One last thing about my birthday....

The best way to end my birthday....




For those who play mahjongg....you know what i'm talking about :-)))

"Dirty" Birthday Wishes!

My neighbor ran over to wish me a Happy Birthday! (of course I wouldn't let him really hug me like this :)

Thanks Lill!

Belated Birthday Posts.....

Since my birthday fell on the first day of Spring Break (oh joy!) I decided to have a birthday eve, eve celebration. The friday before I invited my scrap gals to join me for a breakfast/mani-pedi's/lunch day. I started my morning , in the pouring rain, meeting Michelle and Leslie for breakfast at Bagel City in Rockville. Michelle's son gets out of school early on Fridays so she was only able to meet in the morning. We had a really fun time talking and laughing. Michelle always makes me laugh. Then Leslie and I were going to get manicures and pedicures with Julie at LA Nails. So off we went. It was a nice relaxing morning. After mani/pedi's we went to La Madeline for lunch where my sister in law, Laura, met up with us. I left there and went and did some shopping and then headed home. Despite the rain, it was a lovely way to spend the day and to start off my birthday celebrations. Thanks Ladies..Love you All!!

p.s. My birthday was in April and now I am finally finding the time to catch up on my blogging!

Tis' the Season.....

Where did the fall go? After our trip to NYC time has just flown by and Thanksgiving is already over and just a little over 2 weeks to Christmas. Yikes!! Last weekend we were in NJ for Kevin's cousins wedding. Shelby and her cousin Erika were the flower girls. It was a beautiful wedding full of lots of traditions and customs. The bride is Chinese and the groom is Korean. The bride had 3 dress changes and the groom 1 outfit change. The kids had a great time and Shelby loved the reception with the dancing and all the sweets to eat. She even caught the bouquet. Here are just a few photos from the wedding. Hopefully more to come from other family members.

NYC Meets Shelby Lee

So to continue our story, we got up the day after her birthday (we had to leave the house by 5:45 am) and successfully got on the train at BWI. The train was relatively empty and we found seats with no problem. The train ran on schedule till we got to Newark, NJ. They were doing some repairs so that set us back by about 3o minutes, which worked out fine since Erik was running late from a client. Alas, we arrived, met up with Erik and then we promptly got into a taxi to drop our stuff off at Erik and Howard's apartment. Shelby got her first taste of NYC with a cab ride. After taking a little break we headed off to the Empire State Building. We had to wait about 1 1/2 hours to go up, but Shelby was a trooper and really enjoyed it once we got up there. After that we went for a carriage ride through Central Park, had a quick lunch, stopped at Dylan's Candy Shop for a treat, and then went back to the apartment for a little nap and then it was time to eat and get ready to go see Mary Poppins on Broadway. Shelby and I were so excited and Erik treated us to fabulous orchestra seats (8th row). It was truly a magical show!!






Saturday, they were calling for rain but it had not started when we started our day. And since it was Saturday, Howard did not have to work so he joined in for the days adventures. After breakfast we went to American Girl, shopping at Juicy Couture (Thanks Uncle Howard :-))), Rockefeller Center, NBC store,the Disney Store, Toys R US in Times Square and then back to Dylan's Candy Shop before going for a short nap. Then we went to the movies to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Shelby rode the bus, the subway, the taxis and was not intimidated by any of it. On Friday she said, "I feel different here!" "When I grow up, I want to live here...and work at Macy's". My thought was, you can work at Macy's but you will be living in the Bronx on that salary, not Manhattan.



Shelby recognized Erik and Howards building the second time we went there and seemed to have a real sense of direction in the city. Saturday night it did rain but it didn't dampen either of our spirits. Sunday we woke to a lovely day. Shelby and I went to breakfast alone and after that we walked over to Central Park with Erik and Howard. We watched some professional ice skaters and then we went on a Carousel ride. The guys were great sports and some of the things we did, they had never done or ever seen before which made it even more fun. When we got back from the park, they got the car and showed Shelby "Ground Zero" which she had been curious to see and then they dropped us off at the train station to return home. It was bittersweet, never enough time with Erik and Howard, ready to sleep in my own bed, but not wanting a wonderful, mother-daughter memory to come to an end. Hopefully we will have many more like it. A big thanks and hugs and kisses to Erik and Howard for making the weekend so memorable and Shelby's first visit a fabulous success!!! We love you!!

Catch up time....Shelby's Birthday

Our little Miss Shelby turned 8 in October. We had decided that instead of having a party we would still have a family get together but for her birthday I would take her to NYC for the weekend. As her birthday neared her father thought she would miss having a party. So he suggested she have something small, along with the trip and along with family dinner. Can you say "Daddy's Little Girl" :-))) So we decided to have a pizza, cake and a movie party at our house. In all we had 14 girls at our house. Brandon came up from the family room at one point and said "It's way too loud down there!" Shelby had a great time and so did her friends. Kevin made a short slide show of her accomplishments in the last year. The girls loved it and especially loved when the video played the song "Cotton Eye Joe". It was fun to see these 14 girls all dancing to the song. Family dinner was the next night and Shelby had requested Sushi, Spaghetti and Meatballs and Apple pie. We had about 24 for dinner that night and Shelby ate none of the things she requested. The party atomosphere kept her appetite I guess! 5 days later it was her actual birthday and I woke her by singing Happy Birthday and then put a candle in her waffle. (see picture above) That night we went out to dinner at a restaurant of her choice (another thing the "Daddy" had instituted). She picked the Japanese Steak House-Sakura.

Then it was back home, open gifts and get to bed as we were catching the 7 am train to NYC the next morning. I went to NYC when I turned 30---What's wrong with this picture? Hmmmmm...

More to come on the trip...

Pics from Sue's 50th Celebrations

Here are a few pics from Susan's 50th birthday dinner. We had a fabulous time together. Unfortunately, I think Kate upstaged Susan just a little bit...she was definitely the star of the weekend. Susan was very gracious and understanding about that :))) I got to witness my sister in Grandmother mode (although she goes by GiGi)--she bathed Kate and I can tell how much she's enjoying being a Grandmother and how much she misses them, since they live in AZ.

More pics to come but for now....

Happy Birthday Dear Sister!!!

Now for the banquet pics..

Top Left, Brandon receiving Most Improved Swimmer, Shelby receiving Tarpon award, both kids with Assistant Dive Coach Zach Foster and each kid with Head Dive Coach Kristen Roth.

And let us not forget the...

Happy Parents,

glad that Swim and Dive Season is over!

Dive and Swim Season Comes to an End

Well, another successful season of swim and dive has come to an end. Saturday night was the Banquet where recognition and trophies are handed out. This year it was catered by Mama Lucia's and there was a DJ for games and dancing. We were especially proud of both of our kids, for not only having a great season, but each them got individually recognized, too. Shelby got a Tarpon Award for diving. Every year 5 kids from swim and 2 from dive are recognized for this award. Basically, she was recognized for always showing up for practice, doing what was asked of her, having a good attitude and being willing to try new dives when asked. Brandon was recognized for Most Improved Swimmer of the season. Coach Erin asked me at one of the meets what had happened to him. He just kind of took off and started shaving a lot of time off of his original times. He took 12 seconds from his 50 meter free from the beginning of the season and I think around 6 seconds off of his backstroke. Way to go Brandon! He thought they had forgotten his trophy when the announced 9-10 boy swimmers but it was because he was getting recognized for this. He has now told me that he "Loves Swimming!" and he is interested in doing winter swim. The rest of the banquet was a lot of fun--the kids had a blast. Towards the end of the evening they have a slide show of the season. There is a dad that comes to almost all of the swim and dive meets and takes photos of the kids. These photos are incredible and then he compiles them into a 20 minute slide show. I think he photographs every kid on the team at least once! Way to go Tom, it was awesome. I have some other photos but need to get them off of Kevin's camera of the rest of the evening, so I will try and post them later. Shelby and I had to leave early so she could dive at Divisionals at 8am the next morning. More to come on that.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!!

Today is Kevin's birthday--I won't tell how old he his, but wanted to wish him a wonderful birthday!! Just wanted to let him know how much the kids and I love him. I think he has become more handsome as the years have passed-time has been good to him. It's hard to believe but this is the 18th year of us celebrating our birthdays together. We have been through bad times and good times--thankfully more good than bad, but one thing has never changed our love for each other and the kids. So happy birthday to my wonderful husband!! We love you, Elizabeth, Brandon & Shelby