Luna's and Rachel's Puppet Show

We have had a wonderful Christmas visiting family and then more family.  While enjoying a few days with Nana and Pops, we got to see a puppet show put on by Luna and Rachel.  The girls loved getting ready for the show with Nana's help.  They made a sign and tickets to sell us.  Then told us all that the show started at 5pm and would cost 25 cents, they are professional puppeteers.

I have so say we have the best family.  Everyone was ready and might I say even eager to see the show, the girls loved it.  Luna met us at the entrance to the theater and everyone purchased their tickets.  Then she told us we could take our seats.

Once everyone had arrived  and found a seat, Luna walked around and handed out popcorn.  She did a great job!

Then we were ready for the show to begin.  At that point Luna decided she rather eat popcorn than actually do a puppet show.  But Rachel got right in there and did a little singing with her Santa.  Luna was convinced to do a few songs with Rachel.  Then Auntie Sarah and I jumped on in and did a little show for the girls (family).  It was priceless.  Thanks Nana for all your hard work!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

A couple of years ago the pastor of our church and his wife spoke at our MOPs meeting around Christmas time.  Their challenge to us was that if Christmas was really a birthday party for Jesus then do the things that would make Jesus light up.   

I plan my children's birthday parties down to the last detail, thinking about all the things my kids love and making sure they are included in the celebration.  If that is how I plan my child's party, I should do the same for Jesus's birthday party.  To be able to do it well, I need to know who Jesus is and what he so desperately loves.   Then include those things in my Christmas party, the things that would make Jesus flip out with excitement rather than the things that make my children or even me excited.  The talk really challenged me to think about Christmas time in a different way.  Instead of just being thankful for all the blessings in my life, think about what I can do as a "gift" for Jesus.  Instead of being focused on making things for my girls, make it a time to really teach my girls even more about the character of Jesus and what he loves.

So Brian and I decided that every year around Christmas Eve we would make lunches and deliver them to the homeless.  The girls are great with helping put together the lunches.  We make a little assembly line and they get to put all the different things into the lunch bags.  Then we load up into the van and drive in to Seattle.  We walk around and hand them out.  It is a new tradition for all of us and one we hope to continue each year.

Happy Birthday Jesus!  Thank you for your amazing love and grace.  We love you!

  'For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

   Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

   The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

- Matthew 25:35-40

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Family and Friends.  We wish you a wonderful holiday filled with love and happiness.

Luna's Dreams Come True

As we were preparing to come back to Washington for the Holidays, we would ask Luna what she wanted to do while she was here.  Almost every time she would say "make popovers with Jessica."  She loves to make "special" breakfasts in the morning and this summer while we were in Washington Jessica and Luna made popovers numerous times.  So that is what she wanted to do this time.  Jessica has sure lived up to her end of the deal, almost every morning the first thing she does when she wakes up is make breakfast with Luna.

This time Rachel has got in on the action and Luna is loving it!

The Nutcracker Ballet

Today Grandma & Grandpa treated me and the girls to the Nutcracker Ballet.  I grew up going to the Nutcracker, my Grandparents would take us all each year.  It was a beloved family holiday tradition.  This year was the first for both of my girls and they really enjoyed it.

I was a little nervous on how they would do sitting through it so we did a little prep work before hand.  While still in NYC, we watched a movie The Nutcracker with Macaulay Culkin.  Yes, he even dances ballet (a little) in the movie. We have a Nutcracker book, that tells the story well for kids.  Finally, Angelina Ballerina has a Nutcracker themed show so we watched that a few times.  By the time it was our turn to see the ballet they were familiar with the Nutcracker story.  Although that did not keep Luna from asking a billion of questions during the show :)  Auntie Jessica sat next to Luna and got to answer every single one of those questions :)



Luna like "the three men" (the Dervishes) best, the music and dancing were full of energy.  No surprise that my spirited kiddo loved that one.  Rachel liked the Chinese Tiger best.  My favorite dance continues to be the peacock, though this time seeing the Nutcracker I loved the music best of all.  The music is amazing.

After the ballet, we headed over to the center house to look at the train set that is there for the holidays. Then we met the rest of the Broz family at the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner.   The Spaghetti Factory is perfect dinner place for kids. Of course the cousins had fun together.  After dinner we headed home and both my kids were sound sleep before we left Seattle. It was a lovely day full of holiday cheer, thanks Mom and Dad.

 Merry Christmas!

Love Love Love Washington

Yesterday as the plane was touching down in Washington I looked at Brian and remarked on how much I love Washington.  It is a truly beautiful state on a sunny day nothing beats Washington.  I love more than just the physical look though.  This is my home, my family, where my girls were born and where I grew up.  There is a deep love for this place that will never change.  My heart is forever connected to this beautiful state.

I remember when I was younger (before kids stage) and people who had one child, who were expecting another were worried they could not love the second child as much as the first.  But once the second child came they were amazed by their ability to love both so deeply.  This is how I feel about Washington and NYC but not on quite as deep a level.  I am amazed by how I can love both places so much and yet they are so completely different.  I am so grateful for the experience of living in NYC and will be just as excited to return home to Washington when our time is done in NYC.


So as you can see we are back in Washington for the Holidays.  The girls did great on the flight. For the first time since having children I got to watch a movie on the plane :)  It was a early Christmas gift from the girls, although they did not know it :)  Once again we were met at the airport by the Broz clan.  Have I mentioned I love my family :)

After the kiddos ran around crazy at the airport with their cousin we drove home.  The girls took naps, they had been up since 2am west coast time :)  Then that evening the entire Broz clan came over for pizza dinner.  The house was full of family and kiddo shenanigans.  The girls loved playing with their cousin, the older they get the more fun they have.  The evening include trampoline jumping, cookie decorating and some classic stair sliding.  Even I had to join in on the stair sliding.   They are almost getting big enough to do it completely on their own :)  This is something my and my sister's did with our cousins whenever we went to our Aunt's house.  I love that it is becoming a family tradition ;)

We are loving being home and soaking up time with our extended family.

P.S. One quick Luna story.  It was dark out by the time every one was leaving.  Luna wanted to wave goodbye from the grass in the front yard.  So I went outside with her.  As they are pulling away in the car and it is just Luna and I outside.  She looks at me and says "it is dark."  I agree with her and say yes much darker than the city.  She then says "Are there monsters here?"  I tell her no, that monsters are not real.  She then says "it is scary out here let's go back in."  Really? the suburbs are scary and too dark? She is a city kid!

This Past Week = Busy Busy Busy

We have had a pretty typical busy holiday week that most people experience during the holidays.

Luna has been fighting off a cold, which always means she has a pretty significant cough during the night.  She also has been napping before preschool each day, she actually asks for naps which is almost unheard of for her.  I am hoping it does not last long but last winter she caught a cold and her cough lasted 8+ weeks with multiple trips to the doctor to see if it had turned into something more but it never did, we just had to wait it out.

Brian and I went to see Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.  It was just a fun night out just the two of us.  The show was amazing, afterwards I came home and researched what it would take to become a Rockette.  Sadly, I don't think I have the qualification but it looks like so much fun!  I am planning to take the girls next winter, I think they will love it.

The girls and I were busy one day making chocolate covered pretzels for their teachers.  I was unprepared for what an ordeal it would be with kids helping.   We put sprinkles on them and I am sure they are a mess to eat but at least they will taste good.  The girls enjoyed it and then loved giving them to their teachers.

Rachel and I also baked sugar cookies one day.  Then that afternoon I brought them in to Rachel's class and helped the kids "decorate" them. It was so much fun seeing her in her classroom interacting with the other kids and her teachers.  She loved having me there which made it even better for me :)

Tomorrow we head off to Washington for 3 weeks!   Everyone is looking forward to it and dare I say Luna the most!  Our time will be filled with friends and family we can't wait, it will go by so quickly.

Reading...

I have been slowly teaching Luna to read.  We have a book that has 100 reading lessons in it and each day we do one.  Well almost each day, sometimes we are too busy.  So we are going through it at a leisurely pace.  Luna is doing really well.  The lessons are challenging for her and sometimes she wants to quit in the middle of a lesson but afterwards she is so proud of herself.  We are about half way through the book and she is really starting to be able to read on her own.  For her birthday she received some very basic reading books which she loves. When she does quiet time on her bed, she brings these with her and will sit and read.

This was a conversation we had at the end of her quiet time today:

Mommy:  Luna, can you come out here?  I need you to help me with something.
Luna:  Can I just finish this book, then I will come out?
Mommy: Uh, sure :)

Hair Day

Today was another hair day at our house.  Lately I have been trying out twists, it is a new technique for me and it is challenging to say the least.  Today I went back to basic cornrows.  What I learned is that I am much better at cornrows than twists.  They are much easier for me and easier for me to get them to look nice.  So today I kept it easy and cornrowed both girls hair.   I did the same style on both of them, although I am not sure they know it :) They can't really see their own hair.  I have only tried cornrowing one other time on Rachel and this time I think it turned out great.  I am curious to see how long it lasts.  My goals is to keep these styles in until we get to Washington for the holiday and then I will restyle.

This evening was family movie night at our house.  We watched Charlie Brown's Christmas and enjoyed a little popcorn.  It was just what we needed after a number of busy days. The girls loved it!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

Today Santa came to Washington Square Park.  A little green elf peddled him in to the park so kids could meet him and sit on his lap.  Both the girls were excited to see Santa but neither wanted to say hi :)  They kept their distance.  It was a chilly day and the little party had hot cider and cookies.  Yummy!

While we enjoyed our treats a local choir sung Christmas carols.  There was also a collection for new toys to be given to kids in need.  Before we went I was telling the girls how some kids don't have any toys.  So we were going to bring a few new toys so that they could have some toys.  On our walk to the park Luna started calling out "Who doesn't have any toys? Who doesn't have any toys?"  She thought the kids would be there at the park and she could just give them the toys.  It was pretty cute.

Of course the girls wanted a ride in the little basket on the front of the elf's bike.  The little elf was sure nice in riding all the kids around the park.  Both girls got a chance to take a turn and loved it.  It was a fun little party in the park.

Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

We had some friends visiting NYC from Washington and got the pleasure of spending the day with them.  I have to admit I was really looking forward to visiting with them.  I still feel like a fish out of water at times here in NY and while it is fun to experience all the newness at times it is exhausting.  So it was delightful to visit with a Mom friend where we are on the same page and think similarly.  Also it is always enjoyable to have a partner in crime on these NYC adventures.  We decided to head out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

The weather was just beautiful a little chilly but not bad and beautiful sunshine.  We met up in the morning and took the ferry out to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty.  Right now she is under some construction so you can only walk around her but not inside.  The kids had a blast running around and playing with each other.  After walking around we took the ferry over to Ellis Island.

The immigration museum on Ellis Island is really amazing.  It talks about all type of immigration to the US not just the immigration that took place through Ellis Island.  My girls are still a little young to get much out of it.  But Luna did enjoy seeing the dormitory room.  She loved the cot like bunk beds.  When Daddy got home from work that night, she told him all about the bunk beds.  To a 4 year old a room full of bunk beds seems like fun but to me trying to sleep in a room with 300 other people all on cot type bunk beds seems like a nightmare, it is all perspective in life.

After we finished at Ellis Island we got back on the ferry (there was a lot of boat riding today) and headed back to Manhattan.  We then decided to grab some lunch at Shake Shack, a NY favorite.

Then after lunch we went to Teardrop park.  We had to show our friends the amazing slide.  I wish I had taken some photos of the kids going down the slide, they loved it.  Even my Mom friend gave it a go :)  Really the slide is hard to pass up.

It was such a fun day, a special little gift in the middle of this busy holiday season.  Thanks for spending the day with us "S" family!  See you in Washington in a week!

More Random Tidbits about NYC

1)  This week we went to a holiday party for the girl's preschool.  To me all the parents were dressed up but when I asked one of my Mom friends she said no that she thought they were casual.   I told her she needs to go to Washington to see casual ;)  I love Washington :)

2)  Today on the way home from preschool Luna and I had an interesting conversation.  They are learning about Hanukkah in school.  Luna asked if we are going to celebrate Hanukkah.  It was hard talking to her not knowing what she knew about Hanukkah.  I tried my best but I don't think she got it...

3) Back home if you were going to have a big preschool holiday party you would have to make sure there would be enough car parking for all the attendees.  In NYC, you have to make sure there is enough stroller parking.  I wish I had taken a picture of the stroller parking it was great.  Often times there is a person who is like a valet their job is to make sure the strollers are parked correctly so they can park as many as possible.  Frequently when I park my stroller some where and go to a class or activity with the kids I come out to find it some where else.  At first this was a little troubling to me but with so many strollers it is like a big puzzle parking, and unparking all the strollers.

4)  This fall has been unseasonably warm.  Our apartment has been staying really warm.  Twice this week we slept with the AC on.  If we did not live on such a busy road we would have just open the windows to keep it cool but neither Brian or I can sleep through all the traffic noise, so AC it is.  Today it finally cooled off, so maybe we are done with the warm, even muggy days.

5)  I went on a tour of the school that Luna with most likely be going to kindergarten at next year.  We are still not sure we will send her next year or do another year of preschool.   In Washington she would still have another year of preschool before kindergarten.  But the cut off dates are different in NY so she is a grade ahead here.  We are not sure what to do.  The tour was an 1.5 hours and I can not tell you the number of times I almost started crying.  She is just growing up way too fast for me.  She turned 4 this week and I did not shed a tear, she is still my little girl.  But walking around that school and imagining her there walking the halls made her seems so grown up.

Happy Birthday Luna!

Happy 4th Birthday Miss Luna!  Can't believe you are already 4, it is going so fast.  I have to say I loved this last year, age 3 was wonderful.  You bring such joy and energy to our lives.  Most mornings start by you asking "what are we doing today, where are we going?"   I am amazed at how bold and friendly you are.   No situation is too scary or over whelming to you, life is an adventure just waiting for you each day.   At 4 years old you already can handle what ever comes your way, you roll with it, and often times even reassure us "it's ok Mommy."  You have been gifted with a little personality that draws people to you, I can't wait to see the places it will take you. 


You are a wonderful big sister.  For your birthday you said you wanted some cars so you could give them to your sister.  So for your birthday Mom and Dad got you some cars and you immediately gave them to your sister.   She was thrilled. You love her so much.

 I can't wait to see what this next year will bring.  I am so glad I get to be your Mommy!

Angelina Ballerina

For Luna's Birthday we bought tickets to go see Angelina Ballerina the Merry Musical as a family.  Both Luna and Rachel love Angelina Ballerina so we knew they would love the show.   The girls got dressed up in their Christmas dresses (thanks Gramma) and I must say they looked adorable.  Then we started the day off with brunch at a restuarant called Sarabeth right here in Tribeca, close enough to walk to from the apartment.

After a yummy brunch we got on the subway and headed up to the upper west side where the theater was located.  We got to the theater about an hour early.  On the way up Rachel fell asleep on Brian so he just sat and held her while Luna and I did a little shopping.  Then we headed into the theater.

Rachel woke up just as we walked into the theater.  We were still on the early side so we got to see all the Angelina things they were selling (lovely) Luna really wanted the Angelina ears and wand :)  They opened the theater doors and we found our seats. Luna looked through the program with her Daddy.  Both of the girls were excited!

The theater was done up in all pink.  I think Brian was one of  a handful of Daddies there with their daughters.  Oh to be a Dad of only girls :) This time both of the girls were pretty patient waiting for the show to begin.

After the show the girls got to go up on stage and dance with all the actors.  Both girls went right on up and danced.  Then the actors went in to the lobby.  The girls got to meet each one and get their photos taken with them. Later on that afternoon when we were back at the apartment, Luna asked "was that really Angelina?" It was a fun day celebrating Luna's Birthday as a family.

The Tree is Decorated

We decorated the tree this past Friday.  We all had fun but Rachel loved it.  We left all of our ornaments in Washington so that required me to be creative on how we were going to decorate the tree.  I decided to try to make ornaments with the kids, I think I set the expectations a little high at times, I forget they are only 2 & 3 years old.  The tree is also tiny that meant we only needed a few ornaments.  We bought some silver balls and some candy canes.  So all we needed to make were a few ornaments.

I decided to start with bells.  All it required was an egg carton,  aluminum foil and some ribbon. Luna really tried hard to get her foil on the egg carton but had a hard time. In the end, the part the girls were able to help with was putting the stickers on.  Luckily, Gramma had sent some sparkly princess stickers that looked just great next to the shiny foil.   Rachel probably spent 30 minutes on one bell, she is detail oriented.  In the end I think they turned out pretty cute considering how simple they were.

Next we painted some wood ornaments that Rachel had picked out with me.   She picked a reindeer for herself and a penguin for Luna.  The girls had fun painting although they did not stick with Christmas colors, instead they went for pink, blue and purple.  They did great and they loved putting the ornaments on the tree.

Finally, I cut out some cardboard stars for the girls to decorate.  I thought they may put stickers on them or even paint them.  But the girls love to glue, but once I took out the wrapping paper they were all into gluing.  So they glued wrapping paper all over the stars and then used markers.  Again I think Rachel finished one in the time it took Luna to do 4.  Such different little personalities.  Both were very proud of their creations.

Finally we got to decorating and I think my prediction was pretty close.  Instead of 5 minutes it maybe took 10.  But the girls had fun and we enjoyed watching them.  Since all the ornaments were kid friendly I don't think I once had to say be careful. :)

Christmas Tree Shopping

Today we went and picked out our Christmas tree.  It is funny how different of an experience it was this year compared to last year.  Last year we drove our van to a Christmas tree stand and picked out our tree.  Then tied it to the roof of the van and brought it home.

This year we walked to the local Christmas Tree stand, only a block away.   There were trees of all different sizes, some large and some teeny tiny.  If you bought a big one they would deliver.  They also sold ornaments and other Christmas decorations. It was fun to walk through and smell that wonderful fir smell, love Christmas time.  

We will only be in NY for about 2 more weeks then we head to Washington.  So our plan was to get a little tree just to have something here in the apartment.  They girls picked out some ornaments for the tree.  The rest we will make in the next couple of days.  We left all our ornaments in Washington.  So it will be a tree full of handmade ornaments this year.

After a little bit of sticker shock we walked over to Whole Foods and picked out a cute little tree :)  I think it is adorable.  The tree is as tall as Luna :)

 

This is how we got it home, Brian carried it.  Tomorrow we will decorate it, should take all of 5 minutes :)