...And the award goes to...

Every year my company has a huge awards ceremony. Every year one of my co-workers dreads it and doesn't want to go. Every year the "newbies" in the company quiver like it's time to open presents at Christmas. Me...I enjoy getting the day away from the office and look forward to the opportunity to go home early!

Most of the time my office wins or places in many categories. Not because we're "favorites" but because we bust our butts. The 5 of us are great at different things and it keeps our ship sailing smoothly. So I always try to dress nicely, in-case pictures need to be taken. This year I was surprised. We didn't win anything, however, we each placed 3rd in our own category (which I love because that was a 3rd place for each individual so we all feel great!) Our company has over 500 associates and manages over 200,000 square feet of space. And we took 2nd in the over all company's "Greatest Place to Live" Award (we've won 4 x's and were last year's reigning champs.) But that's not what surprised me...

Our owner is a sweet, older, Jewish man. He loves his family, and believes strongly in nepatisim. So as he put it, "I don't know many people in this company that are not related to others in this company." He got to the Tax department (which my husband works for). He started going on about how hard they work as a team of 4. Then he mentioned that "James, Jimmy works very hard and is married to our crack leasing person, Jamie, probably the best we have." OMG! Did he really just go off on a tangent and talk about me in front of 500+ people!? My face grew hot and red as I slinked down in my seat. What would people think? What the hell did I care! The owner just mentioned me in front of the whole company! What an honor!

I still can't believe it! So James and I decided to celebrate! The "partiers" of the company descended downstairs in the hotel for our annual open bar. James and I ran down to congratulate all of the winners and quickly ran home to celebrate! I'm sure you're thinking I should probably stop the blog about now...but we decided to pull the kids out of school, go home and make...a puppet show house! I had the best afternoon ever! The kids were so happy and proud of us and I'll write tomorrow about the puppet show house!

"Ain't that a kick in the head..."

Sorry I haven't been blogging the past week or so...life has been keeping us busy!

Wednesday afternoon I got a call from the school nurse. "Mrs. Hollis, Brooklynn is in the nurses office. She got kicked in the head." Then Brooklynn gets on the phone. "Mmm Mmmm Mom...*sniff* I...think...I...can...make...it...*sniff sniff*
My heart just broke! I assumed she had been crawling under the table or something. Since it was so close to the end of the day I picked the kids up.
I'm glad I did, she had a sneaker print on her forehead, a complete heel! Poor kid! She said, "Mommy, I guess I grew too tall to walk under the swing anymore."
That was so cute! Her poor little eye was swollen. So we had a kid and mommy day from school!
I have to admit, we had the most fun exploring the new neighborhood and picking up trash. We were the green team yesterday! I miss being home with them!

My Dad the Hero!

My Dad grew up in Queens New York to a single mother. He helped my Granny around the house and with his little brother. He worked after school and did everything he could to make sure that his family never went without. He grew up with the role model of his grandfather, my Great-Grandfather (Poppie, and has since been handed the reins of the name) and molded his life after him! My dad became a NY firefighter and worked at Stimpson at the same time. He turned the basement of our house into an apartment for extra money. Then he moved us to Florida when NY got bad. He worked in machine shops 60+ hours a week. Running his donut shop (that he and my mother owned) after working at the machine shop, and sleeping on bags of flour in the back room.

My dad is a typically blue collar man that has busted his butt at 2 or more jobs his whole life, with little or no recognition. After over 54 years I am super excited to say that someone has noticed his hard work and determination! He will be receiving an Oscar tonight at Hollywood Casino for his dedication and hard work, and willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done! He is receiving one of the highest honors given at the Casino! I'm so excited that everyone else will know what my family has known all along! That I have a father that was a superb role model, loving father, and will always be my superhero!

If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be the driven person that I am! I know that I wouldn't be the mother I am! My dad tirelessly worked, but never missed anything! He was at every career day, every field trip, and all dance recitals! He didn't miss a beat! He was always there with a smile and a hug, telling me just how proud I made him! There are no words to describe how honored I am to have him as my father!

So thank you Daddy, for always being there! I'm so glad my kids get to see what a great man you are as well! And I'm excited to be able to say that I am proud of you!!!

Day 3: The Joy of childhood books

I remember sitting on my bed and listening to my grandmother read for hours! My sister and I would interrupt her and ask all sorts of questions. She would re-read the chapter and the name, until she would get interrupted again and it would start all over. I remember one night Lori and I thought it would be funny to keep interrupting her until she became frustrated (kids get a sick pleasure out of frustrating adults!) And she read the words "Chapter 7" loudly on the 10th or 11th time of trying and started yelling in Italian and walked out of the room. We giggled uncontrollably and to this day saying the words, "Chapter 7" makes my sister and I smirk.

So last night on night 3 of our test I was sure I would feel the frustration and Grandma would pay me back 10 fold...well, she must be saving it for another time because the reading went better than can ever be expected. I carefully selected Charlotte's Web, hoping it would catch their interest, Lord knows it was one of my all time favorites. I got through Chapter 1 with no interruptions and no asking why it didn't have pictures. I got through Chapters 2 and 3 as well. I paused, and looked at the kids and then the clock, and realized it was 15 minutes past bedtime. So I told them we would pick up on Chapter 4 tomorrow. They were so disappointed. It made me so happy that they were enjoying the story! I read a few more pages before we all began to yawn. Anthony looked at me and said, "Mommy, I love your reading. You make me see the stories in my head." I almost cried, it was so cute and sweet of him. Brooklynn begged me to keep reading. But I sent them to bed with the anticipation of reading tonight! It went so well! I'm really loving this week!

Day 2: Game Night...Lesson Learned, "Laugh until you cry!"

Day 2: Game night was so much fun! Mom and Dad came over for dinner...we made Mongolian Beef (soy) and Chicken Lo-Mien. Dad wasn't fooled by the soy beef and didn't eat it. But it was funny to see his face! He's so old fashioned! Mom and James loved it. The kids wouldn't touch it after Dad said No Way!

So Mom and I sat down with the kids to play Disney Monopoly. I don't think we've ever laughed that hard! Ever...so in this short blog I'll tell you the lessons I've learned during game night:

• Lesson #1: Brooklynn will cheat when you are not looking. It's so funny and Mom and I laughed until we cried!


• Lesson #2: Anthony likes his change in small bills, and will give you $7 when you really only need $3 just to get change back.


• Lesson #3: My mom would laugh at anything and makes every game more fun!


• Lesson #4: Even though it's a kids game...I hate to lose!

So night 2 was a success, let's see what night 3 brings us!

Day one of my 7 day journey with my kids...

The first night of our exploration into our family time was supposed to be game night...but as all parents know, plans change. This changed for the better! My family came over for make your own pizza and ice cream sundae night! We laughed and had so much fun!

Brooklynn made her pizza with pepperoni, bacon, a few mushrooms, lots of cheese and sauce. Anthony made his pizza with black olives, pepperoni, bacon, and very little cheese and sauce. James' pizza (I made...LOL Daddy doesn't do pizza...) had pepperoni, mushrooms, cheese, bacon, and sauce. And Mommy's pizza had the galloping gourmet written on it according to my hubby. It had pesto sauce, artichokes, ricotta cheese, mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, and wheat crust. Good golly these were good!

And then the ice cream sundaes were upon us! We had some crazy toppings...Joseph had his little waffle bowl filled, as did Granny, Nonie, Re-Re, Mommy (me), Daddy (James), and both Brooklynn and Anthony. There were sprinkles, chocolate sauce, and gummy bears everywhere! It was so great! Then the boys (Anthony and Joseph) got to take a bath and wash it all off!

The wonderful night was topped off by Brooklynn showing everyone her hand painted tea set, and her new "Moon in My Room" that shows all of the phases of the moon! It was a great night!

Now I can't wait for tonight! Dinner and games with Nonie and Poppie! This is going to be great!

7 days and 7 ways of getting closer to the kids!

I was getting ready for bed last night when I realized...I had only spent quality time with the kids for an hour that night! Is this how I want them to remember me? No way!!! Although Monday nights are super busy for us I let them run downstairs while I did house work upstairs. If I feel guilty now, imagine what I'll feel like when they are grown and gone! So I devised a plan! I'm calling it 7 days, and 7 ways to get closer to my kids! I'm determined to do something, super interactive each night for the next 7 days without fail! Then, I'll try to implement it every night there after! But I needed a goal! So 7 days! There it is! I will blog the following day about what we did.

Tonight's plan:

Game night! Disney Monopoly, finger foods, laying on the couch, and reading together!

I want the end result to be that the kids feel closer to me and want to share things more with me. And I want to know more about what they do every day and what they want from Mommy! So here it goes! Wish me luck!