Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Last night Matt had class, so Lexi and I went down to Fairway to do some grocery shopping. On the way home, Lexi wanted me to sing to her, so I broke into a hearty rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (which, incidentally, is sung to the same tune as the ABCs). When I had finished singing, things were quiet for a moment and then I heard Lexi's sweet little voice sing out "Twinkle twinkle little star ... up sky." This was the first time she has understandably sung correct lyrics to a song. It was most enjoyable to listen to her little serenade for the rest of the ride home!

Mustache

Lexi has an obsession with chapstick. She calls it "Lips" and whenever someone gives her a stick of it, she seriously spends 5 minutes at a time just applying it to her lips. So when we looked back at Lexi in her carseat, we were not too surprised to see that she had thoroughly slathered her lips (and beyond!) with chapstick. 

More Snow!

This week we went to Western New York to visit my grandparents. While we were there we were hit with a fast, but oh-so-furious snowstorm. About 2 inches in an hour's time! 

Simple Pleasures

We went out to eat tonight (as part of my mystery shopping gig) and at the restaurant they gave Lexi a pink helium balloon. She has been so fascinated with balloons lately since we've had lots around the house due to all our birthdays. This one created lots of fun static sending her hair into the atmosphere. 

Loom

Lexi and I attended our last class at St. John's Cathedral (since we'll be out of town for next week's class). Today was all about weaving and looms. Here is Lexi doing some intricate weave work on one of the looms in the basement of the cathedral. 

Car Trouble

So after the snow had melted some, we came down to the car to find quite the surprise. Matt had been checking the car daily as we are parked on a somewhat busy street and were afraid someone might slide into the car, and indeed it seemed that something happened- although it unfortunately did not end up in the car being totaled. As you can see by the tracks in the snow, it appears a large truck (most likely a sanitation vehicle, which have been doing the snow plowing) seems to have pulled in front of our car snagging the bumper as it passed and ripping it right off. It is hanging by one little part on the passenger side. I took it over to the Toyota repair shop a few blocks away and they re-secured the bumper cover with zip-ties which they say will hold it for now, but that we will need to get the whole thing replaced- yikes! We are also due for an inspection in the next couple of weeks. It has been a rather big ordeal dealing with insurance, police reports, repair places etc, and has brought out many many conversations of "Should we get rid of the car?" And so, we are planning on getting rid of the car... although it may take us a couple of months to do that.
Click here for more car pictures.

The Day After...

Here is a photo of our car the day after the storm. Don't know if we'll be using it anytime soon! 

Click here for more pictures of Lexi and the snow. She refused to wear her mittens as they impeded her hand mobility quite a bit.

This is Lexi standing (yes, standing) in the snow in the front yard of our church building. Matt helped shovel the sidewalks around the building after church. He would clear off one area, go to work on another, and by the time he was finished with the second the first area had to be cleared again! Lexi was in heaven. 

Blizzard of 2006

This storm has been one for the record books... here is a shot of West 160th Street before the plows reached it. What a day! We received over 27" of snow in about a 12 hour period. There were a few hours when the snow was falling at the rate of 2-3" per hour! Church was not cancelled, so we trudged through the snow to the subway station only to join other members of our ward who had been waiting on the platform for 30 minutes! Even the subways are not unstoppable by bad weather. Surprisingly, attendance at church was quite good. 

A submerged fire hydrant.

On the Eve of the Blizzard

We went downtown this evening just to hang out for a little while. Matt got this cool shot of the Empire State Building... it's cloudy and blurry due to all the snow flying in the air. There is a big storm a-brewin'. 

Meeting Clifford the Big Red Dog

Since February 14th is Clifford's birthday, the Big Red Dog had a party at the Scholastic Store in SoHo. The whole way down, Lexi kept saying "Clifford, Clifford", but when we actually got there and were able to *meet* him, she got quite nervous as didn't want to touch him or even get too close... maybe it is a little disturbing to see a big red dog interacting with you like a human being! 

Lexi's Room

Yesterday I did some interior decorating... to the best of my ability. This is Lexi's room and as you may (or may not) be able to tell, I added some butterflies to the walls. I received a stamp set for Christmas (from friends Scott & Lisa) which made this project rather quick and easy. There are 2 butterflies that are a rather dark purple, but the rest are pastel colors that I tried to coordinate with her duvet cover. 

An up-close shot of some of the butterflies... I just love the way it turned out.

Cheerio Book

Aunt Laura gave Lexi this book a while ago, but now she is finally able to enjoy it. She turns the page and shouts out what the cheerios are going to be... like on this page she shouts "Fish! Bubbles!" and proceeds to put the cheerios on the page (it places they don't belong, as well.) 

Bath Time

Lexi loves to immerse herself in the water... it sure makes washing her hair a lot easier now that she likes to get all the way under. 

Matt's Birthday (#29)

Lexi got so excited when it was time for Matt to blow out the candles that she decided to do it herself... before we even finished singing to him! What a good helper. Sure makes dad feel a little less old- didn't have to blow out that inferno on his cake all by himself. 

Cathedral Kids

I signed Lexi up for a class that meets every Thursday in February at the Cathedral of St. John near Columbia University. This week was our first class where we learned all about the different shapes you can find in the Cathedral's architecture. We built with blocks and made our own little church out of cardboard shapes.

After our little Cathedral Kids class, we wandered over to a sculpture/garden area next to the church to eat some lunch. While we were there, a white peacock jumped over the hedge and walked right up to us. He was so close I began to get a little nervous, so I broke up some crackers and threw them a few feet away from us. He went right after them and when he was finished, we heard a rattling noise and looked over and saw that he had opened up his feathers!! He did several turns for us and pranced back in forth in front of us for a good 7 minutes! Unbelieveable!! At one point he was so close that his feathers brushed against Lexi's shoe and my knees. When she tells the story she says "Peacock. Shoe. Mommy's knee." It was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. I love this photo because you can see the peacock in all its glory with some typical Manhattan buildings in the background. Click here for more peacock pictures.