Lent

So it is Lent again and once again I have given up something I love-desserts! Why I do this, I do not know but I do. Today while I was at church, Mother Abby talked about temptation. I really took this to heart. Some of my friends ease the Lenten burden by allowing themselves to eat or have the item they have given up during the week on Sunday. We never did this growing up so I always continue my Lenten observance on Sunday as well.

This weekend has been tougher. My niece, Kelsey Baby made cupcakes. They are vanilla with white icing my favorite. They are sitting on the counter calling my name. I am avoiding temptation and writing a blog:) I figure if Jesus could die on a cross, I can avoid a cupcake. His strength was greater than mine but I am going to live up to him because I can.

I also am trying to do something nice daily which my friend Tracy does. Again not the easiest weekend but I am channeling my Aunt Marion. She always has a big heart and is the most forgiving person I know. So I am thinking about her when I need to do the right thing.

Well one week down and five more to go!

School Year 2009-2010

So it is back to school already! Jess is headed to 8th grade and Nicole is off to 6th grade! Wow!

Jess was raring to go to school. She was up and out and even came home and started homework last night with no fights.

Nicole was a little more hesistant. She changed her clothes six times and her hairdo. I really think it is the realization that she should have come school shopping on Sunday instead of watching tv at Grandmom's than nerves. I am not sure she likes her class but it is what it is.

I on the other hand was nervous and sad. It is the last first day at Floral Park-Bellerose. While I have had my battles there, at least it is territory I know how to fight on. I have LOVED serving on the PTA and being in the school with the children. The teachers have been amazing to my girls and some I will always be in touch with. For the nerves, who knows why but I am sure it is because of the amazing trip we are going to take this year together.

So happy 09-09-09!

My Wish!

I got my wish by being in Magic Kingdom for New Years Eve. By 10:00 pm Main Street was closed except for you to leave! They were even escorting guests out of the park through cast member only areas!

We watched the fireworks in Frontierland which was empty! I made my annual midnight call to my mom which she always takes! We then proceeded out the front.

We needed to make two stops so I took Nicole and Jim took Jess. Once we exited the park, the front gate was PACKED! I was glad I only had Nicole. We new the monorail was not going to be an option so we had planned on walking back to the Polynesian.

However, as we made our way to the paths, the boat launch was working so we got on line. Jim and Jess were ahead on line but of course my morals got in the way and we did not cut the line. Two boats later we were headed to the Polynesian and in bed by 1:00 am!

Cinderella's Royal Table

Because we knew the park would be at capacity, my idea to eat at the California Grill in the Contemporary was shifted to New Years Day. We ate with Cinderella and her friends! It was a fun meal with wands, swords and magical deserts!

Magic Kingdom - New Years Eve

One of the reasons we picked this week to go on vacation in Disney World was because I have always wanted to be in the Magic Kingdom on New Years Eve. I got my wish along with 74, 996 other guests (okay maybe not their wish but they were there!).

We started the day eating at Crystal Palace. Nicole even got an autograph book for autographs! We went on our favorites only once for most especially considering Space Mountain broke down! It was a magical day!

Disney's Hollywood Studios

We love this park because of the rides-Rockin' Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror and of course, Toy Storymania! We fell in love with Toy Story in Disneyland and could not wait to ride it here. Of course, with the larger crowds, we needed to wait 15 minutes for a FastPass and by 10:00 am all of the FastPasses were gone so only one trip for us!

We skipped Tower of Terror much to the delight of Jessica and myself and could only ride Rockin once which was not going over well in our house! We usually ride this at least three times a visit! Except for the main rides, other lines were quick!

We did get to enjoy the Osbourne Family Lights and had dinner at the famed Brown Derby!

Hook and Loop

Jess and Nicole got to be a part of a show which taught about the wonders of velcro aka hook and loop. They were contestants in building a block tower cover with hooks and loops.

Jim was a part of the show too. He had to diaper babies and carry them on his apron! Very funny!

EPCOT

We spent almost two full days in EPCOT. The bonus at EPCOT during the holiday season is that they tell stories in all the countries about how they celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa or New Years Day. We enjoyed listening to all the stories. We also got to eat in two favorite countries - Canada and Japan. Jess of course stayed true to her French and had French ice cream every chance she could.

With the additional crowds, FastPasses were gone for Soarin, Test Track and Mission Space by 2:00 pm. The queue for the ride in Mexico featuring the Three Callberos was all through out the attraction. Spaceship Earth which was update posted a 30 minute wait time. We all enjoyed the new features in Spaceship Earth but a lot of the original still remains.

One highlight in EPCOT was seeing my friend Laura who now works for Disney. She invited us to a taping of a video in America. My friends Gary and Pam were there too, and we even got to be in the video! Okay, we held a sound screen so that when Angela Bassett recorded the video you could not here the air conditioner! We did get to meet her and her husband, Courtney Vance. She was very sweet. We then got to listen to them read the Candlelight Processional. I was not sure I was going to enjoy the show again because I had experienced it last year. However, the show takes on a different feel depending on who is reading it. I think I enjoyed it more. Jim really loved it and would gladly go again!

I think EPCOT was my favorite park during the holidays!

Hello Polynesian!

We were very lucky to spend the week between Christmas and New Years at Walt Disney World. This was my reward for working with the www.disneyworldmoms.com for the year. We stayed at the Polynesian which was a new experience for us. We loved being on the monorail and our room was near the main building and pool though we only swam New Years Day.

We took Magical Express, another first, and arrive around noon to our hotel. We were greeted with leis as is the tradition in the Hawaiian islands.

We quickly unpacked and headed to EPCOT for the start of our vacation. We even got stuck on the monorail for about fifteen minutes and overlooked Spaceship Earth with its winding line another first!

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

So just so you do not think I am not like the typical American mom who only makes gifts, we did splurge and get the girls the iPod Nanochromatic for Christmas.

While we thought they would be handy on our trip flying Delta, the girls played with their DS instead.

However, they were dancing with them the whole day!

Since Jim was working, we spent the day in New York. We ate Chinese with him at the hospital. While we were feeling sorry that we could not be in PA with the rest of our family, we discovered a series of 911 quilts in the atrium of the hospital where we ate dinner. One of the quilts was about a friend of Nicole's dad who died in 911. I will never be so grateful to eat dinner in the hospital again.

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)

Christmas with the Choisez's

Since we have family in two different states, Christmas is celebrated over a long period of time. Christmas Eve is celebrated in New York. Since Jim's family comes from Germany and Switzerland, we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with them at his brother's Ken's house.

Since we both had to work, the girls went to their cousin's house, Brendan and Kelsey, to visit and get ready. They headed to four o'clock mass at their parish which I attended as well. Only problem, they were downstairs and I was up.

We met at Ken's about 5 and waited for the rest of the family to arrive. The kids opened their gifts before dinner starting with the youngest, Kelsey. We ate and then waited for Jim to arrive around 8.

That is when the fun began. The adults do a "Gift Card Exchange". Everyone buys a gift card and wraps it. Then we draw numbers to pick the order we choose our gift. From there, a lot of stealing and plotting begins but everyone has a good time.

From there, it was off to home to place cookies and hot chocolate out for Santa. I still had to wrap Jim's gifts but it was a fun evening!

The Last Two Months

So what have the Choisezs been up to:

Nicole ran for Vice President of Student Council and lost. We had a Sarah Palin party for her and her friend Emma who ran against her. She also turned 10 which means no one in the house is in single digits. She still has not decided on how to celebrate her birthday with her friends.

Jessica continues to help out the freshman class at FPM. She started and completed her science project on hydroponics. She grew bamboo in four mediums: soil, water, legos and cloth. She also had her first horse jumping competition. She did really well with a fifth place and two sixth place ribbons. She loves her horse, Humble Pie, and now wants a horse along with a dog.

Jim is trying to get back into running. He is working many hours of overtime and enjoys the work. While he will be working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, he says it is okay because he is saving lives.

I have been very busy. I went to West Point for three days for work, was home a day and then went to Disney to help with the new Disney Moms Panel winners. Only 17 days to ask me a question. I have become addicted to social media and regularly update Facebook and Twitter. Now I need to get them to work in tandem on the iPhone which is my favorite treat ever.

We are all ready to go on our first vacation over Christmas-yup we are going to Disney!

15 Years

Okay so I am not as technically savy as my children but here is a picture of Jim and I on our wedding day. We had a great day and dashed off to Disney, the first of many trips there, the next day.

I remember missing my Grumpy but knew he was with me that day.

Now, we have Jess and Nicole and though it has not always been easy, we still laugh a lot.

We share are anniversary with two other sets of friend:

Patti and Ed -Happy 25th!

Neha and Ash - Happy 3rd!

The Whole Gang

Here are all the kids who enjoyed the last Saturday of summer on Daisy Avenue!

Block Party 2008

So we ended our summer with a block party. One of the games the deejays played was Stuff the Shirt. Each team had to blow up balloons and then stuff them under a shirt. Jim was the winner with 40 balloons under the shirt.

The party was a lot of fun!

Wrapping it Up in California

The whales came right over to us after dinner. We headed back to our hotel so that we could get a good night rest before heading home in the morning. We all loved California and I know Jim and I would move in a heartbeat. It was relaxing without being slow and the weather was perfect. I am glad we went!

So Jim...

So Jim took the "big" test on Monday, August 11 to get his radiographers license. He was happy he passed.

Since he passed, we got to go on vacation without much stress except getting on a flight. Thunderstorms have been bad this summer and it forced us to change where we flew into for vacation. We landed in San Diego with me flying the jumpseat. I actually helped the crew and met Billie Jean King.

This is Nicole and Jim on the bus tour of the San Diego Zoo. We arrived around 3 and had lunch. We took the bus tour and then went back to see some of our favorite animals. We loved the meerkats, giraffees, koalas and the panda bears.

It was a nice way to stretch our legs before we headed two hours north to our hotel in Anaheim for the LA portion of our trip!

The Rest of the Crew

Jim's cousins, Rick and Erin, along with Nicole, smile for the camera. Rick is Nicole's Godfather and Erin could be her mom because they look so much alike! We love hanging out with them whether it is out their house or on their boat! I always smile when I think of them especially when I am making my coffee!