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!

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.

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!

Student Council Representative

Nicole was elected as Student Council representative for her fifth grade class. As a fifth grader, she can go on and run for Vice President of the entire Student Council.

I wish she was 25 years older because she would make an excellent President.

Congrats!

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.

Finished

Michelle and her husband, Brian, and Darcie and her daughter, Tori, are glad the race is over. They looked like they had fun after running 3.1 miles, going through an obstacle course and then returning back into the park to complete a scavenger hunt.

There was a party after the race and Michelle and I headed to Expedition Everest to ride the rollercoaster. We met up with most of the other ladies and Lou Mongello. We rode the coaster in the dark which was awesome!

My family does not have to worry about me jumping ship again as I am not do in Disney until December 5 for 4 days and then back down again for 6 days with them.

Triceratop Spin

While my friend, Michelle, ran the race I played Mary Poppins for her daughter, Elizabeth. We waited in the corral with the other moms to start and even got videotaped as we stroded out of the gate and into Animal Kingdom.

Elizabeth made sure we went on Triceratops Spin two times before we ate ice cream and then two times after we ate ice cream. We had no problems.

Disney again?

Thanks to Jim, Erin and Lillian I was able to join my friends in Disney for the weekend. They were all there to run a 5K race called Expedition Everest. I was suppose to run but during race registration oil was at $125 a barrel, and I was not taking a chance of having no seat to fly in.

Lucky for me, the flights were able to squeeze me on and I made it to the party! I went to Mickey's Halloween Party Friday night, breakfast at Boma Saturday and then toured EPCOT for a few hours. Saturday night, I was at the race in Animal Kingdom. Sunday, I went to Disney's Hollywood Studios and then home.

JBU at T5

JBU was waiting for ice cream during the afternoon. Bernadette, Randal, Wendy, Terri, Shana, Dan and Lynn wait for anything Mr. Softee has in stock.

Neha was smart and got her ice cream before lunch!

T5 Opening

On Monday, September 22, JetBlue opened its new terminal to its Crewmembers to tour and explore. We had a good old fashioned cookout, guests and then a party at 3:00 pm to rock out.

The restaurants served some amazing food -stop by Revolution for made to order guacamole. There was a passport to have stamped which entered you for some fun prizes.

Here I am with Bernadette, Neha and Wendy my main peeps at Blue!

Jim Radiographer

So Jess and Nicole thought Jim should have his picture taken on the first day of his new job.

He is officially a radiographer and is at the same hospital he trained at South Nassau Communities Hospital. He works 12-8 so he takes the girls in the morning and I have them right after school as I now work 7-3.

He also works a lot of overtime but seems to be enjoying his new career!

Nicole Fifth Grader

Nicole is venturing to Floral Park-Bellerose alone this year. She has Mr. D the most popular fifth grade teacher. She is continuing chorus this year and is going to join the drama club.

She was even selected to be in Probe which is for gifted children.

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.

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!