Thanksgiving

(Forever catching up on the blog)
This year we stayed in NYC for Thanksgiving.  So I figured it was a good time to take the girls to the parade, which I haven't seen live since I was a little girl.  Matt stayed home (he doesn't care much for parades), but Laura was in town and came with us and we also met up with Jess&Noah.  We arrived at 8:40 AM, 20 minutes before the start time, and found a spot right up against a barricade where the kids could see a lot of the action.  We were actually stationed just north of the starting line, so we only saw the floats & balloons that were lined up waiting to join the parade, but the kids were tickled pink (except for Lexi who was quickly complaining about being cold because she wouldn't take my advice at home while getting dressed to go) and we saw many awesome balloons pass right in front of us.  Including a small incident between the Energizer bunny and a Smurf- for some reason, the Bunny needed to pass the Smurf in line and they got slightly tangled up together leaving the whole crowd anxious... many cheers erupted when the Bunny successfully passed the Smurf and then joined the parade on Central Park West.








(Laura and I get emotional at parades.  They are so wonderful!)






We also got a glimpse of Jessica Simpson (she stumbled on her float when it suddenly lurched forward), and Joan & Melissa Rivers. And some Disney star we were unaware of, but all the tweens surrounding us were excited about. And of course, Santa Claus, ushering in the Holiday Season.


Dinner later that day was hosted by my mother- all my siblings were there, which was wonderful! And we also celebrated Allie's birthday one more time.






And earlier in the week, Ella's preschool class had a Thanksgiving feast which I was able to attend...

Allie's Birthday

We spent Allie's birthday roaming around ChinaTown and SoHo. Starting with a little playtime at a big park and food from a favorite dumpling house.  Then the girls "helped" Allie open some gifts.


Then we attempted to see Clifford the Big Red Dog at the Scholastic Store, but that was sort of a bust. We ended up just perusing some books.


And finally a stop at Sephora to get Allie a gift. Ella was interested in the open pots of makeup and smeared her face with various colors of foundation & eye shadow. An employee saw her and offered to give her a little method to her madness:

Weekend Away

Last weekend we took a little trip to CT to spend some time away from the city with friends.  We stayed in a hotel, jumped on the beds, went swimming, visited Dinosaur State Park, ate, went swimming again, talked and talked and talked.  Good times! (and not a single photo of all of us... how did that happen?!)

Monkey Business

This was my most recent project... packaged and delivered to baby Elliott.

Car Cover

While down in SoHo last week, we walked past this car.  This brings knitting to a whole new level, if you ask me. Yes, that cover is knit. Or crocheted.  In any case, it's yarn. 

Halloween

I don't have many pictures from Halloween this year, sadly.  We started the week by attending a party in SoHo hosted by MommyPoppins and held at the Blurb pop-up store.  It was wonderful!  They had professional photographers Stomping Ground Photography, cake pops, yummy food, a soap craft hosted by MADE, and storytime hosted by Scholastic (we missed that, sadly).  We only took a couple of photos outside the store, and I don't particularly care for the angle.  Alexis was Princess Leia and Ella was Cinderella.  Alexis got lots of comments walking down the street and on the subway.  I think she was a little self-conscious about it.  She kept saying, "Why are they talking to me? Why did they say that?" when people called out to Princess Leia.  Here are the photos from Stomping Ground Photography.  They did an awesome job! (FYI, they do school pictures, mostly.  Wouldn't it be amazing to have these as your kids' class photographers?!)




our family outside the Blurb store.


working on their soaps:


Last week, I was called to the activities committee in our ward and had about 2 weeks to plan a Halloween party.  It turned out pretty well, I think, and the other 2 ladies on the committee were so supportive and wonderful and did so much work, too.  (That's right, only 3 of us to pull off an activity with 2 weeks of planning).  The kids had a great time, which is the most important thing, and they all got to trick-or-treat around the church.  We had carnival games, and food and music and a costume parade and lots of fun.  Good times!  Ella chose to go as the Little Mermaid (aka Ariel) for this party.... but again, I'm not sure I have any photos.  I was too busy running around trying to get things done.



Oh! And we carved some pumpkins, too.  The girls drew the faces on and the parents carved.








Happy Halloween!

Welcome Baby

Baby Elliott joined our family this week.  Born to my cousin, Peter, and his lovely wife Rebecca.  He is named for Peter's mother's family (which is also my mother's family).  He was a whopping 10 pounds 2 ounces.  You are a champ, Rebecca!  We can't wait to meet him.  Just look at those cheeks!



(I think he looks a lot like Peter in this photo)

Reading Time

Alexis is supposed to read aloud for at least 15 minutes each day as part of her homework.  At some point, someone thought it was a good idea for her to read to Ella (maybe it was in my desperation to get them to stop fighting one day) and now it has become one of their favorite things to do together.  No matter how frustrated they may be with each other, if I say it's reading time, they gather together closely and Ella listens intently as Lexi reads.  They don't even argue about what book to read.  It's fabulous!

Biking

Ella got this little bike for her birthday back at the beginning of the summer.  It is a two-wheeler with no training wheels, and is also known as a running bike, or a balance bike.  The idea is to use your feet to power the bike, and it helps kids to learn to balance on a bike making the transition to a bigger bike much faster and smoother.  She loves this bike so much and has become very proficient.  We love it, too!

Sometimes she gets moving a little faster than she can handle, but I guess that's good.  Shows her confidence is growing. 



In her preschool, they had an event called Trike-A-Thon to benefit St. Jude's Hospital.  The kids were allowed to bring their own bikes if they wanted to.  Ella, of course, wanted to bring hers, so I schlepped it on the subway and bus at rush hour because I love her!
 



She also tried out a scooter:

Apple Picking Take 2

2 days after our first apple picking excursion, my mother got an email at work about an apple picking event that Pepsi was hosting at a local farm in Yorktown, NY.  We decided to give it another go, and this day was so much more pleasant!  Hot apple cider, free apples (thanks to Pepsi!), chillier weather and a farm that was not nearly as crowded or commercial.  The leaves were gorgeous and the farm itself was sort of nestled in a valley with rolling hills all around.  Apple picking has redeemed itself!  I now have a large load of apples that need to be used... applesauce, anyone??

Apple Picking Take 1

Our first attempt at apple picking was, shall we say, fruitless.  We went to a farm in Morristown, NJ that had hayrides and mazes and apple picking and lots of seemingly wonderful activities.  It was so commercialized, however, that just to get into the orchard to pick apples you had to pay $11 per group of 5 people.  And since we had 6 people we had to either pay $22 or sit one out.  So Grandma took one for the team and sat out while we went in and picked some fruit just to have to pay for that per pound as well (which we actually expected to do).  The hayride was $7 per person and the mazes were $8 per person, so we ended up skipping all of that since we didn't plan on blowing $100 on what is supposed to be a quintessential New England fall activity.  We were totally disappointed.  We did get some good photos, though. We took a drive through downtown Morristown which was really quite lovely, and then found a playground for the girls to play.  The weather was beautiful, and it was nice to be with Allie & Grandma.

First Day of School

The first day of school! First grade this year. 26 children in her class, many that she already knows from last year.  This year I got very ambitious and decided to make all her uniforms (well, not the blouses).  So we stocked up on navy blue materials from Joann's Fabrics and I made her several skirts and a couple of jumpers.  I did some of it in California while able to use my mother-in-law's serger.  Heaven!  I decided to make her clothes this year because most of the stuff we can buy off the rack does not fit this tall, slender young lady.  I end up having to alter it anyway, so I figured it would be just as easy to make it from scratch.



Ella started preschool 3 mornings a week this year, too.  She does not have to wear uniforms yet.  She loves going to school and is learning so many new things.  She can write her own name and most of the letters of the alphabet without any assistance.  I think that's amazing.