Happy New Year!

May the new year bring peace, joy, and learning to crawl forwards so you don't get stuck under the couch.

Time

I forgot to include this cell phone shot of Leila and Ellie at the Children's Museum yesterday.

It's cute, but nothing special...but you know what absolutely blows my mind?  That this second shot was taken only 8 months ago.

How can she have changed so much?  And how could I not have noticed?  

Children's Museum

We kept things a little more low key today (we are all exhausted), and just hit the local Children's Museum with Cousin Leila.  The adults may be ready to collapse, but Ellie is having an absolute blast this week.  Seriously, between Grandpa and Meme over Christmas, and now Mommom and Poppop? She's having the time of her life.

Gabe scopes some fish at the Children's Museum. 

Bri, Gabe, Elle, and Leila.

Aquarium

A note to New Yorkers:  a mild winter day is a fantastic time to hit the Coney Island Aquarium...not so cold that you're bitter about spending some time outside, and you practically have the place to yourself.  Day 2 of our Tourist Madness continues...

Mommom checking out the fish with Elle.

Holy Walrus!

Getting ready for the Sea Lion Extravaganza.  (Which was awesome, by the way.  Totally made me cry in a "oh my god, we have to save the planet" sort of way.)

A chilly lunch.

Nathan's.  Enough said.

Tourist Time!

Yeah, we went there.

Brian's family is in town from Florida, so a-touristing-we-go!  Day 1 brought us to Ellis Island (with a drive by of the Statue of Liberty).  Then we hit Rockefeller Center.  On the day after Christmas.  With not one, but TWO double strollers.  There has never been a more insane idea is the history of family outings.  

Poppop and Ellie  on a boat. 

The crew on the move.

At Ellis Island.

Leila, all tuckered out. 

Top of Rockefeller Center.  If I look nauseous it's because me and seventy floors up don't mix.  I still feel queasy just thinking about it.

Our beautiful niece.

We mistakenly came out of Rockefeller Center right by the tree.  I've never seen such crowds. Total moshpit madness.  But also beautiful.

Cousin Leila, riding high above the crowds.

Dinner (at the longest table since the Last Supper.)

Christmas Moments Part II, III, and IV

Why does Christmas already feel like it was 2 weeks ago? Because we've been insanely busy ever since, acting like tourists with Brian's family visiting from Florida. So far we've been to Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center and the New York Aquarium - including a stop at Nathan's on Coney Island. Tomorrow we hit the Museum of Natural History. Then we sleep for five days straight. So before I forget Christmas ever happened (and it was too wonderful a day to let that happen) here are some more favorite moments.

Elle really putting some "muscle" into opening a gift.

After 8 years, Brian finally won a Christmas Game.  Woohoo!

The little ones tackle Michael.

Carrie reads Sarah and Nancy a story.

Meme and Elle check out a new toy.

Gabe, filled with wonder at the lights of  Christmas  a cell phone.

Uncle John and Elle share a sweet moment.

Christmas Moments Part I

Bri and Elle working on their "Christmas-Hanukkah Bingo" board.

Giddy

It's 1pm on Friday, December 23. Brian just left his office and won't be going back until Tuesday, January 3. Wooooooohoooooo! Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

P.S. Ellie thinks "Habukah Treats" (aka Hanukkah Gelt) is the best thing in the world. Can't say I blame her.

Field Trip

We have this amazing cleaning woman named Maria. It took Brian months to convince me having a cleaning lady was a good idea. And now I would gladly live on Ramen noodles and powdered milk before cutting Maria out of our monthly budget. Got a busy mom in your life? Get her a cleaning lady. Anyhow, the point is that she comes every third Tuesday, so I always try to make plans to stay out of her hair. The problem is that Tuesday seems to be the red-headed stepchild of the Kiddie Programming set. No Open Gym, no Tumbling Tots, no play space at the local arts center. Every other day we have choices galore, but Tuesdays are a play date wasteland. There's just nothing going on.

Today, Sara had the brilliantly ambitious idea of taking the kids to the New York Transit Museum. So we bundled them up and hit the subway to go to a museum about...the subway. It might not be exactly up my alley, but the kids ADORED it.

So often as "stay at homes" we get stuck in our routine: visiting the park, the Y, and the playground in an endless loop. It felt great to stretch our comfort zone a little. After all, I partly justify the expense/difficulty of living in the city by listing all the cool places we can visit. Now I can actually say I've been to one of them.

Frosty

We walk a fine line here in the Tiny Apartment with holiday decorations. We're committed to raising Ellie and Gabe Jewish, but I can't let go of my Christmas decorations (oooh! sparkly things!). So compromises must be found. The ornaments hanging from the garland are blue and white, the menorah has the most prominent spot on the mantel, and only the donkeys and sheep from my childhood nativity scene come out to play. One guy that will never be compromised is Frosty. He's been in my family forever and gets a place of honor every year. We love him. Just look at that jolly grin - how could we not?

Blue Eyed Girl

Trouble to Come

"I can take her, mom!"

My Boy

He slays me...

The Littlest Elf

Is that you, Santa Claus?

When Holiday Decorating Goes Right

Rudolph's Skull

Full Credit to Todd and Bess, who display him with pride.

Victory!

Yesterday, in a flurry of motivation and inspiration, I did this:

I really should have snapped some "before" pictures so you could fully appreciate the change. Of course, I can always take those pictures in two weeks - by when I'm sure both the buffet and the cabinet will have returned to their naturally chaotic state.

Note: this would never have been possible without the return of my Mother's Helper. She took off the summer, and then was crazy busy this fall with high school applications. OMG. The New York City High School application process is the most insane thing I've ever encountered. We have to move. Welcome back, Heather!

Controlled(?) Chaos

That's Ellie, Gabe, Paul, Lucas, and Dylan rolling around on Sara's floor and having a grand old time. The only babe missing from the shot is little Caroline, who was happily sleeping in another room. A play date with SIX kids? Are we mad? Maybe. But it's awesome.

Philadelphia Afternoon

After visiting with family in the morning, we spent the afternoon playing downtown with Uncle Neil and Uncle David. They used Eleanor to pick up boys, and taught her incredibly dangerous things like how to climb playground ladders. She repaid the favor by puking up her dinner. She's sweet like that.

Yelling "mooooooooooon!"

Dangling dangerously above the slide.

Two peas in a pod.

Getting a little help with the ladder.

Boys playing with their toys.

More Cousins!

On Sunday we drove to Philadelphia for mimosas. No wait, that's not right. There were mimosas, but actually we were overdue to meet the newest members of the family - and oh my gosh, they are the cutest little red-headed moppets you've ever seen.

This posse's going to cause some serious trouble at the holidays.

Elle, making up for our lack of a tree this year.