Yarn Extensions

Luna has been asking for long straight hair.  Which is challenging when you have curly curly hair.  So I have been talking to her about yarn extensions and getting her ready for the time commitment that comes with them (also getting me ready).  

This past Friday we started the process.  We washed and took out her old style.  Then slept on it for the night.  On Saturday we started cornrowing with the yarn.  In the past, I did twists instead of braids but had a hard time doing them cleanly, so this time I stuck with the braids.  I am a much better braider than twister, I just need to embrace this reality.   Luna also requested pink yarn, I did not want to do her whole head pink so instead we braided a few strands just to give it some pink.  We put in 4.5 hours on Saturday and then called it a day. She was a trooper and sat so nicely for me.  But by the end she was wiggly and my hands were cramping. We took Sunday (Mother's Day) off and started back up on Monday.  We put in another 4 hours of braiding.  She had a harder time sitting still and my hands were struggling.  But we finished just in time for school on Monday.  

Luna LOVES her long hair.  She can barely keep her hands out of it and is constantly flipping it around, makes all the work so worth it.  It makes me so happy to see her loving her hair so much.   When she gets a compliment on it, she says "thank you" and then proudly does a little flip.  It is adorable.  We are working on teaching her how to care for her hair and the things she should or should not do.  For example, do not use your yarn extensions to wipe ice cream from your face :)  Do put it up at night to help take the pressure off your scalp, etc.  It is a learning process for everyone in the family.

You can see the pink yarn in this photo.  I kept it mostly to the back but it is still bold, both her and I adore the pink.   It took her friends at school a little while to warm up to it.  They kept asking her why her hair was pink, it was pretty funny.   Tonight she told me next time she wants to try yellow (we will see).  Brian and I are heading out of town without kids!  My Mom is staying with the girls so I wanted something that would keep her hair protected, would last the whole time we were gone and would be minimal work for my Mom.  I think this hair style fits it all!  Luna wants to leave them in until we go to Washington in July. I don't think they will last that long though, my goal is 4 weeks!  I really hope we make it.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there.  We had a wonderful day here in NYC.  The weather was beautiful right around 80 but with no humidity, just perfect.  The morning started off with the girls giving me the gifts they made at school.  Luna wrote me a Mother's Day card, which is the very first card she has ever written me, I loved it.  She also made me a lovely paper bracelet for me to wear.  Rachel gave me a beautifully decorated pot with a flower in it.  Both girls were so excited to give me their gifts, it melted my heart.  After the gifts, we had a lovely breakfast at home cooked by my dear hubby with a little "help" from the girls.  Then it was time for church, once we were all dressed we took a few photos.  This one was my favorite, us just being silly.

After church we headed home and the girls both took a little nap.  The night before they stayed up way late.  So they needed to make up some sleep and we wanted them to be in good moods for the rest of the day.  After some short naps and a quick lunch, I received a few more gifts.  A dress and a travel coffee mug from the girls and Brian gave me another month of Boot Camp!!!!  I could not be more excited.  Then we headed off to Central Park.  Luna LOVES to take the bus, so instead of the subway we took the bus up.  Here we are waiting at the bus stop and I am wearing the new dress from the girls.

The two things I wanted to do today were go out for sushi and ride in the horse drawn carriages in Central Park.  So once off the bus we hopped on to a carriage.  It was a perfect day for the ride and we all had a great time.  Part of the ride is on the road with all the cars and taxis, I was amazed at how well the horse did in traffic.  I don't do that well in traffic :)

 After the ride we headed out to sushi.  There are only a handful of sushi resturants in Manhattan that have the convery belts.  So we went to one of them, it was a kosher sushi resturant.  The girls loved watching the food go by.  Although they ate fruit, french fries and sliders for dinner :)  Luna tried a few of the sushi pieces but did not really love them.  Rachel did not even touch one :)  Here is Rachel watching the food pass by, she is eyeing a plate of fruit.

After dinner it was a quick stop at a park for a few minutes of play time and then home.  It was a truly lovely Mother's Day, I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family.

One of the Many Reasons I Love having Girls

The other day we had a tea party/play date.  The girls loved it!  They were talking about it all week leading up to the party.  Luna was planning the food, what type of tea sandwiches we could have and what fruit we should eat.  Then the morning of she she help prepare all the food, she has become quite the little helper in the kitchen.

They all had a great time.  It was fun to watch them pass the food and pour each other tea just like "big people."  Once it was over I was walking all the kiddos to school and Luna asked if we could do it again tomorrow.  :)  I love having little girls

Flying House

Friday night the girls and Daddy were playing with the Magna-Tiles.  Once Rachel was done building she came and got me to show me her house.  She was so proud of herself.  She explained to me that it was a flying house with wings and all.  Brian said he did not help one bit, that she did it alone.  Here is a photo of a very proud Rachel and her flying house.

Conversation with Rachel

Brian received a text message from a one of girls' aunts asking what their favorite animals were.  Brian and I were thinking the answers would be along the lines of a horse, dog, monkey, etc.  So at dinner Brian decided to ask them.  This is the conversation that followed:

Brian:  Rachel what is your favorite animal?
Rachel: A centipede!
Brian and me laughing. (Rachel's class is doing a unit on insects right now)
B: Luna what is your favorite animal?
Luna: zebras, dogs, cats, monkeys, cars, Lightening McQueen and cows
Brian and me more laughing
B: Rachel if you had little stuffed animal what would it be?
R: a little ant!
Brian and me more laughing
R: it is little, right?
Brian and me more laughing
B:  Rachel if you could have a big stuff animal what would it be?
R: a ladybug!

That is it, a zebra and ladybug, we guess....who really knows!

Gem

Last Friday, we spent the morning playing around the apartment.  At one point Rachel walked up to me and said "Mom can you get the gem out of my ear?  I got the other two out but there is one more in there."  I was shocked, what was she thinking.  I looked in her ear and sure enough there was a gem in there.  I tired to get it out but had no luck.  While I was trying to get the gem out, Luna spoke up.  She said "I did that one time but in my nose and could not get it out.  So I just blew my nose and it came out."  What!  What have my kids been doing, where I am when all this is going on.

Any ways back to Rachel.  We eventually had to go to the doctor to get it out.  She was braved and only cried a little when then doctor removed her gem.  I don't think she will be doing that again :)  Here is a photo of the gem next to the penny.

Date Night

Brian and I went on a date Saturday night.  We tried a fun new restaurant called Taka Taka.  It is a Mexican sushi  and Japanese taco place and I loved it.  For an appetizer we had a tuna sashimi tostada, amazing!  Loved it!

After dinner we just walked around SoHo for a while.  Ended up at Washington Square Park.  A man had wheeled a piano out to the middle of the park and was playing away.  It was beautiful to just sit, listen and enjoy.