Foil Painting

Instead of painting on plain old white paper I wrapped some foil around cardboard (from cereal boxes) and let the kids at it.  It was fun and messy, as usual.

Simon's blessing day

Last weekend was one of my craziest!  (Right up there with moving Thanksgiving weekend--along the parade route--while 9 months pregnant and mothering two children). We had planned on blessing Simon in our ward on Sunday, but Brian's dad was unable to leave his (Brian's) grandma who is quite ill, so we chose to have Simon blessed at Brian's parents' ward.  At 12noon on Friday we decided to go to CT and by 2:30pm we were on the train in Grand Central (I'm amazed at my packing skillz).  It was a weekend filled with awesome carrot cake (for my birthday), the worst vomit episode ever via Isabella, and Simon receiving a beautiful blessing.

Brian blessed Simon with a bounty of beautiful blessings.  I love that he was blessed with a love of learning and a sense of humor.  Learning and laughter are two things we live daily.

Pimp my {stroller} ride

We finally traded in our old Maclaren for this sweet ride:

Britax B-Ready with 2nd seat!

They are quite pleased with it as well.

I've been eyeing this stroller for a few months.  After researching and reading tons of reviews I decided this is the double stroller that would best suit our city traveling needs.  It just came to the market last summer, so it was impossible to find a used one.

But, Brian's sister found us an amazing deal.  Currently Britax has a promotion going on where you can get the 2nd seat free.  And then we bought ours at Buy Buy Baby which accepts Bed Bath & Beyond coupons (check fine print for exclusions).  So, we got this sweet ride (normally $650) for a sweet deal ($400).

As the novelty wears off Isabella will be back scooting all over the city and Simon will be strolling.

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Giddy with spring fever.

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Enjoying the Martha Stewart show!

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Having a blast at the Connecticut Science Center.

Attitude of Gratitude

I'm so happy that this little boy is all mine. My heart jumps every
time his eyes twinkle as he sweetly smiles. He is a dream come true!

MoMA

We had a blast at the MoMA on Saturday!  How come we never knew about the Material Lab?!  Okay, I just looked it up and it arrived February 19th (I assumed it was a permanent exhibit...because it should be!!!)  So, New York moms...GO TO THE MATERIAL LAB...before August 29th!!!  Both Isabella and Oliver LOVED it.  They close it at 5pm and I wish we would have arrived before 4:30pm, we could have spent a lot more time there.

We missed the Tours for Fours, but plan to make it to one soon.  Isabella is at such a fun age now.  We can finally do these cool things and she gets it and loves it too.

Here are a few not-so-great phone photos of the Material Lab:

These are tactile boxes that the kids can touch, feel, smell, etc. various materials and learn what art has been made with them.  Oliver spent a lot of time with these boxes.

Isabella is using a wireless paintbrush.

This was in the main lobby.  Our daughter has her art hanging in the MoMA.  We are so proud! 

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Exploring the MOMA

Attitude of Gratitude

Isabella: 8 months

I have to confess: I haven't been very grateful lately.  The goal of documenting things I'm grateful for was to help me cultivate a more positive attitude in my daily life.  But during the last week or so my thoughts have been, "I'm grateful February is finally half over." or "I'm grateful Oliver peed on the wood floor instead of the carpet." or "I'm grateful I didn't yell again today!"  Not the most positive thoughts, I know.  But that's where I was.  A small pity party for sure.

Fortunately, I seem to be out of that rut and moving forward.  Thank heaven's.

Yesterday as I was doing the dishes I was bemoaning the fact that our hot water is scalding hot.  Even with dish gloves on it can burn!  (It only takes a minute to get that water to boil!  Crazy, I know!)  I stopped myself from that downward spiral of negativity.  "What?!  I'm complaining that all I have to do is twist a faucet and clean, hot water pours into a sink?!"

That took me on an upward spiral of positive thoughts.  Reminding myself that I am so extremely wealthy and live in luxury.  I am one of the wealthiest people in the world.  I have all my needs and wants met.  I have an abundance of good food, warmth, education, health, freedom, etc.  I am SO blessed!  So fortunate!  So rich!

Today, I'm grateful for clean dishes and positive thoughts!

Amazing Women!

In 2010 a total of 18 babies were born in our congregation at church.  Each family received 14 days of delicious, homemade meals delivered by foot, bus, subway, etc. by other members of the congregation.  That makes a total of 252 meals delivered last year.

These women are amazing and I'm so grateful I have the opportunity to share this bit of my life with them.  Thirteen of the 18 are pictured in order of baby birth, oldest to youngest; boys in the back, girls in front.

Simply beautiful!

Wacky Weather

Last week we got a brief reprieve from this bitter winter.  It was fabulous.  Winter went on vacation for a couple of days and then return in full force on President's Day.


Thursday, February 17th

Friday, February 18th

It was so fantastically warm!  We ended up in Chinatown enjoying some yummy dumplings from Tasty Dumplings.

Monday, February 21st

Sledding and wandering in Central Park

Let's Play Cafe

In an effort to keep us all happy and sane in February (the longest, shortest month of the year) I've searched for some fun ideas to do with the kids.  This is one activity Isabella asks to do everyday and both kids love it!  I got the idea here.  I made a menu and acted as a waitress.  Isabella and "her son" (aka Oliver) come to my restaurant and have drinks.  (Every drink on the menu, to be precise.)  When the drinking is all done Isabella and I add up her bill and count her pennies.

Pieces of Art

I try and do some art with the kids everyday.  Sometimes it is just drawing with crayons on white paper other times it is a big project.  Here's a recent favorite Isabella and I did while Oliver was napping.  I first came across the idea here and then a friend did a similar fun, fantastic project with her kiddos.

This is what we did:

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Sunning with the sea lions.