Laurie Berkner Takes NYC!!

Today, Nicholas, Addison, Grandma and I headed into NYC to see the Laurie Berkner Band play at Town Hall.  We had a GREAT time both before, during and after the concert!

We took the train into the city, which is always an adventure.  Then we had lunch at a wonderful little restaurant called Jack's.  The food was DELICIOUS!  I have never tasted French Toast like I did today!  Then we headed over to Town Hall for the concert.  The kids danced and sang and just had a wonderful time at the Birthday Party Themed concert.

After the concert, we took a cab- Nicholas' request- back to Penn Station where we hopped on a train and headed home!

It was a wonderfully fun and exhausting day!

Thanks Grandma!!

There are more pictures but due to uploading problems I can't add them right now!

Apples Take Two!

We spent our Saturday afternoon with our playgroup out at the apple orchard!

Nicholas, Addison and I met up with everyone back at Pochuck Valley Farms in Glenwood and picked MORE apples!  We had a great time hanging out and the kids had tons of fun running through the orchards and spending time with their friends.

The last batch of apples went to making caramel apple cupcakes, apple pie and a few other things.  This batch is going to apple cake and another pie!!

Happy Anniversary!

Today was a busy day!

The majority of the day was spent with family, which is always fun!  The kids and I headed out to Alpha, NJ to celebrate my Aunt and Uncle's 25th Wedding Anniversary with a surprise party that was organized by my cousin, their daughter.  

The kids got to run around and expend tons of energy and I was able to catch up a little bit with family that I haven't seen in awhile.  

Happy Anniversary Uncle Mike and Aunt Janet!

This would be an even nicer picture if Addison wasn't guzzling liquid cocaine, AKA Hawaiian Punch!

 We call him the Happy Uncle

 This was right after my uncle took his own thumb off....it did NOT go over well!

 SURPRISE!

 25 Years

 Cousins

More Cousins

Breakfast with the Princesses

Addison and I got to have a special day together day!

I try to make sure to take at least one day a month to spend with each of the kids alone.  It makes a WORLD of difference and it's so nice to just spend the day doing things they love to do!

Today, Addison and I went to breakfast with the Princesses at Imagine That in Florham Park, NJ.  Addie got to meet Cinderella, Belle and Snow White.  She didn't want to meet Sleeping Beauty thanks to Cinderella and her big mouth!

After breakfast, Addie had free run of the museum to play.  She enjoyed running around and playing in all of the different rooms like the supermarket, giant dollhouse, and music room.  Once we were done there we ran a few errands and then went over to grandma and pop-pop's to celebrate grandma's upcoming birthday!

All in all it was a really nice day with my Princess!

Remember the Titans

One of our favorite movies around here, and a movie I use in my classroom, is "Remember the Titans".  While Disney, admittedly, took liberties with the story, the message and lesson of the story is one of great importance.  The message of tolerance and respect is something that I make sure I teach Nicholas and Addison and my kids in school, too.

Today, I had the opportunity to meet and listen to the REAL Herman Boone, the head coach of the Titans who was played by Denzel Washington.  Coach Boone was invited to my school as part of a new athlete program we beginning at Morris Catholic.  He was an incredible speaker and kept the students, and the adults, captivated.  He was very honest about the discrepancies in the movie versus real life and answered numerous questions that the students asked.  He shared a message of hard work, tolerance and respect and told all of us that with out those things success in life is virtually impossible.

I am incredibly glad that I had this opportunity and I only wish that Nicholas and Addison had been there, as well, to hear him speak and meet him.

Breast Cancer Walk 2010

When Nicholas was just a baby he and I participated in the second Annual St. Clare's Walk for Breast Cancer.  With the exception of the year that I was pregnant with Addison, we have done the walk every year since then.  This year, we participated as part of a team building exercise for the girls' Softball team that I coach at work.  

We were up bright and early and met up with most of the JV and Varsity team, and my Varsity coach.  We totaled up all of our fundraising efforts, which came to $365, and then we headed out for the walk!

When Nicholas and I started doing this walk, there could not have been more than 150 people, today there was well over 500 plus!

It was a gorgeous morning and the walk was a success! I am quite proud of the girls and Nicholas and Addison for dedicating their Sunday morning to such a worthy and important cause!

Apple Picking

After having a ton of fun at the Cat in the Hat, I decided to take Nicholas and Addison out for a treasured Fall activity- Apple Picking!  

We are surrounded by plenty of orchards and wineries where apple picking is available- it's one of the things that I like about living up here (one of the few).  We headed up to Glenwood, NJ to a small farm called Pochuck Valley Farms.  The kids have been to the farm with their school and we went apple picking there last year, too!  It's a small family run farm with delicious apples, doughnuts and cider and we just love going there!!

We got TONS of apples and I'm in the process of finding all sorts of recipes to make using all of them!