Saturday, March 31, 2007

We have purchased a new video camera

I am hoping to be clever enough to figure out how to post video on this site. We already have some riveting footage of Avery's karate class and Jack getting a haircut. Can you believe that I don't charge you for this entertainment? I'll keep you posted. Get it? Posted? Post? On a blog? Sorry. Its been a long week.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Funny Avery story

Apparently it is all the rage in preschool to determine who you are going to marry early. You know, get a head start on things. And my Avery is no exception. Last week she told me that she had two boys that she wanted to marry, and it seems they returned the sentiment. "Mommy, I want to marry both Aiden and Nolan and they both want to marry me". Great news! Two suitors from which to choose. I could sleep more soundly knowing that my 5 year old had her future under control.

Next night. "Hey Mommy. Remember how I told you that both Aiden and Nolan wanted to marry me and I wanted to marry them"? How could I forget? "Well, I broke up with Nolan". "Avery Rose, where did you learn that term"? "I don't know, I think I heard Alou say it once" "Well what did you say to Nolan"? "I said "Nolan, I want to break up with you"". "And what did he say"? "He said "That's okay, I don't want to marry you anymore anyway". "Ave, did this make you sad"? "NO! I have Aiden to marry". "Ave, what is it about Aiden that makes you want to marry him"? "Wellllllllll, he's kind of cute and he wants to marry ME"!

I am happy to report that I am raising a very sensible young girl.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Welcome Baby Luca

here's the picture...


I don't have a picture yet, but my friend Rhonda gave birth yesterday to a little boy. I happen to think he will be an extra special little guy because he shares a birthday with my father. As soon as I have a picture, I will post it.

Congrats to the Campanario and Dellaripa families.

The streets of Hartford, CT are a little safer...or are they?

My very good friend Candi has just completed her training at the Hartford Police Academy and she is out on the beat busting perps. I went to her graduation last Wednesday. Very nice little ceremony. Candi is an inspiration to me because she made a very hard decision to leave a comfortable job (ok, those of you who know RHI know what I mean by comfortable), went through 6 months of physical and mental torture to arrive at what really is her dream job. Isn't she cute as a button? Oh wait, she is a cop now...cute as a button probably isn't that intimidating, is it?

Congrats, Officer Hendrix. Love you.

Hi-ya part 2




Ok, so I went to class with Avery yesterday and I met Sensai (no clue if I am spelling this right) Jonathan, who runs the school. He was explaining the process to me as far as earning belts goes...right now she is a white belt and to get through the beginner program, she has to get up to her orange belt. He seems to think this will only take her a couple months! To progress between belts, a student has to earn three stripes, and then they can test out of that belt to move on. Avery got her first stripe right away (that is what the strange picture is of). There are 2 things that I love about this school. The first is that every single teacher is fantastic with the kids. The dojo is a little family. The second is that they are teaching behavior, along with the physical aspect of martial arts, and they involve the parents. For instance, yesterday before they gave her the first stripe, they asked me what I thought she needed to work on at home. I chose "first time listening". So when they gave her the stripe, they told her that to get the next one and to progress to her next belt she needed to work on behavior as well as her moves. Oh, the other picture is Avery standing in "front position". There is a very interesting dynamic between Avery and Sensai Jonathan and I think I need in on it. He brought her the belt and was showing me how to tie it for class and he very quietly said something to her that made her stand right in front position. I was sitting right next to them and didn't hear him-that is how quiet he said it. I asked Ave later what he said and she told me that all he said was "Front position". I need to figure out how to get her to react to me that way! So if you see her, give her props for the stripe (possibly stripes soon..she is going to be going twice a week) and ask her how "first time listening" is going. www.integritymartialarts.com

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

This was my morning




Today was yellow day in Jack's class. You can't see it really well in the picture but he is wearing a yellow and white seersucker shirt. (Thanks Aunt Peg) The hugging picture was right after Jack smacked Avery in the head with something-he was saying sorry.
Not much else to say today. I am off to make a present for my very good friend Candi who is graduating from the Hartford Police Academy. :)

Saturday, March 10, 2007

he's good


Jack has a great pout. He pulls out all the stops when he is mad. This face started as a pout and ended up weird...
(as a side note, i have to tell you that the camera on my phone is excellent-i have the LG Env with Verizon)

Friday, March 9, 2007

Hi-ya!


So, Avery has been taking karate at the JCC where she goes to preschool. Her instructor called us the other day to tell us that she was doing so well that he wanted to put her into a class to work towards her orange belt! He said that she listens, follows direction and is doing very well for her age. After we confirmed that he was in fact talking about our daughter (the listening and following direction part really threw us) we signed her up. She starts tomorrow!

3/10/07...class update. She marched into this class like she owned the place. Showed the boys what for. :)

Monday, March 5, 2007

John Mayer


I guess you are going to have to take my word that this is John Mayer. That is him in the red spotlight. I went to see him at the Mullins Center last Monday. He is dreamy AND one hell of a musician. Here is his website...slightly more advanced than mine. www.johnmayer.com

What's going on...

To catch everyone up...
  • On Wednesday, Dan and I attend the first meeting for parents with children entering kindergarten in the fall. Kindergarten? When the hell did that happen? Stay tuned for stories of me sobbing.
  • In addition to working full time at Robert Half International (www.rhi.com), I continue to teach part time for Holyoke Community College (www.hcc.mass.edu). This semester I am teaching 2 online classes. In fact, right now, I should be reading midterms instead of writing in this blog, but....
  • Dan is working at Worldwide Staffing (www.wwstaffing.com) and is becoming a very good "soccer mom". He is the one that takes kids to birthday parties, karate classes and the like.
  • Avery is moving from her 2 day a week karate class at the JCC, to a one day a week "belt" class. Her karate teacher has said that she is progressing very well and wants to get her working towards her orange belt. Seems she pays attention in class. Hmmmm.
  • Jack is not in any sort of organized activity just yet. He spends his time at school being chased by one of the little girls who just loves him. According to Jack she is "bad for his life".
  • More to come...

Meet Avery Rose




Now, this is my Avery girl. I took this picture yesterday at the Purim carnival. For those of you who don't know what Purim is all about, here is a link for you...http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Purim.htm



I think my Dad would be very proud that Avery went dressed as a Home Depot employee. Avery is 5 going on 17. She loves everything to do with animals, and is currently begging for a dog. Or 2. She is very creative and very dramatic. I see a future in the arts for her. She is watching me do this and has asked that I add the heart at the top of her posting...

Meet Jack



So this is my little Jackie man. He will be 3 in June. His picture is representative of his personality...for the most part, he is a smiley, happy, funny little guy. He loves pirates, Harry Potter, and much to my delight, baseball. I know we are biased, but he is very smart and very clever-much to the dismay of his sister.

Welcome to our Blog!

I swear on something sacred that I am going to try to keep up with this blog. I hear too many complaints that you don't see enough pictures of the kids...here is the first round of important info....

On May 19-20, 2007 I will be participating in the Avon 2 day Walk for Breast Cancer..if you are able to sponsor me, click below...

http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR?px=1677429&pg=personal&fr_id=1280&et=rjACb7c8qQJXOS78qYdmxg..&s_tafId=154222