Easter

We had a GREAT Easter this year!

Saturday, our playgroup had an Easter Egg Hunt at the park. Xander had a great time playing on the slide and the swings while the eggs were being hid. He of course wanted to open every egg as soon as he found them.

We told him on Saturday night that he had to clean up all of his toys so the house would be clean for the Easter Bunny to come hide "candy" eggs. He did a great job, then woke up at 5am asking to go find eggs. I told him he had to wait til the morning, and put him back to bed. He laid in bed saying, "Yummy treats!", then went back to sleep.

Sunday morning, the Easter Bunny had come and left eggs all over the apt, and an Easter basket and presents for Xander. He was especially excited about his new dolly. We went over to our friends, the Sperry's house for breakfast. Yummy! Yummy!

I taught for the first time in Young Women's. Fortunately, I had found a great idea for an Easter lesson online, so I was excited to teach. The lesson was titled: CSI Jerusalem, "The Case of the Empty Tomb". For those of you who know me, know that CSI Vegas is my favorite show to watch, so this lesson was perfect! (Granted, neither of the YW knew what CSI was) I brought bags of "evidence", and we "interviewed" witnesses out in "the field" (ie, we read scripture passages of witnesses of the Savior's ressurection). I printed a chart for them to fill in, their field notes, and they had Detective name badges, and I even wore Brian's lab coat and goggles (for a little while at least, until I got too hot). It went well (with the three other leaders and two YW we had in there).

We had our friends over for dinner. I cooked a spiral-sliced honey-glazed ham (my first time) and I was so proud of Brian for cutting it up for us. Lauren brought delicious au-gratin potatoes made with gouda cheese. Yum Yum! It was a great feast to end a great day!

in summary

Just to summarize all the fun we had last week with the Schiffmans:

THURSDAY: Please Touch Museum and Liberty Bell, tour of N Broad St on the way home :)

FRIDAY: Shady Maple Smorgasborg and Intercourse, PA

SATURDAY: yummy BBQ at the Matheson's (after Brian's first installs of the season)

SUNDAY: NYC

MONDAY: Josh left, King of Prussia mall for some shopping

TUESDAY: Smith Playhouse and Five Guys burgers for dinner (my new fave burger joint)

WEDNESDAY: Reading Terminal Market

THURSDAY: Chubby's cheese steaks, Rita's FREE Italian Water Ice (first day of spring)

What a fun, exciting, eventful week! Thank you Jan and Josh for coming to visit us!

NYC!!!

Our friends, the Schiffmans came to visit this past week. The Daddy's were busy working for most of the week, but we were able to get away to NYC on Sunday. It was Jan's first time, Josh's first time in awhile, and the first time Brian and I have been able to go together.

Josh and Joey and the Statue of Liberty.


Xander and Joey holding hands on the boat. Joey must be so happy in this picture to finally have Xander let him hold his hand. (He was trying all week, but to no avail!)


The Schiffmans on the subway.


We took the Ferry over, then went to Ground Zero, then to Canal Street and SOHO to do some shopping (notice Jan's cute new hat and scarf). Brian and Josh enjoyed eating lots of nuts bought from street vendors. Then we went to the Empire State Building and went to the observatory to look out over all of NYC.

Jack Dempsey's

In the elevator on the way down from the Empire State Building, we asked the guide where a good "New York" place to eat was. He pointed the way across the street to Jack Dempsey's Bar and Restaurant. When we walked in, we were a little worried because it was a cramped little bar. They showed us up the stairs to the restaurant, and to our delight, it was completely empty! We had one whole corner of the restaurant to park our strollers, and not worry about our kids bothering anyone. There was also a big screen tv for the boys!


We couldn't have picked a better day (day before St. Patrick's Day) to eat at an Irish bar in NYC. The manager came over and gave us some great St Patty's day gear. Brian and I ate Chicken Curry over French Fries!!! Apparently irish people love it. It was really yummy. This pregnant woman's dream: curry mixed with fried food!



It was a good thing our husbands could come with us. They were our pack-mules. They pushed our strollers, and carried our bags, and lifted strollers up and down subway stairs. I don't know how Jan and I would've done it without them (we couldn't have)! Oh, and we really enjoyed their company too!

Times Square

When we finished with dinner, it was dark out... the perfect time to go to Times Square!



Macy's department store was having their own flower show. All the window displays were made of silk flowers. They had manequins with dresses made only of flowers. It was really neat. We didn't get to go inside since it was getting late and we were getting tired (I was waddling big time by this point), but we looked in the front door and there were flowers everywhere! So pretty!

Bett and Luuren's House....

Xander loves going to Brett and Lauren's house. There are no toys there for him to play with, but there is.....

Smelly potpourri. (It's pretty funny how he cantilever's his body to smell this potpourri in the middle of the coffee table. Even funnier is when he smells it with his mouth open and ends up with a pinecone in his mouth. He doesn't like that very much.)



A lovesac big enough for Xander and his Daddy to watch Shrek on.



A small lovesac just his size.
A flat-screen tv with Shrek2, The Incredibles, and Finding Nemo.
YUMMY FOOD!!!!!!

Philadelphia Flower Show

This last weekend, my parents came down for the Philadelphia Flower Show. Mom and I went to the Flower Show while the boys went to Chubby's and played at home. Even though I'm only 4 months prego, all that walking wore me out. Other than the aches and pains, we had a good time. We ate some crepes at the Reading Terminal Market, then headed over to the show. The show had a New Orleans Jazz theme. Here are some pictures:


My yummy crepe: nutella, strawberries, bananas, vanilla creme, and whipped creme on top!!!!!





This was the view when you entered.




There was one exhibit that was supposed to be a jazz bar scene, and all the people were made out of flowers and foliage. So cool!




There were fake buildings and courtyards that looked just like New Orleans.

flower show cont

There were fountains made with jazz instruments.




A garden of shrubs cut to look like dogs. A dog park!




There were a bunch of exhibits that were swamps. This one was my favorite.



This is actually a miniature room. You looked thru a picture frame in the wall to a miniature room with miniature flowers and everything. So neat!!!



I saw this gallery of paintings, then realized they weren't paintings after all. They were made out of pressed flowers. Very impressive!

more flower show

Dress made of flowers.




Dress made of..... elastic bands!




I really was there.



We saw this on the way out. This one's for Xander. Oscar the Grouch made of flowers.




Afterwards, Mom and Dad took us to Macaroni Grill. Mmmmmmmmm!!!!!!! Thanks Nanny and Buddy for a GREAT weekend!

reunited

Tomorrow they will be together again!

EWWWWW!!!!

Well, I've nervously waited almost 21 months for this moment to arrive, and he finally did it. Xander POOPED in the tub! No pictures will be posted with this, for obvious reasons.

Little house

Dear Josh,

Thank you for sending that big box of tools to our house for Daddy's work. Even though my Mommy wasn't too happy to have a box that big taking up space in "her" living room, I was just delighted! Daddy cut out a door for me, and voila! A NEW HOUSE, just my size! I love to climb in and out of it. I open and close the door. I can bring my toys in there. I especially like to bring my snacks and sippy in there (the best part is when Mommy finds them a few days later... P.U.!!!) My friends and I like to go into MY HOUSE and laugh and laugh. It's our secret hide-out.

Love,
Xander