Avery Standing at TPG

Last Friday morning, Nicole hosted TPG (Toddler Play Group) at her house and the theme was APPLES! She put together an adorable craft where we used an apple as a stamp with some red paint. I dropped off Reagan at preschool, then headed over to Nicole's ... on my way, Avery fell asleep in the car, so I transferred her to Bennett's crib. It was nice and relaxing to hang out with my friends on this very rainy morning.

Nicole helping Jack ~ Maribel and Joaquin

Once Avery woke up, I helped her do her very first craft!

She was more concerned with Champ, Nicole's dog :)

Avery has been getting pretty good at standing on her own, in the middle of the room. Of course, by the time I turned on my camera to shoot this video, she had already reached the peak of her performance, so she was starting to get tired. She stood for a very long time before I decided to capture some video. Oh well, you get the picture!

Light the Night Walk

Last night was the 10th Annual Light the Night (LTN) Walk, benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). It was such a nice way to end the fundraising efforts to which Meredith, Nicole and I have dedicated our time. Our fundraising efforts began back in May when we started planning the big garage sale. Once that was over, we planned the night out in Hoboken which took place 2 weeks ago. We all put a lot of time and effort into raising money for the LLS, so we were pleased with the results. I'm not sure of the final figures, but I think we raised just over $6,000 for Meredith's team, the Naratroopers!

Last year, the walk was such a fun family outing ... the weather was beautiful, so it was nice to be on the pier in Hoboken, overlooking the spectacular Manhattan skyline. This year, the forecast was RAIN, RAIN, and more RAIN. In the days leading up to the walk, it rained a lot and we figured everything would be so wet that it wouldn't be worth bringing the kids. So, we left our husbands home watching the kiddies and enjoyed a pleasant adult night.

Thanks to the forecast, I figured it was going to pour rain on us the entire time, so we'd be walking in puddles of water. I hate when water soaks through my shoes, so I wore my only water-proof shoes, my Sorel snow boots! I felt like such a dork when I got there and everyone was in normal shoes and there were no puddles, or rain! It was just REALLY humid and it only drizzled. I'm such a geek in my boots!!


Each person received a balloon that had a little light in it. The three of us also got these yellow shirts for achieving the "Bright Lights" level, which meant we each raised over $1,000.

Team Naratroopers ... We walked in memory of Meredith's mother, Nara Purcell, as well as Bart Heid, Nicole's Father-In-Law. I also walked in support of Nila Mendez, my Mother-In-Law who is currently battling Leukemia.

Patricia and Meredith

Amanda, Nicole and Meredith, just before the walk began

Meredith and her brother, Jim Purcell

Beginning of the walk ... it was so difficult to get a good picture of the illuminated balloons with just a point & shoot camera! If the flash goes off, you can't see how the balloons light up, but if you don't use a flash, the picture comes out blurry. I need a professional camera where I can adjust the shutter speed!

Nicole and her good friend Michael

During the walk ... here is Meredith and her brother, along with their aunt (Nara's sister) and her boyfriend. The white dots are the raindrops.

Meredith, at the end of the walk

Although I was initially disappointed that it was nothing like last year (with our husbands, children, and beautiful weather) it turned out to be a really nice night. Thank you to EVERYONE who helped out in our fundraising efforts ... whether you helped with the garage sale, the night out in Hoboken, or if you donated online, I hope you know how much it was appreciated. Hopefully, the money that was raised will help save and extend lives for those unfortunate people who are diagnosed with blood cancers.

Happy Birthday Abuela!

Today is Nila's 84th birthday! When Reagan first started talking, she couldn't pronounce Abuela correctly (obviously), so she called her "Aw-bay-a" ... we got so used to hearing this pronunciation of her name, that John and I started saying it that way too, always referring to her as "Aw-bay-a." Nila loves hearing this as her name now.

For those of you who aren't aware of Nila's current situation, she hasn't been living with us for the last 6 weeks because she was in the hospital and then a nursing home. Apart from her Leukemia, she's also been dealing with a lot of pain for the last several months due to a fracture in her spine (a result of osteoporosis). There wasn't much they could do other than give her pain medication to help her cope. It was finally getting better, but then it suddenly got worse (about 7 weeks ago). The pain became so severe that she could hardly move. Everyone (John, Nila, and her doctors) figured she had fractured another vertebrae, or the first fracture had worsened. She endured this pain for several days until John finally took her into the E.R. and admitted her. They performed an MRI and discovered an abscess on her spine that was actually due to an infection in her blood! After many tests, they discovered that she had contracted a Urinary Tract Infection, an E. coli infection, as well as MRSA, a dangerous antibiotic resistant strain of Staph Infection! Because the infections were so severe, she needed intravenous antibiotics administered twice a day for 6-8 weeks. As the antibiotics started working, she became more mobile and was ready to leave the hospital after about 3 weeks. She was unable to come back here, since she needed the IV antibiotics each day, so they made her go to a nursing home for the last 3 weeks. She was at a very nice facility called Care One in Oradell.

I wanted to take the kids to see her at the nursing home, but she wouldn't allow it, since she was worried they might pick up some type of virus there. I felt bad that none of us (except John, of course) saw her for those 6 weeks. But since it was her birthday, we insisted on coming over to help her celebrate! So last night, we threw her a party in one of the lounges of the nursing home and we all had a wonderful time!

Abuela & Reagan

Lauren & Jose ~ Carmen and Nila

Debbie & Ethan ~ Jesus and Alexis

John, Doreen, and Jose

Amanda and John

Jesus's wife Debbie made all the arrangements for the food ... she had an Italian restaurant deliver a couple trays of food, as well as some pizzas. Debbie also took care of the cake.

A short video which caught the end of singing "Happy Birthday," then a very quick scan around the room of the guests ... very amateur footage!

Reagan ~ Joshua

Nila & Avery ... doesn't Avery look like such a big girl in these pics? Must be the hair-do and the tights.

Jose was doing his best to perform a few magic tricks for Reagan and she was cracking up!

Carmen & Nayda ... Carmen is Nila and Nayda's Sister-In-Law who was in town from Florida. She was married to their brother Juan, who passed away just before Reagan was born (November 2005). Carmen stood by him and took care of his every need for 30 years while he battled Parkinson's Disease.

Joaquin, Maribel, John and Avery

After we got home from the party, I put the girls to bed, then started baking. I made 2 batches of cupcakes (almost 4 dozen), then frosted them until about 1 am. Today, John and Jesus took them into Hackensack Hospital for all the nurses and staff ... Nila spends every Tuesday and Friday at the hospital, receiving blood transfusions, since her body no longer produces platelets. John and Nila have spent so much time there that they know all the staff very well. John wanted to make some sort of gesture to show his appreciation for the way they have treated his mother. He said the cupcakes were a big hit!

Weekend Away

I was lucky enough to escape for the weekend to one of the most beautiful, serene places, Lake Wallenpaupak, PA. A few weeks ago, my sweet friend Diane was over for a playdate and we were talking about how nice it would be to get away for a few days. Her husband was on his way to his parent's lake house with all his friends for a "guys weekend," so she said we should do the same! The only weekend that worked for both our schedules was September 19th - 21st, so Diane invited her friends and I invited a few of mine. It worked out to be 4 of us: Diane, Nicole, Gina and me. It was so nice to hang out in sweats, with no make-up and just relax!
Diane grew up on Long Island and has known Gina since birth, since their mothers were friends. Gina was so sweet and Nicole and I had a nice time getting to know her. We left Friday afternoon/evening and Diane was nice enough to drive us. Diane's car has a DVD player, so Nicole and I watched a movie on the drive (Juno). Do you know when the last time I watched a movie was? I honestly can't even remember! I was in heaven! Once we got to the town, we went straight to dinner at a great little restaurant called The Boathouse.

After eating lots of good food, we headed to the lake house which is owned by Diane's in-laws. Diane's husband Jack is an only child, so his parents bought the lake house so Jack and Diane would spend most of their summer up there with their kids, JP and Kaitlyn (Reagan went to preschool with JP last year). The house was beautiful ... two floors, so plenty of room, along with an enclosed porch and their own dock on the lake.

When we woke up Saturday morning, Nicole cooked me breakfast, then we headed down to the dock with mugs of hot chocolate to check out the lake.

It was such a gorgeous morning. It was cool at first, so there was steam coming off the lake. Then it started to warm up, so Nicole immediately put her suit on. I didn't even bring my bathing suit because I didn't think it would be warm enough. After sitting in the sun for a little while, Nicole decided it was time to take a dip in the lake ...



Before the jump ...

I tried to take a picture in mid-air, but the delay on my camera prevented that ...

She said the water was cool and refreshing and I told her she was crazy. I had no desire to jump in, since it felt pretty cold on my toes! As you'll see below, I ended up in the water anyway!

We packed some snacks into the cooler and took the boat out for a tour of the 14 mile lake. Diane was an excellent captain!

Nicole and Gina

We had a wonderful, relaxing time out on the lake, eating cheese and crackers, grapes and cucumbers.

Diane was a very confident boat driver, but she was a little bit nervous about pulling the boat into the dock. I've spent lots of time on boats in my lifetime, so I said I'd jump off the front onto the dock as she pulled it in. I don't know how it happened, but I lost my balance and FELL IN!! I wish I had the whole thing on film, since it had to have been hilarious to watch! I was fully clothed, so my sweatshirt was soaked. At least I was in the water, so I was able to hook the rope onto the boat (the ropes rubbed onto my sweatshirt, which is why it's so dirty). Once I was in, it really wasn't that cold ... maybe because I was fully clothed? ;)

Poor Diane thought she ran over her friend, so she was pretty flustered. This caused her to drop her husband's Ray Ban sunglasses into the lake, and she also forgot to turn off the blower of the boat ... the next day when we tried to take the boat out again, the battery was dead! If I hadn't been so clumsy, I'm sure she would have remembered to turn off the blower. Sorry Diane and Jack!
After a nice warm shower, I made everyone join me in one of my favorite crafts: hair bows/clippies! I love making hair clippies ... it's very therapeutic for me to get into a craft. I made some adorable clips to match Reagan's new school clothes and I taught Diane how to make some for her daughter Kaitlyn. RED LOBSTERS! It was a perfect temperature of 72-75 degrees all day, so we didn't realize we were getting sun-burned.

Nicole and I shopped for food, but Nicole was the mastermind behind our meals for the weekend. She made steamed spinach, baked potatoes and steak for dinner, which was all delicious!

A group shot, thanks to the timer feature on my camera

On Sunday morning, Diane made us all crepes! These tasted exactly like the ones my mom makes!
I was pleased to hear that Diane tops her crepes exactly the same way as I do! She cooked them, then I completed them with butter and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar, then I rolled them up. They were too sweet for Nicole, but Diane, Gina and I gobbled them up!
Diane and Gina

After we learned we couldn't go out on the boat again, we went inside and had the perfect lunch: NACHOS! Thanks Nicole for cooking for us again!

It was a fabulous weekend away ... we all left refreshed and rejuvenated. Thanks ladies for a fun weekend ~ looking forward to doing it again!!!