Derek's Graduation

OH...MY...G-D.....i can't believe i have a son (step-son, whatever) who just GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL! So weird!! Earlier that day I was holding my sister's son who is just turning FIVE MONTHS old (and yes, pics of todd being beyond cute to follow shortly)
The ceremony was held on the football field of the high school. It's such a weird comparison to my high school that had close to 1000 graduates....his class was only 100!!!

Randy, Derek & me AFTER graduation...the whole ceremony was only an hr long - NIIIIIIIIIIIIICE!
ok, so he's off TO PARTY (and let me tell you - the school threw an all-nighter party for the graduating class..from 9pm - 5:30am) I can't wait unitl he wakes up to tell us about the rest of his night...well, at least the edited 18 y/o version!

P.S. i saved all the program material so I'm ready to start in 19 years from now planning his 20 year reunion party!!!!!!

thank you!

to everyone who supported me & my family last week on my grandma's passing, I sincerely thank you. You may not have realized it, but you really made a pretty difficult time a little bit easier!

Here is a bunch of us in my parents backyard Memorial Day 2000:

(top row) Sherri, Howie, me, Brian, Donna

(bottom row) Grandma, Jason, Joshua & Saul

memorial day (day 2)...reenie & brian

ok, now it's time to celebrate memorial day "portugeese style"

matthew being held by reenie & her mom
my man has a way of calming down crying little boys (awwwwwwwww)
while I play bubbles with maddie

memorial day (day 1)...mom & dad

a Paulette & Jeff memorial day BBQ wouldnt be the same without Randy & me re-arranging everything...so welcome, have a great time & put that cheesecake over THERE!!!!

here i am again with my ladies on the sunday afternoon (we're just a year older):

barb, me & reenie
kinda wondering what is in fern's water bottle to make her smile so much!

feren & karen
ah-hah....my little cutie nephew has finally arrived...and he sure looks hungry!!!

TJ eyeballing cookiemonster

me & Todd

Todd's learning that there are other babies out there just like him (I think there were 4 newborns at the party!!!)
todd checking out adam (or visa-versa)

Adam posing with him mom (Steph) and dad (Keith)

proud grandpa!!!!

hat or cookie monster?

wouldn't it be nice to go back in time where the biggest dilemma of the day was: "hold on to hat & cookie monster when it's windy" wonder wht Todd decided on?

Mulletstock = ROCKLAHOMA

OH....MY....G-D....this concert has every band I saw when I was 17 y/o: http://www.rockfeverfest.com/

DAY 1 (July 13th)
4:15 - 5:00 WHITE LION
5:30 - 6:30 Y & T (Nat'l Anthem)
7:00 - 8:00 SLAUGHTER
8:30 - 9:30 QUIET RIOT
10:00 - 11:00 RATT
11:30 - 1:00 POISON

DAY 2 (July 14th)
11:55 - 12:40 BANG TANGO
1:00 - 1:45 BULLET BOYS
2:05 - 2:50 FASTER PUSSYCAT
3:10 - 3:55 ENUFF Z NUFF
4:15 - 5:00 FIREHOUSE
5:30 - 6:30 WARRANT (Nat'l Anthem)
7:00 - 8:00 SKID ROW
8:30 - 9:30 WINGER
10:00 - 11:00 DOKKEN
11:30 - 1:00 VINCE NEIL

DAY 3 (July 15th)
12:20 - 1:10 STEELHEART
1:30 - 2:15 BRITNY FOX
2:45 - 3:45 LA GUNS
4:15 - 5:15 GREAT WHITE (Nat'l Anthem)
5:45 - 6:45 JACKYL
7:15 - 8:30 WASP
9:00 - 10:30 TWISTED SISTER

I wanna go to the show...someone, please go with me!!!!

Happy Mother's Day...to my cat!

Hope all had a great Mother's Day...I did!

Here is my cat enjoying my flowers a BIT TOO MUCH! You can see that CHEWIE is trying to get to her, but MOCHA is too happy that she will be dining on flowers for the next few days to care!

post away

so here is what happens when your friends have WAY too much time on their hands after they find out that you won a life time supply of Post-it notes............

my tree is blossoming!

it's now 2 weeks later & with a lot of sunshine & water....here is my tree today:

i guess we planted it a bit late in the season, cuz some of the blossoms are already turning into green leaves. Oh well...there's always next year

just when i got used to 5:30 splittsville

{{{ S I G H }}}

I'm still at work & it's 9:20pm!!!

todd's slumper party

slept over sherri's last night to keep her & Todd company. Boy does this little baby have an amazing set of lungs....he can cry at the snap of a finger & then start laughing two secs later!

One of the things he really enjoys is a bath (and yes, his little tub sits in the sink)...he was soooooooooo cute, but pictures are not going up due to the pee-pee presence in all :)

riding on the NJ turnpike on TWO wheels!

Q: how many dads arrive on a Harley?

A: mine does!

a tree grows in.......

my hubby bought me a baby japanese cherry blossom tree for our front yard
check back next week to see the blossoms!

Todd does Hoboken Brunch

this past saturday I needed to get my Todd fix.....and when showing up in Hoboken at 12:30, we needed to go where all the other Hoboken-ers go.....TO BRUNCH!

Here I am pushing Todd....

Derek thought he could do a better job....
well, Todd arrived at the cafe in one piece, but only to fall asleep (again) as soon as he looked at the menu (no matter how hard I tried to convince him that eggs benedict is worth the trip, he was ok with just mom's milk....whatever!)
once back from brunch it was time for me to change him - he's being such a good boy!
then some snuggily time with his aunt mishy (and her fingers)....
then it was time to be facinated with derek & the oinky pig...
i think derek is teaching him to pop the oinky pig in the snout!!

Matty J. w/ Maddie K.

matthew is now going on 2 weeks old (13 days to be exact)....so what is a baby to do?

SLEEP!

maddie is too excited to sleep.....ya think he hears her?
how can an infant sleep thru a cute kiss like that?????
ok....awake time
more like....feeding time!!!!

another restless night

got home around 9pm last night...chugged the last of the triaminic & went to bed. Around midnight randy woke me up & made me take a swig of nyquil (guess I was the only one who was able to sleep thru my coughing fit)....and I do feel a bit better today!

how they grow!

this past weekend randy & i celebrated with some of derek's Staten Island buddies for a post b-day dinner. Looking back at some of the pics over the last 4 years is amazing (for one thing, I was taller then all of them). (l-r) anthony, derek, brett
Here is derek with his friends exactly 3 years ago:

(l-r) mike, brett, boris, anthony, derek

WOW...good thing I'm not going thru a mid life crisis or anything!

tastes like grape

another restless night, another day chugging the triaminic....i wish this cough will FINALLY stop!

Squeezing on the bus....

i had a very strange trip into work today. After sleeping for the last 2 days (I was really siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick on sunday & monday), i figured i'd sleep on the express bus in the morning. I always try to sit in an inside window seat (it gives me a place to wedge my iriver). Well, two stops after i got on the bus a lady sat down next to me....I was almost sleeping already, but within 1 minute I was wide awake. I'm not EXACTLY sure what she was doing - but it was either BUTT SQUEEZES or KEGEL SQUEEZES. You think I'm kidding??? I dont kid about this stuff - I mean, it's an express bus & we don't have separate seats....i can feel her thighs clenching & releasing! Luckily i felt so crappy, after 5 minutes I fell asleep. I woke up as we were entering the Lincoln Tunnel.....squeezer-woman was asleep, but on the ramp up the P.A. I felt the squeezing begin again.

So weird!!!!!

Todd goes shopping!!!!

what is Todd to do when Aunt Shelly comes over on a friday afternoon (april 6th)...why, go shopping!!!! Here is Sherri bundling Todd up in the cutest (preppie) outfit & loading him into his carseat

I can tell you that Todd is NOT a hat lover...but his mommy is, so the cute hat stays on!

Once we got back it was time for dinner...Thai for the grown-ups, but while the food is on it's way, I got to feed Todd

the more i look at todd's face, the more i see baby sherri!!!

Mr Matty J has arrived!!!!

When the babies come, they come full force.....just over 2 mths ago Sherri gave birth to TJ and just a few weeks before that my cousin Emma (Howie's wife) gave birth to a gorgeous little boy named Landon.

Here is my newest "nephew" (I just looooooove being everyone's auntie) , aka Barbara & Andy's son:
Matthew Jay

Born at 7:50pm on Monday (yes...he's a passover baby)

weight: 8lbs 2 oz
size: 20.5 inches

Happy B-day Derek!!!

Happy B-Day To You...Happy B-Day To Yoooooooooou, Happy B-Day....Happy B-Day...Happy B-Day To Yoooooooooooooooooooou!

I think he had a pretty good day......he got the present he's been waiting a long time for:

wonder if it hurt...notice he's sitting pretty damn straight up in the chair!!!