Thanksgiving

This year, we spent Thanksgiving with our good friends, the Tomcos. We met the Tomcos while Marc was getting his MBA, and they even lived a few blocks away from us here in NYC for a summer before they headed to the Suburbs. We spent Thanksgiving Morning preparing our portion of the meal: Rolls, Sweet Potatoes and a veggie tray- packed it all into some backpacks, and we were off to the MetroNorth.

Here are the girls toting around part of our Thanksgiving meal.

There was a security alert of the Subways and commuter trains this past Thanksgiving weekend. This was a little unnerving, but, not something I really gave second thought to.....well at least until I noticed the train we had boarded was crawling along the tracks in the tunnel. It took us 45 minutes to go from 42nd street to 125th street. We seriously could have walked faster than that. At 125th street all of the passengers were ordered off the train, further heightening my concern. All was well, though, as we soon found out that the train had mechanical problems (surprise!) and we needed to wait for a "rescue train" to come and pick us all up. Luckily our wait was less than 10 minutes, and our trip was speedy from that point on.

The girls loved being reunited with their old friends, and spending time in a "real" house. Here they all are watching a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special.

The meal was fantastic, and the kids loved heading out to the backyard to play afterward.

VIPS

Instead of braving the actual Macey's Thanksgiving Day Parade, we decided to follow the tradition started last year, and attend the balloon inflating event near Central Park. We figured that the kids would be the most excited about seeing the balloons anyway, and in truth, I wanted to sleep in a bit on Thanksgiving Day.

It ended up being a perfect night. Not too cold, and we were able to bring along the girls' good friend Laura. As we approached the crowds I prepared myself to be sandwiched body-to-body with hundreds of people like it was last year. Just before we entered the long line to get in, a lady approached Marc and asked if he would like to have her VIP pass to get our family in to the restricted access part of the balloon display. Oh, yes we would! Totally different experience in the VIP section BTW. There were only a few people, and it was balloon viewing heaven. Ahhhh, so this is what it feels like to be very important....

This video gives you a view of the floats. As you watch it check out the other side of the barricade (straight shot ahead) to see what the Non-VIP section looks like. Totally packed. As we left, Marc passed off the VIP pass to a family of 8. I wonder how many people saw the balloons that night with that same pass :).

Soccer

For the past couple of months our Saturday mornings have been filled with soccer. The girls have been playing on a league here and loving it. I loved the fact that the soccer field was only a two minute walk from our house. It was a good experience for both of them. Their season just came to an end, so they had a little trophy cermony for the kids that participated.

Here is Eva and her good friend Brighton. It was a bummer that they were not able to play on the same team this year.

Here is Madeline and her "twin" Laura. Her and Laura share the same birthday, and they are kindred spirits. On the field, they could usually be found next to each other- one playing goalie while the other helped out.

The coach presented each child with their trophy, and gave them small tribute. Over the course of the season, Eva was nicknamed "wheels," and you can see in this video that she was pleased to no end to have the coach tell everyone about it.
Their soccer coach was from the Bronx and has quite the personality. The girls really liked him. I will miss hearing "Who's talkin' when I'm talkin'?!?" in his NYC accent.

Oh Christmas Tree!

When we got back from the Museum the kids were excited to find our Christmas Tree had arrived. This year, we decided to order our tree online. We have a little more room in our new place, which made a full-sized tree possible. As I researched places to purchase a tree here in NYC, I came across this sustainable tree farm in New Hampshire with prices comparable to what I could find on the streets here in Manhattan. And being the car-less people that we are, not having to schlep the tree home on the subway made the deal even sweeter.

Here it is in all of its glory, right out of the box.

Marc shaking the tree out, and getting it ready for the tree stand. The Reindeer are looking on, eager to try their hand at decorating.

Marc and I trying to get the tree to stand up straight, under the direction of Maddy and Eva. Five and six-year-olds are excellent direction givers.

Eva- "Go left, mom"
Madeline- "No... right, Eva"
Eva- "Oh, yeah, right"

The girls loved helping to decorate. Our miniature fake tree last year took a tumble (courtesy of a very curious Owen) and many of our decorations didn't survive the fall. So, this year, the ornaments were a little sparse. But, I am still happy with how it turned out, and I am loving the real Christmas tree smell!

A Day at the Museum

This past Saturday we decided to take advantage of a world-class museum that is less than two miles from our home. We have only been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art once before as an entire family. I decided it was high time for a second visit. We focused mostly on the Greek/Roman and Egyptian exhibits on this trip.

Eva was mesmerized by all of the unclothed statues. "Mom, I see bums," was her most quoted line- accompanied by a giggle.

Madeline was fascinated by the Egyptian collection. She didn't want to leave when it became clear that Owen was done. Every couple of feet she would ask "Mom, what does this Hieroglyph mean?" I had to laugh. "Um, you know.... I don't know that one." She made me promise that next time we would get headphones like everyone else had. She was sure that the headphones would interpret the Hieroglyphs for you. If you go to the Metropolitan anytime soon, make sure not to miss the Temple of Dendur (pictured behind Madeline). This Egyptian Temple actually once stood in Egypt- and was taken apart stone by stone in the 1960's and relocated to the US. It has been rebuilt and was added to the Metropolitan collection in 1978.

Owen liked watching Dad chase him around the museum. He pretty much wanted to touch everything in sight. He made the security guards' jobs just a little more exciting on this Saturday.

What I'm Thankful for:

The other day, someone asked Maddy who her best friend was.
"Oh, Eva."
Not a moment was wasted thinking this question over- because she knew the answer from the moment the query came .
And so did I.

Madeline's Recital

This weekend Madeline had a piano recital. Here it is for any of you who are interested. It is shot in video mode on my cheap Canon point-and-shoot because I still cannot figure out how to upload video from our camcorder onto our computer. We are working on the facial expressions when she finishes playing :) - my girl has a bit of stage fright......

For some reason one of the songs won't upload...but here are two.....






After the recital, we had some refreshments outside the recital hall. After a few minutes of socializing with other parents, we realized that Owen was nowhere to be found. Panic set in asI knew there were elevators nearby, and we know from previous experience that Owen is quite a talented elevator operator. Thankfully, I found him a few minutes later in the recital hall trying out the grand piano. He just wanted in on the action.

You had better do it

Oh, I miss the days of living in Ohio. That is one awesome state to live in if you are really into political commercials. Every four years almost the entirety of the prime-time commercial break is dedicated to the presidential hopefuls battling it out. It is one of the swingy-est of swing states, and every politician fights a bloody battle in Ohio. When I headed to the polls in 2004 I really felt for the first time that my vote would truly be counted. I was even exit-polled as I headed out (for the first and only time in my life).

Living in Utah and New York is kind of a political yawner. I knew in Utah my presidential vote would have little bearing on the election. The state is more Republican than McCain. I know here in NY my vote will have little bearing as well. Being the exact political opposite of UT, it would take a miracle akin to the parting of the East River for McCain to come out victorious here in NY on Tuesday. Obama will win all 31 electoral votes....by a crushing landslide.

Of course, I will still vote. I always do. I will bring my kids along for the first time. We will get to bond a little closer as we stand in line for 4 hours (oh, I hope not that long!). I am hoping they will have an express line for people with two kids or more.

Count your lucky stars if you live somewhere like: Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington, and New Hampshire. If you live in one of these states, VOTE! Please.....pretty please? I will come and watch your kids so you don't have to take them along for 4 hours-K?

Of course, if you live in any other state, you need to vote too. I can't promise free babysitting for you though- you are on your own.

Oh, I wish that Romney was still in this one.......

*just voted....I was in line for less than 20 minutes. There were only 2 people in front of me (don't ask me why it took 20 minutes when there were only two people in front of me- I have no answer for that). Anyway, don't be intimidated by the lines- vote! The girls loved pulling the lever and helping me push the switches. Thanks for watching Owen, Holly!

Halloween Happenings

We hope you all had a spooky, fun-filled Halloween. As a tradition, we kick our Halloween Festivities off on the Monday before the big day. We have a lesson, and then try to segway a gospel principle from the lesson into Halloween (virtually impossible:). Somehow, this year Madeline was able to accomplish this for us. Our lesson was entitled "Love one Another." Madeline decided that in honor of the Halloween season, we all needed to draw spiders. In each leg of the spider we needed to write someone's name that we love, and why we love them. Creative.....and kind of creepy..... perfect for Halloween FHE! Afterward, we carved our family pumpkin. This was officially the most expensive pumpkin we have ever purchased- I thought the cashier was pulling a Halloween trick when he told me it was $16. Welcome to Halloween, NYC-style. After carving the pumpkin it was time for caramel apples and cider. Yum. Marc invited a friend from work and his girlfriend to come over to join us for the festivities. His girlfriend was very kind to accept all of the various types of artwork my children created for her while she was here.

On Halloween day we woke up early and headed down to Greenwich Village for a Halloween get-together at a friend's house. As we decorated cupcakes, Owen impressed everyone with his mastery of the words: choc-O-Late, cup-cake, and cand-y. Yes, he has all of the essentials down now. He is advanced in sweet talk. Then we walked through the village up to Chelsea, to check out Chelsea Market's Halloween Jam-Boo-Ree. Chelsea Market is one of our favorite family destinations. It is like an indoor mall of yumminess; most of the shops/vendors are food....really good food. The picture above was taken in the heart of the decorations at Chelsea Market. What I didn't include in the picture was the nude art exhibit on display throughout the entire market. These were not Metropolitan Museum of Art nudes, these were photographed nudes scarier than the Halloween decorations. Needless to say, we didn't stay very much longer after the picture was taken. The girls were happy to get their free cookie. Mmmm....more sugar.

This is Owen peering into one of the bakeries at Chelsea Market. He was fascinated by what they were doing. I was fascinated by his now very round figure. It was cracking me up to see him (my very, very skinny boy) as a chubby dragon.We headed home and prepared to acquire even more sugar. The girls had their hearts set on Trick-or-Treating. So, Eva the "Space Girl," Madeline the "Doctor" and Owen the "Dragon" headed out with dad to meet some apartment complex neighbors for the first time. Our cute friend Jack (aka Pillsbury Doughboy) joined us for the event.


Try to imagine how much candy can be collected when each "house" is only 15 feet apart. It was kid-heaven.Maddy and Eva were more than happy to show Owen and Jack the Trick-or-Treating ropes.

The day after Halloween, our ward had a Halloween party in the basement of our church. The kids had a blast, and Marc's aunt and uncle (Steve and Julie) even stopped by. They have been in town, and it has been so great to see them and catch up.

Owen was absolutely mesmerized by this baby "surgeon" who was in attendance at the party. This cute little guy was a preemie and is sooo tiny. Owen was admiring him for quite some time. "Soooooft baby......sooooofffft....."

Whistle while you work.....

We have the kids bringing in money now. That is how lean the times are getting for those of us who are trying to estimate what our paltry Wall Street end-of-year bonus will be (maybe we will get a ham?? :). Maddy and Eva participated in some research that Scholastic Book was doing in their headquarters down in SoHo. The girls test-drove some reading software that Public/Private schools use in a classroom setting. They had a great time and got some books and a pretty sweet gift certificate in the end- redeemable at the SoHo Scholastic store. So, of course we headed down to the store immediately afterward to redeem these puppies......and got some yummy cupcakes at Dean and Deluca to celebrate our very first paychecks. Maddy reminded me as we ate our cupcakes that she "already had a job at the hospital." Oh yes. She was involved in a study at Mt. Sinai hospital where she had to play video games-they were studying something cognitive (not sure what). As Maddy basked in her feelings of financial empowerment I suddenly felt like we were breaking child labor laws.

The girls have been pouring over their newly attained books (Eva got a Space Atlas- shocker!), and playing the game Blokus (also a Scholastic Store pick). Blockus is quickly becoming a family favorite.

I Love Myself, I Think I'm Grand.....

Owen is still smooching it up. Still specializing in the lip kisses, and giving them out to unsuspecting victims. Lately, he has found a good friend in the bathroom that shares his kissing fettish. Every day there are traces of his love (and his lunch, and his boogs) on the bathroom mirror.

Daddy Time

Marc had a business trip to UT last month, and we decided to take advantage of the fact that Owen had not yet turned the magical number 2 yet- so he joined Dad. Marc was gone during the day, so Owen was watched by Grandma Call (thanks again mom!) most of the time. One major highlight from the trip was being able to take Owen to a BYU football game on the weekend. Of course, it began with a trip to the BYU bookstore to get Owen some proper attire.

Owen came back from the trip saying "apple tree," "mountain," "football," and "Cougars." He also can sing part of the BYU fight song. He specializes in the "ra,ra, ra ra ra!" part. Dad has started early with this little one. The other day I was at a pizzeria that had a televised football game on the wall. Owen was one excited boy. "Football! Mommy, Football!"

Governors Island

We had heard wonderful things about Governors Island and decided that we would try and experience it for ourselves. A fun ferry ride for our kids (and free!). The girls wore their bike helmets on the subway ride and on the ferry- can you tell they are excited about riding bikes??

Owen liked it too. He especially loved having Dad along for the ride. Things have been a little stressful at work lately for Marc (thank you crazy stock market) so we hadn't been seeing him as much as we would like. Owen would not let daddy out of his sight.

There is an interesting art exhibit going on in Manhattan featuring several man made waterfalls. This is one that is positioned on the shore of Governor's Island. Owen enjoyed the nice sea spray coming off of the fall as we docked.

You can rent bikes on the Island for a great deal- and they are even free on Fridays. The bikes were a little too big for Eva, so she ended up riding in the bike carriage for most of the time, but then became determined half-way through the adventure that she would ride a bike as well, even if it was a size to big (you can see her in action in the video below). Also, note in the video below how great the views of Manhattan are. You can see downtown Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island quite well. I LOVE that there are no cars are on this island (except for service vehicles and tour carts) - which makes for a very peaceful bike ride for us parents. I also love hearing about the history of this island, and seeing the beautiful colonial architecture.

Eva is 5

September is Party Month for us. First, Owen has a birthday on the 19th, and then Eva's is on the 24th. To add to the excitement we also have cousins and Aunts born in this month.


Oh, my Eva. She is one bundle of energy and spunky-ness. She loves the fact that she is getting older. She didn't like it when I told her that I am going to make her stay "4" forever (I think she really believes that I have this power:).
She is one talented girl. From the day she witnessed her older sister begin to read, she became determined to do the same. She will not be out-shined. Now she is reading everything. Everything. Which can be scary at times- like when we are in Chelsea and Times Square where the reading material can be less than desirable. She is quite proud of this accomplishment, and relishes in it. She is always my last child asleep- usually found in bed with her favorite fleece blanket, a pile of books around her, and one propped up being read intently.

Eva is my free spirit. She wants to wear her own fashion. I pick my battles with Eva, and this is one she usually wins. She has clothes that are her favorites. As soon as they are washed and in her drawer, I know with certainty that she will be wearing them tomorrow. Mostly, she is a creature of comfort, but she also likes wearing the entire color spectrum- which makes for some very interesting ensembles.


Eva told me a few months ago that for her 5-year-old birthday she wanted to have a space party. Space party.....I didn't quite know how I was going to pull this off. We invited 3 friends, cut some stars and planets out to hang from the lights, decorated the house with the "solar system" on blank newsprint sheets, and organized some alien games. Eva loved decorating, and having her friends over.

Eva wanted a rocket ship cake.....here it is.

Here is Eva in the middle of present opening. She didn't say a word about the fact that mom wrapped all of her presents in Christmas wrapping paper (all we had left) for this, I was thankful :)
Eva received a hand-crafted quilt from her Grandma Chenn which she LOVES. That was a definite highlight of the birthday.



Other present of note: her space suit. The helmet even plays a "countdown" when you push the button. She is in heaven, and has worn this on an almost daily basis since. I had to snap a picture of her one day when she was working on her homework decked out in full space gear.
She has informed me that when she grows up she either wants to be an astronaut, or a shop-keeper. I do not know where she got the shop-keeper idea from.