Random April Pictures

Just  a few random pictures to close out the month of April!

Swinging by herself at school.

Finding all kinds of creatures in the creek.

Bubble crazy at a birthday party.

I love the simple joys in life through the eyes of her.

Yippie!

After going to the splash pad for 3 hours at Chelsea Pier's she put herself down for a nap.

Riding bikes.

Killing time at school by acting philosophical.

It's a requirement to have some ice cream nearby while filling out Kindergarten paperwork.  

Karate Master.....not quite but working on it

Michael has been doing really well with his karate practice.  He is now officially ready to move up to the next class!  Some days he doesn't want to go but once he's there he is very focused and serious about it!  I think we'll take a summer hiatus from sports and then pick back up in the fall with this or some other sport.

He now has his second black stripe on his white belt!

Diamond vs. Rhombus....Pre-K Assessment

Once we found out we were moving to Greenwich; excuse me; Old Greenwich, I immediately had to get on the ball as far as finding a pre-school for Katie bug.  Mikey was easy - he's going to the public school that is less than a mile from our new home and has excellent ratings and reviews.  Katie on the other hand was a little more complicated.

Apparently Greenwich has public pre-schools which is great, however the process for applying to a public pre-school begins in December for the following year and we missed the entire process for applying, selecting, reserving, etc.  There are lots of amazing pre-schools in town, however not that many amazing pre-schools in our price range.  It astounds me just how expensive some of these pre-schools are.

After lots of research, tours, questions and phone calls, I found a few great options that worked within our budget and schedule.  My number one choice for her pre-school experience requires all incoming students have an assessment done.

Today, Katie, Mikey and I went to her potential new school, (assuming she gets in), where she had her assessment done by one of the pre-school teachers.

I could over hear bits and pieces of her assessment that they were doing in the adjoining room (when Mikey wasn't talking).  It took about 20 minutes total.  At one point the teacher said to her: "Okay, now I'm going to draw some shapes and I want you to trace them."  "Here's a square....here's a circle.... here's a triangle....here's a diamond."  Katie piped right up and said "That's not a diamond....that's a rhombus!"

I thought, that's my girl!  I knew the teacher would be impressed with her after hearing that.  I honestly don't know where she gets some of the stuff that comes out of her mouth!

Upon saying goodbye and as we were leaving, Katie then mentioned to the Pre-K teacher, "Did you know that Jesus is the son of God?!"  Yup, that must have sealed the deal because Katie snagged one of the very few remaining spaces left at the Catholic School!

Scott's Birthday!

We celebrated Scott's Birthday in NYC!  He was there for a meeting and the kids were off on Spring Break so we all headed to the city for the day.

The kids and I went to our old stomping grounds and met up with a few friends before enjoying a walk through Central Park to meet Daddy.

This wasn't quite the birthday we were picturing.  I helped rescue a little girl who fell into a pond in Central Park and later on after dinner, Scott ended up giving the Heimlich maneuver to Mikey.  Phew.  Glad we survived the day and have another birthday in the books for Scott!

Jen and I in NYC.

Taking an apple eating break from the play ground.

He's getting too big for this now!

Katie enjoyed some vanilla yogurt with sprinkles while Mikey munched on a NYC pretzel outside the MET.

A photo of Katie taking in the sail boats....literally taken 5 minutes before I helped retrieve a little girl who fell into the same pond.

They....

....were so.....

....excited to...

....catch up with Daddy......

....on the street.  

Yeah...he's not so happy that he's getting older.

Please don't notice that I didn't make enough frosting to cover his black bean cake!

School Photos

The kids had their pictures taken again this year at school.  It's just incredible to see how much they transform in just one year.

Katie has become more picky about what she wears and doesn't wear.  For picture day she proudly picked out her entire outfit. As she is growing, she's becoming more independent, vocal, opinionated, and sassy.  She is always opposed to wearing blue or black as that's a boy color.

House Hunting

And so it's that time again.....time for us to move.  Our two year lease is up this coming July in Stamford and while we tried to get an extension from our landlord he wasn't having it.  He wants to sell it which means we have to vacate and Scott doesn't want us moving in the middle of summer and two weeks before baby #3 is set to arrive.  Smart.  

My Dad came up to help watch the kids while Scott and I started our search.  We decided to start in Fairfield County (since the market seemed to have more options for us than in Westchester County) and if we didn't see anything we liked we'd wait a little while to see if better options appeared in NY.

After an afternoon spent looking at 7 or 8 homes in Greenwich, we found one that we felt was acceptable and worked for our family.  We were able to get out of our lease early, so we move into our new place the end of May.  I better start packing!

Technically our new home is in Old Greenwich, not Greenwich.  Greenwich has a few different subsets within in.  In the entire town of Greenwich, there is Old Greenwich, Greenwich, Cos Cob and Riverside.  From what we have already experienced, people get very upset if you aren't specific about what exactly area of Greenwich you live in.  

Our new place has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms a fenced in yard and a playground!

Taking Papa out for dinner.  

Katie is completely in love with him.

So is this two-toes sloth my Dad met while vacationing recently.

After we finalized our new home we took Mikey to the playground at what will be his new school.  Where he and I both met some new people who were very nice and welcoming.

Our new home for the next two years.

Time for the dentist

This appointment went incredibly smooth at the dentist.  The appt. 6 months ago wasn't that bad but each time they go I feel like their experience improves dramatically!

No cavities for either kid!  YAY!  They must have really enjoyed going this time because they both keep telling me on a regular basis "I want to go to the dentist everyday!  I love the dentist!"


That is music to my ears but I suspect their view may change a little bit or maybe not.  After all I actually do really enjoy going to the dentist myself.

Happy Easter 2015

We celebrated Easter at home this year with just the 4 of us.  It has been such a busy year so far with the new baby on the way, Scott's deadlines at work and having to move that we decided a relaxing holiday was just what we needed. We didn't want to throw any more craziness into our busy lives if it wasn't necessary.

The kids have been very interested this year in Jesus and how he died on the cross to save us.  They ask many questions (some of which I just don't know the answers too or how to respond in an appropriate manner) that I find simplifying into terms they can understand.  One Sunday after church, Mikey asked the priest why he was wearing red and why Jesus was wearing red.  The priest told him that it represented the blood that Jesus shed.  He then told me that I can explain that to him at home.  Boy did the priest give me a handful.  That's all Mikey wanted to talk about that day.

We have so very much to be thankful for this Easter season.

A sticker hand out from Sunday School.  This is Jesus rising from the tomb as depicted from Michael.  I think he got it spot on!

Easter Baskets ready to go the night before.

Katie's basket. She loved her my little ponies.

Michael's Basket - of course he spent the morning after church putting the Lego sets together all by himself.

Getting a first look at his basket.

Katie seeing what the Easter bunny brought her.

I just can't seem to get a good photo of them both.

Take 2.

Take 3.

So dapper looking.  He wanted a suit with a tie just like his Daddy.

This is one happy boy on Easter.

Our family on Easter morning.  We woke up at 6:15 and were out the door by 7:15 for 7:30 mass....which meant that I didn't have time to do my hair.  Priorities!  Mikey, Scott, Katie, Baby M and Jess.

I made some hot cross buns to take back to church after the 9:30 mass for the Easter Brunch they held.  They smelled glorious and were gluten, and dairy and sugar free.