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).

The Injured List

I've had a sort of "bad back" for many years now. Back in September, it got bad enough that I went to see a chiropractor and it was getting much better. We had a major breakthrough when he adjusted my tailbone and I was feeling the best I have in years. But now I know what it means to "throw your back out". It happened on Saturday and by Sunday I couldn't even walk. I was able to get into the doc today and things are sort of looking better, but boy oh boy is it painful!

The timing is terrible since it's spring break and we were hoping to do lots of fun things around the city with the kids.... here's hoping for a miracle to at least help the painful symptoms to subside!

Sister S

We love you, Sister S!

See you in 18 months!

Habits That I Cannot Break

As most of you know my passions can be counted on just a few of the fingers on both hands. Music is still by far the most obsessive of my passions (religion and family don't count as obsessive since obsessive connotes not always good for you and religion and family have always been good for me). One of my favorite musicians is a fellow named Brandon Campbell. You don't know who he is but you might soon. He is the bass player in the band Neon Trees who just released their first major label album, Habits on Tuesday. He is probably one of the most tasteful bass player I have ever heard. Never over plays but always plays something worth hearing.

I consider Brandon one of my really good friends. He is humble as pie and cool as a rock star (which he now appears destined to be). I miss living around the corner from him and his family. We live far apart but he and his family always make time for us when we our in town.

In sum I am declaring today "Neon Trees Day". Check them out and slap down your $10 people. If you have a chance to see them live they ARE GREAT LIVE. The best part is they all have been nothing but gracious to me when we were able to see them live twice here in the city. They even let me be their roadie for ten minutes.
Rock on Brandon. Stay humble old friend and remember, I will be your roadie anytime you need one. Viva los Neon Trees!

The Shirt

There is a story behind this shirt. Years ago, when my father proposed marriage to my mother, he wore this shirt. Then, a few years later, Doug wanted to propose to my Aunt Barbara (my mother's younger sister). He conspired with my father to borrow the mushroom shirt for the occasion. The story goes (correct me if I'm wrong!) that when he showed up at the door wearing this shirt, my grandmother started crying because she just knew Doug was coming to propose to her youngest daughter. Tears of joy, of course.

Allie has wanted to get a hold of the shirt for years now, and my father came across it among his things during his recent move. And now she has it.

Race Day

Last Sunday the New York Road Runners Club hosted a 5K race in our neighborhood.  Since church doesn't start until 1, I took the girls down to watch.  There is really so much energy in the air as 7000+ runners go racing by!  This photo is of the girls sitting on the stone wall watching the runners.

T-Minus 6 Days

My darling cousin, who is really more like another sister to me, is entering the Missionary Training Center next week to prepare to be a missionary for our church in Mongolia Tempe, Arizona for 18 months (just yesterday she received word that visas to Mongolia were too difficult to obtain and she had to be reassigned).

Last week she came and spent some days with us- yay!  Here are a few of our adventures:

Liz really wanted to get some cupcakes since she probably wouldn't be having any once she got to Mongolia.  So we took her to our current favorite bakery: Crumbs.  (I love that their address is 321 and A HALF).

She was able to get a nice sampler with 12 different flavors!

Ella chose her standard vanilla with sprinkles, and I went with the peanut butter cup.  Alexis chose a chocolate frosting on vanilla cake, with sprinkles also.

We took them to a playground in Central Park and enjoyed the weather that was a touch warmer than it has been.  (since then we've had even warmer days!)

Liz was very helpful while she was here- watching my kids so I could take care of other pressing matters- like a trip to the chiropractor that was way overdue.  Ella & Liz hung out at Books of Wonder while I was with the doc, then we met up in Madison Sq Park for some Shake Shack!  Ella held our buzzers.

Liz helped us greet Alexis when she came home from school- Lexi even paused for the photo op as she came down the stairs!
(I have a photo to post here, but for some reason the editing I did to wipe out the bus route numbers- so weirdos don't get that information- is not showing up when I upload the photo-I'm a novice at photo editing, so I'll try and figure it out b/c it's a cute photo of her on the bus!)

Liz is amazing with the girls' hair.  I just cannot get them to sit still long enough for me to do something like this!  Not that mine would even look as neat as this, but the girls just adore her and will do whatever she asks of them.

She is an expert reader!

And we just hung out at home together a whole lot, too.

Here are all the Elliott granddaughters: Laura, me, Liz & Allie

Our Little Scholar

A little over a month ago, Alexis had to get glasses. She loves them so much- even though she only has to wear them for school & homework she likes to wear them more often because "they make things not so shaky".

Thanks to Aunt Laura for hooking us up with some frames!

The Assembly Party

On Saturday night, I had a little birthday party to assemble all of the amazing donations I received in an effort to bless some of the world's neediest on their birthdays.

A huge thank you (in no particular order) to MattC, TammyV, MackenzieB, CarrieJ, JenniferW, ArlyE, EmmaA, Marie-AdeleM, SonyaD, AbbieW, JenB, ZacL, JoanC, John&RuthE, LisaR, StephanieB, AprilleK, AlliePo, HeatherP, AngieM, LauraP, SusanP, JessicaH, MalesaB, ErinC, StaceyH, LindaT, & ElaineP, ChristianS!! (Did I miss anyone?!)

Because of all our work, we were able to complete 40 kits!!! Can you believe that? I am so pleased with the result. Thank you all for participating and supporting this effort.

Abbie posted lots of beautiful photos that she took on her blog.  CLICK HERE to see them.

Artemis

Lexi's friend had a Lightening Thief birthday party last Saturday.  The invitation requested that guests come dressed as their favorite Greek god or goddess.  Alexis hasn't really been exposed to the world of Greek mythology yet, so we basically chose a goddess for her: Artemis, goddess of forests and hills, childbirth, virginity, fertility, the hunt, and often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.  Allie and Liz spearheaded the costume-making project and the result was great!

(pardon the background- she's standing on the air mattress that Allie & Liz had slept on the night before in the middle of the living room).