There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

Hello Everyone -

I trust that you all had a safe and wonderful Christmas season!

Well...this was our first Christmas in NYC and to say it was rough would be an understatement. It was difficult at best! Thanks to all of my friends who listened to me cry, complain and email about how sad I was during the Christmas season...but we made it through.Being away from you all this Christmas made me realize how much I loved you all and the special thing that each and every one of you who receive this blog bring to my life.

Enough of that!!!!

I have been on vacation since Christmas Eve and so we decided to take another adventure to the City...to no place other than Rockefeller Center to see the famed tree and the ice skating rink. First of all; it was very, very crowded and we went the Saturday after Christmas. There were what seemed like millions of people in Manhattan that day. It was an unseasonably warm day for New York and people were taking advantage. I have never heard so many different languages spoken at one time!

Anyway, we headed off on the train, transferred to the subway in Penn Station and we were there. First let me say; it was beautiful! The statues, the sculptured angels that they had in the area and just being able to stand in front of this massive tree and take photographs was awesome. It was a sight to see and I would have to go back next year in the evening to see it in all of it's glory.

After the tree; we decided that we would do some shopping on 5th Avenue dahling!!!! Can anyone say Luis Vuitton, Cartier, the biggest Coach store you've ever seen, Chanel...all of them were there and we went in and indulged our fantasy. They also had some more realistic stores that we were able to go to...Juicy Couture ( I must take Raven for her 13th b-day) and Saks and places like that...needless to say; we walked away empty handed. Although; it is my dream to go to Luis Vuitton and purchase an authentic bag just once....

I enjoyed my day in the City and hope you all like some of the pictures that we took!

Raven Needs Your Help

HI Friends and Family



As all of you know; Raven is heavily involved in Twirling and continues to Twirl with an organization here in Long Island...Brumidi Sunshine Twirlers. If you thought DTS was tough....you ain't seen nothing yet....



She really needs your help! As you all know; we know very few people here in NY....however, it would really help her efforts if she were able to participate in fundraising. If you can; please consider purchasing an Entertainment 09 book from Raven for the low cost of $20.00....



By visiting their website http://www.entertainment.com/ you will see the value of the book...and in times like these...who couldn't use a book full of discounts and coupons.



Now don't worry...you are not purchasing a NY book; but a book that is National and includes coupons that can be used across the US....so don't worry that your coupons will go to waste.



What do you say? Anyone interested in a book? Let me know because I am planning on bringing them home for Thanksgiving and collecting money at that time based on your orders.



We love you all!

Well....Raven turned 12 year old this weekend...can you believe that it's already been 12 years since this little ball of dynamite came into our lives. Twelve years with this beautiful, bright girl in our lives...hasn't always been easy...but it's always been worth it.

This year to celebrate...she of course; went to Red Lobster (what would a birthday be without Raven and Red Lobster) and then she went to a dance at her school with her friend Miriam. Here is Raven in her "tween" costume. She was a lady bug....notice the dots and the big wings...other; than that it was a skirt and blouse for the dance. And an excuse to wear make up of course. She seemed like she had a good time...said that she danced and partied up a storm...here are some more shots she took ( I wonder who she gets that from Shanette!)

It's A Different World....than where you come from!

Hello Gang -

Well; the first day of school finally happened at last.

Austin goes to a school called East St. School...everyone was very nice to us and I even got a chance to meet the principle. He rides the bus to school now ( a huge change for him) but he seems perfectly content with it. In fact; he has been running around all weekend saying that he cannot wait until Monday to go to school because they are going to computer class on Monday and he likes to work on the computer. The school assigned him a partner who shows him around and they hang together all day...showed him to the bathroom, the lunch room and outside at recess. The teacher has a very cool reward system that helps the children to stay on their best behavior. They earn tickets every time they are "caught" being good and after 40 tickets; they earn a day of no homework. I love this reward system that focuses more on positive reinforcement versus noticing a child only when they are bad. I think that this will work well for Austin.

Raven goes to a middle school that has 1200 students. The 7th grade class has close to 470+ students. Her class schedule includes: French, English, Piano, Computers, Math, Science, Art and Social Studies. It's very much like a high school where the children move from class to class and have only like 10 minutes in between. She complained that all of the "black" people talked with accents(i.e Jamaican or Caribbean) and that she was the only African American that she met. This just proves to me that this is going to be a good overall experience for her. She is so used to everyone looking and sounding just like her...if she really wants to go to college in Europe; she has to learn to be comfortable in all types of environments. They have something in New York called Regents exams; where kids must pass Regents tests in order to receive a high school diploma. It starts at the middle school level and the standards are tough. Judging from Raven's syllabus; she will be working extremely hard this semester. She also rides the bus; but she did not like it so much. She said that it was too many to a row (3) and that it was HOT!!!

I am still setting up my computer so look for pictures next week of our house here in New York and pictures of our town.

All set for the 1st Day of School (NOT!!!!)

Hello Gang...

Well today; I attempted to get the kids all registered for school. It did not go so well...first off; I fill out all of this paperwork just to be told when I got there that the kids did not have all of the shots required for New York....poor Austin has to get like four more shots and Raven has to get some booster shot or something before she can go to school. So; the lady at the registration office tells me that I can go to a walk in clinic to get the shots...of course I would have to pay for this out of pocket at this time and I refuse to do so when I have perfectly good insurance that I can use. I then rush home and jump on the Internet trying to find a pediatrician that will give me an appointment as soon as possible so that I can get the shots that I need. I finally find one and then have to take the appointment slip back up to the registration office so that they can see that I have an appointment to get the shots done. At this point; the office is so crowded with people new to Hicksville that I can't even see the registration officer and I have to give my forms to the secretary...this is not good because I needed to speak to the Registration office to see if the kids could start school tomorrow but because she is so busy...now I am unable to go. This sucks!!!!

So, now...we are in limbo land. The kids have appointments tomorrow for them to get the shots that they need and I am going to try and go back to the registration office to complete the enrollment process.

Everyone knows that school is important to me and I am super bummed about the kids missing the first day of school. However, it is not that bad in the grand scheme of things...it's only the first week of school and they should be fine after that.

However...lesson learned: Expect the unexpected!