Ellie's new puppy!

Alright, this one has batteries, but she carried it around like it's real. Papa got Ellie a puppy that she has named Jake. In the meantime she holds him and coos, "it's okay buddy." She just loves her puppy - and this one works out just fine for us.

Haircut Weekend!

Our haircuts are so much fun because they involve going to Aunt Mimi's shop. Ellie said, "Mommy, is Daddy going with us?" When I said he was she said, "But Mommy, he doesn't have any hair!" Oh well! Here Ellie shows she has gotten the trick of sitting while Aunt Mimi works her magic. And in the end Ellie had a terrific trim and a french braid as well! The rest of the weekend was a thrill as well. Ellie went to Grammy's house for Saturday to visit the horses and make cookies with M&Ms in them, while Bill & I attended our United Way Bowl for Charity event in Clifton Park. You'd think the two of us were old the way we still ache on Sunday. We had a great time with folks from work and the big thrill for us was when Bill threw 3 strikes in the 10th frame of our 2nd and final game. Bill made scampi for dinner as Papa and Grammy joined us for lots of laugh - and garlic!

Making Voting History!

Ellie went into the voting booth with me to vote in this historic election. Since she was there for history in the making, I wanted to have a memento of the occassion. Here she is holding The Saratogian with the headline, "Obama Makes History".

Ellie was a ladybug this year! After her costume parade at daycare with all her friends, we picked her up to go to Grammy's 'white house', The Washington Inn as Grammy was working last evening. We laughed as she told us her antics of the day. Then we picked up Papa and pizza and went to Aunt Lisa's house. Ellie loved answering the door - we even found one of our old friend's with her son, Dylan dressed here as a pirate. His mom, Krista and I used to work together and now she lives in Lisa's neighborhood. Small world! Ellie finally made it to bed at 8:30pm exhausted from her day and promptly fell asleep!

On the Farm

Ellie loves to feed the horses with Grammy. She knows her way around the barn, where to find the grain and the hay to feed them. Nothing scares her! Here cousin Ashley took this gorgeous shot of Ellie with Grammy.

Ellie having fun!

Happy Anniversary!

6 years ago today Bill and I were married, what a difference 6 years makes! Through all the changes, good and bad, today we are happily celebrating our day. We just returned from an overnight at Foxwoods. We stayed at Bellissimo Grande Hotel in the Presidential Suite about 10 minutes from Foxwoods with limo service to and from the hotel, which was so convenient. Our anniversary dinner at Paragon, the only 4-star restaurant in Connecticut, was amazing. The best part of the meal for me was the table-side prepared warm spinach salad. Truly one of the best meals Bill and I have ever eaten.

This photo shows where we've come from, keep checking here for where we will continue to go! Keep in mind, we're still smiling the same way today!

Ellie's Half Birthday

This year for Ellie's Half Birthday ( 2 1/2) we celebrated with half of a pan of chicken parm and half a pan of eggplant with half an ice cream roll from Friendly's with Grammy and Papa. As always, we practice the "Giving, no Getting" rule for the half birthday. This year Ellie's charity was St. Jude's Children's Hospital in honor of her Nana. It amazes me that we already have 3 charities in her scrapbook commemorating every half birthday with a different cause. Some day soon she'll understand the concept and be able to choose her own charity to donate to - and we'll have the scrapbook to show her the history of her charitable dedication!

Golf Tournament Weekend

The Pocono Mountains were the scene for the 16th Annual Rocker Klotz. Ellie's 2nd Year, Jude's 7th and Bill's 16th! My how time flies - especially for Milissa and Craig who celebrated their 15th anniversary on 9/11/08 - and the reason for the commemorative weekend each year. Here's some highlights from the weekend! Here's a comparison from Ellie's 1st (2006) tournament to this year's (2008)!!

Goodbye to Yankee Stadium

Best Summer Reading

MY FAVORITE PASSAGE FROM THE BOOK:
"The line of gray along the horizon is brighter now, and with the coming light I feel a certainty: that there is, despite our wild imaginings, only one life. The ghostly others, no matter how real they seem, no matter how badly we need them, are phantoms. The one life we're left with is sufficient to fill and refill our imperfect hearts with joy, and then to shatter them. And it never, ever lets up.

Blame love."

Maine .. the way life should be!

What a terrific 4 days we had in Ogunquit. The weather was tremendous. We spent all our time at the pool, we didn't even venture down the path to the beach. Our hotel, Anchorage by the Sea , was awesome - we had a great view of the ocean and felt like we were at a resort the whole time - complete with frozen drinks by the pool and loungechair dining for lunch! We walked and walked - down and back to Perkins Cove via Marginal Way - with wonderful views of the ocean. On the first night we took a walk after dinner and Ellie said, "Mommy, I smell the ocean!" She had a blast. Met lots of new friends, shared our pool toys and ate shrimp and lobster! Lots of great places to eat Mikes Clam Shack and Stutesy's - we had a hard time choosing!

Traver's Day

The weather was the best its been in years, the people were wall to wall (oh yeah, we were outside) and the winnings were plentiful! It was a great day!

Dog Days of Summer .. and Rain!

August has flown by .. Ellie visited the Animal Park with her friends at Trudi's - she talks about the giraffe and elephant all the time. The last two weeks are vacation from Trudi's so Ellie was treated to spending time with Aunt Lisa, Aunt Mimi, Aunt Maureen and Grammy - who graciously split the first week for us! Ellie loves going to visit the horses on Saturday mornings - we get picnic tables and then make our way out to the watch the horses workout. Next week is off to Maine ... ahhhh, our long-awaited vacation! But first today is Traver's - and anyone who knows Bill knows this is the most anticipated day of the year. For the record he was up at 4am today - he "just couldn't sleep!" Here's a few shots of the summer so far ...

A lil' bit TALLER now ..

You know how some people start their baby's life by taking a picture in a sweater or a swimsuit and don't stop taking that yearly picture until the child leaves for college? Well we don't have a sweater/swimsuit - we have the Saratoga Race Course! Our favorite family Saturday morning activity is going over before 7am with Ellie in her stroller and racing to get tables! Well, Bill does the running, Ellie and I stroll carefully while she drinks juice from a sippie cup and I have my travel mug of coffee in hand. We then make a big loop to cover a lot of ground to end up at the fence - in front of this fire hydrant. So we have taken the 2008 photo - and I'm taking this opportunity to show you how much she's grown in a year!

Rochester Weekend

While Bill was in NY for the 14th annual Father&Son Yankee/Belmont/Carmine's Weekend - the girls went to Rochester! A 4-hour car trip with a 2 year old quickly turns into a 5-hour one with pit stops - but, boy do we know where all the bathrooms are now! Grammy, Ellie and I departed Friday and stopped for a gorgeous lunch on Seneca Lake at the Pier House. Although it was hot, the breeze and the view of the lake made it all worthwhile. While staying at Aunt Ellen & Uncle Gary's house we had a wonderful time in the kiddie pool, hot tub, playing with sidewalk chalk and having 10th anniversary celebration dinner for Kris & Tricia on Friday night. Saturday after a few garage sales, feeding the ducks at the canal and Ellie's first ever visit to Wegman's, we had a relaxing lunch and afternoon. Dinner was a wonderful grilled pork with Italian beans, mozzerella and tomato salad and we went for ice cream after dinner! We also had a wonderful trip to the trout fish hatchery to feed the fish and to the deer park at dusk to watch the dozens of deer in the field. What a wonderful trip!

Home Run Derby

the State Farm Home Run Derby
Bill & I next to the largest baseball at FanFest!
Our friends Jeff & Cathy at Stan's before the Home Run Derby
Yeah! Our last time at this Yankee Stadium!

Bill and I had the opportunity to experience the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium this week. It was truly incredible to be in Yankee Stadium for all that excitement. We also attended the FanFest at the Javits Center with random sightings of Goose Goosage, Bernie Williams and Jeff Nelson.

** 4th of July **

Ellie and Mommy riding on the Carousel
Ellie in her new wagon from Aunt Lisa
Ellie eating her first ITALIAN ICE (she prefered the cherry)

We'd played tourist on Friday as we went into town, and walked up and down Broadway with Ellie in her jogging stroller. We window shopped, shared Bruegger's Bagels, stopped for an Italian Ice (lemon and cherry) and Putnum St Market for a sweet treat. We then headed for Congress Park and the CAROUSEL! All 3 of us rode - how fun for Ellie as she laughed and laughed! She was so beat she came home and immediately wanted her nap! Saturday was the 'big' 4th of July parade - so we found a great spot, set up camp and watched the 10 minute entertainment go by. Josh was with us and that's always a treat for Ellie. Her favorite part of the whole parade was the big, dressed-up bear who rode in one of the trucks. We had pizza for lunch and the playground after nap time - Josh probably had more than his share of 2-year old activities - yet he was such a good sport - playing with Ellie the whole time. She just loves her cousin!

Here's a quick shout out to Shaun Q - who reads all our antics!