End of School!

Devin finished his first year of school on June 25th. He completed PK3(nursery school) with a few bumps in the road but HE DID IT! He received a certificate of completion & he

told his teacher, Mrs. Rivera that he would ask us to frame it for him. His class had a end of the year picnic at Astoria Park & I tagged along with Serena as a chaperone. I was surprised how well behaved these kids were. I witnessed first hand at how Devin wanted to be picked to do something-he RAISES his hand...quietly! Wow. I'm so proud of him!

Having ice-ee together...Mrs. Rivera is sitting on the top far left with the pink short sleeve top.

Hanging with one of the teacher's aide-Ms. Lucy.

Lunch Time

Happy 11 Months!

Wow! Time goes by so quickly. I know I say that every time when I post Serena's monthly pictures but I feel like I was just pregnant!

At 11 months, Serena walks independently, she finally decided to let go of our hands, little by little (like 2 or 3 steps at a time) at around 10 months or so. Now a days, she is trying/learning to walk up & down the stairs. She's basically eating everything that she's allowed to eat, but I still feed her the baby oatmeal cereal for breakfast & multigrain cereal along with something else for lunch. I usually feed her pasta for dinner & some kind of meat (whatever meat Andrew & Devin are having for dinner). She doesn't eat a lot, but she does like to try everything I feed her. I can't till she turns one next month! Woohooo!

"Mommy-I-don't-feel-well-please-don't-take-my-picture" face.

"OK-maybe just one more."

"Well, if you don't mind my runny nose-go ahead, take another one. I'll even smile for you."

Serena walking.

Like Brother, Like Sister (11)

It is the time of the month again...what is similar between these 11 months old pictures when taken for both, is they were both under the weather. Hence, I didn't capture much of their usual smiling faces...

Serena @ 11 months

Devin @ 11 months

Fishing Festival

A couple of Saturdays ago, we went to the First Annual Fishing Festival by the Hudson River & West Harlem. It was an family affair where arts & crafts tents were set up and a band playing bluegrass music. There were a lot of park rangers there educating all the visitors about the different species of fish you can find in the salt water based Hudson River. Then we were trained to use the fishing rod (mine & Devin's first). We really were hoping to catch something but with just half an hour time slot to fish, we caught nothing, not even an old shoe. We were going to sign up for another time slot, but we were getting hungry & it started to rain. Oh well, maybe next time. 

The band getting ready to play.

Devin decorating a tile.

Andrew made a necklace for Serena at the A&C table.

Fishing...

Eating...at Dinosaur BBQ

Visiting the Intrepid

Over the Memorial Day weekend, we decided to go to the Intrepid Museum since it was also Fleet Week with visiting vessels. One disappointment though, was he couldn't go inside the submarine. There was an age requirement (6 years & up) even though he surpassed the height requirement by more than 4 inches! Devin had so much fun, he cried when we had to leave after almost 4 hours of fun. But we promised him we'd bring him back!  

First order of business: getting dog tags!

Showing me his brand new dog tag!

Up on the flight deck.

I don't understand why the need of making these already powerful machines more menacing by painting them like a shark (there were a few like that)...

Even Serena was enjoying the day. She didn't want me to hold her hand and decided just to walk along the flight deck on her own by holding onto the wired fence.

Devin driving a humvee...

...flying a helicopter...

and resting on one of the bunks!

Picture Perfect

Devin's school has undergone some renovations on the first floor lobby. And through out the school, pictures were taken from every grade & hung on the walls. We were told pictures would be taken but didn't know they would be displayed. So a few weeks ago when I went to pick Devin up from school, I was pleasantly surprised to see his picture right by the front entrance!

The littlest cowboys: Devin, Marcus, Kevin & Andrew. All from PK3.  

Devin's picture is hung on the left side of the wall by the front door.

Serena & I at the parties...

When we go to birthday parties, Serena is still too little to participate in any of the activities. So I usually just take her hand & we walk around & around where there is space. As you can tell from the pictures below, she loves it!

Having fun walking!

Such a happy girl!

Taking Lejla for a stroll!

Taking a much needed break.