Almost three years to the day, I finally got the house painted and the ugly fire pit in the back yard removed!!! Next year big time landscaping!!!
My brother did a fantastic job removing the hazardous fireplace/pit that must have been built when the house was built in 1920...it literally was back-breaking work and who knew it took a quarry of stone to build it - anyone need some stones????
the house was painted by an annoying professional service I disliked so much that I won't mention their name...I decided to take the initiative and paint the garage in time for Samantha's birthday party.....basically so it wouldn't look like a shack in the backyard......the miracle of paint!
this is the exact pose that I have of Samantha (only three years younger) when I was looking to buy - she had planted herself on the front steps and said "is this going to be our new house because I like it!" I guess that was the biggest selling point....
Here she is looking so much happier....
love my little home - funny, it looks extra small in this picture!
My brother did a fantastic job removing the hazardous fireplace/pit that must have been built when the house was built in 1920...it literally was back-breaking work and who knew it took a quarry of stone to build it - anyone need some stones????
the house was painted by an annoying professional service I disliked so much that I won't mention their name...I decided to take the initiative and paint the garage in time for Samantha's birthday party.....basically so it wouldn't look like a shack in the backyard......the miracle of paint!
this is the exact pose that I have of Samantha (only three years younger) when I was looking to buy - she had planted herself on the front steps and said "is this going to be our new house because I like it!" I guess that was the biggest selling point....
Here she is looking so much happier....
love my little home - funny, it looks extra small in this picture!
Patiently allowing Mama to take a picture in Times Square - the grin was due to an elderly gentlemen who asked if she was starting her modeling career...
She may be allergic to peanuts, but this was one she couldn't get enough of - he was very cuddly.
Bitty Baby also had her first visit to NYC where her "mama" generously gave her a horseback ride since she was tired of walking - LOL!
Daddy and Sam get up close and personal with the NYC police horses - they were huge!
We took the subway to Battery Park and checked out Miss Liberty herself - we didn't have time to go over to Liberty Island so we had a few dramatic moments :) I chalked it up to being overtired :) We also took a walk to the WTC memorial site - what an overwhelming feeling when you are there... 
Sam is already a pro at riding the NYC subway - Thanks Daddy for educating all of us!
Samantha' surprise for the weekend was going to see Mary Poppins on Broadway! John had a blast since he was given beer in a sippy cup - too funny!
After Mary Poppins we went to Serendipity for dinner and then swung by Dylan's Candy Bar which is a 3-storied building full of candy ranging from the nostalgic (pop rocks) to sour watermelons...we were all on a sugar high!
Sam loved the giant chocolate bunny and...
the huge ice creams....
John decided we would take a short-cut through Central Park in the pitch dark... I said to Sarah why is he going away from the light.... we both had a good chuckle or should I say nervous chuckle....
Since Sam was so upset about not getting to "touch" the actual Statue of Liberty we had a little photo shoot on the way back to the hotel....I have on Sam's new shades - she's worn them for all of 3 seconds since I bought them....
We were also able to get out of the sun and take a tour of the American Museum of Natural History and take in some of Sam's favorite characters from Night At The Museum...Here she is looking at "Reki"
Here's "Hey, Dumb, Dumb, where's my gum-gum"
We had a blast!!!