Into the City!!

It's been 4 years of living in PA and we still hadn't made it out to NYC. A short 2 1/2 hour drive is all, but with three kids, it takes about that long to get up the nerve to take on the adventure. So we finally did. May 18 was the day we embarked on our one night journey into the heart of the Big Apple. We all had a wonderful time. We stayed right across the street from the United Nations building in the Millennium UN 

hotel. 

The view from our hotel room. We were on the 30th floor.

The UN building.

We were to meet up with our friends who have lived there for 3 years for residency, as well as have dinner with other friends who happen to be staying in the city that week as well. The fun thing about Facebook is that when we posted we were going there, they quickly commented that they would also be there. We could have completely missed out! 

Andrew went to Med school with Melissa, (far left). 

Annie's husband was in Andrew's med school class as well.
She and a few of other girls helped me survive the 4 years of craziness.

There was a mishap that resulted in the breaking of the stroller we had borrowed from friends, leaving the three of the kids to walk about 15 blocks that night. They were troopers, but we were all ready to eat by the time we met up. We ate at a wonderful little Italian restaurant between Park and Madison Ave on 61st. It's called Serafina's. The kids barreled through their amazing pizza like there was no tomorrow. I admit, I stole a few of their slices. My pasta was also very tasty. They had high chairs for the kids too. We enjoyed catching up with friends that evening.

The kids got treats after dinner and we boarded the metro back to the hotel.

Riding the metro was much less intimidating than you might think. Especially with friends who did it just earlier that day. They showed us how to buy the tickets and ride. All the kids were free. We ended our ride at Grand Central Station. It was 2 blocks from our hotel. What a beautiful place. The ceiling alone is worth going to see.

In Grand Central Station.

We were able to borrow a small stroller the hotel happened to have. I'm glad we asked. It was a foot saver for the kids who took turns in it the next day. After a night sleep and an early morning wake up (gotta love kids sleeping in the same room as you), we headed out by 7:30am to catch the metro. 

The view looking up from the base of the Empire State Building.

Our first stop was a visit to our friend's apartment. What a cute little place. They've been so creative with 325 sq. feet. There are days when I miss our little apartment in CA, like cleaning days, but it would be super small with 3 kids. We got breakfast at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (yum) and headed to Central Park, 2 blocks from their place. 

This is the famous Boathouse as seen in many movies and shows.

The kids had a lot of fun roaming the hills and rocks in the park. You could really spend days exploring the place.

From the Park we walked down the "mall" where many movie scenes are filmed with people sitting on benches and such. We headed to FAO Shwartz where we were bombarded with not so many toys, but a giant candy store. The kids got lollipops and I bought a little taxi car. Apparently that wasn't what Peter wanted, so we left the store with him screaming loudly, "I wanted a different toy!!" Like something from a movie itself. We got more looks than I prefer to have...ever. I will not be taking my kids in a toy store again for a long time.

The hotel from "Home Alone" the movie.  Right across from FAO.

At least he was happy going into the store. I mean, who wouldn't be with a real life toy soldier?

We ate lunch at Bill's restaurant. It's right in Rockafeller center. It was very good. I had their burger off the kids' menu :) and shared mini corn dogs, which happen to be the best corn dogs I've ever had. Very yummy shakes too. 

30 Rock!

Heading into Times Square. It was just like you've seen on TV. The shops, the people, the taxis, the craziness. I am told that locals try to avoid this part of the city, and I could see why. It's a great place to see and experience, but by this time, the kids were wearing down and the weather was warming up. John fell asleep in the stroller and slept through all of it! 

You can see Peter is falling apart and Ella's had enough with the pictures.

We said goodbye to our wonderful tour guide and friend after this and parted ways on the metro. Our next stop was going down to see the Freedom Tower construction near Ground Zero. We couldn't actually get to ground zero because of the construction, but it really puts the event in perspective. I remember being in college, running on the treadmill at the gym and seeing first hand news of the second plane hitting the twin towers. Everyone in the gym stopped what they were doing to watch. I went back to school and we all spent the rest of the day in front of the TV in class. What a sobering experience to go and see where it all took place. Right in the middle of the city. The buildings they are putting up are amazing. 

Another ice cream in Battery Park. This is the overlook to the Statue of Liberty. It was still far away, but we weren't planning to take a ferry out to see it. There are just too many things to do in NYC for one day, and that's all the time we had this round. 

Our last picture! 

We talked about trying to catch a taxi back to the car because the walk to the metro and back to the car was a long way, but wouldn't you know, there were none in any of the places we stopped. The kids were toast and really, we were too. The metro is much cheaper though and we survived it one more time, but I don't think I've ever been happier to see my van in that underground lot. If you are up for an adventure, do some planning and go to the city. I can't believe we had waited this long, but after going with 3 kids, I'm thankful we didn't try it when they were littler. 

Great memories for now though.

Using Wool

Aside from traveling and being busy with the general demands of life, I have had a few moments here and there to whip up a few little goodies. I've had a stash of wool felt for a long time now and I am finally making a dent in the pile of colors. It is Moda Wool. I found it years ago in Alaska while at a crafting retreat. At the time I was making a quilt with small circles and needed (one piece :) some wool. The stack just belted out to me in the fabric store in Kenai. Here I am about 7 years later, still finding ways to use it.

I'm also working on dwindling down my yarn and flannel by making hats again and baby cloths too. They are being sold at my friend's shop as well as given as baby gifts. A while ago, I had asked online if anyone had a bike that would be my daughter's size. A friend responded and the only thing she wanted in return for the bike was a baby gift for a friend. Thus, the purple beanie and cloth. I love when trades can work like that. Win. Win. 
I find that making things calms my nerves. Even when every kid is into something in the process, or even trying to help me, when I can stand up and see a finished little tid bit of creativity it just makes me smile. 

For a Bee Changed photo shoot, we put one of the clips I made on this little darling.

Little Mia makes one cute little hair clip model. It worked perfect with the dress :)

For the end of the year, my daughter and I made tote bags for her teachers. Two C's and one A. We used permanent marker to stencil the letters on the outside and put goodies on the inside. She picked out York mint patties for each of them, as well as a Starbucks gift card, stationary with their letter on them and a drawing made by the little one who was giving them.

One Special Weekend

This weekend we had a really nice time as a family. It was much needed after a couple of really hectic weeks around here with Andrew being gone, on call, and just busy at work. I feel like April and May have been wildly busy and I know this is just going to be the way it is with kids in school, but being the first time around, it has seemed crazy. Friday night didn't really go at all as we had thought, but it ended up alright. We were cleaning out the garage and basement for the town dumpster day and Andrew ended up getting cut and needing to go get stitched up. The kids and I hung out at the hospital until he was done. A friend was getting ready for a car trip and ended up with a dead battery before leaving. Andrew went over and helped jump the car so they could leave. It was a good lesson for the kids because we were able to tell them that if it is in our ability to help others, we do it even if we are hungry. By the time we went to dinner, it was late, but we thought we could make it work. Well, it didn't. 2 spilled cups of water, and one child falling out of their chair onto the floor later, we got the check and went home. Food was really good though. Saturday morning Andrew got all the junk out of our house (mostly left here by previous owners) and we now have more space in both the garage and basement. All the cleaning out made us hungry, so we roasted hot dogs and made s'mores since it was almost 80 degrees and sunny. That night we went on a bike ride around town, the first one we've done with all 5 of us. We all had a good time. I cleaned a lot of that day and tried getting the kitchen back together after not having much time to do any of that last week. We were all rewarded with ice cream out that night. Sunday, I had to be at church early for singing, and Andrew got all the kids out the door by 8am! They were rewarded with Dunkin Donuts for doing a good job with him. We bought plants at the store and while he napped with the kids, I planted them and finished cleaning. I'm sure it seems silly that part of what I would want to do for Mother's Day is get the house back in order, but it really was needed for all of our sakes. We had friends over for mexican food and ended the night listening to the kids laugh and play themselves to sleep. I did have to go up and stifle the screaming at one point, but the laughing was there until they were out. 

This Mother's Day I have so much to be thankful for. Healthy, wonderful kids, loving husband, great Mom and Mother in Law, the ability to spend time as a family, good food, time to get things done, flowers, and so much more. I am blessed. 

These are the gifts my kids literally made "by hand." They each have such wonderful teachers, at church and in school. I am so glad for the work they did to make these. 

John was so proud of his plant that he couldn't wait to give it to me after his class. Peter almost didn't make his pot holder because he wanted to be with Ella in her class that we were teaching in. His teacher told him he was going to do something secret and special for me and he went over to participate. Ella made my bonnet that I wore at her Mother's Day tea. It is hanging in the kitchen until further notice. I love that my kids like to be creative. One day we were making something and Ella said, "Mom, I'm...fre....cree...make...what's that word?" "Creative." "Oh yeah!" She smiled. "Creative."

Andrew's gift to me...we are going as a family to NYC this coming weekend!! I am beyond excited. 4 years living less than 3 hours away and all our kids are finally old enough to feel okay taking 3 of them there. More on that for sure.

Tea Time!

Today I had the great privilege of seeing my daughter's hard work with her classmates presented to all of us Moms. The past few weeks her class has been working on the Mother's Day Tea. They gave us invitations, made us bonnets, learned their songs, and presented us with hugs and kisses in a little jar. It was such a neat time seeing her up there, singing and being proud of all the things she'd done to make it special. I had to hold back the tears, because she doesn't really understand "happy" tears yet and I didn't want her to think something was wrong. But they were there, filling up in my eyes and right behind those were more, ready to spill over, but NO, I held it together for her sake. The teachers did a great job putting it all together and teaching the kids their songs. It was my first Mother's Day as a school mom and it made me look forward to many more to come. 

There she is, singing her songs.

Each child was asked by their teachers, "Why do you love your Mommy?" Their unprompted, first answers was what they wrote down. Ella's answer was, "She makes me laugh." I could not be more proud of her response. We do laugh a lot in this house and I am pretty sure it's the main thing that keeps us from going crazy some days. We laugh at night before they go to bed because without fail, they ask me to pretend they are my pillow. I put my head on their bellies and pretend to sleep. They wiggle all over until I ask, "What kind of pillow is this anyway?" They say, "It's not a pillow! It's a kid!" We giggle and I tuck them in. Thank you Ella, for being glad we laugh. I sure am. 

My favorite cookie ever.

The kids sang their second song, and the words were, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as your living, my Mommy, you'll be. I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my Mommy you'll be." 

Yeah. Try not to cry. I sure had to.

This is the bonnet Ella made for me out of a coffee filter, flowers, ribbons, and squiggle marker lines. She was so proud that she made lines where the filter lines were, and that each of them were in a pattern. Squiggly, straight, squiggly, straight...and so on. We wore them for the morning with the kids. 

About the outfits...well, funny story. Daddy picked out this dress for Ella back in Oregon at a consignment shop our friend owns. He thought it was cute, and since he's really not one to pick out clothes for the kids,  I certainly wasn't going to say no. I think it's cute too. I had gone to Target this week, and picked out a long dress, similar to Ella's and we were all ready to match, until I tried it on. Even my husband, who tells me I look nice all the time (good guy, huh?), said, "That dress is not flattering at all and it hangs funny at the waist." Yes. He was right. It totally did. In a bit of an, "I don't want to disappoint my daughter" type of panic, I searched my stuff and found this dress I'd bought a while ago and made it work. With a black cardigan and belt, I thought it would be okay with her. The husband approved of the second choice and went to sleep. When Ella woke up and saw I wasn't wearing the other dress, she got really sad. I explained to her that the other one didn't fit at all and I was still trying to match. Okay, crisis done. Since it was cold out this morning, she wanted boots. I said, well you should wear tights if you want to wear those so your feet don't get sweaty. Polka dots. That's what she came down with. So, we have cream, gray, black, stripes, flowers, dots, and a hot pink headband. Together, we were a pattern phenomenon, but it was fun and we both loved it. And we matched. Sorta. :)

Ella, thank you for such a memorable morning. Thank you for still being a cuddler. Thank you for being a helper. Thank you for laughing with me. I am so thankful God gave us you.

Think Outside the (toy) Box

Back in March, for a few birthdays our friends had, I decided against toys and made something for their rooms instead. The little guy's name starts with E and the girl's, an A. What better way to use buttons from my stash? Ella and I sat at the table and glued away getting each button to go in the right spot. I even used some of my vintage buttons I've picked up over the years. So, the next time you're invited to a birthday, maybe you could make something fun and easy with the kids instead of paying for toys. Not that toys aren't loved by children, but maybe for the Mom's sake...wink wink.

The letters are white wood letters with hook holes already in the back of them from Michael's Craft Store.

Snakes, Turtles, and Dino's, Oh My!

REPTILAND!!

Last weekend we took the kids up to see the reptiles and do the walk with the dinosaurs. We thought the kids would enjoy an outing, and it was interesting for sure. I, not being a fan of things that slither, strike, or stick to walls, found it quite well done and entertaining. 

We sat in on the presentation where a man got up front with a chicken and proceeded to tell us that they were part dinosaur because of their similar feet. My very literal 4 year old boy looks at me and very loudly says, "That is NOT a dinosaur. What is that guy talking about? It's just a chicken." Well, you can imagine I saw that one coming the second that man gave his statement. I explained to my boy that he's talking about their similar feet, wings, and ability to lay eggs. That was it. No, it was not a dinosaur, he's right. Thankfully, his attention span is still short because he dropped it and was more amazed with feeling the snake. I stayed away and just took the picture. 

The Butterfly sanctuary was very neat. They had lots of different types of butterflies and pretty flowers for them to rest in. I had no idea how different each cocoon looked depending on the type of butterfly it would bring about. The Monarch is definitely the most beautiful cocoon. It is aqua in color with spots on it.

The indoor reptiles in their glass casings were super neat to see. Behind glass only though. Above is a chameleon and we laughed because the kids recognized the animal from the movie Tangled. Rapunzel has a pet one named Pascal. So we kept calling this one Pascal. They had a large snapping turtle, and giant tortoises. Some of Ella's favorites are the tiny poison frogs. They are so colorful, but upon reading how very dangerous they really are, I would never want to see one in the wild. I think it's amazing how some of the most beautiful of creation can also be the most dangerous. Ponder that for a minute or two. 

Out to the DINOS!!

We learned the main way to tell if the giant reptile you see here is a crocodile, or an alligator. I decided to compare them to the actual CROCS shoe. Well, crocs shoes are wide. Crocodiles, in fact are the ones with the skinnier, longer snout. So crocodiles don't look like CROCS. Alligators do. There you go.

It was a fun afternoon at Reptiland. If you're ever in the area, you should check it out. 

http://www.reptiland.com/

The Early bird...escapes the shooting

Last Saturday morning, my alarm went off at 4:45am. Why? You might ask yourself. I asked myself the same thing. Then, I remembered when I saw the cammo gear spread all over my floor. I'm waking up with my husband at this awful hour to go attempt to find Thanksgiving dinner in April. Honestly, I was looking forward to it until I had to open my eyes. Andrew always tells me that waking up that early is hard, but once you get the lights on it's much better. So I turned the light on and started putting on long johns, sweats, more sweats and finally the gear that would blend me right into the land. It was predicted to be about 36 degrees that morning and they weren't wrong...unfortunately. We both got ready and grabbed our guns, made sure we had the hunting license Wal-Mart had so graciously given me, (they didn't even ask me any questions. How were they to know I knew anything about hunting?) and as we walked out the door, Andrew looked at me and said, "This is so great. Are you excited?" I could tell that nothing at that point would make him happier than for me to be hunting with him. Seeing what it is he actually does when he spends time sitting in silence in the woods covered head to toe in green leafy frocks was a real eye opener for me. Except for when I did doze off a few seconds around 7am and when I twitched, my gun did too. Twitchy guns aren't a good thing, so I re-positioned myself and paid attention again. We drove out of the town a little ways to a friend's house, followed by a tiny drive to a field, and a walk out into it. We sat with our backs to a big tree and got ready. Hours went by. The morning was super cold, but beautiful. I got to see for the first time what the woods look like while the morning sun shone through frosty leaves and what it sounds like when birds wake up after I do. Our friend used his turkey calls here and there, but by 8am after sitting for way too long, we decided to try another location. Luckily this one was up near his house so we went inside first and warmed up. We followed that by gearing up again and hiking up into the woods on his property. I will say that some day I hope to have more than just a strip of a backyard for my kids. It was fun to be out in wilderness, but also close to a home. We went up the hill a ways and got into position again, this time each of us pointing our guns in opposite directions on the sides of the tree. The calling began again and I started to get ancy. I guess that is normal Andrew said. I never pictured myself as much of a killer, but fishing in Alaska would prove me wrong in that matter too. I love the thrill of bringing in a fish, smacking it over the head with a club and eating it for dinner. Gross, yes. Yummy though. I began to get this overwhelming sense that I just wanted to see a turkey and shoot it. Alas, my bladder started to fill up, I realized we had left the kids with Andrew's mom for hours by that time, we had only heard one hen at that point, and you can't shoot hens. I would have probably shot anything that came up over that hill after all those hours. I got a little bit of a rush when I heard that turkey in the distance and I told Andrew later, "Maybe I am not cut out for hunting. I was just too excited about that thing getting closer, but scared all at the same time that I would miss my chance." His response, "Danielle, that's what its all about. We wouldn't do this if it wasn't a rush and a gamble every time." I'm more of a sure-kill kind of hunter I suppose. I want to go out on a mission and come back successful. I guess there are going to be lessons to learn for me after all. Patience, endurance, respect for the animals...those sorts of things. We'll see. I hope to get out there again, but maybe not this season. At least I got to try it.

This truck was bought by the friend who took us out hunting. I'm getting it printed as a thank you. I love old trucks.