awww...our entire family is on antibiotics together. how cute.

(It was our turn for a little illness in our lives. We've been so, SO blessed with good health...for the most part. I'm pretty sure I was just given meds to mentally get through having three, I mean two sick children at the same time ;)

Get Back to Nature...

...at Ella's 7th Birthday Party!

Ella and Elise putting the final touches on the cupcakes.

First we started with mask making and Nature Journals.

(Also, a picture of the loot they took home in their goody bags...

including a hackie sack (Scotty's clever idea!) and bug magnifying locket!)

Ella insisted on being the hostess and one in charge, rather than being served like royalty on her birthday. I dig it!

And this what 15 seven-year-olds look like in an elevator.

We headed outside to get some energy out and do some relay races!

Make an animal/insect match and "walk" back like that animal! Another Scotty original!

I love collaborating with that boy. He always has the best ideas/feedback!

They're just a little competitive.

On Your Mark! Get Set!

GOoOoOoO!! This was the "Feed Your Baby Bird" Game. There were two teams. Each team sat in a "nest". They had tweezers. The "Mommy/Daddy bird" would run to the end, pick up a sour gummy worm with the tweezers, run back, feed it to their "baby" and then that baby took the tweezers and did the same until all had a turn. We played twice cause it was so fun.

(Don't worry, I made them chew really good before they could run!)

Then we read a book b/c they were getting a little crazy, "The Bog Baby", that Auntie Jen had sent for her birthday. Then we ate pizza, had cupcakes and said goodbye!

Madeline, displaying the butterfly net goody bag.

Ella doesn't prefer a party. But she's asked to so many other children's parties throughout the year, that I kind of feel like I need to! :) Thanks for letting me throw you a party Ella! Anyway, it's fun to plan and fun to see everyone having fun! I'm thinking next year will just be a special family celebration.

PS- The butteflies are still hanging out!

Ella's Class Dance Performance

The girl's school puts on a mulit-cultural dance festival every year. Last year, her class did a hula dance. This year, they did a Serbian dance! There is a link below of a video a parent posted. Enjoy! :) Ella's in the circle on the left side.

I was so proud of her. She sat, so well-behaved, waiting while the other classes performed. It was like mayhem in that auditorium and she sat so properly and waited. We were also super excited that her daddy was off that day and could be there to watch!

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/0a99d4f8b9a430f9f574e9d3863f1321/video/70144421

7.0

Ella started her birthday eve out with a card from Great-Grandma and Grandpa Fabbi, which of course had balloons in it! She had it blown up before we got in the elevator! She is quite a lucky girl to have so many people who love her in her life! Thank you for all the birthday wishes and packages!

Look at this sleepy little thing! On her birthday morn, we started the pancake tradition. 7 pancakes. But, I seriously need to make those a little thinner next year, those were lookin' way too high (grown-up) for me!

After school she requested the American Girl Store. It poured rain all day, but we had to go, it was her birthday!

We stopped by the little cafe inside. She was hoping for a croissant, but they didn't have any. She just wanted a Sprite.

She's more of a Hot Dog girl anyway! I had to negotiate the price a bit, I only had $1.50 in cash. The man just couldn't say no to that face...

By the time I had tried to hail a cab, her hot dog was gone. We spent another 20 minutes walking, trying to find a cab that would take us...I'm so done with cab drivers...seriously. I was a little frazzled by that point. I was late picking Pais up from a play date and all Ella said while she walked probably 15 blocks, in the rain, was..."I'm so happy right now. I don't even feel my legs moving." And that is what we called, Walking On Clouds. Even if the real ones were gray! All. Worth. It. Love this one.

We made it home just in time to have pizza with Elise and one of Ella's BFF, Hallie.

(and her mommy and brother)

Ella made her a crochet chain necklace, with her name. :) These girls...they just love eachother so much!

Happy Birthday Mariella!

You know it's almost Spring in New York When...

...the streets in our neighborhood are covered in movie trailers and catering companies!

And all the tulip and daffodil bulbs sprouting out of the ground!! So beautiful!! Yay!

So before we say goodbye to winter entirely, I've got to wrap the rest of it up!

- A total of around 36 inches of snow fell in Central Park in January, beating the old January record of 27.4 inches in 1925!! There was A LOT of snow out there. Just imagine walking through 3 feet of snow one day and then slush two days later and then slippery ice, for a month straight, just to get to school or go grocery shopping. Fun times!!

- Rebecca and I took our girls out of school one Friday for a fun adventure to New Jersey to see Disney on Ice Princess'! I admit that I don't give them a day off from school as often as I'd like. Sometimes we just want to have a day off to hug! all! day! We had a good time.
-We went sledding in Central Park! I've got some video footage. So fun. The picture of Pais sleeping was right after we got back. It took a lot of energy to run up and down that hill with a sled in tow! Such a big girl!

- Scott took the girls ice-skating, we haven't gone out as much this year as we had in the past years! I think it was even too cold to go ice skating! The picture of Ella standing in front of a frozen lake is right by the rink, on the north end of Central Park.

The Princess and the Blow Pop.

Paisley had a hard night last night. She awoke in excruciating pain. "My neck! My neck hurts!" Scott ran to her room and came back in our bed, with Paisley stiffly in his arms.

She had snuck a Blow Pop (wrapped, thank heavens)under her pillow before she went to sleep and it somehow ended up under her neck all night. I had to give her Tylenol before school and she still couldn't turn her neck.

I dropped her off and explained to her teacher the situation. Ms. Stephanie cleverly replied, "Well okay, Princess and the Pea!" :)

Here's a little synopsis of that story. By Hans Christian Anderson. From Wikipedia.

The story tells of a prince who wants to marry a princess, but is having difficulty finding a suitable wife. Something is always wrong with those he meets, and he cannot be certain they are real princesses. One stormy night (always a harbinger of either a life-threatening situation or the opportunity for a romantic alliance in Andersen's stories),[1] a young woman drenched with rain seeks shelter in the prince's castle. She claims to be a princess, so the prince's mother decides to test their unexpected guest by placing a pea in the bed she is offered for the night, covered by 20 mattresses and 20 feather beds. In the morning the guest tells her hosts—in a speech[1]—that she endured a sleepless night, kept awake by something hard in the bed; which she is certain has bruised her. The prince rejoices. Only a real princess would have the sensitivity to feel a pea through such a quantity of bedding. The two are married, and the pea is placed in the Royal Museum.

So there is her future Prince's warning.
(I'm going to check in on her at school, here in a bit.)

Our first hood.

I love when I have errands to run in Washington Heights. It's not very often. So this time as I went to request the girls medical files to be transferred to their new pediatrician office, I knew it would be another long while before we made it back.

Our cross streets!

Our first apartment building. 5th floor. Walk-up.

We like to pull our braids over our head sometimes.

Love this girl.
..

Too D$#N High!

I was putting some groceries away this morning. (and cursing at how much they cost) Then started thinking about the items that are marked up way too much in this city. Gas is obviously one of them, but we're not too far ahead of the rest of the US right now. I think I saw $4.15/gallon yesterday.

Cereal is a good example. $6.50 a box!! Never have we paid full price for a box of cereal in NYC. I'd rather starve. (Wait. Except for our first night here, where we had to buy cereal and milk at the Columbia deli across the street from our place, b/c we didn't know where any other grocery store was)

Laundry detergent is another one that is so outrageously marked up, I seriously think that it is a mistake or joke. Thankfully, we are able to get to Costco for these items. SO, thankful that we have a car out here.

Then I thought of this...every time I come across it, I have to laugh. And empathize. Can I become a member of this political party?

http://tv.gawker.com/#!5667182/crazy-rent-is-too-damn-high-candidate-steals-the-show-at-ny-gov-debate