Our Visit to the Big Apple

Times Square

What a different skyline without the Towers

  What an adventure this vacation was!  On Wed we ventured back into the city.  This time our destinations were; Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, then on to Times Square to see the sites and visit the Toys R Us and then to see the Empire State Building.  What a trip.  Took a train into the city and then took the subway to the south ferry.  There we caught the Staten Island Ferry and saw the Statue of Liberty.  Which is a beautiful sight as far as I am concerned!  I believe everyone should make a trip to see her standing strong and proud!

Then back on the subway to Times Square.  The kids did fantastic.  In fact they loved every minute of it.  Toys R Us was a whole other adventure.  The kids loved it naturally.  With the Ferris wheel and all the different things, characters and animated creatures it was like going to an amusement park.

1st Subway ride

Loved this sailboat

Riding the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty

   Had one issue with that store and I plan to address it in a formal letter to the company.  Not going to go into the details here but I was one hot momma and I am to make sure that the company knows that there needs to be some kind of policy change in that store PERIOD!

Ferris Wheel in Toys R Us

Anyway the kids loved it.  They were so great.  We talked about safety before going and had buddies.  They got to use their gift cards that Auntie Caitlin gave them which made EVERYONE happy. 

While on the subway a gentleman played a song he had wrote.  Nothing unusual for the subway I might add.  But this was different because the song was about God’s love and how His love can heal all pain.  It was a beautiful song.  Sean even gave the guy a few dollars of which we would never do but felt led to do.

Later before catching the train home we saw him again.  This time he was witnessing to a lady and sharing scripture with her and talking about Jesus’ love for her.  It was a sight  I will never forget.  I took the time despite Sean’s pleading to go to tell the gentleman that his song really touched my heart and told him I would be praying for him.  I hope he was able to lead that woman to Christ!

Lady Liberty

Penn Station

On the other hand we also saw another guy on the subway begging people for money saying he was homeless and was hungry.  Now don’t get me wrong he might have been but most homeless people do not have money from the subway, most do not look or smell clean or wear top notch clothing either!!!  This guy gave me the creeps and despite the fact that Kris really wanted to give the guy his gold $ coin I had to explain to him that we don’t always give money away to people that do not seem to be what they claim.  It was hard to tell him now because I know in his heart he really wanted to help the guy.  But as we talked about it I asked Kris if he felt God wanted him to give it to the guy or if he felt guilty that he had the coin and the guy didn’t.  He told me he felt guilty.  I told him God would not make him feel guilty about having the coin, but that God would make him feel happy about giving it to the man.  It was a hard situation and sadly there are so many con-artist in NY that sometimes it’s hard to know who really needs help.

Loved this little church amongst the sky scrappers.

All in all it was a GREAT DAY in the Big Apple!

A Trip to the Lighthouse

In May of 1996 Sean and I took a trip, the day after he proposed, to NY.  He not only introduced me to his family but announced that I had accepted his proposal.  Talk about a shock to his family but they accepted me as if they had known me forever. Anyway during that trip Sean took me not only to Port Jefferson, where we sat in a small deli and ate lunch it was during that trip I realized just how much I loved this man. That same week he took me to Fire Island. We were not able to go into the Lighthouse but we took many pictures.  It was during that trip that I fell in love with light houses.  

 So we knew no matter what that we would be taking the kids to see the lighthouse.  It holds special memories for Sean.  He grew up spending summers at the beach, living in a beach cabana with his family and seeing the lighthouse every morning.  It is also where the family donated money in honor of his late father Eugene Kelly to help restore and maintain the lighthouse.

    So off we went to spend the day at the lighthouse with Paul and Kathleen.  We parked at the Robert Moses State Park and walked along a nice board walk to the light house.  It is about a mile and a half walk to and from the light house (I think).  The board walk is new, when Sean and I last went we had to walk along a sandy road to get there.  It was a wonderful day.  HOT day but wonderful! 

Eli being all NY cool like

Hot day!  Poor Kris had major blisters on his feet so he
 put on his daddy's socks.  Next time I will remember not to get him flip flops!

The plague in honor of Sean's father.

Sara went up the lighthouse with Uncle Paul and Kathleen. 
Climbed 192 steps.

Sean and Kris climb to the top as well.

"A Day at the Museum"

Kris was in heaven!  In fact that is exactly what he told me..."I AM IN HEAVEN!"

 
Monday came and a trip was planned.  We gathered everyone up into cars and off we went into the city.  Paul, Nancy, Meghan, Kathleen and Sara in one car and Sean, Michele, myself and our three boys in another.  The destination…American Museum of Natural History….the same museum that the movie “A Night at the Museum” is based on.  A wonderful museum full of riches and wonders of the world.  Honestly the museum is HUGE!!! FIVE levels with numerous rooms full of everything you can imagine.  We were able to go and take part in a few extra exhibits all FREE!  Michele has a friend that is the head of security and fraud.  In other words this man makes sure that everything that the museum exhibits are REAL artifacts and not fakes.  Anyway he gave us 11 free tickets.  Saved us a TON of money.  What a blessing that was to our family. 

   The best part is that our children were able to experience the museum with their cousins and aunts and uncle.  Naturally Kris LOVED the dinosaurs.  We also got to go to the Butterfly Observatory, the Planetarium, and Nature’s Lights of Wonder which was an exhibit of fire flies and live glow worms and other things that naturally glow in the wild.  It was pretty neat but very crowded so you really couldn’t enjoy it much.

The duck billed dino. 

Listening to info on more dinosaurs.

Seeing the sky scrapers for the first time.

Midway through the day we went out on to the streets of NY to get a Dirty Dog, for those that don’t know what that is, it’s a hot dog with mustard.  They were great.  The day was super hot and the kids were exhausted and hungry so we had a bit of a small melt down by Kris but as soon as we were able to get him a drink he was good to go.  Another reason for the melt down was because he wasn't able to spend as much time as he wanted to checking out all of the animal and dinosaur bones. He wanted to read about each exhibit which would of taken all day long.  He has loved dinosaurs since he was 2 yrs old.  In fact he was able to say these long dinosaur names before he could say cat or dog!  Not kidding here.

The trio with the triceratops.

Sara in the Butterfly Observatory

THE GUYS

The Blue Whale

Everyone was tired by this time mainly because between each floor were two LONG flights of stairs that we went up and down many times.  Talk about the work out that day!  Naturally my knee was screaming by the end of the day but it was well worth it to see my kid’s faces light up with all that they were able to see and experience.  A chance of a life time and I HIGHLY recommend if you are in NYC to go visit the museum!!!  I know we will be going back again the next time we go to the city!  That is for sure!

NY Vacation

Off to NY we flew drove.  Flying would have been so much faster!  Driving was so much cheaper! Traveled through KY, W. Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, NJ and then to our destination…NEW YORK.  Long Island actually…Blue Point to be exact. 14/15 hrs later we arrived ready to burst out of the van.  Let me tell you, our new van is WONDERFUL on gas!  We only used 2 ½ tanks full to get to NY.  When we have traveled in the past with our previous van it would take 4 full tanks.  I budgeted $800 for gas round trip and we only we actually only spent $325 for the whole trip!!!! How amazing is that!  Let me tell ya we are for sure jumping for joy!  Now we have gas money budgeted out for other trips we plan to take this summer such as a trip down to visit my friend Elaine and a trip to the Cincy Zoo. 

   So we arrived at Paul and Nancy’s house…Paul is Sean’s brother.  We were greeted by them and their lovely daughters Kathleen and Meghan.  We just love those two girls to death!  Sweet, polite, funny and just down to earth girls.  Oh and I can’t forget Lady and Bernie (the dogs).  The kids fell in love with their two pups. 

   That night we were surprised by Sean’s sister Siobhan who we haven’t seen in 10 years.  We had a cook out and Sean’s other sister Michele came over as well.  It was so great to see the four siblings together.  Sean has another brother Eugene that lives in Colorado and another sister Caitlin who lives in Manhattan.  To see Sean laughing and joking with his sisters and brother made my heart smile.  Yes my heart smiled!  I was so hapy that he was able to see them.  Saturday night Caitlin came in from the city for the weekend and we were able to spend time with her as well.

 I believe Caitlin and Sara look a great deal alike!  The kids fell in love with all of their aunts and of course Uncle Paul.  It’s sad that Eugene wasn’t able to come for the weekend but he is a busy professor at Colorado State Univ.
   Other than spending time with the siblings I think the highlight of the night was seeing Nannie (Sean’s Mom) with her grandchildren.  I don’t think she ever stopped smiling.  She even sat and played Jenga with Kris for a while until the other kids joined in on the fun.

May Happenings

My Mommy

Goodness I really need to get back in to writing.  I do miss it.  Just have been so busy working.  The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy.  We are in the count down till summer around here.  My parents came up from Florida for 10 wonderful days!  I got to spend time with my Mom on Mother's Day!  First time in 6 years.  I was so excited.  My wonderful little sister surprised me as well by coming up for a long weekend.  I love my sissy!  I wish we lived closer.  She hardly ever is serious when we take pictures as you can tell.

 

 

 

My crazy sister Jeanette and I.

The week before my parents came up Eli had his tonsils and adnoids removed.  Boy was that a trip!  That poor guy was in so much pain.  In fact one night I just prayed God would heal him immediately.  I called the prayer team at our church and they began to pray and literally the next morning he woke up after a full nights sleep (he had been waking up 2-3 times a night in severe pain) and didn't ask for pain meds from that night on.  Thankful for God's healing touch!

   With my parents coming up they brought us our long awaited van.  WOO HOO!  The kids call it the space ship because it is like one inside.  SO THANKFUL for our new to us van!  My mom blessed me with her old kindle.  What a new world with that it has been.  Kids love playing games on it and I am finding all kinds of stuff for home schooling the kids.  This past week I found a wonderful devotional called :A Busy Mom's Devotional.  I was able to get it free thanks to a link. It is no longer offered free but here is a link.   Busy-Moms-Devotions-Go

 It has short simple devotions with prayers to go with.  It has really been ministering to me.  I highly recommend it if you want something simple to read on a busy morning or just through out the day!

Surgery

My baby boy Eli had surgery today, had his tonsils and adnoids removed.  He was a nervous wreck as we waited in the room and the nurse was preparing him for surgery.  He was laughing, goofing off and I knew it was all nerves.  He was so brave when they took him back.  Sean was at home with Sara and Kris, both were not feeling well so he stayed with them and Jaron went with me.   I am so thankful Jaron was with me.  The surgery didn't take long but it was nice to have him to talk to.
    I am happy to say that all went well but the poor little guy is so sad tonight.  He is in a lot of pain as expected.  Kristofer had his removed when he was 3 or 4 but I don't remember him being in this much pain.  Maybe it was because he was so much younger, I'm not sure.  I just wish I could take his place.  Take his pain....
  

School Pictures

Spring pictures from school...I converted them to B/W just for fun as well.

 Sara ~ 2nd grade

 Eli ~ 1st grade

 Kris ~ 4th grade

April Round Up

This month is slipping by so fast and I have been so busy with working two jobs (one is temporary), home schooling Jaron and just being mom and tending to my family, that I have let blogging go to the way side.  To say I am an avid writer would NOT be even remotely true.  I do love writing but I just haven't made it a priority.  So to make up for lost time let's do a monthly round up.



    We started out the month with spring break.  Oh how we all needed that week!  I got a wonderful surprise when one of my college roomates called to say she was in town with her children.  She is a remarkable mom taking care of three special needs children.  Her daughter has type 1 diabetes and has had it since she was 18 mo old (I believe) and her two sons are autistic and are on two very different spectrums.  They are great kids and she has done a remarkable job raising them alone. 

   She came for a few days and we were able to get another one of our friends to come over and spend a day with us.  We took the kids to the park and had a nice picnic lunch.  It is great being able to spend time with old friends and your children enjoying time with new friends as well.  A true blessing!

We ended spring break with Easter.  I can not believe how big my kids are getting.  I remember when they were all so excited about hunting eggs after church and getting all dressed up.  The last few years Jaron has helped Sean hide the eggs but this year I made him stay in so he could enjoy hunting the eggs too.  This picture and my cover picture for the blog were taken before we headed out to church.  I am so blessed!

Then came the high light of the year for Sara.  The Father/Daughter Dance at school. 

I can not stress the importance of the father in a little girl's life.  Sean surprised her with flowers and she was so shocked she thought they were for me.  They are still going strong 2 weeks later and every so often I catch her looking at them in amazement that her daddy gave her flowers.  They had such a great time that night.  Again I am so blessed to have a husband that understands how important his roll is in her life.

Of course we celebrated my birthday but lets not focus on me getting older!  Let's focus on that fact that my boy Kristofer turned 10.  T E N !!!  I can not believe he is 10!!!

He has come so far in his little life!  From a child that would not respond to you calling his name to a talkative kiddo, that although his conversations are sometimes only about what he wants to talk about he will have a conversation with you.  From a wild run away child who knew no boundaries to a child that understands there are dangers and he has to be alert and watchful. (He still needs guidance but is doing fantastic in this area).  There were times I didn't think he would make it to "10" but he has and let me tell you his guardian angels have earned their wings and them some!!!

Even last night God sent his angels to watch over Kris as he was trying to be an electrician and remove a light bulb.  The bulb broke off at the base and sparks were flying, he and Eli were screaming and my heart was racing out of my chest.  Oh how thankful God places angels in charge over us!  Again I am so blessed to have my Kristofer!

The biggest news we have is that next week Eli will be having surgery May 2nd to have his tonsils and adnoids removed. He isn't all that nervous or fearful, which I am very thankful for.  I think it's because Kris had his removed when he was 4 and Sara had her hernia surgery 2 years ago.  There is also the fact that he knows we will get him a present for being brave.  The following week we get our new van!  YAY!!!  We have been waiting for F O U R months!  It's been a long time coming and we are so excited!!!!  So unless something else happens between today and the end of this month that is the recap of April!  Shew I'm just tired thinking about it!  LOL!