All About Dalton

This post is all about Dalton. He is growing so fast and at times he thinks he is already a teenager. He thinks he is really big stuff now that he has the only bedroom downstairs. It took a few weeks but we finally got the downstairs painted and carpet laid in Dalton's room and the play room. He couldn't wait to move in. Here are a couple of pics of his room. We haven't decorated yet but it will be a space theme as Dalton really wants to be an astronaut or a pilot. He has his heart set on going to space camp in a couple of years.
Dalton has had quite the learning experience over the last couple of months and so have we! He is reaching that stage where he needs more information about certain things if you know what I mean. So a couple of nights a week after the girls are in bed we have been having special time to talk about "older" things with Dalton. Oh the joys of parenthood! I was definitely not ready for this stage.

We took a short overnight trip to Pennsylvania during the kids Winter Break in February. We took them to the Crayola Factory!

This past week was the school's Academic Fair. Dalton had to choose a country from Asia. He chose Israel. I was really not looking forward to doing, I mean "helping" Dalton with this but I think his board turned out nice and we made Chocolate Matzoh, a Jewish passover snack for his project. He also had to give an oral presentation which went well.
Dalton and I can definitely have our moments. Homework time is not one our favorite times of the day. We have months that go by without any problems or issues and then out of nowhere we are reminded in not so pleasant ways that Dalton at times struggles with emotional and behavioral issues. The last couple of months have been one of these times. It should really be no surprise. We have had lots of changes and Dalton has even had changes at school as his teacher had to take an extended leave. We are working through it though. I'm just having to learn to stand my ground and not give in when I feel sorry for him. It's tough especially when I know the loving, caring, and sensitive kid he is. My prayer is that Dalton becomes confident in who he is and most of all in God who will never leave him.

Christmas, Snow, Moving, and a Blessing!

I'm back! I know it's been quite a long break but I've had my reasons!

We spent a wonderful Christmas in Oklahoma visiting all our friends and family. I don't know how but I didn't get any pictures of my dad and Cindy :(





When we returned to New York we found not only 2 feet of snow waiting for us but we found that Santa Clause did not forget Dalton, Lyric, or Samara while we were away!

As soon as Christmas was over we started packing for the big move to our new house. We also played in the snow!


Well Dalton and Lyric did! Samara informed us she did not like the snow and was just as happy to stay inside and play on her slide. Unfortunately for her, the snow kept coming until we were all sick of it.
On January 14th we closed on our house and despite all the snow we moved on the 15th. Thanks to all our friends who helped us. It was a very busy and exhausting weekend. Needless to say our family spent the next 2 to 3 weeks recuperating as we all got sick right after we moved into our new house. No fun!! It takes a while for a family of five to get rid of the sick germ. We did get better and we spent the month of February slowly unpacking and settling in our new house. There is lots to do but we will eventually get there.

As if the move was not enough change for our family, we shared even bigger news with our kids in February. We are going to have a baby! I was a little nervous about how Dalton and Lyric would take it, but I shouldn't have been. I haven't seen two happier kids in my life! They could hardly keep the secret for 1 week and when we told them they could tell, well they told everyone who would listen. Samara was not so excited at first. She kept telling me that she was the baby but she has slowly warmed up and when you ask her where the baby is now she will say "mommy's tummy" or "in my tummy".
We feel so blessed to be expecting again! There is nothing like the anticipation of holding a gift from heaven. Our little bundle of joy will join us around September 7th. I'm finding being pregnant with 3 kids is quite a job. I had just started feeling better and was getting my energy back when I had a few complications and I'm now having a few days of bed rest. (No worries - baby is ok!) I think God was just trying to get my attention to slow down a little bit. If you know me, you know I have a really hard time with that.

So now you also know why I'm finally blogging. I'm bored! I have a post I want to do updating on each of the kids so....stay tuned! I will be back soon.

School Days

It has been a great school year thus far! Dalton is in 3rd grade and he loves his teachers. I think they love him too! Dalton tested so high in Math that he gets to be a part of Math Olympics every Wednesday during recess. Giving up recess to do math is pretty impressive! This year Dalton was able to choose one elective class. He chose drama and he is really excited about his performance as "Tex" in the upcoming Christmas program. I wonder if it was coincidence that he was chosen to be "Tex"!? Twice a week Dalton attends the after school's Tae Kwon Do classes. According to his Master, Dalton is excelling. This year seems to be much easier for Dalton. He is no longer the new kid and everyone knows he belongs to Mr. Penland. He has a good group of friends and he is slowly getting used to all the homework.
Lyric started Kindergarten this year. She was very nervous about this as she started Kindergarten last year and due to the changes in her life we found it was not the right time. She had nothing to worry about though. She has wonderful teachers and she has not had any problems this year. Lyric is known to bring a smile to everyone's face. Her favorite thing to do at school is play at the playdough table. Lyric is starting to read and wants to know how to spell everything. I remember when Dalton went through this stage. I'm glad to see that she is finally excited about learning. Lyric is not in the same class as her best friend Eliana, but they spend plenty of time together throughout the day!
Samara continues to stay with Iris at the school. She absolutely loves Iris and all her little friends. Samara is learning her colors, letters, and numbers. She can say her ABC's and can count to 12. It depends what day you ask her about colors if she knows them or not! lol
That's our school update. Next week is School Spirit week and I will be posting pictures of Dalton and Lyric all dressed up.

8 is Great!

I can't believe the summer is gone and I didn't blog once! I'm a really bad blogger but I do want to catch up. We had so much fun over the summer. It seams like we never stopped. Since we celebrated 3 birthdays this summer, I want to dedicate a blog for each of the kids to let you know about their birthday and all the fun they had over the summer and how each of them are growing up.


Dalton's birthday came first. July 3rd he turned 8! We took a family trip with friends to Sesame Place. Dalton brought a special friend with him. We had a blast at Sesame Place. All the kids really enjoyed the rides and seeing all the characters. Dalton and his friend Kevin were able to ride the float during the Sesame Street Parade!

Dalton chose Chili's for his birthday dinner. Yum! We followed with a Hot Wheel Cupcake Cake.
Bubba and Sissy showing some sibling love! Dalton's favorite gift was his Nintendo DSI. We've had to put some major time limits on it!
Dalton and Elmo!
Dalton and his friend Kevin with Cookie Monster.
So what else did Dalton do this summer? He spent four weeks in Oklahoma and went for the first time to Kids Camp at Turner Falls. He was so excited about going to camp but I was so nervous. I kept telling him that he needed to remember to take a shower every day, etc.... because there would not be a momma there to tell him to always do those things! lol! Anyway he survived and had a really good time. We really missed him while he and Lyric were in Oklahoma. The house was really quiet without them. In August Dustin, I, and Samara traveled to Oklahoma to visit family and pick up Dalton and Lyric. I will hopefully post a separate blog about that trip. But I should note that Dalton went golfing with Dustin for the first time while in Oklahoma.

So we all returned home with about 1 month before school started back. During this time we did a lot of swimming which Dalton loves. He also spent lots of time with Dustin doing "man" things! Dustin let him stay up late with him one night to watch a UFC fight. I wasn't overly excited about that but I don't think Dalton lasted until the end anyway. He has really grown this summer and continues to mature out of the little kid stage. He is a great help and plays well with both of his sisters. He is a true saver and has saved over $70 from gifts and the tooth fairy this past year. Although he is a saver he is also very quick to offer to give his money for any need. This is the sweetest part of Dalton. He is always concerned about others. Dalton picked out a camouflage backpack and lunch bag to start 3rd grade. I don't know exactly why but maybe it is because they had an army theme at the kids camp he went to.

Dalton loves math and science and is already asking to go to space camp when he is old enough. He says he wants to be a pilot or astronaut when he grows up. Dalton also started learning to play the drums at church. He is still just a little bit small! Dalton had his eyes checked a few weeks ago and he no longer has to wear glasses to read. Woohoo! No more keeping up with glasses and fixing them with tape when he breaks them.

I'm so thankful for Dalton and his sweet nature. He is a blessing to our family. Looking forward to all the new things that come with being 8!

June...."Where Have You Gone?"

I thought I should probably post about June before July was officially here as I know my blogging time will become even shorter. Isn't this baby girl so cute? Even with the spaghetti face! I love, love, love her!!!!

She got her first hair cut this past month. She really didn't need it other than her bangs were hanging in front of her eyes, but the hairdresser trimmed up the rest in hopes it would help her hair to grow in fuller. It worked! Her hair has really grown in since then. She sat up so big and never made a sound.

We spent many of our free days in June at friends swimming and playing in the sun!

Dustin and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary. We spent the evening on a dinner cruise on the East River and Hudson River. It was very romantic and we had a great time. I'm blessed to have Dustin as my husband and this past year has really been one of the best. It has been a year of new beginnings and peace. I can't wait to see what is in store this next year.


Our yummy dessert that was awaiting us after spending time on the back of the boat.
I didn't get a picture but do you remember when I posted about the jog-a-thon the kids had at school. Well, Dalton came home with a first place trophy for the most laps jogged for the entire second grade. I think we may see track in his future! He really enjoyed it and we are so proud of him. Way to go Dalton! Lyric also received a third place ribbon for the most laps in Pre-K. I guess all that energy has paid off!

More to come....

June Part 2

June was also a time of accidents. Lyric "Miss Grace herself" had several bad falls. She fell down our driveway which is on a slope and skinned up her entire body and got a nasty bump on her head. About the time the bruise on her head was almost gone she ran into a tv stand at school and had a worse bump in the exact same place as the first. Picture above is from the second bump. About another week went by and she fell down our friends driveway and currently has large scabs on her knees that seem to constantly bleed no matter what we do because she won't leave them alone. I can not tell you how many times we have told her to slow down, watch where she is going, etc.
Samara must have been jealous of all the attention on Lyric and this past weekend she took a horrible fall down the stairs at our friends' house. Once again God had is hand of protection on her. We could barely find a scratch or bruise. She cried for about 10 minutes and then acted as if nothing had ever happened.
One weekend we spent the day at a nearby beach, Orchard beach. It was a great day of family time. Samara was scared of the sand and would cry when we put her down or tried to get her to come off of the towels. Finally near the end of the day we were able to get her to play in the water and then she didn't want to leave. The kids played in the sand, found seashells and other live things. It was such a fun relaxing time!


Dustin dug out this extremely deep hole and this is a picture of Lyric standing up in the hole.
Lyric graduated Pre-K last week. She looked absolutely beautiful in her fluffy pink dress and yellow graduation hat! They had a Hawaiian theme and it was so cute. Lyric received an award for reading the 3rd most books for the year and for being an energetic teacher! She loves to play school and is always the teacher. She tells me that she wants to be a ballet teacher when she gets big!



There was a Greek festival in our neighborhood last week and we took the kids one evening. We ate gyros, corn on the cob, chicken on a stick, and loukoumades. It was so good. They also had carnival games and rides. Samara rode her first ride and I was so nervous as she normally starts screaming any time we put her on the car rides in stores. But this night she had her best buddy Marcus by her side and they did so well! She sat up so big and held on where she was supposed to and eventually she even started waving. My baby girl is definitely growing up!
This is her writing with a pen in Daddy's classroom one morning before school started. She loved going to school and seeing her Iris and all her little friends. I'm sure she will miss them this summer.


So school is now officially out and I am so glad. I love not having to get the kids to bed extra early or having to get them up early every morning. I'm so blessed that I can leave for work every morning knowing they are well taken care of by their dad in their own home. In just a few day we will be in July and so much will be going on. Hope I can share with you more often but I'm not making any promises.

What We've Been Up To....

This month has been busy as usual. Three kids tend to keep it that way. Everyone is getting ready for summer and school will be out in just a month. It feels strange to have the kids in school for the month of June. There are end of the year field trips which have really kept Dustin busy. I think he has gone on more field trips in the past few weeks than I went on a lifetime! He loves it though. The only negative is that most of them have been to Pennsylvania and they don't usually return until 9:00 p.m. We have been missing our daddy in the evenings and daddy is getting tired really fast.Speaking of field trips, Lyric's class took a field trip to ChuckECheese last week. I took off work to go with them. She had a blast! Dalton and Lyric are both continuing to do so well in school. Dalton took the state tests last week and Lyric was tested for Kindergarten. We don't have any results yet but I know both of them did well.

Last weekend our youth group came to the Bronx to help us all work on Pastor David and Cindy's yard. The girls stayed the nights at our house and both Lyric and Samara loved it! They were totally spoiled! Dalton was also excited that he got to spend Friday night with the guys at Pastor Rob's. He's only 7 but loves getting to hang out with the big guys. We got lots of work done on Pastor's yard but we were totally exhausted when Sunday rolled around.

Two weeks ago Deidre and I were treated by her mom to a day at the spa to celebrate our 30th birthdays! We spent the day at the Spa Castle with a group of ladies from our church. It was completely amazing. I have never been to a place like this and I highly recommend it. There were many different hot tubs, pools, saunas, and any type of massage, manicure, pedicure, or scrub you could imagine. I was so blessed to enjoy a day of total relaxation! Dustin and the kids enjoyed a day at home with a trip to the park.

Yesterday the weather was beautiful! We took the kids for a walk in the park following dinner. It was a wonderful evening and the kids had so much fun. Dustin taught Dalton a new trick on his scooter and I just knew Dalton was going to fall and hit his head (he didn't). However Lyric ended up with a scraped knee and Samara smashed her finger in the stroller. So when we got home it was bath time and then we had to doctor all the booboos.


Samara is growing like a weed and repeating everything we say. Her favorite thing to say last night was "That's gross!" Thanks to Lyric we heard that no less than 50 times. So that sums up our last few weeks. The last month of school ahead and much to look forward too!

Before I was a Mom...

Before I was a Mom,
I had never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on,
Pooped on,
Chewed on,
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know that feeling of
having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment,
or the satisfaction of being a mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much
before I was a mom.

I had a wonderful mother's day! I am so blessed to have a wonderful mother and wonderful children! I can't imagine my life without them! The kids got me all kinds of goodies from their school. Dustin gave me flowers and chocolate! I am so spoilt! Dalton gave me this card he made at school. It melted my heart. He is so sweet!