bought some new clothes. Very cute pair of boats and sweater Leah is in love with.

New England Road Trip - Day Three - Salem, MA

After breakfast we packed up for our day trip out to Salem. It was an overcast, rainy day which seemed fitting for the locale. Salem is busy with Halloween activities, one of its busiest times of the year. I was looking forward to it, as was Leah.

Our first stop (after locating some parking outside of the village) was The House of Seven Gables. You may think that this is not the kind of thing kids would want to take part in, touring an old home and property but it turned out that Leah really enjoyed it.

The tour of this house on the property is not for the faint of heart. There is a point where you have to walk up a very slim, tightly built staircase. Just a wee bit claustrophobic. A few of the people on the tour with us didn't know what to make of us with the three kids but I think we managed surprisingly well with a one year old, newborn and 7 year old.

After the tour we headed towards Salem Village. We stopped at the stores along the way. We stopped at one point so Leah could switch her earrings. Matt bought her a pair of spider earrings at the gift shop at the House of the Seven Gables.

Based on the faces each of them is making you would think there was some torture involved.

We stopped to view the ship Friendship at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site.

We visited the Salem Witch Museum.

The Salem Witch Museum brings you there, back to Salem 1692. Visitors are given a dramatic history lesson using stage sets with life-size figures, lighting and a narration - an overview of the Witch Trials of 1692.

This was a bit more difficult with Gabriel and Louis. Gabriel was fussy and wasn't crazy about sitting through the presentation. Louis was antsy and just wanted to run around. Rather than inconvenience everyone I hung out outside with the boys for most of the tour. I've seen it a dozen times so it was fine by me. Leah enjoyed the show.

Afterward we walked around Salem, had some lunch, visited the shops, and stopped at various activities around town. We stopped at one of the local cemeteries as well.

The plan was to stay in Salem until nightfall and visit some more of the attractions but the boys were tired so we headed back to the hotel. Overall it was a nice way to spend the day.