A little bragging about my big girl

Kindergarten just celebrated their 100 days of school about 2 weeks ago. My big girl celebrated by making a huge poster of 10 butterflies with 10 spots on each butterfly. We are so proud of our big girl because she has been doing so well this year!! She has just been made Bus Rider of the Month again - 3 times so far this year and was the Star Student last week. Jenna really loves school and it shows. She has been getting 100's on her spelling test week after week and has not missed a day of school so far. My little Star Student is the apple of our eyes!!

And to top it all off, our big girl is losing her first tooth!! A bottom tooth has moved over and started to get wiggly. We can now see the new tooth behind it, so it should be any day now that the tooth fairy comes for a visit!

Michael's First Haircut

It was finally that time to take Michael for his first haircut. He had this curl in the back of the head that reminded you of the 1980's. Mike will only have his haircut by his barber who is located out in Brooklyn. We trekked out to Brooklyn to have Sammy cut Michael's hair. Michael was not thrilled at this and we had to have him sit on Mike's lap. When Sammy started to cut, Michael started to cry. He definitely did not like having his hair cut. Jenna was much better on her first time. Below is the picture of Sammy's first cut of Michael's hair. Can't believe this baby is going to be 2 in April!!!





And here is the big boy minus a few pounds :)

Sesame Street at MSG

This past weekend, Grandma Gladys and I took the kids to see Sesame Street at MSG Theater in the city. They loved it! Jenna was dancing and singing along with her favorite characters. Michael did well for his first show. He got a little sleepy at one point, but perked back up when the fire engine and train came out. We had a great evening with them. And if you want to know where Mike was, well he was enjoying some peace and quiet without us :)
Valentines Day came and went without much fuss. I'm not a big fan of the holiday, but it is my mother-in-law's birthday - Happy Birthday Gladys! And topping the weekend was having Monday off with the kids. Too bad we got more snow, but I know Spring is just around the corner....

Kyler's 2nd Birthday

This past weekend we headed out to NJ to celebrate Kyler's 2nd Birthday. Cannot believe she has turned 2 already!!! It seemed like yesterday she just arrived.
Jenna and Michael had a blast playing with Kyler and the other kids at the party. Below are some of the pictures that they actually stood still for.

Happy Birthday Kyler!!!

A nice day at the park

This past weekend we had some nice weather - a little chilly, but the sun was shining. Took the kids down to the Patchogue Docks so they could play at the playground. Michael had a great time since he is now big enough to climb by himself on all the equipment and Jenna had a blast riding her new scooter and even helping Michael down some of the slides. We had a great time watching the fun the kids had. Here's hoping for some more nice days like this one.

I've been bad lately...

So I haven't been posting as frequently as I should be but I figured it's a New Year and a brand new start :)
I am going to do my best to keep the blog more up to date so you can see how big the munchkins are getting!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year! Here's looking to 2010!!!



Jenna and Michael with Uncle Darren on Christmas Day.


Jenna getting Julie from Santa.


Michael opening his gifts from Santa.


Jenna, Michael, Brandon and Ethan on Christmas Eve.


Jenna and Michael visiting Santa.

Trip to VA

After spending time in PA, we headed down to VA for a couple of days. We took the kids to Busch Gardens and Williamsburg and visited my family. It was a fun couple of days.


Two peas in a pod.


Jenna and Big Bird


Michael and Ernie


Visiting Santa at the Yankee Candle Shop


Michael and Annette


Watching the guns at Williamsburg.


Rest break before heading back to NY.

PA Weekend

At the end of July we headed to PA to celebrate Colin's first birthday. We spent the evening at Grandma & Grandpa VanAlstyne and then headed over to Sesame Place for the day.



Jenna and Madison


Me and Michael


Happy 1st Birthday Colin!




Jenna and Madison getting ready to ride the roller coaster.



Meeting Abby Cadabby.


Meeting Abby Cadabby.


So hard to get a good picture of them.

Rivera House BBQ - July 2009

Mike had his friends out for a BBQ before we started the construction on the house. Fun was had by all and I think the funniest part of the day was Rueben falling into the kiddie pool. We look forward to next year to do it again :) Thanks all for coming.


Michael ready for the BBQ to start



Hanging out under the canopy.


The kids in the pool.


The kids in the kiddie chairs.


The boys.


The girls.

Madison's 5th Birthday

Swinging into July, brought us Madison's 5th Birthday. She had a pool party at the Hampton Inn in Staten Island. I think the adults may have had more fun than the kids. We loved playing in the pool! And once pool time was over, the kids were able to run around in one of the conference rooms. After the party was over, we headed over to Brooklyn to have some park time with the Van Alstyne Family. I have to say Michael and Jenna were exhausted by the time we got back to LI!



Happy Birthday Madison!!!!


Mike and Michael after their swim.


Jen squared with their 5 year olds.



Jenna did so good with her floaties. She swam all by herself!



Michele and Luke enjoying the pool.

4th of July Weekend

As most of you know, we moved out to Long Island at the end of June. 4th of July weekend was our first full weekend being Long Islanders. We enjoyed the great weather and had the kids outside all weekend. We went to Port Jeff to walk around and go to the park. We checked out the park down in Patchogue by the docks. And we just relaxed in our own yard while the kids played and enjoyed the pool. It was the perfect weekend....




Michael on a slide at the park in Port Jeff.


Jenna smelling our flowers in the backyard.


Jenna and Michael on a slide at the Patchogue park.


Jenna enjoying the pool.


Michael relaxing on the front porch.