Brona's Baby Shower....Yesterday, the kids and I went to Brona's baby shower in Merrick. It was her shower for family and close friends. It was very fun with lots of kids for Jacob and Julia to play with. Nancy, John's sister, had even borrowed one of those bouncy things from a friend so the kids all had a blast (not to mention wear themselves out) jumping on it. I was surprised to learn those jumpy things only cost $180. If you had regular get-togethers with lots of kids, it would totally be worth it. It kept all the kids occupied for hours. I was astonished to realize that this was the first yard I had been in in a really long time. I think it is the first time since the last time I was at Bill and Carolyn's. It was a great feeling! I could stand in one place and let the kids run around me instead of the opposite...ha! It was a really nice size yard with huge trees and a deck. And since the temperature was only 74 degrees, you couldn't ask for a better day to be outside. And Brona and John looked so happy and excited to finally be getting all their big baby items as Baby Max will be here in just a couple weeks. The fun is getting ready to begin!

Side note: Miss Julia played her little heart out and didn't eat much lunch. As we were leaving, she downed a bottle of water and a Capri-Sun...and then promptly threw up all over herself in the car on the way home. Lovely... But she did inform me she felt fine after she threw up and acted fine the whole rest of the day. I will choose to use this as a learning experience....

Julia's Class...I had a hilarious trip to Julia's class today. I went up to read books to her class for her birthday. She gets to wear a special birthday hat but they don't have parties in Pre-K. Anyway, the reading part went fine. But as I hung out waiting for school to be out, I had several interesting experiences. While eating snacks, one little girl turned to the girl next to her and explained in a VERY authoritative voice, "Chocolate milk comes from cows, you know." That was it. She just wanted to make that very clear. Another little girl came and sat next to me and told me for 10 minutes all about her trip to the aquarium. She also gave me a thorough explanation of the braid in the back of her head. She was very funny. Another little boy, Griffen, sat beside me and told me all about his bus ride and spontaneously sang me the ABC's. Overall, a very entertaining morning. Ha! They should all be on that show "Kids Say the Darndest Things".

Four Year Old...Can't believe our Baby Julia is really 4 yrs old today. Seems like I have been saying she is only 3 or almost 4 for a long time. Time is really zooming by. I recently saw some baby and toddler pictures of her and I almost don't recognize that baby anymore. Wow! She has really grown into a cute, funny, sweet little girl. What a proud mom and dad we are!

Halloween, Already?....After much debate in our household, I finally got Halloween costumes ordered today. Julia is sticking by her original decision to be a Pink Power Ranger complete with the communicator accessory. Jacob, on the other hand, has fluctuated between Mercury Power Ranger with one accessory or a Policeman complete with 10 accessories. And the winner is....Policeman! The accessories win! He will have a vest, badge, sunglasses, hat, police bag with handcuffs, keys, whistle, id card book for writing tickets, and a flashlight. Oh my! How could I have questioned this decision? Mom's just don't get it, do we?

Julia's Birthday Party...Although Julia's 4th birthday isn't actually until Wed, we had the celebration last night due to our schedules. Julia had a ball and loved all of her presents! Sharing was NOT her forte last night...ha! But we had a great evening including presents, dinner, and cake/ice cream with our neighbor's, John and Brona. It was a great celebration to welcome Julia's birthday. Can't believe she is growing up so fast!

Had my first PTA meeting at Julia's school this morning. It is a nice group but since her school is only one grade (Pre-K), they are very dependent on parent volunteers...ha! So far, I am a class parent, on a site-based committee, helping with picture day and the book fair. Could be a busy year! And that doesn't even take into account the PTA at Jacob's school. Too bad it isn't a paid position! But worth every minute!

A Little Fun With Dad...Julia has stayed home from school the latter part of this week due to allergies. But everyday she'd get up and say "Where do I gidda go today? Tell me." So, Thursday afternoon before John went to work, he loaded her up in the rickshaw for a ride. They rode down to the ice cream parlour for a little treat and a ride on the merry-go-round. One of her favorite activities! Lucky girl!

Back to School Night: Pre-K....Julia and I went to Back to school night last night at her school. It was only 30 minutes but they shared what they would be doing this year and what events would be coming up. They will be starting to learning sign language tomorrow. A special teacher will be coming in once a week to teach them. They will be having a Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids Tea Party for Halloween and an End of Year Showcase. I was also impressed to know that in this public school, they still say Pledge of Allegiance and sing God Bless America every day. WOW! I am really impressed so far with her little school.

Man Day: Part 150...John and Jacob headed out yesterday after school and homework was done to have a little one on one time. They went to the golf shop and on the Dave and Buster's for burgers, sports, and video games. Jacob loves beating his Dad on the motorcycle game. Jacob has always had such good eye/hand coordination so video and computer games are really fun for him. He and John practiced putting at the golf store. So, I got a demo when they got home. Jacob really does have a nice, gentle swing when he putts. A little practice and he might be pretty good. The golf pro in the shop said Jacob is definitely a south paw when he golfs... You never know since he switches back and forth with various activities but he does tend to be more dominant left.

I work tonight at Sutton Place so John and the kids will have another night of the Palace 'O Fun! This will be my last night to work this week. I worked Sunday night, as well. Nice to get out a little and make some cash at the same time. Also nice for John to get one-on-one time with the kids.

Hero Worship...Who do you think Julia wants to be like? One guess...

We Grow 'Em Big...Jacob and Julia had their physicals today. Let's just say that the doctor's are always amazed at how tall our kids are compared to their age. They run average weight-wise but they are both above the 95th percentile for heighth. Jacob grew 3 1/4 inches in 1 yr. He is now 50 1/2 inches tall and weighs 63 lbs. Julia grew 2 1/4 inches in 7 mos! She is now 44 inches tall and weighes 42 lbs. She is one long set of legs hooked on to one long waist! She is built just like John's dad and Grandma Florine. I am SO envious! Ha!

End of Week 2...Well, we've had a good first two weeks of school. Jacob even admitted today that 1st grade is a little more fun than kindergarten...ha! I think there is more variety and they even started Spanish class three times a week which we are thrilled about. His class uses the green card, yellow card, red card system for behavior in class and Jacob is just thrilled at the end of the day to let us know when his card is green. He really is enjoying himself. Yea! And of course, Julia is thrilled by pre-k. She let's me know every day if she had to sit in the "thinking chair" or not. Yesterday she admitted that her teacher got "fwustwated" with her. Ha! Ya think?!?! She really makes us laugh out loud!

John's Birthday Party...We celebrated John's birthday last night since he will be heading out on his actual birthday. So last night, we had a nice family dinner, birthday cake made by mom and Jacob, and birthday presents. It was a really fun evening for everyone. The kids have inherited their love of a good celebration from me and we were positively giddy all afternoon. Jacob even turned off one of his favorite show (voluntarily) to help get ready for the festivities. What a guy!

Glamour Girl...This is Julia last Friday night while I was at work. She got all gussied up with Daddy in her pj's that Ma Mere brought her from China. She loves looking at herself in the mirror.

1st Day of School...Yesterday was a momentous occasion in our household. Jacob AND Julia went to their first day of school. Jacob started first grade and Julia started pre-k. She will be going M-F half days. John and I took the kids to Julia's school first and then he and Jacob headed on to Jacob's school while I did orientation and the PTA meet-n-greet. It ought to be interesting to do PTA at two different schools. She is so excited she can hardly stand it! She brings her Hello Kitty backpack and Princess lunchbox and folder EVERYWHERE! She is so proud! Jacob had a great day in first grade and was re-united with four buddies from last year. Luckily, they were all nice boys. And they now get to play on the big kids playground. The beginning of another exciting chapter in their lives. Wow! Time does fly...

Dinner With a Friend...Thursday night, John and I went out to dinner with our neighbor, Alan Greenberger. Brona watched the kids and we went to a restaurant called Lambrou's. It was really good food. Several courses of very good food. We also didn't realize we would have "live" entertainment. After we had been there for about 30 minutes, this older couple came in and sat at the table next to us. Soon, the man "Larry" spontaneously turned to us with no greetings or salutations and started telling us jokes. They were good jokes and he had great delivery. But he never smiled or broke character. He would tell 3 or 4 jokes in a row and then turn around and start eating his dinner again. Then a few minutes later this would happen again. It last our whole meal. His wife kept chiding him to leave us alone but the jokes were funny and the absurdity of the whole situation made us all giggle all evening. It was a fun night! The other interesting thing we got to do was go inside Alan's synagogue. We went with him on the way to dinner to pick up the mail. John and I had never been in a synagogue so it was very interesting and really pretty.

Today I am having a co-garage sale with our neighbors, John and Brona. The down side is that due to allergies, I have no voice. Ha! Julia wants my voice to come back NOW and wants to know where it went. How do you explain that?!?