The Giraffe Path

On Saturday, June 6th, we joined the Horey's and many other New Yorkers to Hike the Heights and follow the Giraffe Path (a series of giraffe sculptures created by local youth). We started out at 147th Street & Bradhurst Ave and hiked all the way up to the High Bridge Water Tower at 173rd & Amsterdam. Alexis walked the whole way, and Ella walked most of the way. At the end of the hike, there was a festival going on- crafts, food, music, hula-hooping. A very fun activity and wonderful way to experience a little more of the neighborhood we call home.

Ella's Birthday

June 5, 2009- Ella is 2 years old today. And we are happy she was born! We didn't throw a big party or anything like that, but we did have Grandma Susan, Aunt Allie & Zac come with us to Chuck E Cheese. We all had so much fun playing games and winning tickets. Grandma was a whiz at some helicopter game- the tickets just kept pouring out. Alexis' skills were very impressive, too, and she was able to score an impressive amount of tickets as well. Between all of us, we won over one thousand tickets! We had some left over from the last time we were there (my birthday!), so combined we had over 1300. Both the girls were able to get a cool prize- a squishy ball for Ella and a beading-jewelry kit for Alexis.

Then we headed home to our apartment to open presents and eat cake. Here are some videos of those events. Ella blew the candle out with no help!











Some things about Ella:
Her favorite color is Yellow.
She has over 50 words in her vocabulary.
She loves to sing.
She loves to read books.
She loves to wear a little backpack around and push her little stroller (with no baby inside).
She loves to help with everything- putting food away after a trip to the market, putting laundry in the machine, cooking dinner, swiffering the floor etc.
She knows how to use a cell phone. (She called Allie the other morning- sorry, Al!)
She can put the movie into the DVD player and start it up.
She loves to go to the park.
She still wakes up in the middle of the night at times- she just needs water, or help laying back down.
She can unlock and open the front door- and left the other day without me realizing it! (she ended up at our neighbor's apartment, who brought her back to me).
She's a climber! And she can keep up with big sister at the playground.

Happy Birthday, little one!

Golden Friends

This is Heather. She was in our ward here in NYC for several years. Her husband was the bishop. She and I served in the RS presidency together. We giggled about Bella, Edward and Jacob together. She introduced me to peanut butter noodles. She is tall, just like me! She taught me to close my eyes a little bit when a photo is taken so to not appear as a deer in headlights (I'm still working on that). And she is just a warm, wonderful person. She's one of those people that is just full of love for everyone. And you can't help but love her back. Her oldest, Desmond, and Alexis were little buddies. About a year and a half ago, she & her little family left for Kazakhstan and have been living quite a different kind of life over there. We sent them some small tokens of our love for them (including a pirated DVD of Twilight that I picked up downtown somewhere). Heather was back in NY this week and we were able to see her & her darling babes. The first thing Lexi said when she saw Desmond was, "Wow. He's a lot bigger now!" I guess even kids notice that they grow up. (but they wouldn't let me take a picture of them together).

It was so nice to see you again! We miss you around these parts.

Little Singer

Ella really loves to sing lately. She'll just make up some nonsense words and play with her voice. It's a joy to hear, especially because she has never babbled, until now, and she is finally discovering what those vocal cords can do. But, of course, once I pull out the camera, she gets a little shy about it.

Memorial Day 2009

On Memorial Day we went into Elmira to see the parade. Pop-Pop was in it, so that was very exciting. We then stayed for the service at the National Cemetery where Pop-Pop participated in the gun salute and Uncle Doug sang in the choir. The girls had a hard time sitting still for so long, so we ended up walking through some of the cemetery. Soldiers from the 1800s are buried there. There are even some confederates buried there- they had been held as POWs in a local prison but then all died (mostly from disease and malnourishment I believe) and so were buried there close by.




This was my attempt at an artistic photo.


I love parades! They make me cry with joy and pride and patriotism!

And who doesn't love a good bagpipe rendering of the Marine Corps anthem? SEMPER FI!




Thank you to all the men and women who have served and are serving and will serve our country. And to their families for sharing them with, and for, the rest of us.

Upstate

Over Memorial Day weekend we went upstate to see Nanny & Pop-Pop and Uncle Doug & Aunt Barbara. I have such wonderful memories of spending time my grandparents home when I was Alexis' age and I am confident she is making those same types of memories. They let her help with everything and have so many great experiences for her to have while she's there- whether it's decorating cupcakes with Nanny, or working in the garden or building something fabulous with Pop-Pop in his shop, I know she really loves to be with them and that makes my heart swell with happiness. I really wish we lived closer (or at least could make the trip more often).


Here she is getting all the plates ready for Pop-Pop's Saturday morning omelette. Lovely presentation, doncha think?


And placing the plates on the tray to carry them into the dining room...



One thing I wanted to do while upstate was get Lexi's hair cut (much cheaper up there!). She insisted she wanted it short. We talked about it a couple of times to make sure she was sure. And she was. So we cut it short. This is just after her salon experience with her new flag & star to wave at the parade.


Finishing her birdhouse. She made 3 that day with Pop-Pop. She did all the hammering and staining of the wood.




Saturday evening we went to Eldridge Park in Elmira to ride the carousel and see the new dragon boats. Aunt Barbara, Grandma Susan, Ella, Dad, Alexis & I all rode....


Alexis and Ella are both really interested in dogs right now. (Can we get a dog, mom? is a familiar question around here these days). Ella got a chance to take a little one for a walk and feed him some hot dog. Sorry, girls. No dog as long as we're living in Manhattan.

Move Over EmmyLou

We have a very generous neighbor, Michael. He gets gifts for the girls every Christmas and even remembers their birthdays. He came by the other day with a guitar that he just "happened to have lying around" that he thought Lexi might like. And like it, she does! Matt has spent a little time trying to teach her the basics....

Bubbles!

Ella absolutely LOVES bubbles right now. Anything associated with bubbles. Anything that makes bubbles. In the park, in the bath, in the house. Bubbles. Bubbles. Bubbles.
She got some bubbles at a recent birthday party and couldn't wait for me to open them. I had to take a photo of her cute face, though- remnants of a chocolate cupcake around her mouth and all.

Pre-K Field Trip

On May 14th, I went with Lexi's class on a field trip to the NY Botanical Gardens. It was a drizzly day, but we had a good time anyway. I think the kids like the bus ride the best!


The class in front of a caterpillar made of plants.


This is Freddy (?) Frog- you can stand on lily pad leaves around his pool to make water spring up around him.


The kids got to plant a little flower to take home. Unfortunately, Lexi's mom has a black thumb and hers died a few days later. Burned up in the sun on our windowsill.


But it was pretty to look at!

Lexi lost her first tooth on Mother's Day! Sunday, May 10th, 2009. She was 5 years, 4 months and 9 days old. She was eating breakfast. I was in the bedroom helping Ella get dressed for church and Matt was doing something else in the kitchen. All of the sudden Alexis seemed very upset and when Matt asked her what had happened she started crying. He thought maybe she had bitten her tongue while eating or something. Through her tears she was able to tell him that something came out of her mouth, but she thought it was food so she threw it away. Matt still wasn't sure what was happening, but looked in the trash and was able to spot the tooth and fish it out (we have a very small can, so it wasn't hard). He tried to explain to her what had happened and that it was actually kind of exciting. He then said, "Let's go tell Mommy!" and Lexi just burst into tears again! She didn't want to tell me. I guess she thought I would be mad? Which actually only makes me feel sad that she was too afraid to tell me. Especially since we had talked about losing teeth only a few days before that. Anyway, after a few minutes of consoling, Matt assured her I wouldn't be mad and convinced her to come and show me the missing tooth. I told her how exciting this was and then she was all smiles. Phew! What a traumatizing morning! What's it going to be like when she gets her first period?!

Little Picasso

I was not home when this happened. Daddy claims he was in the same room with Ella- he was playing guitar and she was happily playing along side. And the next thing he knew, she had gotten into the craft stuff and was squeezing paint all over the table, the rug, and herself. This entire outfit was brand new. The first time she had worn the shirt and the pants. Oh, and did I mention that this was fabric paint? So, yeah. It's not coming out of the clothes. Or the rug.

Fish!

Just a little video of Ella showing off her way of communicating "Gold Fish".

Queens Zoo

We have a membership to the zoo (hence, all the trips we take there!) and the only zoo we have never been to in NYC is the Queens Zoo. Grandma Susan was out of town and left us her car while she was gone, so we needed to pick her up from the airport- the Queens Zoo is only minutes from LGA, so we decided to head there directly after school and then pick up Grandma after that. It's a small zoo (they all are, except for the Bronx), but it was great. There were only a handful of people there, so we didn't have to fight for a good view with anyone. We saw a puma (sleeping!), sea lions, buffalo, bald eagles, parrots, swamp life, farm animals and a bear. They also had a playground, which we just had to stop at for awhile. Alexis shows off her monkey bar skills:



After the zoo we took a ride on the carousel. I took a video of Ella saying "Up! Down!" because this was the first time she really spontaneously said it. Her speech therapy has been doing wonders!

One out of Three ain't Bad

A friend of mine here in NY is expecting triplets. 2 girls and 1 boy. So, Sonya, Leolani & I decided to make a quilt for each baby. We used this stacked coins pattern and Leo & Sonya got the Moda Fabrics from City Quilter. I hurried to finish this first one in time for the baby shower--I have the other girl's quilt to do still, and Sonya's finishing up the boy's quilt. They are all the same pattern, and the girls' have the same fabrics. I ended up doing a machine stipple stich all over and it really became a trial for me- but in the end it turned out nicely and all the ladies at the shower oohed and ahhed over it, which boosted my confidence a bit. Can't wait to see a photo of a darling little baby all snuggled up in it!

I really just adore the strip of coins on the backside of the quilt, too. Really ties the front and back together, don't you think?

Recently finished this quilt for a dear friend- she likes the Americana motif, so when I found out she was expecting her second baby, and then saw these fabrics bundled together, I knew I had to make a quilt for her. It took longer than I anticipated, but in the end I am really pleased with the result. I quilted the stars with my new machine-quilting freestyle foot and it was great. Many thanks to Lynn for convincing me to do the stars in the first place, and to Andrea for teaching me how to use my freeform quilting foot.

Flushing Meadows Park

Thursday, April 16, although not the last day of Spring Break, was the last day we had a big adventure. We went out to the New York Hall of Science in Queens and spent the afternoon exploring the museum. I think the favorite part was the BubbleMania Show we saw while there. The starring bubble-maker-man has been blowing bubbles for over 20 years and had all sorts of cool tricks. He made a few bubble sculptures, and filled some bubbles with smoke. He made a square bubble and filled others with helium. And his grand finale was filling a bubble with FIRE. Very cool. Do not try that at home! The girls spent some time in the science center playing with bubbles, also.





After the science center we headed into the park to walk around, see the globe and towers (which I'm sure you recognize from Will Smith's movie Men In Black) from the World's Fair in 1964 (where my mother first learned about the LDS church at a pavilion they had there). The park is not far from LaGuardia airport, so every 2 or 3 minutes another plane would fly overhead. We also saw the new Citi Field, home of the Mets. Ended up eating some food from a little Mexican food truck and then headed back to Manhattan.

Brooklyn & Queens

On Wednesday, April 15, we went to one of the best pizza places in New York City- Grimaldi's. We've been many times before, but it's been awhile since the last time. But after you wait in a long line (although we were very fortunate to be only the 2nd party in line this time!), and sit down and wait some more for your pizza, taking that first taste is just delicious! And then I remember, "Oh yeah! This is why we come here!"

After lunch at Grimaldi's we strolled over for some of our favorite hot chocolate and similar treats at Jaques Torres' little shoppe. Then headed over to Queens to visit Joan's sister & Matt's cousins. They live only 6 miles from us and yet we hardly get to see them. The afternoon spent in Astoria with them was delightful. And we were almost convinced to relocate there. They live near a train bridge (Amtrak, not the subway) whose support columns cross through the big park that is right on the river. Very beautiful, actually. And since it's only an Amtrak bridge, it's not very busy.

Martha Again

Went to Martha Stewart again. This time with Joan. We attempted to get Standby tickets and we got them! Again a good time. Although they did 2 segments on cats and we don't own cats- in fact, Joan & Matt are both allergic. The audience gifts were kitty-litter trays and gift packs- and they had extras to get rid of, so we took a third one, just because we could. Even though the guest list & free stuff was a little disappointing, it was still a fun girls morning out!

Crayola Factory

While Grandma Cope was here, we decided to take a little day trip out of the city and headed over to Easton, PA to spend the day at the Crayola Factory. Which isn't really a factory, per se, but more like a giant crafting extravaganza using all of Crayola's many different products (and I didn't have to clean up!) The girls love love loved it. And Easton is a charming little town.

We also visited the Canal Boat museum a floor above the Crayola Factory where the kids were lent their own little boats to move through a canal and learn how the locks work etc. Great for hands-on learning!





On our way home, we got stuck in traffic, so we tried to get some video of a few of Ella's words. She's been getting speech therapy twice a week since January and has improved quite a bit. Sometimes Lexi says, "Let's talk, Ella!" and then says a word and waits for Ella to repeat it, then says another which Ella repeats and so on and so forth until they've gone through all the words in Ella's verbal vocabulary. We've also been teaching her sign language (thank you Baby Signing Time!) and she is able to communicate pretty well now.

Easter

Ugh! No real photos from Easter this year. I guess that means we were just enjoying each other's company! We hosted dinner and had both Grandmas, Allie & Zac for dinner. Tradition ham with cheesy potato casserole and green beans.

After dinner, we decorated sugar cookies with everyone.




And ate a fancy little cake Grandma Susan brought, and a traditional Italian Easter Pie.


Earlier in the day, Grandma Cope and Lexi decoupaged eggs (just like Martha did on her show that mom & I attended the week before). We cut out little pictures from magazines and glued to our heart's content.