Christmas 2012

What a great week Christmas week we had!  It was jam-packed with fun events, get-togethers and of course, great food and PRESENTS!! (and lots of pictures - below is a mix of camera and iPhone photos)

As usual, the weeks leading up to Christmas were also filled with fun activities:
we saw the Radio City Christmas Spectacular,

went to a few holiday parties, did crafts and baking, and spent the early parts of our mornings looking for Pickle Tony, who came to visit us again this year (and he left us some pretty cool stuff too)!

 One great thing about Christmas falling on a Tuesday this year was that Erika and Richie were able to spend even more time in NY than usual.  I also was very lucky to be able to take the whole week off and Jay even got a bunch of time off.    We kicked off the festivities on Saturday when Grandma and Papa watched the boys so that Jay, Erika, Richie, Jasmine, Mike and I could all go to the Syracuse vs. Temple game at MSG.   We had a great time but unfortunately Syracuse could not pull off a victory.  (much like the Jets the next day)

On Christmas Eve morning, I STILL had more shopping to do, so the boys all braved the mall with me so I could get everything done and while there, we all got one last chance to convince Santa that we were good and really wanted him to come to our house. 

 Christmas Eve night began with the annual opening of one present, putting out cookies and milk for Santa and the crowd favorite: the making of the piles.   As usual, there were a ton of presents

The next morning when we woke up, we all headed in to the living room and.... SANTA CAME!!!! The kids were so excited when they saw Santa filled our stockings, ate all of the cookies and left even more presents.   Number one on Ryan and Dylan's Christmas list: Playstation 3 and Santa did not disappoint!

The next 2 hours were a blur of flying wrapping paper, screaming kids and gifts a plenty: this process was repeated many times though out the day - when we went to Omi and Poppy's, when Aunt Carrie, Marc and the gang came over, and with the arrival of all of the other guests.

As usual, Grandma did an amazing job cooking and we all had a fantastic day.  

 

Christmas was unfortunately over in a flash and I think it will take us weeks to get the apartment back in order. Besides the gifts we all received in Westchester, there were even more waiting for us when we got home.  First, we had to get everything back upstairs though which is always the hardest part.

When we got upstairs, we were so surprised to see that Santa left us another present: the Playstation 3 Batman Lego game.





The kids could not wait to set up playstation and get started.


We made out like bandits this year and have some wonderful memories of Christmas - only 342 days until we get to do it all over again! Thanks everyone for a great Christmas xoxo

52 week project - 2013 aka Round 2

52 week project, Round 2: I really enjoyed doing this project last year, and while I didn't complete it (and I don't think my photography skills have improved), I had fun trying to find inspiration for the project and do think I got some great shots.   I was invited by someone else to participate again this year and figured I would give it another shot.  Probably not a good sign that I am already 2 weeks behind.

Week 1 - 52 Week Project 2013 - Self

Last year, I wrote a very deep post about self and I remember thinking as I wrote the post about all of the things I was going to accomplish/do over the year, how I would find better balance in life etc.  I may have not accomplished all that I wanted and had more challenging times than I expected, but I think I learned a lot over the past year.   Some things I learned: that I need to not sweat the small stuff, because at the end of the day, those things don't really matter (a work in progress).   I learned that I over-analyze everything and sometimes, I need to just trust my gut and make a decision (another work in progress).   I learned that in a crisis, I am stronger than I thought. And I learned that the thing I value most in life is my children, Jay and my family.  I am so lucky in life to be surround by the best people that love me no matter what, people that make me want to be a better person.  So for this year, I will not make a million resolutions for myself, I will make just one: I will strive to be the best, happy "self" I can be and to appreciate how really lucky I am. 

Well, that was deeper than I intended. So, on a lighter note: here I am and for fun, a little more about me: a list of some things I love (neither came out exactly like I envisioned, but oh well - I am not going to overanalyze it lol).

Me and the things I love

If by chance I have new followers only interested in the 52 week project, all of those entries will be labeled 52 Week Project 2013

Raleigh Visit

(from Nov. 24)

Last week, the boys and I flew down to Raleigh to visit Erika and Richie - it had been a while since we had gone to NC and I just wanted to get a way for a weekend.   After a 2.5 hour delay (and the lady behind Ryan getting kicked off the plane for being a crazy nut), we were all happy to arrive and get settled in. 

The first night we just went back to Erika and Richie's and the next morning, we got up early and headed out to the Annual Raleigh Christmas Parade.   Despite Erika's warnings to me to "manage down my expectations, this is not the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade", I was really excited!!  Richie found us a perfect spot and we set up our blankets/chairs and waited for the parade to start. 

 

I think that everyone will agree that the parade was much better than we were expecting.

It was funny though because there were definitely some signs throughout the parade that showed we were not in the north anymore (lots of religious groups, tractors, beauty pageant floats etc).

The highlight for the kids was that many of the floats threw out candy or goodies to the crowd.   My kids were like little beggars despite all of the snacks we brought and while Ryan saved all of his until the end, I am pretty sure Dylan had 3 candy canes in his mouth at one time.

As great as the parade is, the same can not be said of Wendell Wonderland.  We went the night of the parade and I don't really know how to describe it other than a Christmas light show in a field - I had read that it was the biggest Christmas lights show in Raleigh and really, it was just bizarre.   We were there about 3 minutes before the kids wanted to leave and I am pretty sure Erika and Richie would have left before getting out of the car if I said ok.  2 pictures and 15 minutes later, we were out of there. 

Of course, no trip to Raleigh is complete without the stop-off at Marbles and no trip is complete without a small incident:  For those of you going to Marbles, please keep in mind, you are not allowed to bring coffee past the lobby.  (as a side note, if you tell them "I am not throwing my coffee out until you get the guy drinking coffee upstairs to throw his out", they will leave you alone)  Once we were fully-caffeinated, the rest of the day was great.

 

 The kids got a chance to visit all of the rooms and we were even back to the house in time to watch the Jets vs. Rams game, hoping to see a victory (we did!) and to see Mike, Dad and Mom who were at the game (we didnt)

The kids and I even had some fun during halftime.

As always, we had a great time with Erika and Richie and were sad for the trip to be over - amazingly, I didn't cry when we left (I came close) but that was probably due to the fact that our flight was at 6 am and I was exhausted!!  One boy slept the whole way home, the other not at all.

Erika and Richie - can't wait to see you again soon -  We Love You!!!! xoxox