License

Well...it's official.  My boy has his license.  Like in driving...all alone...by himself...in a car.  I don't think parents are ever ready for this milestone.  As happy as I am for him...I'm just as nervous.  Be safe my boy.  And turn down the radio!!!

It happened yet again

...and it will continue to happen again...and again...and again...and again...and again...

We are not safe anywhere anymore.  Whether it's schools...colleges, high schools, middle schools or elementary schools...indoor concerts...outdoor concerts...malls...airports...nightclubs...churches...movie theaters...places of work...and the list goes on.  We are not safe anywhere.  Because how do you protect yourself from an assault weapon?  Install metal detectors?  What match are metal detectors to assault weapons?  When you can just blast your way into a building...and through doors and windows...with an assault weapon?  Or be match for ANY gun...whatever the type of gun?

....................

1. The N.R.A. calls the AR-15 the most popular rifle in America.

2. Five of the six deadliest mass shootings in the past six years here in the U.S. -the gunman had an AR-15 style semiautomatic rifle.

3. Under federal law, you must be 21 to buy a handgun from a firearms dealer. But 18-year-olds can buy semiautomatic rifles.

4. Florida has a 3-day waiting period for handgun purchases. But anyone without a felony record, domestic abuse conviction, or a handful of other exceptions - can walk into a gun store, wait a few minutes to clear a background check, and walk out with an AR-15 style rifle, magazines and ammunition.

5. Congress explicitly banned AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles that fit its definition of assault weapons from 1994 to 2004.  Since that law expired 14 years ago, in most states, it has been just as easy to buy an AR-15 style gun as it is in Florida. Buyers can also purchase the weapon in person or online from private sellers who are not required to perform a background check...an exemption known as the “gun show loophole.”

The FBI failed to do their job in this particular case.  Mental health played a role in every single one of these cases. 

We need to fix what is broken. NOW. 

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I kissed my kids goodnight last night knowing those families couldn't do that.

I kissed my kids goodbye this morning and said "have a good day"...and wondered if those were the last words their moms and dads said to their kids as they left for school on Wednesday...which was Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday.

My hope is that we, as a country, have reached our breaking point...and come together to finally do something...anything...to help control gun violence.  

Volunteer Work

UPDATE:  Little Etta found her forever home!!!  It melts my heart every time these cats find a home! 

This is why it is so important for our animal shelters to have volunteers. Look at shy little Etta. This is the way she's been for weeks...just poking her head out from beneath the cages...looking to have some treats that we're passing out...but too afraid...

She is a beautiful cat but she's not being adopted because she just hides all the time.  Who will get to know her when she's no where to be found? 

Speaking softly, tempting with treats and some fun toys, and gentle little pats while eating goes a long long way.  

Etta's getting to know humans and realizing we aren't the enemy.  She's learning to trust.  And that is sooo important when finding homes for all these cats...

The hissing, growling, swatting and hiding are all defense mechanisms and done out of fear.  There are many feral cats at our shelter who are so lovable and friendly now all due to the work of the volunteers...like my Gianna.  

This is HUGE for little Etta...

I hope she finds a home of her own real soon.  

He'll never be too big

Nope. My boy will never be too big to sit on this Mama's lap. I love how affectionate he is...

Beautiful Young Dancers

There are so many gorgeous teen dancers in my area right now.  I've been following these girls since they were little.  I see them at the competitions we go to and they are so fabulous.  These are just a few of my favorites.

1. Kayla Mak - Westchester Dance Academy NY

2. Grace Luiso - Rhythm Dance Company MA:

3. Kira Marderosian - Elite Academy of Dance MA:

4 & 5. Juliette Marzo and Alexandra Walz - New England Dance Centers MA

5. And of course I have to include my own gorgeous dancing daughter, Julia...

This is Us

In my opinion, "This is Us" is THE best show on TV right now.

This is one of my favorite scenes. It's exactly how I feel about my Dad. My Dad is with me...every...day.  Just because I can't see him...doesn't mean he's not here by my side. Time and time again he has proven to me that he's still here with me.

And that is something I know for sure.

Superbowl Party

Julia and some of her cute friends at a Superbowl party...

No party for me.  I stayed home and enjoyed a nice quiet house.  I don't like football.  B-o-r-i-n-g!!

Hockey

Family

All This Time - The Willis Clan

Love this song so much...

and another version of it...

They are so talented!!  I hope to see them live someday.  : )

Corey Lowenstein

I found out last night that an old friend of mine from my high school days recently passed away from cancer.  As I was searching for more information about her on the internet, I came across this beautiful article written about her career.  Much to my surprise she had become a successful photojournalist.  I watched some of the videos showing her work and read many stories of all the people she touched personally, not only through her work but with her tremendous spirit.  

I met Corey when I was a senior in high school and she was a freshman.  She was a tiny girl with this larger than life personality.  Her smile lit up that cute face of hers.  She won me over immediately and we quickly became friends. She was a student at my sister's dance studio, but we met when we did a high school musical together, Jesus Christ Superstar, at a private all boys high school.  What fun we had doing that play together.

Corey was a fabulous dancer.  She would fly around that stage with such ease. I remember so vividly a solo she did to Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield".  She made me cry with all that emotion she poured into that dance.  To this day if I hear that song it reminds me of Corey.

We kept in touch for a few more years.  The last time I saw her was when she was living in Wilton, CT.  She had moved while she was still in high school.  An old boyfriend of mine lived in the next town over from Wilton so when I went to his house for a weekend I had the chance to see Corey.  I got to see her new home and hang out with her for an afternoon.  It was so nice to see her again.  Corey was also a great pen-pal.  She sent me lots of letters and cards while I was away at college which always brightened my day.  She knew I was a little homesick and those letters meant the world to me.

I'm sorry I lost touch with her.  I would have loved to have shared our adult lives with each other.  I read that she got married and had beautiful twin boys.  They are just way too young to lose their mom, but I am sure they will know all about her through her family and the wonderful legacy she left behind.

Sometimes you meet people for only a brief time through this journey in life and some leave a lasting impression. Corey was just that person. She was a fun loving girl who I shared some wonderful times with.  

I love you Corey.  You are a beautiful soul and will forever be in my heart.

An absolute lifesavor

When we adopted our second cat, Eli, about a month ago...all was pretty good...except for feeding time. Our older cat, KoKo, is a grazer and Eli is a gobbler.  He was finishing his meal and then went after KoKo's food.  So what was a HUGE hassle has now turned into a very easy and pleasant feeding time...all because of these...

The Surefeed microchip pet feeder.  It's FABULOUS!!!  It only opens for a designated cat by picking up on their microchip.  Even if your cat isn't microchiped, it comes with a collar tag with a microchip in it so you just add the tag to their collar.  Now they can't steal each others food!  This is perfect for my older cat who takes his sweet old time eating his meals and is on a special diet because of his diabetes.  It comes with two bowls, one which is split, which is perfect for putting out both wet and dry food at the same time.  I love how the lid closes when they walk away keeping others out of their food and keeping their wet food moist longer.  Love love love it!!

Art Show

Look what my young artist, Julia, created for the high school art show. Her talents amaze me.

Oh how I wish!

My dancing girl

Snow storm

We had quite the snow storm yesterday.  The winds howled all day long with white out conditions. Not too far from here, all along the coast, there was terrible flooding from the ocean. We stayed home all day...

watched movies and had a warm fire...

Danny made short ribs in the crockpot that were so delicious...

and homemade bread in my new bread maker he gave me for Christmas...it's sooooo good!!!

All the windows looked like this yesterday.  I was getting a little claustrophibic...

Then we made snow ice cream for dessert. Ever tried it?  It's very easy...

Snow Ice Cream (for 4-5 people)

1 cup half and half (or milk)

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

about 8 cups of snow 

Mix the first 3 ingredients then pour over the snow and mix gently.  You have to eat quickly as it melts pretty fast.

Today is another snow day for the kids.  Temperatures will only be about 10 degrees today and the winds are still blowing.  Tomorrow it's going to be even colder at only 6 degrees.  Sunday will be a balmy 14 degrees.  And those temperatures are without the wind chill.  Brrrrrr....it feels like the North Pole!!

Varsity

After weeks of waiting and waiting to actually find out what team he was on, the new varsity Coach finally made a decision and told Nicholas he made varsity.  So that's good news and bad news.  The good news is he'll get to practice and work out every day with the varsity team...the bad news is he won't get to play much at all.  There are six goalies this year - three on JV and three on varsity. I'm proud of him.  He's been working so hard for this.  They were in a tournament over break (see pic above...and they won) and in game two the starter goalie was having a rough time.  He let in three goals in the beginning of the first period.  The coach pulled him and put Nicholas in.  He did great considering how nervous he was.  It was his first varsity game of the season and he wanted to prove himself.  And he did just that! 

Our Christmas

What a great Christmas we had.  Such a busy few days.  Let's start with my two teenager babies...love them so much...

Danny has been cooking and baking for days preparing for an Italian Christmas feast.  He made homemade pasta by hand, sauce, meatballs, chicken parm, Italian cookies and fudge.  Wow.  He's an amazing cook and I so appreciate all that hard work...

Christmas Eve day was spent at Kimmy's house...

We played our family game of "Button Button".  It never gets old and we have lots of laughs...

Me and my handsome boy...he's such a love bug...

Danny and Julia...

Me and my Julia...

We headed home and went to a nice Christmas Eve Mass at our church.  Then back home to make Christmas cookies, open sibling gifts and watch the Polar Express. Our tradition!!

The kids did a great job picking out gifts for each other.  Nicholas bought Julia a big tin of popcorn...

Gianna found an Xbox remote ornament for Nicholas.  He got a kick out of that one...

Gianna found a pineapple ornament for Julia...she loves anything pineapple...kind of like my obsession with owls...

Julia bought Gianna some special clay to make slime...she was so surprised and happy...

Cookie time...

Eli's first Christmas. He wakes us up at the crack of dawn every morning and runs up and down the hall meowing like crazy.  I guess he wants everybody up and out of bed!  He's so cute though...how can you get upset with that face and all that soft kitten fur? 

Santa showed up...



My favorite...making them sit on the stairs and wait...and wait...and wait. Helps  build the suspense.  My kids don't sleep in even now that they're older.  They can't wait to get up!  They make darn sure we're up and ready to go by 7:00 a.m.!  I'm so happy they still get excited to see what's under the tree...

Stockings...



Nicholas went first and opened his big present. It wasn't a surprise because he actually helped pay for it.  He's been saving and saving to buy a gaming computer and he finally got it. Santa brought all the accessories like a fun gaming keypad, mouse and some other surprises...

Gianna's favorite present hands down was her slime.  I know...gross but that girl is obsessed...

I think this will be fun.  My kids love s'mores...

Gianna also got an iPad...

My silly girl with a very comfy bathrobe from Victoria's Secret...

an echo dot...

a new backpack for school...

and some new sneakers Gianna has been waiting for...

and so many other fun surprises for the girls too!!

And one of the best parts of the day?  IT SNOWED LIKE CRAZY THIS MORNING!!!  It started off as rain and then changed over to beautiful snow!  Just enough to give us a gorgeous white Christmas...

My family came over this afternoon for Danny's delicious meal and more presents...

We bought my Mom a record player and records. Such a fun gift!

Then I went to the basement and brought up all my old 45's.  We had lots of fun listening to all the old music.  Of course the kids were like "what's a record player and what's a 45???"  So funny how times have changed...

Our button game...

Julia & Gianna imitating a scene from a silly sappy Hallmark Christmas movie we watched...

It snowed!!!  Christmas magic...