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.

My Baby is Two

My little guy is two. I can't believe it. I love this little boy we call Owen. I don't know if most of you know, but William is actually his first name. William is the name of both of his great-grandpas, and is Marc's middle name so we definitely thought it should be used. Owen is his middle name- and the name he goes by. It is not that I do not like the name William- it is just that my little baby boy looked like an Owen in every way when he was born. Owen will probably only hear the William part of his name when he goes to school the first day or when he puts my cell phone in the toilet again- but I think it has a nice sound to it- William Owen.

Owen is always on the move. Always. In the world of Owen there is always something to chase, kick and bounce. He has a fascination with anything with wheels. If you have read the book Owen by Kevin Henkes, then you know Owen. He loves his blue blanket. Loves it. He would walk around with it all day long if I let him (and sometimes I do:).

Owen loves music. Cutting edge stuff like ABC's, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. His all time favorite song is from the movie Dumbo (this was Eva's favorite too). Baby of Mine (the song Dumbo's mom sings him when she is locked up) is my secret weapon to get him to calm down. He calls it "Owen of Mine" because I substitute his name for "baby" in the lyrics.

Owen's favorite foods are: yogurt, cheddar shell pasta, bananas, and chocolate milk. Typical 2-year-old fare. These days he is getting his own breakfast. The other morning I woke up to him nibbling on a chicken nugget at my bedside. Unfortunately, I had served chicken nuggets for lunch the DAY BEFORE, and my little scavenger had retrieved this from the garbage. Apparently the dino nugget had enough preservatives to keep it edible for a few days... he did not suffer any ill-effects from his trash adventure. Gross. I left my bed that morning to find 3 banana peels on the kitchen floor, one open chocolate milk container sitting next to a wide open fridge. He is quite a resourceful little boy- we are keeping our matches well hidden.

We had a few celebrations for Owen this year. One occurred while his friend Ella was in town visiting. Ella's b-day is only a few days away from Owen's, so it was fun to celebrate their special days together with a little pizza and cupcakes. It was priceless to watch Ella say, "These cupcakes are SOOOOO good! With her chocolatey face.

Our second family celebration occurred on his actual birthday. I made him a "circle cake." The girls came up with the idea of baking him a cake from a brownie mix, in our circle cake pans. Then we frosted the "cake" with Nutella (an Owen favorite) and added marshmallows in the shape of a smiley face. He is fascinated with smiley faces- whenever he sees one, he says "happy!" so I knew he would get a kick out of it. I hesitated to eat a piece of his cake after watching him blow out his candles. Owen has still not mastered the art of keeping all of his saliva in his mouth while blowing (or talking for that matter!:).

Calling all Runners......

After taking a 3 month hiatus from exercising (I blame this on a bunch of stuff, but really I have just been lazy), I went for a run tonight and it was BEAUTIFUL. Gorgeous weather.

Running along the shoreline of RI is awesome because you get to be inspired by the majesty of Manhattan throughout the entirety of your workout. And the weather right now is amazing. I love NYC in the fall. LOVE it.

However, I do realize that it will be only a few short months before I will be running like a hamster on the treadmill indoors again....and I need some tunes to inspire me.

I went to itunes last night to download some music and I had no idea where to begin. I have not listened to the radio in more than a year now. Seriously. For me no car= no radio.
I know that a bunch of you who read this are runners, so give me some music suggestions! I would love it! It doesn't have to be recent stuff either- just whatever. My only requirement would be that the music needs to have clean lyrics- my kids listen to my i-pod probably more than I do.