Happy Birthday to Ella!

Recently we celebrated the birthday of our little Ella.  She's 3!  How did that happen?  This is the little outfit I made for her:



Here's a little interview I did with her:

Favorite color: Red!
Favorite song: You Are My Sunshine
Favorite food: fruit snacks
Favorite movie/show: Tinkerbell
What do you like to do with your friends? I like to run with my friends.
What do you like about Alexis: I like her and she plays nicely to me.

What do you like about Mom: I like to give hugs to you.
What do you like about Dad: I like to give hugs to him, too.

One of the little things she really loves to do right now is give kisses on the lips and then shout "We kissed on the lips!"  She also loves to play catch.  She is FINALLY working on potty training, because three-year-olds don't wear diapers.  And she's enjoying lots of success, thankfully.  She loves fairies (favorite = Rosetta, one of Tinkerbell's friends) and princesses (favorite = Sleeping Beauty) and loves to dress up.

We had a casual get-together party in the park for some of her friends- the sprinklers were on, so we filled a lot of water balloons.  We did some bubbles, and I brought cupcakes, which she insisted be RED.  So she got red velvet cupcakes with pink frosting (even though she wanted red, she settled for pink with red sprinkles).  The day was quite warm, so my whipped cream frosting didn't keep very well.  Oh well. It still tasted delicious and the 3-year-old certainly didn't mind.










Later that evening, we went to Chuck E Cheese with our family- Aunt Laura was in town, and Aunt Allie and Grandma came with us.  It was a fun time and Ella came away with a couple of good prizes. We had another red velvet cake.

Ella Speaks

After opening a container of berries: "Okay, strawberries. You're gonna be eaten!"

While riding the bus we somehow got on the topic of decorating trees.
E: "You can decorate that one!"
Me: "That one is too big. I can't do that one."
E: "Giraffes can do it!"

At our playgroup class we were learning about shapes. We were singing a song and looking around the room to see if we could spot some circles. Ella pulled up her shirt, pointed to her nipples and said, "These are circles!"

While holding up 4 fingers on each hand: "Look! These 4s are matching! Thumbs!"

Ella dirtied her new Easter dress, and since we didn't have any other clothing with us at Grandma's house I washed it out and dried it with a hairdryer only to hear her say, "Thanks, Mom! It's more than I ever hoped for!"

Ella said something to me repeatedly and I was unable to figure out what it was.  After several attempts I said, "I'm sorry I can't understand you, honey."  To which she replied, "I said I want you to understand what I'm saying!! I'm being a panda bear."  (it was the panda part that I couldn't understand- when I tried to clarify that it was panda, she would just yell at me and say the sentence all over again, so I still don't think it was panda.)

Shades

Lots of fun, sunny days at the park this past week.

Angie Visits

Another recent adventure involved our friend Angie who moved away and was back visiting NYC for a few days.  We were happy to have her stay with us for a night and that we got to spend Saturday adventuring across SoHo, Chinatown and the Lower East Side.





First stop: Jamba Juice.  No, it's not unique to NY, but NYers do actually eat at chains once in a while.  And we had a couple of two-for-one coupons, so decided to start the day with a smoothie.



Next stop: PURL to check out their new space, buy fabric for a new bag for Angie, and enjoy the customer appreciation day festivities.  We entered a couple of drawings, but didn't win while we were there.  Matt was happy to discover a great music store literally next door.  And Alexis was transfixed by the yarn winder (or whatever you knitters would call that thing).


Then: A playground on Spring Street to let the girls get all their wiggles out and for the adults to sit and talk with less interruptions.  While there, Angie gets a call from a friend who happened to be at PURL when Angie's name was called for a prize!  We decide to go back later to pick up her winnings.

Lunch: At Vanessa's Dumplings.  Well, actually, we just picked up our food and then transported it to the middle of Allen St to eat on some benches and watch the tourist buses roll by.

Dessert: An attempt to get doughnuts at the Doughnut Plant, but the line was awfully long.  Instead, Angie introduced us to a new-to-us bakery: Sugar Sweet Sunshine.  The cupcakes are cheaper than any other bakery we've been to, and delicious!  And less than a block away from Economy Candy.  Do you have a favorite candy from your childhood that you can no longer find?  I'll bet you that Economy Candy carries it.  We got some cool Pez dispensers for the kids.









Then we happily stumbled upon Despana- a fabulous little shop that imports all things Spain- including real jamon serrano, colocao, & lovely olive oils.  There is a cafe in back with everything from tapas like Spanish tortilla to delicious pastries like napoletanas!  We'll be back!









Finally: Head back to PURL just in time to enter the last drawing of the day.  Claim Angie's prize from earlier in the day.  Don't win anything, but since I'm standing by the door when others win and decide they don't want the prize, I get handed 2 more gifts!  A darling dress pattern and huge bundle of Windham Fabrics fat quarters.  Angie gifts me her 12 half-yards of Liberty of London fabric.  I'm in sewing-project-planning heaven!

Time to head home.  It's been a really fun day traipsing around our beloved city.

A couple of days later we are lucky to meet up with Angie once more to dine at one of our mutual favorite restaurants, Sosa Borella.

We love you, Angie!

Three .... Twice

I recently had the chance to take both my kids to see the production of THREE (on two separate occasions) at the Marionette Theater in the Swedish Cottage in Central Park.

The first time, I took Ella to a birthday party for her friend, Olive.  It was such fun to see all the little kids transfixed by the puppets.  A fun party in Central Park followed the show.

The very next day, I chaperoned a field trip for Lexi's class to the theater to watch the same show.  It was also very fun to see her and her class interacting with the puppets and getting involved in the performance (as they were encouraged to do so).









For friends who may visit NYC with little kids, this is a great cheap activity- and the theater sits not far from Central Park's Belvedere Castle- and what little kid doesn't like exploring a castle?  Ella certainly did.  She kept looking for the king (who is a boy!) and the queen (who is a girl!).

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).