Wednesday, April 23, 2008

4/21/08--Track Practice


HCA track practice.

4/19/08--Earth Day Festival










Today we went to the Earth day festival held at Liberty State Park which is only a few miles from where we live. It was fun--they had so many kites flying all over the place and free things for the kids to do. The drawback was the line forr the rides but Amanda didn't seem to mind as long as she got to fly her kite! She also made a tree out of beads, did sand art, and spin art! Abbey's favortie part was eating the popcorn! I hope someday they appreciate the views esp. of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

4/17/08--Amanda's First Swim Lesson


Today was Amanda's first ever swim lesson at the Skyclub. She did very well and followed the instructor's (Marlon--aquatics dir) instructions. 7 more classes to go! Other kids in her class: Erika, Ziv, and Varrum.

4/16/08--Farm Animals in the city!




Today the girls and I happened to walk a different way then we normally do to get to the park and we came across a lawn full of small farm animals! You never know what you will find in Hoboken. Apparently All Saints school has been learning about farm animals and they rented a petting zoo to come to town. They had a calf, a sheep, a goat, a piglet, ducks, rabbits, chickens, a big white goose, etc. Although we weren't allowed to pet them--Amanda and Abbey loved watching them and talking to them, esp. the sheep! Did I ever mention that the city of Hoboken owns a goat--why you ask---in order to qualify as farmland (so i have heard) for additional funding. How corrupt--that is Hoboken!

4/15/08--Picnic at the park


Impromptu snack picnic at the park. Everyone had something to share (just by chance) and Desiree had the blanket. What kid doesn't love a picnic.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

4/12/08--Amanda feeding Abbey




Today we spent the whole day out! After t-ball ended at 10:45am we went directly to the park, then had brunch, back to the park and didn't get home until after 6pm. The girls were having so much fun playing and enjoying the warm weather (low 70s). At one point Amanda was sharing/feeding Abbey her ice cream. It was truly adorable. Although by the time I got my camera out--I missed it and she wouldn't do it again.

4/12/08 T-Ball Week 2


This week at t-ball practice the kids played actual games. Noone keeps score--but all the kids get to take a turn at bat then run the bases, and after everyone gets a turn they switch to the outfield. It was so hysterical to see the kids at first not knowing which direction to run in. Some kids carried the bat with them to first base. After Amanda ran to first base one time--I told her to run after the next kid hit the ball--she ran directly back to home plate rather then heading to second. But by the second time they switched everyone seemed to get the hang of it and it seemed to run kinda organized. Amanda's teacher, Mrs. Foley came to support her students which made Amanda's day! l-r: Matthew, Amanda and Olivia K.

4/9/08--Giacomo's Birthday Party







Today is Giacomo's actual 4th birthday! Amanda has known Giacomo since they were both a few months old. The party was fun. It was at the park-which my girls love to begin with, they had a clown, pizza, snacks, sidewalk chalk, and the best part was the cake of Dunkin Donuts! The kids loved the donuts esp. the ones with sprinkles and gobbled them down so fast!

4/9/08--Concert at the Pottery Barn Kids Store







The Pottery Barn Kids store held a free (have you noticed--we like free! I have been using that in a lot of my blog entries) concert today! Yosi--a childrens performer sang. He was enjoyable and got the kids off their chairs and dancing. Then we hit Barnes and Nobles kids section and the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Fun-fun! Amanda didn't seem to mind missing school! PS--Daddy is away this week at his office in Jacksonville--so it is girls week!!!

4/7/08--Abbey's Evil Eye


Abbey has been giving me (and Mike) the evil eye lately. She is such a little devil! But nonetheless a cute devil!
{This is what Abbey and company do while the older sisters attend dance class--sit in the back room and play and have snacks}
l-r: Julie (11 mo.) I babysit Julie almost daily, Abbey, and Renee

4/7/08--Dance class


Amanda hasn't been interested in attending dance class lately. I usually have to bribe her with something to do it--but over the last month even bribing her hasn't done the trick. Today, however, she knew her friend/classmate Amelia was going to do a make-up from her missed Saturday class and Amanda was so excited about it! It was nice to see her happy and excited for dance class rather than fighting me about how "boring" it is. Too bad Amelia wasn't always in the Monday class!
l-r: Dillon, Amanda, and Amelia

4/5/08--Skyclub Pool Party


The Skyclub (a gym in Hoboken) offered a free pool party today for kids 3-12 yrs. old. Amanda and I went swimming, Mike sat in the lounge, and Abbey went to the daycare room and took a nice nap! It was great! They had games--we did ring around the rosey, went in the pool and hot tub, and before we left they served pizza too. Amanda is going to take swim classes there in a few weeks so it was a good introduction to the pool. The water felt great too!

4/5/08--HCA T-Ball

















Hoboken Catholic Academy offers free t-ball on Saturday mornings for pre-3 thru kindegarden. It is so adorable. There are five teams: black (Amanda's team) white, gray, yellow, and burgundy. This was the first week of practice. First the kids did some stretches together in the gym and then and they had five stations set up. 2 for hitting, 2 for catching and throwing, and one for fielding ground balls. Amanda loved the hitting stations the best. After each team went through the five stations they went back into the gym for a final word and a "Go Cardinals" cheer. Then Amanda and two of her friends from school, Amelia and Olivia K. ran around the gym.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

4/4/08--Amanda took this photo


I downloaded my camera and found some photos of various things around the house. This one I thought was cute. She actually posed Cinderella on the chair for a photo opp. My budding photographer.

4/2/08--Playdate with Matthew




Wed. after the puppet show we went to the park with Matthew and his Mom Jeanine and then Amanda asked them if they would like to join us for dinner at "rice and beans."--I wasn't planning on having dinner at rice and beans--but....i guess i am now. She means a restaurant in Hoboken called, "Quodba." They are a type of fast food mexican restaurant--but clean, fresh food, and they are constantly busy. Amanda loves rice and beans--abbey too--but there isn't much that abbey doesn't love! They joined us for dinner and then Matthew at dinner spotted ben and jerrys across the street and wanted to go there too. These kids are too funny. They have the life don't they. Growing up I never "went out" to eat. Only on special occasions.

4/1/08--Book Launch











Mo Willems is the author of some famous kids books including a bunch that we own: "Knuffle Bunny," "Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus," Don't let the Pigeon Stay Up Late," etc. He came out with a new book: The Pigeon Wants a_____? It was announced at the launch that "The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!!! They had books for sale, he signed the books, and gave out balloons, stickers, and iron-on shirt decals (which came out really, really cute--they say: Who is your favorite pigeon? with a picture of the famous pigeon on them)

The girls all were able to sit in the front row! It was held at Bryant Park, NY. The NY Care and Control had puppies there for adoption as well. We almost came home with one of them too! Wouldn't that have made Mike's day. Thank you to my friend Desiree for letting us know about this event. We enjoyed it. My first book signing--the girls too!

3/30/08--Easter Egg Hunt







Our Lady of Grace Church hosted an Easter Egg Hunt. I know it is after Easter--but the kids didn't care one bit. Lots of prizes, 400 eggs hidden throughout the church. The priest explained that eggs signify new life and therefore he felt it was appropriate to hide them inside the church rather than the park this year. More organized too. Amanda's teacher, Mrs. Foley was there with her daughter Christine so Amanda was thrilled! Mrs. Foley actually helped her find a gold egg! Amanda went home with three pink poodles, 2 charms, a teddy bear and didn't want to give back the plastic eggs--but if she did she would have gotten more prizes. They were very generous. All the kids that participated won something. Abbey was home taking a nap--so we gave her a pink poodle dog!

3/30/08--Alexander's 4th Birthday Party
















Today we went into NY for Alexander's 4th Birthday party. It was at Science Teacher Sara's Science Lab. The kids were able to do three projects: first was make a rocket ship and all the kids got to blast them off at the same time. Second project: making a volcano out of baking soda and vinegar with food coloring and a drop of dish soap. So cool--but it scared Amanda at first.





The third project was a dinosaur egg hunt. Each dinosaur egg had a surprise inside. There were lots of tanks in her lab with hedgehogs, turtles, fish, snakes, lizards, python, iguanas. Then pizza and cake. This year Alexander's theme was from the movie "Cars." For Alexander's second birthday he had a train themed party, for his third birthday it was airplanes, now cars--next year I vote for boats! Amanda loved her rocket project and took it to school last week to show everyone. I even think the teacher is going to make them with the class.

3/29/08--Emma's 4th Birthday Party







Today we went to Emma's 4th Birthday party at Pizzeria Uno's in Jersey City. Amanda was able to make her own pizza, followed by ice cream, make a drawing/placemat of Cinderella which they laminated for us right there. Very cool. Amanda loved playing games in the hallway the best. Duck duck goose seems to be her favorite! Ring around the rosey is another favorite too!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

3/27/08---Visiting the Stanbridge Estate







Amanda is off from school this week so it provided the perfect opportunity to visit Brenda, Clare and Gwen in their new home. What a lovely home! So jealous of all their space! Their kitchen is sooo big! The girls did some crafts together, played a cool game called Elephun, played in their backyard, walked into town for pizza, and went to a park in town as well. It was a lot of fun and Amanda asked if she can "go back to their house tomorrow!"

3/25/08--Abbey got a haircut!




Abbey's hair is so tricky. It is so beautiful after her baths when it air dries. It is a beautiful color with red hues and is curly at the ends even with ringlets--but when she wakes up in the morning it looks like she has been through a haunted house. Lately she has refused to keep hair bows or clips in her hair so her bangs would cover her eyes. I decided to give her bangs to prevent her hair from covering her face. She did really well and sat very still. They look cute--but her hair still drives me crazy trying to keep it looking presentable. I told Mike that when she is a teenager she will probably want to have her hair professionally straightened like I used to! He just let out a big sign.

3/23/08-Easter at the Tennaro's house











We went to Mike's parents house for dessert this year. They even sang Happy Birthday to me which was nice. Amanda and Abbey loved playing in Grandma and Puck's living room which is usually gated unless it is a holiday, they loved seeing their cousins: AJ, Ryan and Kayleigh, and also with Uncle Patrick's dog--Zoey (an eight year old Rottweiller). Abbey was SO excited when Zoey was allowed to come out! At the end of the evening Amanda with the help of cousin AJ put on a little show--we all had to sit and watch her sing Hannah Montana songs. Best part--they fell asleep on the way home and I was able to transfer them to bed!!!