Gabi Dance

Gabriella has been taking a ballet/tap class for 2.5-4 year olds at the New York Performing Arts Center in Washingtonville, NY. The teachers, Jackie, and Cyrena, are so absolutely wonderful with the girls and I am thrilled with the whole program. She tells me every week that she doesn't know how to dance and is hesitant to go in but the second she is with Miss Jackie, all hesitance disappears and she joins her friends. During the last 5-10 minutes of every class, they let us come in to the studio for a mini performance (either tap, ballet, or some gymnastics).
For the first few times very few of the girls actually participated or did much that resembled what the teachers were doing, but that has been getting better every week. Gabriella is becoming such a little ham, and we often see evidence of what she does in dance when we're at home. She is absolutely and completely adorable!



Click the picture for the google album of all her cuteness!

Halloween 2010

We had such a grand time celebrating Halloween in the Hudson Valley this year. Both kids were supremely excited and ready to jump in with both feet! Gabriella wanted to be a monkey, and Tomas wanted to be a Power Ranger, so there was no theme to go with this year. Oh, well (I'm too pregnant to be very interested in dressing up anyway).

We took a trip to Lawrence Farms to pick out some perfect pumpkins and it was a supremely beautiful day with some breathtaking views and great friends. Peter carved one of the pumpkins with the kids. I'm glad I caught it all on camera...some of my favorite shots are in that series.

Our jack-o-lantern unfortunately wilted well before Halloween actually arrived, thanks to some wet and warm weather, but it was fun to make anyway. The rest of the pumpkins continued to adorn the porch (and still do).

Gabriella and Tomas each had their individual ways to celebrate the holiday during the week before. Gabriella got to be a monkey at both dance and gymnastics, and it was great! She wore her costume the whole time at both places, despite the fact that it was a pretty sweaty affair. I may be biased, but she was the cutest one there both times. Tomas had a Halloween parade, activities, and a pumpkin run at school. It was great! He never left his mask on for long, but he was still the most convincing Power Ranger ever!

Halloween trick-or-treating was COLD! We made it around the block, but both kids were ready to be done by that time. They both enjoy giving out candy just as much as getting it...yippee! For now, I still hear "Can I get a treat from my bucket?" on a daily basis. I'll be excited when all that sugary goodness is gone...thank goodness there wasn't too much of it!!!

The link below will take you to the Google Album for the pics of every detail!

A New Passion!!!

Tomas has shown quite an interest in outer space recently. He particularly loves Jupiter, but overall just wants learn everything he possibly can! Last month, he got his first scholastic book order (more exciting for me because of the memories it brought up!). There were a few books that were interesting, but the few outer space books were screaming to be ordered.

Yesterday, there was a wonderful surprise in Tomas' backpack. Scholastic books!! I have such fond memories of getting those books at school and rushing home to enjoy them. Tomas started this enthusiasm also. He was so thrilled to see his surprise of new books in his backpack and has taken them everywhere since! He is proud to know all about outer space and enthusiastic to learn more.

It is also adorable to see him combine fantasy with reality. He was telling me yesterday that he wants to be an astronaut. Shortly thereafter, he asked if I would come with him to outer space because he is scared of the aliens. Gotta love him!!!

Fall Family Fun

Today was an absolutely gorgeous fall day in New York. We all had a day off since it was Columbus Day, so it was a perfect day to have some family time together. This morning, we got up together and I made pancakes from scratch with sausage for breakfast and our neighbor and good friend Heather joined us with 2 of her kids. Nothing like a good pancake breakfast to start off the day.


We couldn't get started with the rest of our activities right away because Gabriella didn't quite have the day off. She had dance class to attend. She loves dressing like a ballerina and loves her teacher, Miss Jackie. The last few classes, before she goes in, she makes sure to tell me, "But Mommy, I don't how to dance." (She leaves out the word know). It's very cute to hear her say this with her backpack and dance shoes on as she marches into the studio. Nonetheless, she always goes into her class without complaints: ready to go. Appropriately enough, the girls performed a pumpkin patch tap song at the end of class today. What a perfect transition to the rest of our plans!


Yesterday, while doing groceries, the kids spotted pumpkin carving kits (or as the call it, "the pumpkin carving activity"). So naturally, it was time to get pumpkins. While we could have just bought some at the store, that doesn't quite fit the spirit of fall. We invited our neighbors, the Naftals, to join us and headed to Lawrence Farms after dance was over.


Fall is my favorite season, and it is just spectacular here in the Hudson Valley. The colors are starting to blaze, and the hills make for amazing views. As expected on a day off school, the farm was packed (although not as bad as when we went there with Oma and Bada two years ago!). After a quick lunch...and some much appreciated patience from the Naftals, we headed down the hill toward the pumpkin patch. After we told the kids that everyone got to pick one pumpkin, the little kids promptly scuttled off and completely filled the wagon with little pumpkins: such fun to watch them awkwardly maneuver the pumpkins from place to place. Many pictures, stumbles, and laughs later, we had pumpkins for each child and even a few large enough to carve.

Naturally, the kids wanted to carve the pumpkins right away, but since it was already nearly dinner time when we got home, that will have to happen tomorrow.

A Wedding! and Babysitter Fun

Today, Sharon and Eric got married. Eric used to work with Peter at Stewart; he and Sharon have young kids also (Allie and Austin), so we've gotten to be good friends. The wedding started at 6pm, so bringing the kids would have been a frustrating endeavor. What did that mean though? The kids were going to be with a babysitter. Despite being far away from family, we have thus far avoided babysitters for the kids. It's hard to find someone to trust with the kids. And a babysitter today meant the kids were going to have to go through their nighttime routine with the babysitter. We were a bit nervous, but also hopeful that everything would go smoothly.



It was, as always, fun to get dressed up and head out. Sharon made a gorgeous bride and the location was beautiful. I think we got lucky with one of the last gorgeous days of the year. I was actually nervous that it might be uncomfortably hot for the outside location, but there was a wonderful breeze that made it perfect. A few memorable things happened throughout the night. A prankster decided to put Eric's Harley in the women's bathroom and then not much later rolled it onto the dance floor. Eric wasn't all too thrilled, but I'm sure it will be looked back on with fond memories. Also, Sharon and Eric had a photo booth (as opposed to disposable cameras at each table. I took pictures with both Sharon and later Pete and I have to say, it was fun and cute. All the strips from the booth were compiled on black paper for individuals to sign as part of a memory of the night. Cute!! Overall, the evening was a nice opportunity for us to have a night out just the two of us!

When we got back home, Maria, our babysitter, was sitting downstairs on the couch reading a book. Good sign #1! She said the kids had done quite well. They both ate their dinner and enjoyed watching Mary Poppins together! After the movie, both went to bed without any argument. What a relief! We were so thrilled to hear of how smoothly everything went. Maybe another evening out before baby number 3?

Name Change?

Yesterday during rest time, Tomas did not take a nap, but instead drew and read in his room until his alarm went off. When he came downstairs, he calmly informed me that he is going to change his name because his name is not cool anymore. HUH?!?! He said he is going to be Thomas now. Hmmmmm....there is a boy named Thomas in his class, but what's up here?

When I went up to Tomas' room to turn off his alarm, I saw that he had actually used his alphabet cards to spell Thomas on his bedroom floor. Well, that's official...something's up, but I was not able to get it out of him yesterday. Last night Pete suggested that someone at school said something (Duh, why didn't I ask Tomas that?).

Needless to say, the truth came out this morning. We asked Tomas about his name this morning, and apparently the status had not changed. So I asked whether someone said something to him at school. Tomas said that "those girls" (imagine the eye roll and exaggerated hand motions of annoyance) called his name pretty, so it wasn't cool anymore, so that's why he changed his name. He was so upset about it that he didn't even want to be in the room with us. After a bit more talking about the fact that those girls were trying to be nice (he was not convinced), he came to snuggle and we kept talking. He's still not thrilled about what "those girls" said, but at least he's Tomas again.

Open House and Babysitters!

Tonight was Open House at Tomas' school. No surprise, but kids are not allowed at Open House, so we had to find another arrangement for the kids. My awesome neighbor and friend, Heather, offered to share her babysitter with us. This was great because it meant the kids had a good level of comfort by being with their friends. Still, I was nervous because in reality, it was really the first time we've left the kids with a babysitter. Sure, they've stayed with Oma and Bada, and friends of ours have watched them, but that is not remotely the same! Needless to say I was feeling nervous about how it was going to go.

Tomas was thrilled to be having a "kid meeting" wile we went to the adult meeting at school. That was a great start!!!

Pete and I went to the open house. I was a hormonal, exhausted, emotional mess: nervous about the whole night and not in such a "go with the flow" mood. Unexpectedly for me, we had to bring the Cadillac to a show in our ongoing efforts to sell it. Like I said, I was not so go with the flow, so it turned me into a total mess. A good hug and a few tears later, we walked into Tomas' school. We were both so much looking forward to learning more about the flow of the classroom so that we can have some more details to ask Tomas about every day.

Tomas' teacher's name is Mrs. Carter. She is a petite older woman with 3 grown children who got a late start in her career. Mrs. Carter, is an enthusiastic, warm person who seems to truly love working with preschoolers. I am looking forward to seeing what she does for Tomas this year.

As expected, the open house talked a lot about general expectations for the year. Tomas is on par in regards to social development. It will be great for him to get to work on listening skills, not interrupting, and general socialization with peers. When it comes to academics, he is well ahead of the curve. Mrs. Carter says phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, and letter sounds are the goals for the year. Well, Tomas has already achieved that, so I am curious as to how everything will develop as the year goes on. As Mommy and Daddy, we want to make sure Tomas stays interested and challenged at school, so we will be having conversations with Mrs. Carter in the coming weeks as to how that will happen.

We returned to the school parking lot to a text message from the baby sitter. Gabriella had an accident, and not the easy kind of accident...the gross stinky kind. Oh man! Not the news I wanted to hear! Maria, the babysitter said everything was fine, but we headed back to find out. Gabriella and Tomas were both in a good mood when we picked them up, so despite putting the babysitter through some grossness, the evening seemed to be a success. Phew!!