Our Family

Because they're worth it

2012-01-08T00:36:00.003-07:00

Wow oh wow do we need to get caught up! I aim to get caught up on pictures and blogs dated through december by the beginning of February. Wish me luck!
We just had a lovely winter vacation in Utah. No snow, which was weird. But great for running! It feels a bit strange to be back in NY but also good. I love being home again with my sweet family. I love them so very much. Each of us is a son or daughter of our Heavenly Father and I hope I can make Him proud by loving my family as He would want me to. I am grateful to have each of my 3 darling children. I am thankful to be loved and cherished by a noble man who I just adore. I love you Richard! xoxoxoxo

July pics

2011-10-28T21:59:00.002-06:00

This park was great. Its one town over from us. Cliffie learned about going down a firemens pole.

Azure loves her fingers!

What a lady!

Ode to He-Man & the MOTU June2011

2011-10-28T21:37:00.004-06:00

Some older pictures

2011-10-28T21:16:00.004-06:00

I wanted to show some pictures of a Zoo we went to a few weeks before Azure arrived. It was cute. : ) We were hot. :( It was free. :) I got pulled over on the way home. :(
One animal I really liked was the great horned owl named Hunter (that's the name of my 12 year old brother). There was also a fun playground for the kids.

Earthquakes and hurricanes and mister rodgers oh my!

2011-08-26T09:49:00.002-06:00

I had my first earthquake on Tuesday and it scared me. I thought one of the kids was shaking my chair and had turned around to see who wanted my attention. Then I saw the lights swinging and my balance felt off. It was weird to say the least. I called some people and then grabbed some things and the kids and we went to the yard for awhile. I was nervous that an aftershock might for some reason be stronger. But that was it. Nothing fell down and everyone was fine. Looks like Hurricane Irene will hit NY though. We'll see. We're making sure we have supplies on hand. I haven't seen a flashlight in awhile....

Cliffton has been introduced to Mr. Rodgers and he really likes it. Gotta go!

VIOLET & Co.

2011-08-20T14:36:00.004-06:00

I feel like I'm "at my wit's end," "crazy," etc. with my three children. When Azure is crying I often don't pick her up. Sometimes its purposeful because I want her to cry and get some energy out and because I don't want to be in the habit of shushing every cry. Usually though, I'm trying, trying to get stuff done around the home. I might get 4 dishes cleaned before she starts crying which means I may have a good 1/2 hour - an hour of her crying while I get the kitchen cleaned if I don't pick her up at all. I feel depressed when, for example, "yea! I've cleaned the bathroom." 'Course its been 2 weeks since I last did it, and other than take a shower its the only 'accomplishment' I have for the day. Hmmmm. Maybe not-so-yea."

Violet has used permanent marker on the tv, wall and entertainment center. She has put train tracks in the toilet (THANK GOODNESS I had cleaned the bathroom the same day), put Richard's magic cards in the shredder, eaten chalk and candles and she has cut her tongue with my razor. Most of these are just in the last few days. I think I repress earlier memories! Potty training is not happening very well, at all, and it is out-and-out mortal combat when it comes to brushing her teeth.

Well, on the other end of the scale, she is soooo excited when either Richard or I come home. She is generous with her kisses and hugs. She is sooo trying but so wonderful and very pretty and cute. I love how much she loves her little baby sister. I just wish she wouldn't beat up on her big brother. Sigh. At least she doesn't beat up on Azure too.

A week after her blessing...

2011-08-11T08:10:00.008-06:00

These pictures were taken on July 24. Since Richard had not planned to bless Azure on Sunday July 17 I didn't have my camera that day nor did I put her in a white blessing dress. However, her cute little purple dress was nice. When Richard was asked to come up to the front at church, we thought it was just to show her off real quick to everyone. Richard realized that the branch president thought she would be blessed as he was asked who he wanted to have join him in blessing her. It just so happened that Br. Chirinos was there speaking to our branch (church unit). We lived with him and his family for a few weeks before we moved into our home. We've been pretty close to their family ever since. I'm glad he got be with Richard, Pres. Castillo, Br. Pace and Br. Sammartino to bless our sweet lil' sky blue princess. I remember she was blessed to have a cheerful disposition and love her brothers and sisters. My friend and I both immediately noticed the brotherS and sisterS part.

us

2011-07-20T13:18:00.006-06:00

My First Bath

2011-07-20T13:13:00.000-06:00

Pics with Grammers

2011-07-20T13:05:00.004-06:00

We loved having my Mom stay with us. She came a few days before Azure was born and left when Azure was a week old. Mom helped us sooo much - with laundry and cooking and being with the kiddos. Violet's hair had a beautiful transformation while Mom was here as you can see. Thanks Mom!!!!

Azure

2011-07-05T22:48:00.001-06:00

more Azure Stacey pics!

2011-07-05T22:45:00.002-06:00

Azure Stella Marie Stacey (and preggo pics)

2011-07-05T22:17:00.006-06:00

One week ago, we welcomed Azure into our family on June 28, 2011. She was 8 lbs. 2.5 oz and 20 3/4 inches. I went with my Mom to NYC that day so we could go to the Manhattan LDS Temple and then we went to Serendipity 3 for a late lunch. It was our first time using the train and subway. Confusing and fun. Anyways, I'd been having rather frequent contractions for a week up to that point but I noticed after we ate that I was feeling sick. I thought it was just because I had a lot of ice cream at first but as we made our way back to Penn Station, I realized it could be labor. My contractions got much stronger that I had to stop walking and catch my breath (that was around 6:30pm). We caught a train leaving at 7pm and Richard, Cliffton and Violet picked us up about 8pm from the Freeport stop. I had a really strong one just as we came to our stop and I really didn't know if I could make it off the train before it kept heading east! Our home is just a few minutes from the train station. We grabbed our bags and headed to the hospital.
Mom and I checked in just after 9pm while Richard took the kids to a friend's home. I hoped that with how much pain I felt, that labor was fairly far along. I was at a 7 when we got there and then was walked into another room where they continued to ask a lot of the same questions (grrrr! isn't that beyond irritating???!!) that you really couldn't care less about ("how old were you when you started your period?"). That changed fast though because then my water broke and I was at a 9.5 and someone said, "her head is small, go ahead and push on the next one." I had planned to have an epidural but there was no time. Azure was born quickly and quite healthy. She does have some ruptured vessels in her eyes that look worse than they are. She's a sweet lil' baby girl. Her brother and sister love this little baby and have given her sweet kisses on her head. Enjoy the many pictures!

The Long Island Children's Museum 5/24

2011-06-23T21:07:00.005-06:00

On our first trip to the LICM we got there at the end of the day (using free passes from the library!) and so we just stayed in the bubble zone. Way cool! Richard and I were able to get some of the bubbles to be several feet long before they popped. (Yes, of course we played right alongside the kiddos!). Cliffton is standing in the middle of a large bubble wand that you can pull up over your head. Neat huh? We went again a few days later and played around with telephones, musical instruments, toys and slides and motorcycles, and lots more. Its a very popular place and for no wonder. I think we may need to reserve tickets some 10 weeks in advance or more.

more baby shower pics

2011-06-20T23:33:00.003-06:00

Aren't those diaper "cakes" cool? I thought the party looked fabulous. Sis. Duarte put together a lot of the decorations that night. She is one heck of a lady. :) She is 5th from the left in the group picture. Here are some more pics from the shower. I was about 34 1/2 weeks along. Cliffie and Richard were there too as were a lot of guys. I just don't really like the pictures that included them. Cliffton loved the balloons and Violet just ran wild with the kids.

Surprise Baby Shower May 20 2011

2011-06-20T23:17:00.003-06:00

The men and women in our church are awesome! They wanted to throw a surprise baby shower for me in place of the usual FHE/Friday night activity. It was fun! I love pink, I love food, I love presents and I love friends and family. We had a great night.

Almost there!!!

2011-06-20T22:47:00.005-06:00

Finally, some pregnant lady pics! Here I am at 33 weeks, 2 pics of week 34, 36 and 37 1/2 weeks along (this one was at Chuck E Cheese). Cliffton really really wanted to go to CEC that day and I had said, maybe, eventually, etc. and then we just decided to go.

party at the park...now in color!

2011-05-14T15:49:00.004-06:00

We invited some friends to the park to celebrate Cliffton's birthday. They played at the playground in the beginning and we had some games (boys vs. girls) like a ball toss and a scavenger hunt. I was a bit nervous with Violet playing on the fake cliff but she did good and my friend's husband was willing to watch the kids on the playground for a while. The kids also wrapped 2 of them up in the streamers I had brought. We didn't end up with a pavillion so we borrowed some chairs from church and had a blanket out. Richard and Biondis made some very good hot dogs and hamburgers and we also had some apples and cookies and chips and soda. And of course, a mickey mouse birthday cake!

It seemed like the kids all played well together and I'm proud to say the girls kicked some major butt in the games! Richard did face painting at the end as Cliffie was opening presents. I believe Cliffie had a great day. It was tough on us, but we had fun too. I think that having parties is pretty stressful. But you enjoy time with friends its just hard to have that 'time' when all of kids (besides your own) need/want you! Most of the people were from church who knew each other well. They are some of the kindest people I know. We have some pictures but as I said, it was tough on me so I didn't get to play photographer near as much as I would have liked.

Cliffton's 4th Birthday May 10 2011 with pictures!

2011-05-14T15:34:00.007-06:00

We had a nice lunch at Old Country Buffet, a favorite of Cliffton's since he can pick out all of his food right away and his soda/icee/whatever. We all like it. Cliffton has been wanting to go there for a few months now and back around New Years, Richard told Cliffton we couldn't go anytime soon but he could go there for his birthday. Some of the servers brought out a chocolate cake with sprinkles and a candle for him and we all sang to Cliffton. Then we took Daddy to the Aviation museum where we let the kiddos play in the super awesome toy room. Richard thought it was pretty cool too. Next we played at Eisenhower Park which is HUGE. The whole thing is some 930 acres which includes several kinds of sports facilities, a golf course and of course, playgrounds. They had a lotta fun.
Coming home, Violet fell fast asleep and we had a late dinner and then sang to Cliffton over his Mickey Mouse cake while Grandma and Papa (Stacey) watched over webcam. Opening presents was fun as we all kept asking Cliffton, "so, what do you think this is?" with almost every present. He especially liked the light up mickey mouse spinner toy from his grandparents. With a little coaxing from Richard, Cliffton decided the pretend camping set from us was pretty neat too. We took the kids tent and some of the toys (lantern, canteen, toy stove, etc.) with us to the park 2 days later and Cliffton was so excited to share the tent and his toys with other kids. It was a little crazy but not bad. He is such a sweetie.

Cliffiton's creative combinations

2011-05-02T18:13:00.003-06:00

Some of Cliffton's favorite things right now include 3 movies and one series: Wizard of Oz, Return to Oz, Tangled and the He-Man 1980s cartoons. Well, he has combined He-Man and Wizard of Oz by saying, in a Skeletor voice, "the wicked witch of the west will be mine!" with the signature Skeletor evil cackle at the end. (Skeletor will sometimes say "Eternia will be mine"). Violet and Cliffie both LOVE Tangled and Cliffton will often say "I'm the bad guy" (Grothel, or whatever that witch lady's name is, said that) and he'll yell at me and say "you're never leaving this tower, EVER!"

my cuties

2011-05-02T09:17:00.002-06:00

I just wanted to say that Cliffton is always sitting up front in primary with me and the primary presidency in primary. He has had a hard time coming in there and really wants to be by me. He doesn't seem scared of anyone or anything really. He's just determined he'll be by me, not the other kids. Well, yesterday I got him to sit by the other kids because Violet was having a hard day in nursery and so she came in with us. I had her sit with the kids and told Cliffie how Violet was sad and he could help her by sitting with her. They did good. He is a good big brother to Violet.

Easter

2011-05-02T08:06:00.002-06:00

Saturday night before Easter, we colored eggs with the kids. They really liked it! Cliffton and Richard used the little wrap around things that stick to the eggs after you dip them in hot water. Cliffie thought that was pretty amazing. Violet and I liked the dye and the stickers. After Church and food on Easter, Cliffton and Violet looked for plastic eggs and our colored eggs. Violet had just started to fall asleep so she was quite grumpy about being told it was easter egg hunting time. Once she found her first egg though, then she had fun. We coached them on most, but they found some on their own. They each had a little basket with goodies too and they are so nice to share treats with their mama! We had a different pair of missionaries over that day and we had my first roast beef (I'm always nervous cooking up huge chunks of meat) and eggs, of course, and homemade mashed potatoes and some other stuff that I can't remember. Let's blame pregnancy. I taught the primary kids a little about Jesus and being resurrected that day. I remember I hadn't planned well that day and so I wasn't very well prepared. Not cool. I made sure that didn't happen yesterday again in primary. It still wasn't perfect but better. I like being the sharing time teacher. Its a neat calling. I really like when the kids want to help out and read scriptures, or hold pictures, etc.

Richard's birthday, Wed. April 27

2011-05-02T07:56:00.003-06:00

After picking up Richard from school, we drove to a mini golf and 'taught' Cliffie how to putt a golf ball. :) This was Cliffton and Violet's first mini golf experience. Violet stayed in her stroller with her blankie for most of it (she had been napping when we got there) and it was cloudy and chilly. But since the kiddos and I had got sunburned the day before it felt great. (I took them to a park about 2 miles from our home and then we stayed almost 2 hours. We were outside for nearly 4 hours w/0 sunscreen. Oops. The first warm day of the year and we get a sunburn!)

If I remember right, Richard, Cliffton and I all received a hole in one on different courses. When we let Violet play too, she wanted to hit everyone's ball. I had started some pizza dough before we went to get Richard so it was quite puffy when we got back home. We had homemade pizza, carrots and salad, kool aid and a double chocolate layer cake with chocolatey blueberry frosting. Violet tried to blow out Richard's candles. :) He received Tron from us for his present.

Oh, a few days later, we tallied the score - Richard 46, Janelle 48 :( Cliffie was somewhere around 88 I think. :)

Spring break

2011-05-02T07:43:00.002-06:00

Playing at parks, playing at Toys R Us and the theaters, going to the cemetary (where we did find some family names - I remember 2 Lydias, one was a Stacey and one was a Turner; but I don't think we brought any new info. to family history), family sleepovers in the family room on the air mattress, and a sing along at the library made up a lot of our spring break. Cliffton didn't care to get involved much at the sing along and Violet wanted to climb up the steps to the stage which we were explicitly told NOT to do. :) I think they really liked London Bridge. It was the first time they'd ever played/sung it. And of course, "if you're happy and you know it", and, "the wheels on the bus. "

Oh yes, and our first drive into the city (minus the kiddos). That was um, fun. We got to the temple on the 21st of April after being in the car for some 2 hours but could only stay a very short while. I was able to do some temple work for Stacey relatives (awesome!) but Richard could not because there weren't enough people working at the moment. It was good simply to be there for a short while. He talked with a man who was serving a mission there with his wife and this man had gone through law school and was telling Richard about some of his experiences. We then watched the kids of the Liza family whose eldest daughter, Alida, had watched our 2 kids and her brother and sister while we went to the temple. Alida is a great babysitter and she was able to go to the temple with her parents that night. Stefano and Gianella had fun at our house and Stefano let Cliffie play some games with him on his wii.

Violet's birthday

2011-05-02T07:29:00.003-06:00

Violet, like Cliffie, LOVES to blow out candles, and we invited a set of missionaries over for sunday dinner on her second birthday (4/17/2011). (One of the missionaries recognized Darrell and Loretta when we did skype video chat later on - that was cool.) It was really sweet to see her get so excited as we got out the candles. She was trying to blow them out before the birthday song even started. Sorry no pictures. I forgot to take some that day, which of course kills me but it was bit of a stressful day in my defense, and then I killed our camera a few days later. :( Big time.

But, Violet enjoyed her presents from Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Megan - a bracelet and hippo purse (that matches a shorts and T outfit), sunglasses, a dress and headband and sandals. Truth be told, she got quite upset when we tried to get one of the outfits on her but she loves the accessories. Before she even finished unwrapping her hippo purse, she gave it a kiss and then gave it a hug. :) So precious! I love that lil' lady. Her 'cake' was a cupcake set in a little waffle bowl with a microwaved marshmellow, hot fudge, cool whip and cherry and sprinkles. We all enjoyed our cupcake sundaes. I think we had ice cream too. We've been making a lot of homemade ice cream lately - blueberry!

Our gift to Violet was taking the birthday girl and Cliffie to see Rango in theaters. We had a good time and I gave in and got a soda for Cliffton during the movie. Holy cow! $4.75! That's a costco meal for 2. Grrrrr. Anyways, we went to Toys R Us that day as the rest of Violet's present/spring break fun and we enjoyed letting them play for awhile and bought a big gallon of bubbles in a pink container. Oh Violet loves bubbles, yes siree.

Violet does listen...sorta

2011-04-14T05:15:00.002-06:00

When Violet is not listening, Richard will sometimes (gently) smack her hand while saying "No, No, we don't _____ "(whatever it is). She will now once in a while smack her own hand and say "No, No, No" right after Richard has done that. She's only done that with her Daddy and I believe only after he's said it twice. Its really, really hard to keep a straight face when that happens.

brownies and cookies!

2011-04-07T14:55:00.005-06:00

For a 'fun' activity a few days ago, I let the kids pick something to make. We had a few boxes of desserts and Cliff chose the cookie dough and Violet chose the brownies. Oh they loved the brownie batter! There were several silly pictures of Violet. I kept saying to smile big and show their teeth.

This club is jumpin'

2011-04-07T14:50:00.003-06:00

Sometimes we get out the air mattress and have a family sleepover in the family room. The kids love jumping on it. Well, they love jumping on any bed.

March 29 - Cliffie reading

2011-04-07T14:45:00.003-06:00

Cliffie really enjoys a book called It Looked Like Spilt Milk. Here is a picture of him 'reading' for the first time ever! I LOVE this lil' man!

The almost bike ride

2011-04-07T14:14:00.005-06:00

The weather has been really cold the last 3 weeks or so but it just started to warm up, slightly. I wanted to go on a bike ride yesterday with the kiddos in the trailer but when I got to the storage room and looked up at Richard's bike, which has the pump and bike tools on it, on the upper rack, I felt hopeless. I remember it was neigh impossible when I was in better shape and not pregnant trying to get to it. So, we went on a walk to waterfront park. Its almost 2 miles from our home. Along the way, I talked to Richard on the phone and told him about my almost bike ride and he said the pump is actually in our room. I felt kinda silly. Well, I had a good walk! The kids loved the park! We had fun. Um, except on the way back, I, um, had to sneeze while walking (and faithfully doing some kegels mind you!) and yeah, the kegels aren't doing their job. Luckily, I don't think anyone noticed. Believe me, I did. Embarrassing, at least uncomfortable, still even if no one actually noticed.

Onto other topics! Here are the kids at play! Cliffie was running around and speaking in that silly "donald duck" kind of voice.

Today was lovely!

2011-03-18T20:48:00.005-06:00

It must have been up near 70 today! It felt sooo nice. I took the kids to the library for a story/song/mini movie toddler group for Cliffton. Oddly, Violet likes it more than he does. The library is only about 3 blocks from our home and as long as its not bitter cold or snowdrifts everywhere, its a nice walk. We then checked out a health foods store nearby and bought some prunes, dried mangoes, snap pea crisps and little treats for the kiddos. Wow, I didn't realize how much I love prunes. Double yum!

Richard and I took the kiddos to the park after I took a nap. Violet was SUPPOSED to nap too but yeah, didn't happen. They had so much fun at the park even though it was a bit psycho. Everyone wanted to take advantage of the nice weather. Pictures to follow soon. Then we went to one of our most favorite stores - Costco. After shopping, we then had dinner there. In a rather amused tone, I mentioned to Richard how on the way to Costco we noticed how backed up the parkway was going south (back home) and I had earlier said, "We might have to find a different way home." Richard was kidding when he said, "Oh, it will have cleared up in 3 hours when we come home." Wouldn't you know, 3 hours later.... :)

Here are some pictures. I realized I had taken a lot of pictures of them at the same park earlier but only of Violet on the 18th. Here are some from the last couple of days.

(She was showing me where her belly button is)

Disney pt.3

2011-03-18T20:45:00.002-06:00

Disney pt. 2

2011-03-18T20:40:00.004-06:00

The only ride we didn't get pictures on was Buzz Lightyear. If you've been on it, you probably know why! Of course I have to prove that I can rank higher than a space cadet - my space ranger status is much more important than getting pictures ;) Here are some of our people mover pictures (great ride - you wait in line about 10 seconds and then get to ride for 5 minutes). I also posted dinner pictures. They hardly sat down for dinner - it was like a kiddie club on the perimeter of the room with kids jumping and dancing all around.

We love Disney!

2011-03-15T20:26:00.003-06:00

Mom and I took the kids on Dumbo, the Carousel, Pooh Bear, Buzz lightyear and the people mover. Violet in line was, well, pyscho. But they had fun on the rides. Cliffie loved the lever on Dumbo that raised and lowered your seat. I think Violet wasn't too thrilled about the Monorail though.

Downtown Disney pt. 2

2011-03-15T20:19:00.003-06:00

We loved the T-Rex store/restaurant where the dinos moved and growled and such. There is a regular extinction event due to a comet as well. The kids played in a sand pit with fake fossils too. good times!

The kids loved the train.

Downtown Disney

2011-03-15T20:13:00.004-06:00

There are such awesome stores in Downtown Disney. Once upon a Toy is store where we took these pictures. We also went into World of Disney (?) and it is ginormous. They have a bibbity bobbity boutique for little princesses in the girls section where they get hair and makeup done and maybe more.

Cocoa Beach!

2011-03-15T20:08:00.002-06:00

It was a bit too cold for me though. I should've taken a pic of all of us together - Dagan, Hunter, Dad, me and the kiddos. I had a way cute maternity swim top on that isn't pictured. Love awesome maternity finds. Cliffton would only go into the water about 1/2" and then demanded I pick him up so he would be safe. He's a sweetie. Violet would have drowned if we let her do what she wanted.

Playing around the Disney area

2011-03-15T20:02:00.002-06:00

We played at the playground in Fort Wilderness and took a boat over to Magic Kingdom and to the Wilderness Lodge. We didn't spend any money though - just did whatever we could for free. Uncle Dagan helped me out with the kiddos. We had a nice time.

Violet's creative play

2011-03-15T20:00:00.001-06:00

Lately, when we start getting ready for bed, Violet will climb into on of the bunk beds and "pretend" to be asleep. I think this picture, however, was her first pretend sleep. Isn't it cute? We were still in FL here.

Walk around Calabay Cove

2011-03-15T19:56:00.002-06:00

Cliffton had enough of our walk when I took this picture. I think on FB Jessica said it looks like they're waiting for someone to come take them away! Nah, I'd sell them on Ebay instead! ;) We had a nice walk and yes, made sure the trees felt loved. :) Cliffton did not rip the leaf off a bush - we found it along the sidewalk so no plant mutilation.

Water fun in the backyard

2011-03-15T19:53:00.002-06:00

I just loved being able to let the kids play outside for awhile. It was still pretty icy and snowy when we left Freeport, NY and FL was a welcome change.

Ponce de Leon pt.3

2011-03-15T19:48:00.002-06:00

Just some more silly pics for my family. Well, minus Susie and her family, Tyler, Jessica and her family, and Jerdie. Excuse me, Josh. ;) And the falcon isn't a member of our family. Yes, he and Violet can make the same glares but there is no family connection!

Ponce de Leon pt. 2

2011-03-15T19:36:00.002-06:00

Yes, we do have a thing for trees, Papa! We may not be "green" or "reducing our carbon footprint" in any way except, we love our trees. Cliffton and Danielle were hanging out but then David and Hunter got jealous and stole him away in the last two pics.

Wildlife and our Ponce de Leon Springs trip

2011-03-11T12:36:00.002-07:00

My mom wanted to get up close and personal with nature but we convinced her it would be too cold. It was a cold day for FL. Even I was very glad I had my hoodie on. The birds of prey were too cool. I'll eventually see if I can find out what they are exactly. Some sort of falcon? The springs were really lovely and we all ate at a cook-your-own pancake restraunt. So good!

Florida

2011-03-11T12:22:00.004-07:00

We were in FL from February 10th to the 24th. I reached my halfway point in this pregnancy right as we left for FL. Richard stayed in NY while we had lotsa fun in FL (but yeah, we missed him a little). Hunter is pushing Cliffton in the swing and Tanner is pushing Violet. Little Big Dagan is holding Violet while Danielle strikes a pose in the 2nd. Mom and her favorite daughter in the 3rd. :) Uncle Hunter with my kiddos are next. Violet was often pushed around in a clear bucket or carried around in a pickle bucket thanks to the awesome Uncle Hunter!

Aviation pt. 2

2011-03-11T12:14:00.003-07:00

We can often get free passes to museums through our library. You just have to reserve ahead of time for the more popular ones. Otherwise, I pay 5.00 so me and the kiddos can go play in the toy room instead of buying a museum pass. The toy room has tons of stuff: some 3 or 4 different kinds of blocks, books and soft chairs, magnets and dry erase board, the shuttle, airplane, airplane see-saw, helicopter, food and serving toys, wooden planes and more. Its definitely awesome, esp. when its free!

Aviation Museum kids room - February

2011-03-11T12:08:00.003-07:00

Both kids love the helicopter and the airplane see-saw in the toy room. Violet really likes the hand sanitizer. Violet is in the space shuttle cockpit in the 2nd pic. There are tons of knobs and levers and such in it.

My new business - Stacey International

2011-03-11T11:26:00.004-07:00

Here's a pic of me and some of our team at a regional conference in PA back in January.

I've created a website through Amway where you can order not just Amway and related products but also discounted brand name products from companies like Sears, Barnes and Noble and Best Buy.

Amway has the world's #1 line of vitamins and supplements, Nutrilite; Artistry skincare and make-up which are among the world's top 5 leading prestige makeup and skincare products and the very, very delicious (in my opinon and others!) 0 carb, 0 sugar, low calorie XS drinks.

I have tried several of the skincare products and they are great. My skin feels pampered and this is just from the basic cleanser, toner and moisturizer. I also like the mineral makeup - its very light and natural. The XS energy drinks are the only low calorie drinks, other than crystal light, that I really enjoy and I LOVE sugar, so most products that taste "diet" to me are out.

Please check out my website: amway.com/staceyintl. After you register (which is free - like registering for amazon.com) you can browse the many categories of products. If you're interested in something but it seems too pricey, let me know and I can lower the price for many products. Then when you log on again, you can see your discount.

Last day in Utah

2011-03-11T11:21:00.005-07:00

I was fortunate enough to spend a little time with my friends Annette and Michelle (pictured) in Midway. They are both wonderful gals. Michelle and her husband built their own gorgeous log cabin in the mountains with the help of family. Annette and her husband have a lovely unique home with a stained glass window that makes me think of the Rose from Beauty and the Beast. After visiting friends, our family went to Salt Lake to listen to the Mormon Tabernacle choir in rehearsal. We also went into a visitor's center briefly. Cliffton liked the choir at first but then grew tired of how much they stopped and started over and over again.

Isn't she cute?

2011-03-11T11:15:00.002-07:00

More sledding and snow pics

2011-03-11T11:08:00.004-07:00

One of the last runs, Cliffie and Daddy went right to the street. I think I did too that day. such fun. Violet liked to eat ice off the tree. yup. We got a few super smiley pictures of her that day.

Cliffton goes sledding

2011-03-11T11:01:00.002-07:00

Most of the time, Cliffton and Richard went sledding together so I could get some pictures of them as Richard didn't sled last time. Cliffton liked it but didn't like the snow blowing up in his face as they went down the hill. He's very cute. He also doesn't really like sand in playgrounds either (nice that most NY parks have the spongy mat surface instead of wood chips or sand). Violet and I had fun sledding too but she really enjoyed just playing around in the snow. Silly girl.

the battle rages on...

2011-03-11T10:55:00.002-07:00

We need to get some of Susie and Oliver's pics from the battle. I think they have a lot more than we do. Here I am trying to be athletic and some pics of two of my brother's in law, Oliver and Steve.

Birthday (New Years Eve)

2011-03-11T10:50:00.005-07:00

Nerf guns are soooo much fun! I used a "police shield" for most of the time which you can see in the 3rd pic. I have a little six shooter which sometimes jammed but had great accuracy. I wanna do this again! It was the most awesome birthday/new years eve game! Its a lot of fun to "kill" your man in a nerf battle. The soldiers that day: My brothers in law: Oliver, Steve and Matt; Sister in law, Emily; Richard, Hannah, myself, Jared (neighbor) and Susie. Technically Aria was there too but she had made a prior covenant not to shed blood. :)

Birthday! My last one in my 20s.

2011-03-11T10:45:00.002-07:00

I was able to spend a lot of time with my awesome bud Hannah on this vacation. Here are some birthday pics. Richard's grandpa came over and so did Susie, Oliver and little Aria. Most of Richard's family was around too. We had such fun together on my birthday playing Dance Central on Kinnect and eating a fun birthday dinner and playing to the death in a nerf battle at the church building (next post!).

Fun with Aunt Michelle

2011-03-11T10:42:00.002-07:00

Here are (then) all of the cousins with Michelle. She's a very sweet aunt and they love her.

Violet's sledding day

2011-03-11T10:28:00.004-07:00

Just after Christmas or so, I really wanted to go sledding with the kiddos. Cliffie really didn't want to go with us. While he played with Grandma and uncles and aunties, we went to Rock Canyon for some sledding fun. I was a bit nervous with Violet the first time or two but it was tons of fun and she loved it. Of course, she loved eating the snow too. (Those kind of pictures show up later when we actually get Cliffton to go sledding with us.) Her big snow gloves didn't stay on very well. Richard and I got a bit frustrated with constantly putting them back on. I tumbled down one of the runs as you can see in the third pic. Richard took pics on this trip and then went sledding alot when we later took Cliffton.

Temple Square pt.2

2011-03-06T14:35:00.001-07:00

We went inside one of the visitors center (no pics of that) and we went inside the tabernacle. Otherwise we had fun outside looking at lights and taking pictures. Riding Trax with Grandma and Papa was a lotta fun too!

Christmas Lights @ Temple Square

2011-03-06T14:32:00.001-07:00

Obzansky and Stacey, Assassins Inc.

2011-03-06T14:30:00.001-07:00

Snowshoeing with Richard and Hannah by Mt. Timp

2011-03-06T14:22:00.004-07:00

That was pretty day with pretty snow for snowshoeing. We were in the Aspen Family Grove area.

Papa n his grandkids

2011-03-06T14:17:00.003-07:00

How they love to be with Papa. But you know, they also love his Ipod too. Especially when old mickey mouse cartoons are chosen.

Christmas

2011-03-06T14:11:00.004-07:00

Cliffton and his "by the power of Greyskull" sword of power. I really liked Violet's face in the second picture and the present was from Richard to me. A pop up book about fairies. Pretty cool. Violet likes her Minnie cup. Hungry Hippos is enjoyed by our whole family. Ella Rose and Violet Ann in their new PJs. Sweetest lil' princesses! (I forgot to mention earlier: we were all sick. I brought a nasty NY cough and cold bug with me and the Stacey household resounded with coughs for the entire break).

Christmas Eve pics

2011-03-06T13:38:00.004-07:00

The kids opened up their ornaments and PJs from Grandma and Papa. Cliffie was convinced to wear his new PJs for only about one minute. Its not pictured. Richard and I and his siblings/in-laws also opened up ornaments from Darrell and Loretta. They are so pretty! But I have too many pics and posts to catch up on to show every persons ornament. We ate a Bethlehem dinner that evening thanks to Emily's suggestions. We read some stories that Darrell printed out for each adult to read. I felt comfort and peace that night as we were all together. It was nice.

Cliffie, Eilee and Eliza

2011-03-06T13:35:00.001-07:00

You think a gingerbread display lasts awhile? Not around the 5 and under crowd!

Richard and Steve's dinos

2011-03-06T13:31:00.001-07:00

snow much fun!

2011-03-06T13:19:00.004-07:00

Violet loves to eat ice and snow. Doesn't matter if its Utah or New York flavored. Uncle Steve was great and pulled the kids around on the sled in the backyard. The kids loved it. Steve's family made a snow family that you can see. We stayed in Utah for 3 weeks and really enjoyed being with family.

Christmas party

2011-03-06T13:14:00.002-07:00

Kevin and Megan's work held a Christmas party for employees and family. We had fun eating the FABULOUS food they offered and watching the kids with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Cliffie and Violet loved the Frosty the Snowman and Violet loved cutting in line and attempting to swing on the chains. I wouldn't let her since they had signs up discouraging it.

My sisters and I and our families

2011-03-06T13:09:00.003-07:00

We loved being able to visit with Susie and Jessica and their families while we were in Utah over Christmas break. Here are some pics of us @ BYU.

Christmas fun

2011-03-06T13:07:00.001-07:00

Right before we left for Utah, Santa came to visit! He brought Christmas symbols with him and explained their meaning and brought gifts for the kiddos. And he brought the missionaries. Awesome!

My first turkey dinner!

2010-12-15T08:36:00.003-07:00

I bought my first whole turkey and made stuffing for it too. It was quite satisfying. (Vegetarians must lead a non-fulfilling life. ;) It was also intimidating to make. I don't like touching all that stuff inside the turkey. Cliffton stayed at the table for a long time saying, "I want food" "I'm hungry" and such every 3 minutes or so. Poor kid.

Gingerbread Houses with the Chirinos'

2010-12-15T08:32:00.002-07:00

What a sweet day it was! I made the gingerbread and Richard and I put them together and then we all decorated the houses @ the Chirinos' home. Good times! I needed more pics of the girls though. We had a boys house and a girls house.

Thanksgiving with Mike and Michelle

2010-12-15T08:18:00.002-07:00

M&M came to visit us for a day and then we met up with them later at Mike's sister's home. It was a lovely visit and Cliffie and Vi had a lot of fun with Bonnie and Noel's kids. I love talking with my sister in law! She's awesome! :)

Thanksgiving Dinner/Party @ Church

2010-12-15T08:11:00.003-07:00

We had a very yummy dinner and Richard spoke about the history of Thanksgiving, quoting a lot from Pres. Lincoln. We then danced! Cliffie was soo cute! He would run around the room as everyone danced and just do his own thing, sometimes dancing, sometimes jumping and clapping. We had a lot of fun. It kind of felt like being back at a youth dance too. I haven't danced in awhile so I felt a little awkward. The picture of me is very much not my favorite.

The Aviation Museum

2010-12-15T08:04:00.003-07:00

The museum has an awesome little kids room (ages 2-6). There are some neat parts from airplanes and helicopters and all kinds of books and toys.

Missionaries

2010-12-15T08:00:00.003-07:00

It has been so neat to have the missionaries over about once a week. We never had missionaries over when we lived in Utah. In Florida, we only had them over about once a month. The first picture is Elder Leal with our family and the next one is Elder Parker (I'm pretty sure Cliffie took that one!). They have all been wonderful, friendly missionaries.

"You're turning violet, Violet"

2010-12-15T07:58:00.003-07:00

Well, not literally, but of course Miss Violet needs to have a violet dress!

One of the COOLEST Christmas trees ever!!!

2010-12-15T07:48:00.002-07:00

I think this was at Borders. I know Susie and Bryana will love this picture!

park pics

2010-12-15T07:46:00.002-07:00

Just more pictures of them at Waterfront park.

Vi and boots

2010-12-15T07:39:00.001-07:00

Violet likes to take Cliffton's things periodically. Clomping around the house in these boots is one of her joys, much to our downstairs neighbor's dismay.

Cliff the Conductor

2010-12-15T07:35:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned HOW MUCH Cliffton loves to lead music? He does it indoors and out.

Violet's hats

2010-12-15T07:30:00.003-07:00

Even though I can't get Violet to wear a headband or hair clip for than about 100 seconds, she loved to wear her witch hat and she likes her basket hat and Cliffton's old Mickey hat.

Halloween pt.2

2010-12-15T07:26:00.002-07:00

We went to the church building for a Halloween party and the kids had fun. They really liked candy but they also liked the streamers and the piano.

Halloween

2010-12-15T07:08:00.006-07:00

Ok, we had to get some pictures up before we left for Utah. I wanted to take a totally empty camera out so we could take the 600 or whatever pictures our camera holds without reservation. First, here are some Halloween pics. Yeah, some 6 weeks late, but they're fun!

a quick run-down

2010-12-13T14:45:00.004-07:00

Cliffton loves He-Man and She-Ra. He has been holding a baby monitor speaker that looks like a walkie talkie and saying things like, "by the power of greykind!" Now he will say it correctly "...grayskull." I call Violet Battle Cat because she has quite the little growl sometimes. Man, this girl is tough! She has figured out how to escape from her crib despite all of Richard's creative measures. They had a lot of fun over Thanksgiving when Mike and Michelle came to visit. We really enjoyed spending a bit of time with them and with Mike's family. It was a great time. I hope to get pictures up soon. I have been feeling pretty good but already I have a swollen area that is from a pregnancy-related hernia. Yeah, not fun. But last pregnancy it didn't start up 'till about 20 weeks. This year, 10 weeks. And even though I can still wear my regular jeans, I often wear maternity 'cause its already more comfortable. Next pregnancy? Hmmmm... The statistics aren't looking good. I have a doctors appt. tomorrow so we'll update on that later. On a good note - Richard just took 3 of 4 final exams and feels good about them. He says it doesn't mean anything though. I'm happy for him. One semester down - 5 more to go!

Yummy pan-fried chicken nuggets with curry

2010-10-25T11:12:00.003-06:00

These were awesome but I have to admit that any kind of frying is a pain. The taste is worth it though!

1 1/2 - 2 lbs. chicken cut up in chunks (maybe 2" pieces)

1 1/4 C flour (you may need some more)

1/2 cup warm water

1 1/2 T curry powder (or any spice mixture really)

salt and pepper, to taste

Rub the chicken all over with rice vinegar (or cider vinegar). This is pretty easy if you put all of the chicken pieces in a big freezer ziplock bag, pour the vinegar in, seal and shake it up. Then add the salt, pepper and curry and shake again. Whisk flour with the water until you get a paste about as thick as yogurt. Heat up to 1/4" oil in a skillet over med.- high heat. Dredge chicken in mixture and pan-fry in batches. Approx. 4 servings and takes approx. 30 minutes. Great with steamed rice and veggies with a little curry.

Silly little Vibye!

2010-10-25T11:03:00.002-06:00

Oh this girl loves to have fun! She's so social and loves to be a part of it all. Cliffton has always been a much more independent personality. Not so with our little princess. On this day, I was baking bread and Violet wanted to be involved. So I gave her some flour to play with. Flour power!

As we were going through more boxes of clothes and stuff we found a swimsuit for Violet and she tried to put it all herself! I think she got one foot though the hole and then I helped her with the rest.

Waterfront Park

2010-10-25T10:59:00.003-06:00

Again, we found a way awesome park! However, this one had geese poo everywhere. Ugh! So nasty. So even though it was freezing and nasty, we still had fun. Violet wanted to give the geese a BIG HUG! We eventually scared them all away.

I sure do think they're cute!

2010-10-25T10:43:00.000-06:00

My cuties!

Oh Cliffton...

2010-10-20T12:09:00.002-06:00

He is just the darn cutest lil' bug that Cliffie! Cliffton really likes to say prayers. Today while at the park he said he had to say the prayer and he immediately ran off a few yards and said a very-fast-and-not-so-intelligible-prayer. He will do that while were playing at home too. Yesterday, Richard was helping him with the dinner blessing on the food and Richard prompted him to say something like, "and help Mommy to have patience with the kids" or "please help Mommy deal with the kids" something, and Cliffton repeated it word for word until "the kids." Without hesitation, he said simply, "Violet." Apparently Cliffton is just too mature to fit into this category!

In our "backyard"

2010-10-18T13:33:00.002-06:00

There is a closed pool in our 'backyard.' It is open from about Memorial Day to Labor Day. To the east of the pool is a little BBQ area and a small grassy area for play. The kids like to ride and push strollers (with Violet's blankie as a passenger) around the sidewalks. Violet also likes to pick up rocks and throw them or eat them. She also likes to throw woodchips down the drains. Here she is pointing out an airplane to me. Oh, she LOVES airplanes! Its so cute how she looks around desperately to find it. Cliffton would not pedal his bike around before we moved to NY. He would just "Flinstone" it. Now he's one groovy lil' biker.

I have never seen this before...

2010-10-18T13:23:00.003-06:00

Can you read it? It says FALLOUT SHELTER. I had to get a picture. Its on the town hall.

*Some history: This town officially became Freeport in the mid 1800s (it was called Raynortown or something like that before) but there's been a community here since about 1660 or so. 350 years! Yikes! I was born in Reno and I'm pretty sure it wasn't 'settled' 'till about 1860. Orlando, my home from 1992-2004, was sparsely populated by native Americans until Europeans came around 1836. Not so up here! A lot of cities have roots going back to mid 1600s.

Haircut pix and family pix

2010-10-18T13:09:00.003-06:00

A picture each of Cliffton and Violet on our last trip to a Hempstead park (now that we're officially Freeport residents we belong to the southside gangs, not central ;) This park was close to the Chirinos' home). This is also Cliffie before his haircut. They had the COOLEST lil' fire engine chair for kiddos at the salon! Cliffton hated getting his hair cut at first but I think the fire truck really helped take his mind off of the supposed torture. The last two were taken at our branch's hispanic cultural celebration. There were tables set up and/or presenters for Columbia, Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Ecuador. Sis. Chirinos' is a wonderful translator and was a big help to us English speakers that night! She is the one with short hair in the second to last picture and she also translates for ASL speakers as well.

This is one of the cutest parks!

2010-10-17T18:14:00.003-06:00

This is one of the closest parks and its pretty cool. There are some 3 playgrounds, an exercise area, a huge field and a smaller one, tennis courts, trails, boat ramps, water area, picnic tables, grills, beach, etc. We haven't checked where the shoreline is yet but I know its near the picnic areas (there are a lot of bushes and trees that separate the park area from the beach).

Kids and their toys

2010-09-27T12:44:00.002-06:00

The Stacey and Chirinos 4 and under crowd really like the blow up car. Its the party mobile! My kids really like getting out to the parks - thank goodness, we've done alot of it lately and its been fun for me to explore the area with them. One thing I've noticed about all the parks around here - they are specifically designed for age groups and will often fence off certain areas. As an example, the 5-12 yr. olds have their playground on one side of the fence or, as in the pic with Cliffie and Vi, its across a grassy field from the 2-5 yr. old playground. The swings are typically separated by fences too. Violet loves to play in the swings and she's started to go after the big kid swings now too. She can swing gently on them for a few seconds.

Caution: Stay away from the Cliff!

2010-09-27T12:39:00.003-06:00

Cliff meets his match! He was a little bit scared because once up there, he was stuck. I think these fake rocks/cliffs are really neat looking. Side note: this park is one of maybe 2 parks that I've been to where us white folks were the majority. Its cool - I love the diversity of NY.

we love strollers from all walks of life.

2010-09-27T12:33:00.003-06:00

Violet loves to push strollers, with our without people or purses or backpacks in it. I recently bought a little pink stroller just for her and she loves it! She loves to push boxes and baskets around the house and I was pretty excited to get this for her 'cause I was 99% sure she'd love it. And she does! Cliffie likes 'em too but not quite as much as baby princess. (We've referred to Violet so much as 'baby princess' that little Rebecca likes to refer to Violet that way as well!)

Why have a jungle gym when you have Richard?

2010-09-18T08:25:00.001-06:00

The Church Building and the Temple

2010-09-18T08:19:00.004-06:00

The branch meets in a building that has 3 businesses around it on the first floor but we meet on the top floor. It is a bilingual branch that has English and Spanish classes and then sacrament meeting has a translator. We use headsets depending on who is speaking. Most members speak Spanish and only a little English. I went to the Manhattan Temple with 4 sisters a few weeks ago and it was great. I love the Temple! We met around 5:15am and went to a 6:30 ish session. Since its in the middle of the city the temple is quite narrow and I didn't really want to run across the busy street to try to get more of the temple in the picture. Some other time.

Staceys and Chirinos'

2010-09-17T10:58:00.008-06:00

We've had a lot of fun playing with the Chirinos family - kids: Brandon, Cristina, Rebecca and Daniel. Cristina and Violet are first. Brandon, Baby Dani and Cliffton are next. Richard is terrorizing the kids in the last 2. Apparently kids like to be terrorized.