It seems that I made it home from Dallas just in the nick of time. I landed Thursday night and by Sunday morning, we were under a severe hurricane warning for the entire east coast. To prepare ourselves for a likely power outage, we stocked up on batteries, water and non-perishables (anyone need Ritz crackers or Granola bars, per chance??). And then we waited. And waited. And we baked enough sugary treats to last through a cold war and waited some more. And by the grace of God, we didn't lose power, even though many of our friends and millions of our NJ/NY neighbors lost power and much, much more.
Our community is very blessed to have underground power lines and by the time the storm was over and we went outside to assess the damage, we felt so lucky. After seeing the horrific damage that Hurricane Sandy caused on the NY and NJ coastlines, as well as hearing from our family, friends and coworkers that they had no power, hot water or eeek! internet, we took it all in, made some donations and prayed for the people who were not as lucky.
We were also able to celebrate Halloween actually ON Halloween, which many people did not. Dressed as Woody and Jessie from Toy Story, Zach and Abby were thrilled to get out of the house and run around to our neighbors to get candy. As our little 2.5-yr old trick-or-treater asked at many houses - "more candy please?" it was easy to see why we ended up with enough candy for a year.
As the kids got back to school late in the week and mommy was still working from home due to a power outage at work, we reflected on the week's events and were ever so grateful for Mother Nature sparing us.
And now as we face the first snowfall of the season quite early, we are still just as thankful for our electricity and heat as ever. We'll also be collecting some donations of clothes, toys and supplies for those who were not as lucky as we were, and hopefully our kids will learn a great lesson in helping others.
In the meantime, we have renewed hope for the country in Obama being reelected yesterday, and a lot of great things to look forward to in the coming weeks.
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Fall is Here!
October is off and running! We're only 10 days in but already I feel like November is an arm's throw away. With the start of autumn, there have been the requisite trips to go apple picking and pumpkin picking, plenty of fall festivals and more activities (and apples!) than I can count!
Abby happily started "big girl" gymnastics a few weeks ago - this time, she's with 5 & 6-year old girls so it's the big leagues! She seems to be enjoying it quite a bit, though it's a very long day for her when she goes right from school to gym and isn't home until after 5 pm. But since it's only once a week, she seems to be doing well, and she goes to bed quite early those days!
Zach has a schedule that seems to better fit a 12-year old than a 2-year old! He goes to school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. In-between on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he enjoys a gym class and a music class - two of his favorites! But recently, we signed him up for a soccer class on Friday afternoons which he LOVES so far, and seems to fit him well since he loves to run. He is doing the class with some of his "older" friends (3-year olds) and is doing great. And of course, he still naps for 2+ hours a day so he's quite a busy little bee.
The rest of this month will no doubt fly by, with me being at a work event in NYC this weekend for 3 days (including on my birthday) and then I'm off to Dallas for a week for work. Soon after I return, we'll have plenty of Halloween celebrations, from a Halloween-themed birthday party to two parades and of course, trick-or-treating. I won't give away what the kids will be dressed up as yet, but suffice it to say that they will be adorable and can't wait to get some candy!
Happy Fall!
Abby happily started "big girl" gymnastics a few weeks ago - this time, she's with 5 & 6-year old girls so it's the big leagues! She seems to be enjoying it quite a bit, though it's a very long day for her when she goes right from school to gym and isn't home until after 5 pm. But since it's only once a week, she seems to be doing well, and she goes to bed quite early those days!
Zach has a schedule that seems to better fit a 12-year old than a 2-year old! He goes to school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. In-between on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he enjoys a gym class and a music class - two of his favorites! But recently, we signed him up for a soccer class on Friday afternoons which he LOVES so far, and seems to fit him well since he loves to run. He is doing the class with some of his "older" friends (3-year olds) and is doing great. And of course, he still naps for 2+ hours a day so he's quite a busy little bee.
The rest of this month will no doubt fly by, with me being at a work event in NYC this weekend for 3 days (including on my birthday) and then I'm off to Dallas for a week for work. Soon after I return, we'll have plenty of Halloween celebrations, from a Halloween-themed birthday party to two parades and of course, trick-or-treating. I won't give away what the kids will be dressed up as yet, but suffice it to say that they will be adorable and can't wait to get some candy!
Happy Fall!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Highs and Lows
This past weekend, we had a few highs and lows in my house. Let's just get the low out of the way - unfortunately, my kids lost their great-grandpa Stan on Saturday and my husband and I lost the only remaining grandfather in our family. As Jason trekked off to Florida for his funeral during the historic October snow storm, somehow my mom made it in to Westchester from Chicago to spend the weekend with us.
The high notes of the weekend included dinner with the kids and my mom at the new Cheesecake Factory, (yum!), baking Halloween brownies (double-yum!), going to see a kids play and having a fun snow day on Monday with no school or work.
On Sunday, my little boy turned 18 months old! We celebrated with a shared piece of banana cream cheesecake at dinner, which he enjoyed eating as well as smearing the whipped cream into his blonde hair. Yum :).
Monday was Halloween and while Abby & Zach's daddy was stuck in Florida due to torrential rains there, I took the kids trick-or-treating with friends in the neighborhood. We literally went door-to-door to almost all of the 86 units and collected a ridiculous amount of candy and treats. Zach enjoyed his first bite of a candy bar (Milky Way, delish!) and looked adorable in his chicken costume. Abby was a beautiful Snow White, complete with bright blue eye shadow, lip gloss and blush. She will next be seen on "Toddlers & Tiaras"!
Tuesday, while I was still off work and I sent Abby back to school, got off to a sad start. We took Zach for his 18-month checkup and the little guy is still VERY much little. In fact, he fell off the height and weight charts for his age :(. The doctor recommended that he be tested for celiac disease and thyroid issues (both of which run in our family) to rule out those as possible reasons why he isn't growing like he should. Watching him have blood drawn was definitely a low point for the day. We'll get those results back in a few days. Part of me would love an explanation, but the other and more reasonable explanation is that Jason and I are not very big people, so our kids won't be, either. Plus, he has been so late in his gross motor skill development and getting his teeth that it wouldn't surprise me that he was late in growing, too.
Luckily the rest of the day ended on a better note, with a lunch date for Abby and I with her friend Jared and his mom, and then I got to take her to OT for the first time. Zach is also now walking about 99% of the time - a huge improvement in just a few days' time!
As winter nears and the ever-changing weather goes from high to low and back again, so, too, do our lives. Hopefully the coming months will provide more highs than lows though!
The high notes of the weekend included dinner with the kids and my mom at the new Cheesecake Factory, (yum!), baking Halloween brownies (double-yum!), going to see a kids play and having a fun snow day on Monday with no school or work.
On Sunday, my little boy turned 18 months old! We celebrated with a shared piece of banana cream cheesecake at dinner, which he enjoyed eating as well as smearing the whipped cream into his blonde hair. Yum :).
Monday was Halloween and while Abby & Zach's daddy was stuck in Florida due to torrential rains there, I took the kids trick-or-treating with friends in the neighborhood. We literally went door-to-door to almost all of the 86 units and collected a ridiculous amount of candy and treats. Zach enjoyed his first bite of a candy bar (Milky Way, delish!) and looked adorable in his chicken costume. Abby was a beautiful Snow White, complete with bright blue eye shadow, lip gloss and blush. She will next be seen on "Toddlers & Tiaras"!
Tuesday, while I was still off work and I sent Abby back to school, got off to a sad start. We took Zach for his 18-month checkup and the little guy is still VERY much little. In fact, he fell off the height and weight charts for his age :(. The doctor recommended that he be tested for celiac disease and thyroid issues (both of which run in our family) to rule out those as possible reasons why he isn't growing like he should. Watching him have blood drawn was definitely a low point for the day. We'll get those results back in a few days. Part of me would love an explanation, but the other and more reasonable explanation is that Jason and I are not very big people, so our kids won't be, either. Plus, he has been so late in his gross motor skill development and getting his teeth that it wouldn't surprise me that he was late in growing, too.
Luckily the rest of the day ended on a better note, with a lunch date for Abby and I with her friend Jared and his mom, and then I got to take her to OT for the first time. Zach is also now walking about 99% of the time - a huge improvement in just a few days' time!
As winter nears and the ever-changing weather goes from high to low and back again, so, too, do our lives. Hopefully the coming months will provide more highs than lows though!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Ready...Set...Trick or Treat!
One day from now, my little man will turn 6 months old, and to celebrate, we thought it would be fun and appropriate to dress up and go trick-or-treating! (I can only imagine how much fun it would be for a kid whose birthday really falls on Halloween!)
Spoiler alert: Abby and Zach are going as a ladybug and bumblebee, or Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy from one of Abby's favorite books. We got a taste of how cute a bumblebee could be when Zach wore his costume to Barnes & Noble's dress-up storytime yesterday. He looked as sweet as honey :). And my little ladybug-to-be, who caught a school cold and kindly passed it on to her brother and mommy, is ready to rock her black and red dress, tights, turtleneck and boots on Sunday. Frankly, I haven't been this excited for Halloween in a LONG time!
Hopefully if we are all in good health and spirits, we'll make it to two parties, Stew Leonard's (trick-or-treating and free ice cream for kids in costume on Sunday!) and to our neighbors doors all before we collapse in a sugar overload. In a half-ass attempt at bribing Abby to use the potty, we already planted the seed that she will only get candy if she goes to the bathroom. We shall see how long that lasts!
I'll post pics after the weekend and I hope everyone has a fun time!
Spoiler alert: Abby and Zach are going as a ladybug and bumblebee, or Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy from one of Abby's favorite books. We got a taste of how cute a bumblebee could be when Zach wore his costume to Barnes & Noble's dress-up storytime yesterday. He looked as sweet as honey :). And my little ladybug-to-be, who caught a school cold and kindly passed it on to her brother and mommy, is ready to rock her black and red dress, tights, turtleneck and boots on Sunday. Frankly, I haven't been this excited for Halloween in a LONG time!
Hopefully if we are all in good health and spirits, we'll make it to two parties, Stew Leonard's (trick-or-treating and free ice cream for kids in costume on Sunday!) and to our neighbors doors all before we collapse in a sugar overload. In a half-ass attempt at bribing Abby to use the potty, we already planted the seed that she will only get candy if she goes to the bathroom. We shall see how long that lasts!
I'll post pics after the weekend and I hope everyone has a fun time!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Halloween Debate
'Tis the season for apple picking, pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating. So aside from looking forward to all the extra sugar and calories we'll be consuming, a dilemna bigger than should-I-eat-the-Twix-or-Milky Way-first, is do I let Abby choose her costume this year or do I get to have one last year to choose for her?? No doubt by next Halloween, she'll have quite an opinion about what she wants to be.
Abby only really knows Sesame Street characters at this point (Elmo being her favorite) and Clifford the big red dog. Going as a red monster or a red dog doesn't seem very girly but she could probably care less if she went as a princess or Dora or a cupcake. If I take her to a store to pick something out, all hell could break loose when she wants everything. If I choose for her, am I causing her years of therapy when she looks back on pictures and isn't happy with my choice??
Ahhhh...dilemnas....if only things could be as easy as Twix vs. Milky Way!
EDITED ON 10/9/09 TO ADD:
OK, the decision has been made. My little Abby will be Abby Cadabby (the Sesame Street character, for those of you who don't know) for the big day. Her friends Maddy and Jordan will be Elmo, her friend Sammi will also be Abby and I'm hoping to convince Sammi & Jordan's daddy and Abby's daddy to go as Bert & Ernie :)
The good news is that the costume comes with a headpiece, complete with fake pigtails since it will be a long, long time before my child will have enough hair for pigtails!!!
Abby only really knows Sesame Street characters at this point (Elmo being her favorite) and Clifford the big red dog. Going as a red monster or a red dog doesn't seem very girly but she could probably care less if she went as a princess or Dora or a cupcake. If I take her to a store to pick something out, all hell could break loose when she wants everything. If I choose for her, am I causing her years of therapy when she looks back on pictures and isn't happy with my choice??
Ahhhh...dilemnas....if only things could be as easy as Twix vs. Milky Way!
EDITED ON 10/9/09 TO ADD:
OK, the decision has been made. My little Abby will be Abby Cadabby (the Sesame Street character, for those of you who don't know) for the big day. Her friends Maddy and Jordan will be Elmo, her friend Sammi will also be Abby and I'm hoping to convince Sammi & Jordan's daddy and Abby's daddy to go as Bert & Ernie :)
The good news is that the costume comes with a headpiece, complete with fake pigtails since it will be a long, long time before my child will have enough hair for pigtails!!!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Halloween
Abby's 2nd Halloween proved to be a fun adventure! She was dressed up as Piglet from Winnie the Pooh and we set off in our neighborhood around 5:30 pm. By 7:00 pm, we had received enough sugar to fuel a car and she was so wiped out that she slept until 8:45 am the next day. She had a great time and even learned how to say "thank you" when someone gave her candy!
Now the problem is that Jason and I are stuck with too much candy. The leftovers will be coming to work with me this week and left for the office to devour.
And now on to the next holiday - Thanksgiving! We're still debating over driving or flying to Chicago. We shall see.....
Now the problem is that Jason and I are stuck with too much candy. The leftovers will be coming to work with me this week and left for the office to devour.
And now on to the next holiday - Thanksgiving! We're still debating over driving or flying to Chicago. We shall see.....
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