Transportation

My friend Linda is having a baby (soon!).  I made this quilt for her and now that I've given it to her I can share the photos.

Front:

Up close:

Back:

A Day in the Park

A few days ago an old college pal of mine, Amber, came to visit NYC for the day with her 5(!) lovely children (while her husband interviewed for a job).  We were able to meet up with them in Central Park for a couple of hours and it was wonderful!  The weather was beautiful and the company was just grand.  Ella and Alana got along beautifully.  Alexis was in school, but I'm sure she and Sammy would have had a fun time together as well.

When I asked the girls if I could take a photo of them, they insisted on hugging and holding hands. Aren't they so sweet together??


And even though this photo makes it seem like they aren't interacting at all, they were in fact working on a cake together (that's Ella's favorite thing to make in the sand these days).


Hope we can see you again, friends!

The Big Dig

Lexi got a gift several months ago- dinosaur fossils embedded in "the ground". The kit comes with goggles, a pick ax, and a paintbrush for excavating your dinosaur fossils. She's been working on it recently (although it is going to take a while).

Here's the progress she's made up to now:

Happy Birthday to Grandma

We had a birthday celebration for Grandma Susan at our place, and Allie & Chris came, too. We were able to skype with Laura also--- only wish we could have timed it a little better to have sung happy birthday to mom all together.

We're so happy you were born!


Ella waited so patiently all day to put the candles in the cake, probably hoping to be able to blow them out herself (as she tries to do in this video).




Ella helped me make the cake and frosting. The frosting is a family recipe that has been passed down for 4 generations now. The base is unsweetened chocolate. After we had melted the chocolate with the butter and shortening, but before we had added the sugar, a little splashed out onto the counter. Ella, being the chocolate-lover she is, wiped it with her finger and stuck it right in her mouth. If you've ever had the unfortunate disappointment of tasting unsweetened chocolate you'll know it is AWFUL. She was mortified and confused. I wish I had a photo of her face. She washed it down with some milk and water and then helped me finish up adding the sugar & vanilla at which point I offered the spoon to her to lick. She adamantly refused. I didn't want her to leave this cake-making experience afraid to ever eat frosting again, so I tried unsuccessfully to convince her to take a taste. "No! No! No!" We ended up, literally, in a wrestling match on the floor as I tried to just get a small amount past her hands and clamped lips into her mouth. Somehow I eventually won (although I feel guilty for making her so upset) and she happily licked the rest of the spoon clean. And when it came time for cake, she ate ONLY the frosting.

Easter Sunday

On Easter, we spent the day at Grandma's with Allie & Chris.  We watched a session of General Conference, ate a delicious meal (pepper-crusted roast beef, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, gravy, ice cream peanut-butter pie, and gourmet soda), had an egg hunt & spent some time in the sunshine at the local park.

Spring Break

We weren't able to do quite as much as we normally would have over spring break due to my recent lumbar sprain injury. But we were lucky enough to get 2 good family trips in to the NY Aquarium at Coney Island, where we met up with Aunt Allie. And also to the Bronx Zoo. Two of our favorite places to spend a day.

Thank you, Marcela!

Ella has had two wonderful speech-language pathologists over the past year and a half. She has come a long way in her communication skills. This is Marcela, who has been working with Ella since September. We are grateful to you for all you have done for Ella- I knew you were thinking about her even when you weren't actually in a session with her as you always had a special activity planned and new ideas to reach our goals. We have felt your care and concern for Ella. And we are amazed at the progress Ella has made. We will miss seeing you every week!

Easter Egg Hunt

One of our local friends had the idea of doing a little egg hunt for our friend-group that gathers on Thursday mornings. We headed over to the garden in front of their building and had quite the egg-stravaganza (excuse the pun).  It was a gorgeous day for the event- finally, a break in the rain!

Playing with chalk while a couple of the daddies hide eggs:

All lined up ready to hunt! (Lexi's been learning to pose from I don't know where).

Ella finds some eggs:

And then wanted to open them all up as she found each one to see what was inside:

Lexi & Eli hunting (and just in case you're wondering, those buildings in the background-through the glass doors- are in New Jersey).

Lexi showing off her stash:

Everyone opening their eggs and eating their treats!

And me, sitting on a bench watching all the action (at least I can sit upright now- couldn't do that a few days ago).