NYC 2

We started our day by going to church at the Singles Ward. It happened to be the only congregation that met at 9 am. Very odd, but it was a nice service. Then we went to brunch brunch at The Eatery. Very yummy and very popular. We also stopped at Magnolia Bakery to taste their cupcakes. For how popular the place was, they were not very good. Oh well.



Here are Melinda and I back in Time Square. We dropped off her mom to stand in line for an evening show. We had a matinee to catch...


Wicked. This was the whole reason for me to go to NYC. I have heard so much about the musical and the book. I've been told not to read the book and the musical is not really anything like the book. Let me just say that it was so much better than I expected!! What a fantastic show, I can't wait to see it again!

We got out of Wicked just in time for a quick meal at Carnegie Deli. Their claim to fame seems to be how incredibly HUGE their sandwiches are. I order the BLT, which was great, but I pulled out more than half the bacon so I could get my mouth around it. Oh, and their kosher dills were pretty good. We ate as fast as we could and then ran to our next show.

Mamma_Mia was so much fun! Way better than the movie. I loved that the actors were cracking themselves up, which maybe isn't the best acting, but they were "having the time of their lives". And how you get a bunch of young men to dance around in wetsuits and flippers -I'll never know, but it sure was funny.

NYC Weekend

My dear friend Melinda invited me to join her mother and sister for a girls weekend in NYC. Our mission was to see Broadway shows and eat good food.

We started by taking the PATH train to Hoboken for Carlo's Bake Shop (home of Cake Boss on the Food Network). It was packed!! Not only was it Saturday, but we found out that there was a HUGE St. Patrick's parade in Hoboken starting in just a couple hours. We got to see Buddy's mom and sister Mary in the shop. We bought crumb cake, lobster tail pastry, and cannoli. Let me just say that the cannoli was AMAZING. If we ever go back, I am buying a whole case of cannoli for myself. :)



We grabbed a quick lunch at 'wich craft and got back just in time to meet Melinda's mom and sister in Time Square. We spent a lot of time here standing in line for shows at the tkts booth.


We went to dinner at Brazil Grill. I shared feijoada with Katherine, Melinda's mom. It was good until we found strange bone pieces, then a foot, and finally an ear.

That evening we saw The_Miracle_Worker. The girl who played Helen Keller also stared in the lead of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl movie. Emma was very excited to hear about that.

Piano Recital

Another piano recital for Emma with her friend Sydney. Emma has been taking lessons for almost 2 years. She loves to practice for it and does a great job. In this video she is playing "Boogie on Broadway".

"my boys"

In the fall I started watching my neighbor's son and his friend for a couple hours each week. They are both 5 years old, Jaiden is in preschool and Joseph is in kindergarten. Rebekah loves playing with them. Whenever she sees them playing outside she cries out "my boys!" and runs out to meet them.

To everything there is a season...

Last week our bishop announced that we would have a special meeting next week (today) and 2 new wards (or congregations) would be created. There were 6 wards involved in this meeting. We knew these changes had been in the works for a while, but it was still a bit of a shock that the change was finally here.

There are always lots of changes in our church. Every year we have new classes and teachers for the children. Since we have a lay clergy (volunteer, non-paid) all the positions keep changing. Our Bishop usually changes about every 5 years or so. Presidents of different organizations change every few years. That's just the was it is, we all take our turn filling different needs.

Attendance boundaries are different. They don't usually change. But sometimes they need to. The ward I grew up in no longer exists. It was dissolved because there weren't enough members to keep it going. My parents (who still live there) are now part of a different ward. This area is growing so fast, fastest in the country. In the 8 years we have lived here, this is the 3rd time our boundaries have changed to create a new ward or wards. Our boundaries work much the same way school boundaries do. People get their feathers ruffled at the thought of changing the boundaries, but then it settles down and always works out. The first 2 changes happened soon after we moved here. It changed things, but we didn't mind much since we hadn't made any great friends yet.

This time is different. We have lived her longer now, we know practically everyone. And when you live so far away from family, the people in your ward become your family. It seems silly that it would change anything because it's not like you our your friends have moved away. But when you are so involved in church things as we are, it is hard to foster those friendships when you no longer see them at worship services or the activities during the week. And the only thing that changed is that they now go to church at a different time than you.

We are no longer part of the Goose Creek Ward. That ward got it's arm and it's leg cut off (geographically speaking). We are now part of the newly organized Potomac Crossing Ward. We have been released from all our responsibilities in our previous ward and now wait to see how we will be asked to serve in our new ward (the waiting is the hard part). We are very sad to be in a different ward than our dearest friends. That is a hard adjustment to make. We still have some good friends who moved with us into the new ward. And there will be many new faces that we will get to know.

Change is hard, but change is good. It helps us to grow and to become a better 'me'.

Crazy girl

Rebekah found my mini play tent (used for demos from my days selling Discovery Toys). She had been using it as a house for her dolls and puppets. But then she decided to put it on. She became a roaming puppet show!

paint by numbers

Too many snow days. First week of Feb Emma had 2 days of school. Second week of Feb, no school at all. Third week of Feb, back in school but with a one-hour delay because the sidewalks aren't clear and the kids have to walk in the street. It's been like spring break, but without any plans and nowhere to go.

Luckily, I got out one day and Emma picked out a paint-by-number set. It has been the best $4 I have spent in a long time. Emma spent hours working on this everyday. Finally, something to do. An added bonus was that Rebekah wanted to paint with her sister, so I got out her watercolors and she spent hours turning paper into purple or pink puddles of mush.

Here is Emma's final product. :)