They Might Be Giants

The Might Be Giants

On Saturday we went to see They Might Be Giants at Borders in the Time Warner Center. They were promoting their new kids CD, Here Come the 123s. We have their first CD, Here Come the ABCs, and Lexi loves it to death. So we headed downtown and joined lots and lots of other fans for this free mini-concert. In attendance were even TMBG fans that didn't have children. They sang songs from the ABCs album, as well as some from their new album, and a few "old favorites" like Dr. Worm and Particle Man. During one song, they told everyone to "jump in the air" and as the entire group starting hopping, you could feel the floor move and sway. Kind of scary! I kept thinking we were going to wind up in the stockroom of the Williams-Sonoma beneath us!

I actually really like this kids music. It's something that I can handle Lexi playing over and over, because at least it's by a group that doesn't sound like they are primarily targeting children. They are fun children's songs with a bit of an adult music sound. You know, if you like They Might Be Giants. Their music can be a bit of an *acquired taste*.

They have a FREE fun podcast every Friday night which you can get through the iTunes store.

Butterfly Exhibit

We got some tickets to see the "special" exhibits at the Museum of Natural History. For those of you who don't live in NYC, here's a tip. You technically do not need to pay full price to enter the AMNH. Admission is "by donation" so you can actually "donate" a dollar a peruse the galleries to your heart's content (whether that be an hour or four). However, in order to see any of the IMAX movies, the butterfly exhibit etc, you do have to pay full "price". One of the girls in the singles ward here gave Matt some tickets, so we took the girls and Grandma Susan and enjoyed hanging out with the butterflies for a little while.
We also saw a dinosaur IMAX movie which has turned Lexi on to the idea of being a paleontologist. When I asked her what a paleontologist does, she said, "They dig up dinosaur bones and put them together in a museum!"

Ella had a fun time feeling the huge ball of ice in the Water exhibit.

Creepin' and Crawlin'

When Daddy left for work this morning, Ella was still trying to figure out hand-knee coordination. Over the course of the morning, she has figured it out and is well on her way to speeding around the apartment. Watch out, Lexi! Here comes the little destroyer!

The Cookies

 

Remember when I said I was going to make these? I finally got around to it. Overall, I guess they were good. They were a little more labor intensive than I like in a cookie. I'm a mix-the-dough-together-plop-it-on-the-cookie-sheet kinda girl. Not a huge fan of rolling out dough. Or multi-step cookies. (But I do feel differently about insanely time consuming desserts like Lemon Cheesecake.) However, I thought I'd take one for the team and bake these up. I did things a little differently than the recipe said (like, I didn't roll out the dough. Surprise! Instead, I just rolled the dough into little balls, placed them on the sheet and pressed them down into a round shape.) I also didn't end up "dipping" the cookies in the chocolate- seemed to be easier to me to actually spread the chocolate on the back side. Also, I stuck the finished products in the fridge to harden up the chocolate- it was way too melty melty for eating. In the end, they were kind of messy to eat anyway, and the caramel/coconut topping didn't really adhere to the cookie part (maybe I needed more caramel to the coconut?) But the grand consensus was that they were de-lish. I actually don't know that I'll make them again- kind of worth it to me now to spend the $3.50 on a box (or two or three) once a year. It cost me at least that much in ingredients plus my time and effort. Okay, so they weren't as great as I expected or hoped. But everyone here actually liked them. Go ahead. Try 'em. I'd like to hear what you think.

D is for Doughnut

 

During D week, we attempted homemade doughnuts. They didn't taste quite like the ones you would get at a donut shop, but as Matt pointed out, they're not supposed to taste like a donut shop. We used a whole lot of crisco to fry them (very healthy) and they ended up being a tad bit doughy in the middle, but it wasn't unbearable. And they were ever so delicious. We got the recipe from a massive book I have by the same people that put out Cooks Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen shows.

8 Months Old

 

Here are Lexi & Ella on Ella's 8 month "birthday".

And some footage of Ella clapping.

Christmas- by Ralph Lauren

 

 

Just a shot of the beautiful dresses Grandma Susan bought for the girls this year.

Inferno

Happy Birthday, Matt. We love you to pieces. If I were more eloquent, I'd leave some great tribute to the man I love. But I am a woman of few words. Happy Birthday, Matt. We love you to pieces.

(P.S. We celebrated with the rest of Matt's bishopric & wives over a fabulous dinner followed by a lemon cheesecake, which I only make once a year cuz it pretty much takes all day. But, man, is it worth it.)