Katelyn’s First Day of Preschool!

My big little Katelyn started Preschool this week! As with Ashley, I was nervous for her first day, I didn’t want her to cry and be upset because we were leaving. After all, this is the first time that we are leaving her by herself at school, and we sometimes forget, but she’s only 3 years old. For dance and swimming we are right there watching her, but this is different. Luckily for us, Katelyn was Katelyn, brave and happy to play with kids, she said Bye and went on her way to play! When we returned to get her, she was surprised that we were back already to pick her up! So proud of our Katelyn!

Welcome Katharina!

I’d like to officially introduce our new au pair, Katharina. Even though she arrived in the middle of August, and her pictures have appeared on my blog, I haven’t had a chance to write a bit about her. Katharina also comes from a Russian family from Germany. She’s an only child and she loves cats and Spiderman, just kidding! (This is an inside joke.) I won’t lie, it’s been a rocky start for her, she had a loss in her family just before she got here, and on top of that this has been the most difficult transition for Ashley. Ashley is a creature of habit, and had a pretty rough time when Natalia left. While Katelyn can still be bribed with lollipops and donuts, Ashley is very loyal and it takes time for her to get used to change. I thank Katharina for her patience and for hanging in there while we figure out our new school routine, and learning everything that we do on daily basis.

At this point, Katharina has bonded with the girls and they miss her when she’s not there. We are grateful for having another caring, sweet au pair as part of our ever-growing family. Katharina has learned the ropes quickly, and is doing great keeping up with kid’s school, swimming, dance, library, and all the house responsibilities! Not to mention the never-ending help that I need in the kitchen with prep and clean up :) I’ve even tested her cake decorating skills, and she’s passed the test!

Last week was Katharina’s birthday, so we had a BBQ to celebrate the occasion. She helped me make her a chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting.

(It doesn’t get any more American then that!) A couple of her new friends came over, along with Indira, my mom, Joan and David. We had a great time! Check out this birthday cuddle from Katelyn!

Ashley learned to ride her bike without the training wheels!

Ashley reached another huge milestone recently. She's been asking us to take her training wheels off her bike all summer, but we weren't sure if she was ready yet. None of the other kids on our street her age can do it yet. This Labor day, September 3th, we finally did it and Mike started to teach her to ride. The first day was not easy, check out her first ride with Mike helping her: Ashley insisted that she wanted to practice more, and with help from Mike, myself, and Katharina, she got the hang of it quicker than I thought she would. After a while she said she doesn't want any help, and wants to do it by herself. She really surprised me, how determined she was to get this! She made a couple of boys on our street feel a little embarrassed that she got it before they did. She's now able to kick off by herself, and stop, and turn! Congrats to Ashley!!

Mike’s Commencement Ceremony

This month, we had another super-amazing accomplishment to celebrate, Mike’s Thomas Edison State College Commencement Ceremony! Mike earned a degree in Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.), Computer Information Systems. Even though he got his diploma last winter, he had to wait for commencement until now. He’s worked really hard for this, and graduated with honors and a 4.0 GPA!! Here’s his graduating class:

Can you find Mike?

We made a M-I-K-E sign to hold up so that he could easily spot us in the stands. (My mom and Ashley are hiding behind letter K)

Here’s Ashley and Katelyn with Mike after the ceremony. They behaved themselves really well, considering we had to stay seated for over two hours! They made special graduation cards for Daddy, telling him how proud they are of him!

Here’s all of us (minus Katharina, who’s taking the picture)

It was a day to remember. We are so very proud of Mike for all he's accomplished, completing his degree all while being a good daddy to our little kiddies, working full-time, being a Mayor of our town!

Our 12th Annual Wedding Anniversary BBQ Fiesta

This year we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. And to keep with tradition, we again threw a big backyard BBQ to celebrate the occasion. Even though our wedding anniversary is in June, we’ve moved our BBQ to September, so that we can celebrate Katelyn’s birthday, which is only a week after our anniversary date, and not have to combine the two. This year we decided to go with a Mexican Fiesta theme, which included Mexican style food (all homemade), margaritas, sombreros and Mexican mustaches. :) We had about 120 people over at the house, but everything went without a hitch and we had a great time! It was really nice to catch up with some friends that we haven’t seen in a while, and see everyone’s kids! Here’s a slide show of the pictures that I took: Note to self: need to delegate picture taking to someone else :)

The Fresh Beat Band Live Concert!

There’s a show on TV called The Fresh Beat Band, it’s about four friends in a band who go to school together and love to sing and dance. Ashley and Katelyn absolutely LOVE this show and know all of the songs that they sing. So, for Katelyn’s birthday, I was lucky enough to be able to get us front row tickets to the Fresh Beat Band Live concert!! It was Ashley and Katelyn’s first concert, and it was amazing! Here’s us waiting for concert to start:

These guys can really sing, and they were so good with the kids. Since we were in the front row, they got to talk to them, and it was as if they were singing to Ashley and KK, making eye contact with the kids and waving to them. Ashley was just beside herself, they look, and sing and dance exactly like on the TV show.

Shout (the guy in the orange shirt), came off stage and sat next to Katelyn and I! She’s still talking about it!

It may be cheesy, but it was really fun to see Ashley and Katelyn so excited! It was a great afternoon!

Ashley's First Day of Kindergarten!

I can’t believe this day has come, Ashley started kindergarten!! My little big girl is now taking the school bus to school every day! She loves her new teacher, Mrs. Rogers. And she already made a new friend! She’s learning to read at a fast pace, and her writing skills are pretty impressive for a 5 ½ year old! Here’s picture of the first day of school. She has to wear this tag for the first week, so that there’s no confusion about where she has to go once at school.

And here’s her getting off the bus on the first day, big smile, she had a great first day!

Every Friday, Nana is there to walk with us to the bus stop, it’s a special treat for Ashley. There’s a nice shady bench on the corner of the bus stop, so we can relax while we wait for the bus to come.

I have to say that Ashley has been surprising me with some amazing new things recently, really showing how mature she’s getting. We are very proud of her!

Good-Bye Natalia!

Yesterday, we had to say good-bye to Natalia. She came to us from Germany last August, yet it seems like it wasn’t that long ago that we were anxiously waiting to meet our “Next” au pair, wondering if it’s going to work out, thinking if Natalia can fill the big shoes that Indira did for almost two years. We couldn’t be more grateful for having Natalia in our family even if it was just for a one short year, taking care of Ashley and Katelyn, and being there for me when Mike was away in the evenings or helping me with one of my crazy cake projects late into the night, including this one :)

I really can’t thank Natalia enough for doing the job that she did, and making it look easy juggling two kids, and all the responsibilities that come with being our au pair, all while keeping a smile on her face. Natalia, you are one of a kind and I hope that Ashley and Katelyn grow up to be just like you! We love you to the Moon and back!

My toothless beauty

This month, Ashley's bottom tooth began to wiggle, and two weeks later on August 17th, her first baby tooth was out! She was so excited, we called Nana, Busenka and Emma & Liam next door to inform everyone of the good news. The tooth fairy came to visit Ashley that night and left her $20 for her tooth, along with a note saying that she won't take her tooth since she knew that Ashley wanted to keep it.

Fast forward 11 days, and on August 28th, Ashley's second baby tooth came out. Now she's official ready for her first day of Kindergarten!

My little dancer

Katelyn boogieing down at the Jazz Concert in Red Bank. When the music stopped, people clapped and she thought they were clapping for her because they liked her dancing. She was very excited! :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Katelyn!

Here we go again, my little monkey Katelyn is now officially 3 years old! I just read what I wrote about her on her second birthday, and I can attest to the fact that she’s still the same. It’s amazing how early on a child’s personality forms. She’s so cute and funny, just chattier now that she’s three. She loves to crack jokes, sing along to the radio and give big hugs and kisses. She loves to make up stories in her soft “princess” voice, especially when it’s time for bed and she needs to stall. She’s always very opinionated and sometimes bossy, but I think both are good qualities to have in today’s world. It’s clear that she will be a leader and not a follower. It’s been fun watching her interact with Ashley, the playing field has more or less been leveled. They have grown to be very close, playing nicely together most of the time, wanting to sleep over in each other’s rooms and having cute conversations in the back of the car. Katelyn has learned a lot from Ashley, she definitely wants to be like her big sister, except for their personalities are almost opposite of each other. Since the beginning Ashley has been able to focus for long periods of time, read long books, string beads into necklaces, color and play board games. She prefers to stay home then go to her dance class. She’s sensitive and a little OCD about the way she likes her things to be, and can get possessive of her stuff. Katelyn, on the other hand, doesn’t like sitting still for too long, she rather run around, dance, jump, and doesn’t really have the patience to sit still and focus on a tasks that she hasn’t mastered yet. When she gets frustrated she gets mad, not upset, and gives up. She doesn’t care for things, if Ashley wants something of hers she’ll give it to her. She’s not scared of anything, and can stand up for herself if need be. She also doesn’t like wearing socks or jackets, and prefers to sleep without pjs on. She’s definitely a free spirit in more ways than one. What I love about Katelyn is that she loves spending time with me in the kitchen cooking, may be it’s something that she’ll want to pursue when she’s older. While Ashley rather watch TV, Katelyn will perch up on the counter top and help me stir, measure and taste, especially if it’s something sweet  Ashley and Katelyn’s tastes are completely different. Ashley is my little rabbit; she loves fruits, vegetables and waffles. Katelyn likes meat and sweets, and no potatoes.

Around Katelyn’s birthday, I took her to see her pediatrician Dr. Yia. She measured at 38 ¾ inches tall (90% for her age) and 32.6 pounds (50% percentile). Dr. Yia tried to assess Katelyn by asking her some questions which Katelyn refused to answer. One thing about Katelyn is that she doesn’t like to do things on demand, so when Dr. Yia asked her to count and to name colors of things in the office Katelyn thought it was a game. She can count to more than 20 and knows her colors, just on her own terms. Dr. Yia asked her what she would do if she was tired, and Katelyn just didn’t know what to say. She does not like to sleep, so that answer was not an option in her mind. Lol Anyways, even though Katelyn likes to do opposite of what’s asked of her, she’s still a sweet and very smart little girl, who we sometimes call KK, Kitten, Monkey or Cake (Ashley’s favorite). Katelyn and Ashley make our lives meaningful. We are so proud of them both and watching them grow is pure joy. Happy Birthday Katelyn!

Ashley's Bring a Friend to Dance Class

After the recital Ashley had one more dance class where she was allow to bring a friend. Of course, Ashley brought Katelyn. Katelyn absolutely loved it!! She paid attention and behaved herself very well. In September, dance school is going to resume again, we already preregistered both Ashley and Katelyn. I can’t wait for Katelyn to start her lessons. I think she’s

going to do great!

First Haircuts in a Salon

I finally made an appointment with Carmela's sister, Tanja, to get Ashley's and Katelyn's hair cut. There were both long overdue, and I was afraid that if I tried to do it myself again, like I did two years ago, it won't go so well.. They both thoroughly enjoyed getting pampered in a salon for grownups. And Tanja did a great job!

Ashley's First Dance Recital

June is always a super busy month for us, lots of birthdays and celebrations, not to mention our wedding anniversary, this year we had one other event on our calendar - Ashley’s first dance recital. She has been taking ballet and tap classes at NJ Dance Center since September, but nobody except Natalia, Joan and I have seen her dance. The recital was held at the Brookdale Performing Arts Center, which seats several hundred people, so this was a big day for Ashley. She got to wear make up for the first time and all of us, including Mike and my mom came to watch. Ashley was very proud of herself, especially of the fact that she wasn’t scared to dance on big stage. Here are links to her ballet and tap dances (Ashley is the third in from the right, taller one in the bunch)

Washington DC Trip

Last weekend we went down to Washington DC to see the Cherry Blossoms. It was the first time that we took both kids with us for an overnight trip. Natalia and Indira came along as well. We had a great time!

Playa Mujeres, Mexico Vacation

Last week Mike and I got to get away for vacation to Mexico, our first in two years! We’ve been to Cancun area twice before but not to Playa Mujeres. We stayed at Excellence Playa Mujeres, an adults only resort, and I have to say it was the best all-inclusive trip that we’ve ever been to. The resort was very new and very well kept, beach was very clean and not crowded, service was great, food awesome, and pools were heated! We spent most of the time relaxing by the pool, walking on the beach, sipping margaritas and taking cat naps. They had eight restaurants to try including Mexican, Mediterranean, Italian, Spanish, Asian, Indian, Lobster House and Steak House. The food was really good! Not to mention the options they had for breakfast and lunch.

We ventured off the resort only once to go on a tour of Coba Archaeological Park. It’s an ancient Mayan site located in the middle of the jungle about 2.5 hours from Playa Mujeres. It is one of the biggest Mayan cities in Cancun area. Coba has several large temple pyramids; the main pyramid, Nohoch Mul meaning large hill is 138 feet tall and is the tallest pyramid on the Yucatan Peninsula. It has 120 steps and I’m proud to say that Mike and I made it to the top and back down in one piece! The wind was gusting at times that it was a bit hard to not get blown off of there but we made it! It’s the last tall pyramid in Cancun area that you can still climb; other sites no longer allow visitors to climb so this was special.

Coba site is also where the original Mayan stone stele is located, which is the origin of the prophecies about 2012. After a bit of searching for it, since nothing at this site was labeled, we found the original in a hut, surrounded with metal wire mesh. The replica of it was also on display on the ball court where original used to be. Mayans don’t see 2012 as the end of the world but rather as a beginning of a new era.

Our Coba tour included some outdoor adventure activities, including rappelling, zip lining, kayaking, hiking and swimming in a cenote (a sinkhole) and lunch served by Mayan’s at their village. Once we got to Coba, we learned that the main temple is about 2 miles from the park entrance, so we rented bikes and rode them into the park to save time getting from one site to another. It was a long day, but well worth it.

Overall it was a great trip, very relaxing. We’ll definitely be coming back again, perhaps next time with kids, and stay next door at the family resort which is just as nice. Here are pictures from our trip:

Ashley, The Ice Skater!

In January we took the whole family to see Disney On Ice show. Both Ashley and Katelyn thoroughly enjoyed seeing Tinker Bell, Mickey and Minnie, Ariel and other Disney characters dancing and singing on ice. The whole show they couldn't take their eyes off the ice, and just kept saying, "Wow!". I can't wait to take them to another show!






Before the show, Natalia had an au pair meeting at the Red Bank Ice Rink, so Ashley and I came along to skate. It was hard for Ashley, since the figure skates that we rented were hurting her feet and we had to get her the hockey skates. Nevertheless, after getting over her bad mood over not being able to skate, she vowed to not give up and keep practicing! We had a great time.




After this one run, I bought Ashley her own skates, which are more modern - no laces, plush on the inside, with velcro buckles like on roller blades. She practiced walking on them around the house and yesterday we went to the rink for the second time with her. She did amazing! She figured out how to balance herself, and at the end got pretty comfortable with skating holding on to me with one hand! Unfortunately, my camera battery died, so we were only able to get one video of Ashley when she was still feeling out the ice. Perhaps we've uncovered another talent of Ashley's other then swimming and art!

Kid's Swim Lessons

Ashley has been going to swimming for seven months now, and has made a tremendous progress since last summer. She can now swim on her belly and on her back the whole length of the pool! Swimming is her favorite sport.

Here are a couple videos from last week's class:




Katelyn has also started swim classes as of last month. So far, the one thing that she's been able to master is floating on her back by herself. Ashley makes it look so easy, and I guess Katelyn thought it was going to be a piece of cake to learn to swim, but she has ways to go before she catches up to Ashley. Here's a picture of my little KK in the pool :)

Ashley's Birthday Party

After much deliberations Ashley settled on a Sleeping Beauty theme party at Aerial's Gymnastics. This is the gym where she and Katelyn take classes. It turned out to be a great idea. For two hours the kids had the whole gym to themselves. The kids got to go on the trampolines, zip line, go on bars, and the beam. We got pizza to eat and I made strawberry and vanilla cupcakes for desert (per Ashley's request)

After the gym party was over, we went back to the house for a small family party. It was quieter then our usual parties and very enjoyable since we got to spend some quality time with everyone that came :)

Here are some pictures from the day:

Ashley is 5 years old!

On January 7th, our big girl Ashley turned five!

We started the morning by opening some presents. She got a Leap Pad tablet from us, a toy hair set (including a hair dryer and curling iron) and a few small gifts. Natalia got her a tinker bell bathing suit, flip flops, cover up, towel and a beach bag. She loved all of her presents!

After the presents were opened, we all sat down to a princess breakfast of Ashley's choice. She decided to go for waffles with jam, some fresh apples and orange juice.

To keep with tradition on the day of Ashley's birthday, Mike and I took Ashley to pick out her own birthday present at The Hobbymasters in Red Bank.

We weren't sure what she'd be interested it, and were quite surprised with her selection. To cut to the chase, out of all of the toys they had there, she picked out this:

We were speechless.. we tried to convince her that perhaps there's something else she was interested in, dolls, furniture for her doll house, a kite, trains, beads, dress up, but she insisted on dragging this humongous giraffe through the store, knocking over everything on the bottom shelves.

So, home we went with a giant giraffe, that now lives in Ashley's room.

She was so excited to have him, that we couldn't say no. I don't think she'll ever forget this birthday!

We brought home some cupcakes that Ashley picked out at a cupcake shop in Red Bank, and in the evening had a mini celebration for Ashley's birthday.

Ashley was so happy. It was a great day for all :)