After Irene

Hi guys. I just wanted to update you after Hurricane Irene hit the East Coast {and our Tri-State area} over the weekend. Luckily we received plenty of advance warning and kept a pretty close watch on The Weather Channel all day Saturday.


My Sweets and I quick prepared at home by securing everything outside, charging all electronics, and stocking up on water, gas, cash, flashlights, batteries, and non-refrigerated pantry items. Just in case. Buby and Bleu spent the weekend camping inside a big tent in their playroom. Just for fun. It definitely helped sidetrack cabin fever.


The storm brought tremendous rain and fierce winds to our area. It took down millions of trees, flooded streets and tangled power lines. It overflowed rivers and devastated sections of our commuter rail system. {It could be months before the MTA is able to restore the tracks that My Sweets takes to work every day.} We have many friends in our village and surrounding towns who are still without power {running water, flushing toilets, etc.}. It's awful. My heart aches for all of those who were affected by this hurricane. We don't really expect hurricanes in New York.


That said, we were incredibly blessed with very little damage to our property. The kitchen was flooded with standing water when we woke up Sunday morning, but we cleaned it up. We lost power a few times but never for too long. Once the weather calmed we even took the kiddos outside for a hurricane hike and colossal puddle-jumping excursion down to the park. They were head-to-toe drenched and loving every minute.




Top image from here.

Head in the Clouds

Even though I lived in the city for six years ~ and saw all of these buildings daily ~ I still find myself pointing the camera skyward while crossing the streets of Midtown. I am easily wooed by glossy reflections, vintage architecture, patriotic repetition, anything Anthropologie, and of course the iconic light-up signs.

Weekly Word Association

All new photos from the last five days!



Angry Birds: A TouchPad app I'd never heard of until our friend Tom G. introduced it to Buby this week. Of course he was instantly obsessed! Makes me so glad we don't own an ipad. Yet.


Appointments: I squeezed in as many on Monday as I could. Dentist for me, blood lab for Ollie, and a fitting for Buby's new foot braces. Note to self: No more dental cleanings with a jumpy infant on my lap yelling, "Uh Oh!" The hygienist may or may not have been extremely annoyed.


Calendar: My oversized print calendar is filling up for Fall. Bleu will do gymnastics on Mondays at 12pm, Oliver will do music with me on Tuesdays at 10am, and Buby will do tennis on Thursdays at 4pm. Religious ed {which starts in 1st grade at our church} will be one Sunday a month. We may or may not commit to three simultaneous swim classes every Saturday morning. We always do swimming with the kids, but right now it feels like a lot. I'd like to ease into the school year, especially since Bleu is entering a morning program for the first time.


Clean: We started using a cleaning service again a few weeks ago, and the house feels SO MUCH BETTER. Right now we get a top-to-bottom cleaning/dusting every other Thursday. Over the next several weeks I hope to tackle messy closets, a full attic, overflowing book shelves, and my semi-annual charity drop.


Ergo: I read hundreds of reviews before finally deciding on the ERGOBaby Original carrier {over the Sport or Performance models}. The material is definitely warm on a hot day ~ as I discovered at the zoo ~ but it's soooo comfy otherwise and supposedly more fade and wash resistant than the Organic version. I've worn Ollie {21 lbs} in front and Bleu {31 lbs} in back every day this week.







Freeze!: Inspired by busta-a-move Buby, "freeze dancing" is easily our favorite new past time. I dj a dance mix, kids go nuts, I pause, they freeze, we all laugh. Over and over.


Guests: Grandma DJ and Tom G. were in town for four days, which included her birthday. My Sweets made reservations at Rosy O'Grady's on 52nd St. + 7th Ave., and we didn't leave until we had tasted the key lime pie, chocolate almond cake and NY style cheesecake.







Hurricane: We are scheduled to be hit overnight and into early tomorrow. Flash flooding isn't as much a concern for us, but power loss is likely. We always lose power during storms. My prayers go out to everyone affected by Irene.


Laundry: Laundry, laundry, laundry. It's always in progress. I can't keep up.


Manhattan: I jumped on a commuter train Tuesday morn with my three littles, my mother-in-law and her boyfriend Tom G. Takeaway #1: I need to do this much more often. I really miss the city, and the kids are so well behaved. Takeaway #2: I need to drive next time.







Make Believe: Lots of imaginative role playing, puppet shows, inventive names and silly accents in our house right now. Buby and Bleu energize me with their creativity. I love this part of childhood.







MNO: Six mom friends left our husbands to babysit our 11 children so that we could enjoy a much-needed evening out. It was amazing! {Thank you, Tom!} I walked home from dinner and dessert at one of my fave restaurants to find My Sweets snuggled up in our bed with the babes. His only comment was, "Man, we have such good kids."


Penguins: The coolest part of Central Park Zoo, in my opinion, is the penguins at feeding time. A must see for both bigs and littles.







Quake: It struck D.C. on Tuesday while we were walking the streets of New York. I didn't feel a thing, and neither did the wee ones, but buildings around us were under evacuation. Strange.


Red Balloon: Buby chose a theme for his 6th birthday based on his favorite French short film. We've already cleared a "party in the park" date with his few bffs, and I'm working on invites now. It'll be small, simple, fun.


School: We made excellent progress on back-to-school gear. I'll detail our purchases in a separate post. This morning I spent 2 1/2 hours at Parent Orientations for both Buby and Bleu. So many exciting adventures in store for them this year. {I'm sort of jealous!}


Sleep: One six-hour stretch of sleep for Ollie. I'll take it. Sleeping for any stretch is not his forte.


West Africa: My Sweets spent yesterday morning prepping for his work trip to Ghana. He received 1 infectious-disease consultation, 4 vaccines {yellow fever, polio, hep A, hep B}, 3 prescriptions {malaria, typhoid, antibiotic}, 1 anti-diarrhea, and 1 bottle of potent repellent. Scary.

Happy Friday

A Country Fair

We attended one of our favorite country-style fairs last weekend with a few friends. Aside from the fact that it was hot and sunny with no cell service {we never did find the Goldsteins!}, the day was jam-packed with goodness.


Roses from the trip: Hanging with friends Rachael + Logan and Sara + Daymien {hurray for weekend homes!}; watching Bleu and her buddy Charles laugh it up on all the rides; devouring fresh strawberry shortcake and a big bowl of orange and yellow watermelon; seeing a mother pig and seven nursing piglets; milking rubber udders; winning inflatable spiders; and stopping to dine at an 18th-century grist mill.

Art Camp

I apologize for the lack of consistent posts. We have been busy living it up this summer, and now I find myself prepping for back-to-school. Eeks! The big day for our three and five year old arrives September 6. Stay tuned...


There is much catching up to do {here and elsewhere}, but for now I'll leave you with some photos I took of Buby and his bff Grace on their last day of Art Camp. We are so fortunate to have a wonderful gallery and studio right near our home, and it offers a series of morning art camps for children ages 5 and up. Buby's class was all about color. He studied Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian. He mixed paints, made color wheels, sculpted and kept a fantastic art journal that I will treasure always.


Taking this class was Buby's idea, but I knew he'd enjoy it. About a month ago he mentioned to me that he would like to be an archaeologist and an illustrator when he grows up. Or maybe an archaeological illustrator, he pondered, who goes on digs and then illustrates the results for the world to see. Who says that? Well, Buby does.


We'd walk into the house after class each day, and immediately he was off to sketch in one of his handmade picture books. The most imaginative stories ever told in crayon. I'd invite him to build something with me, come see Ollie's new trick, or dance-party with Bleu, and he'd respond "Still working... be there as soon as I finish!" After emerging he'd say to me, "It's like I'm addicted, Mom. Addicted to drawing. I just love it."

i heart

Summer. It's been very good to us, and I'm not ready for it to end.

Farmer's Market Find

We've been experimenting with different mushrooms lately, and this was our last. Isn't it elegant? Neither of us can remember the name, just that it was organic. Anyone?

Bleu's First Bike

We bought it for her on a whim right before our Lake George trip. I'd read that bicycling {as a gross-motor activity} is fantastic for wee ones with sensory issues. Bleu is just three, but My Sweets said she was probably ready to graduate from trike to bike.


As it turns out, she was born ready. Why did we wait so long? Once the helmet was buckled she was off at record speed. Supremely confidant, even more so than her brother who turns six next month. He still hesitates on occasion, but her riding has definitely brought out his desire to give it another go. It makes me so happy to watch them zoom down the driveway together.

Onions, Anyone?

Honestly, I haven't paid much attention to what has come out of our garden this year. The planting, tending and harvesting has largely fallen on my boys. They are the more natural green thumbs, plus my days right now are heaping with everything that is three small children {including one non-sleeping infant}.


My Sweets inevitably sets a handful of dirty carrots on our kitchen counter as he walks in the door from work, and I love him for it. He braves unpicked-up dog poo late at night and paves his way into our weed-filled garden with a freshly pressed Hickey Freeman on. That, my friends, is a farmer at heart masquerading as a suit.


Buby is pretty on top of it as well. He provides me frequent unsolicited updates on the well being of our green tomatoes, hot peppers, Brussels sprouts and more. See the variety of onions he pulled up one evening? We've been using them in everything we can think.

Lake George Highlights {part III}

Here's the last set of {poor quality} snapshots from our Lake George trip. Fort Ticonderoga is actually no where near where we stayed, but it offers a fantastic view of Lake Champlain and is so worth the one hour drive north. My mom and I took the three children while the men were out on their motorcycles. I'm so glad we did.


I absolutely loved the character and history of the fort. Buby and Bleu were particularly wowed by the cannons, the canoe, the British re-enactors and the weapons chambers. We picnicked on the lawn and stopped by the King's Garden on our way out. Sadly, we missed out on the big corn maze opening by a week or two... due to a bad growing year.