JessiQuotes

Jessica has decided to start her own blog entitled, JessiQuotes. I am so excited for her to take this challenge on!

I hope she still has time to blog for the family.

Here is the link.

Finally Summer

So we are all done with school for the year! Jess has survived 7th grade and did really well.

Nicole is now a 6th grader and had a great year too! It is the last year at Floral Park Bellerose which will be a hard to go there for only one more year.

The girls are off to Grandmommy and Grandpoppy's for the week. I will miss them but they will have a blast!

Best Friend

One of my favorite memories was having my picture taken with Jess and Towmater! I love Towmater because he is what a friend should be. I hope I am that kind of friend to my friends and eventually my daughters when they are older!

Christmas Day 3

Since we could not go to PA with our family, they came to us on Saturday. My parents, sister and nephew all drove up to see us.

Jessica really wanted a fur hat and Grandmommy came through. She proceeded to scooter on her new wheels with her hat.

We played Wii and ate pot roast along with Jim's mom. We are very lucky that the parents live 90 miles away or we would never have a babysitter as they would all be vacationing together!

I think my dad was surprised I could cook!

Christmas Day

This year Jim and I made the girls a present. These are known as Linus Blankets. They were orginally made for children in hospitals to have something of their own while they were getting better. Nicole received one from her friend Emma but she wanted another. Here are the instructions to make a no-sew polar fleece blanket (we used 2 yards of fabric)

Crispy Sugar Treats

I saw a recipe on the Food Network to make healthy treats. The recipe was by Ellie Kreiger, and it is simple enough so we tried it tonight.

You take a package of wonton or egg roll wrappers, 2 tablespoons of canola oil and powder sugar.

You heat your oven to 375. You cut the wrappers into triangles and dip them in the canola oil until coated. You then bake until light brown - about 5 minutes in our oven. When cool, you sprinkle with powder sugar and they store for up to four days. These are great snacks for under 100 calories.

Jessica's Present

Jessica recently started taking riding lessons. She goes to Lakewood Stables every Saturday for her lessons with Taylor. She rides a horse called Humble Pie. She is very good at trotting and is learning to jump.

Grandmommy and Grandpoppy gave her money for her birthday to buy a riding helmet. You may ask why she chose pink. The reason is one you cannot see in the picture. The sides of the helmet have silver horses.

Happy Birthday Jessica!

On Sunday, Jessica turned 12! She celebrated the day with homemade french toast and bacon for breakfast. She had a scavenger hunt to find her presents-new digital camera and case. She went to King Umbertos for dinner. Finally, she celebrated with a Carvel cake. Her best friend, Kaitlyn, decorated her locker for her. It seemed weird not to have to bake anything to send to school. She is still deciding on a party but at least this year I have some notice.

Jessica Seventh Grader

It is bright and early for Jessica heading over to Floral Park Memorial High School. She is now officially a Knight!

She seems to be enjoying school and has been helping the Freshman class with their activties.

Some classes on tap this year besides the standards-French and Home and Careers.

Trainer in Training

Jess took a picture with one of the orca trainers. I know she would have loved to have been a trainer for the day but she needs another year before she can do it.

Dinner with the Whales

Okay so I got a little crazy and decided at the last minute to eat with the whales. The food was good but the experience was unique. I do not know if I would go back but those whales are about ten feet from my girls.

Dolphins

Nicole and Jessica are petting and feeding the dolphins. We wanted them to experience these gentle and kind creatures before we go swimming with them on our next vacation. The girls really had a lot of fun with the dolphins.

Rays

Jess and Nicole pet the rays. Jess and I actually swam with the rays but they always make her sad now because of Steve Irwin. Hopefully, they will make her smile again!

Sea World

For our last day in California, we went to Sea World. Jess and Nicole are in front of Shamu's Stadium though there is no longer a Shamu.

Nicole decide we needed to sit in the splash zone so I am standing at our seats taking this picture. Jim who was buying popcorn could not believe we chose these seats. But where else would any kid choose to sit?

We did not get soaked but we did have fun!

Wanted Two Cute Girls

Nicole and Jess stand for their mugshots in front of the Shrek attractions. This was one of our favorites rides at Universal and it was well done. After a long day in LA, we headed South again to San Diego for the final day of vacation.

Camp Round Two

With a Mets game in
between, the girls headed to round two of camp. For Jess, this meant traveling down to Pennsylvania and Camp Expressions. She got to stay at my parents house and go to camp daily. At camp, she worked on social skills through a variety of activities including writing the newsletter, taking karate and her favorite, stream stomping.

Her camp had a luau, favorite color, an animal show and crazy hat day. Of course, Grandmommy could not let Jess go with any old hat. So Grandmommy and her designed a hat which of course won! Besides camp, she went horseback riding and shopping as well as scooter until her heart's content with Ryan.

Nicole got two weeks without her sister and a minimum of four hours a day with one of her best friends, Brigid. They attend an acting camp and then got to hang out afterwards. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, it was pay dirt as they were together almost 12 hours!

Nicole got the part of Annie for the finale which she was very excited about. The problem, her very cool parents, got Jonas Brother tickets for the same night. The drama over what to choose!

Camp Round One

Jess and Nicole spent two weeks at camp at Hofstra University. Nicole chose soccer with her friend Emma and Jess chose Camp Adventure which is a program that physically challenges you.

Each morning at 7:45 am the girls would board the bus and would not return home until 5:30! For Jess, it was not so bad because she could relax after camp. For Nicole, it meant going to lacrosse at 7 on Tuesdays and musical theater at 6 on Wednesdays!

They were both great and made new friends as well. Jess had the added responsibility of being in charge of Nicole and Emma and texting us and Emma's mom when they were on the bus.

Both girls want to go back next year which means we finally made the right choice!

Graduation Party

Jessica decided to have her graduation lunch at Benihana's. Here she is with Kelsey, Nicole and Brendan. Her friend Gabby decided to have her party here too!

It was the first time to Benihana's for Grandpoppy and Grandmommy who both enjoyed the meal.

Later, the rest of the family came to our house for cupcakes and snacks.

Best Friends and Seventh Graders

Jessica and Kaitlyn pose for the first time together as seventh graders. Kaitlyn won many awards at graduation. She is a great friend and since Jess finally got her cell phone as her graduation gift the texts have been flying.

Graduation

On June 25th, Jessica graduated from Floral Park-Bellerose School. She won the award for the highest average in reading which was a great achievement.

At the ceremony, awards are given, the band and orchestra play a song and the class sings a song. This year's song was Breaking Free from High School Musical.

Afterwards, a reception follows in the gym which is still decorated from the dance.

Here Jessica is with Grandmom Lillian, Grandpoppy, Grandmommy and Aunt Hilda along with Jim and I. Nicole was still in school as siblings in school cannot attend the ceremony.