A new kind of sandwich!

The picture we chose to study on family night on Monday was the picture of Peter, James and John giving the priesthood to Joseph Smith. Samantha just brought me the picture and we went over it with Alex. 2 minutes later I heard Samantha talking to Alex about "peanut butter and John" and Joseph Smith. I had no idea the church was so tasty!!

Triple D!

We had such a fun day today as we went up to Salt Lake to Ruth's Diner to watch them film an episode of Diner's, Drive-In's and Dives! It was very interesting to see how it all gets put together and how they decide what shots to do, etc. The host, Guy Fieri was there and very involved with all of the shots and interviews. I was surprised he didn't just sit back and wait until it was his turn on camera.
We got there around 11 and they started filming around 11.30. We sat in a section that was just for the people that emailed the show to tell them about Ruth's so Guy knew who to talk to. He interviewed a few of us including my family! He asked Alex to give him knucks but Alex was a bit shy. Samantha had no problem doing it though and has talked all day about "giving the spiky haired guy knucks!". Guy talked to Andy and I about our food and how long we'd been coming to Ruth's at which point I told him we were fairly new customers since we just moved back to Utah after living in the Diner capital of the world, New Jersey. I told him that this diner was better than any in Jersey I'd been to and he liked that I was sassy and offered a throwdown. We'll see if any of it makes it into the show, but hopefully the cute kids will seal the deal! We were half way home when the producer called us and asked us to come back for some additional shots of us eating. We were so full and not in the mood but we went back anyways and they got some great footage of the kids eating and laughing. The guy with the mike was hilarious and making the kids laugh while not looking at the camera.
It turned into a long afternoon but the kids fell asleep in the car on the way home so all was well!
I'm not sure when the episode will air, but I heard Guy tell someone usually about 5-6 weeks. If I find out beforehand I'll post the date on here. I know you're all DYING to see it and make fun of us!!

"Rock me please!"

I know Alex asks me to rock him just to stall bedtime, but if you looked straight into those big blue eyes you wouldn't be able to resist either! Plus, I know that the day will come (sooner than I would like) where he will stop asking me to rock him. He won't even want to sit with me anymore. So until that day comes I will rock him any time of the day or night that he wants!! Just don't tell him that!!

UB40

Samantha is dancing her little heart out to the UB40 music Andy put on and I told her she was a good dancer. She replied, "I've got the moves!". Really! Where does she get this stuff?? She is so fun it's ridiculous. Just as I was typing this she then switched up her dancing and said "Now I'm doing rock and roll moves.". What a character.

Alex is finally starting to say his "S's" in words but he says them with a bit of a lisp. It's very adorable.

A new Andy!

Today starts the Andy Smile Transformation! Andy is not really looking forward to this whole process, it will be painful, but the results I think are going to be fantastic! Today he is having 2 root canals leading up to a set of 8 new crowns for his top front teeth!! They are going to be so shiny and white and straight! If he lets me, I'll take before and after pictures. I know this doesn't mean a whole lot to Andy but I am so excited for him to have beautiful teeth to match his nice smile. The whole thing will be done in about a month. He has an appointment in a week to shave down all his teeth then in 3 weeks they'll put the crowns on.

Silly silliness

Samantha:
This afternoon I asked Samantha to get dressed after dance class so she could go outside and play. She got her shirt and pants on and I noticed she was putting her socks on. I told her she didn't need socks because she was just going to put on her crocs and it was a nice warm day. She exclaimed, "Yeah, I need socks because that's how I roll.". I know you're all jealous of my kids!

Alex:
Alex has come up with a new song that I keep wanting to get on camera but he gets all shy and won't sing. It goes something like this. "Me and my teddy, we get ready.". Which, if you didn't notice, rhymes!! Who taught this kid to rhyme?? It's got a cute little tune as well and even at 6:30 in the morning when I want to yell at him for singing so bloody early, I can't help but smile at his first song! He even lines up his animals in his crib and sings to them. I smell American Idol in our future!

We wear short shorts!

I have hairy legs. That's all there is to it. Oh, and my hair grows really fast too. Like, in the summer I have to shave every day just so Samantha doesn't mention about a thousand times a day "Momma, you have spiky legs!". And so my husband will sleep in the same bed as me. Although, I do enjoy the bed to myself......hmmmm......maybe I've devised the perfect plan! Anyways, where was I...oh, hairy legs. I get so sick and tired of shaving my legs every day so about 3 1/2 weeks ago I got my legs waxed. I've never waxed before and was a little nervous. Turns out I was nervous for good reason. It hurt. Like, really bad. Ouch. Pain. Redness. Soreness. Painful to have any sort of fabric touching my legs for about 24 hours. It felt like a super bad sunburn only without the good memories of lounging on the warm beach. The waxing lady, who I like to refer to as, Frau Pain told me that she suspected the results would only last about a week, week and a half. This was disappointing. Also, she really didn't even get all the hair! I still had to shave some off that night. I guess this is normal, but I was expecting more. I walked away, well, hobbled away quite sad that my plan of only waxing a few times during the summer was not going to pan out. And I wasted $50! Welllllllll, it's now been 3 1/2 weeks and I am still pretty hair-free!!! The hair is growing super slow and I only have to shave about every 4-5 days, which is astounding for me and my hairiness! I am so happy that I just might brave the pain again and get waxed when the hair really starts growing again. Although, it's tough because you have to let the hair grow out for like a week and a half which is super scary in the summer when you're wearing capris and shorts. But that might be a week and a half of being alone in the bed........decisions, decisions!

Blurg

Is it just me, or does everyone else hate all the colorful Mother's Day rings and necklaces that we get overwhelmed with this time of year?? I know my jewelry taste may be a bit more simple than most, but all that un-matching color in one ring is enough to make me evacuate the Oreos that I just inhaled while the kids were pretending to nap.

Explanation

Since a lot of you must live in a bubble and don't know what Samantha was saying or where it came from in the clip below, I will explain.
She is saying....."I will drink your milkshake. I drink it up." Followed by slurping noises. This comes from the movie There Will Be Blood with Daniel Day-Lewis. Here is the clip from YouTube. Every time she sees this clip she laughs and repeats it. Basically, the girl has hilarious taste! Learn, enjoy!

Why we love her so much...

Also, in the background is the wicked sweet mini trampoline that Aunt Cathy gave the kids. Not only does she babysit our kids for 5 days, but she buys them awesome gifts! Don't you all wish you had an Aunt Cathy???

Extras

The posts below are all about our trip to New York and are very boring and generic. They are a travel log mostly for Andy and I to remember our trip but hopefully you will enjoy reading them as well. I'm going to add pictures and maybe links tomorrow. They start with Saturday which is, by now, at the bottom of the page.

Overall this was one of the best vacations I've had. I don't feel like a tourist in New York. It feels more like a home to me. I didn't take many pictures because, again, I don't feel like a tourist there. I enjoyed the time I had alone, I enjoyed the time I had with friends, and I enjoyed the time I had with Andy. We don't get to spend a lot of time together these days because of school so it was muchly needed. I hate to admit it because it makes me feel like a bad mother, but I didn't miss the kids much. In fact, I completely forgot to call them on my birthday. I guess it's good that I was able to enjoy myself but as all of you mothers out there know, guilt consumes us in every aspect of parenthood. I knew they were well taken care of by Andy's super sister Cathy and her daughter Julie, so that was a load off.
Part of me wants to move back to New York/New Jersey so bad, but my quality of life here in Utah is far superior to what I would get back there. I have a nice house with a back yard for less than half of what my friends are paying for their tiny 2 bedroom apartment. AND, Andy's commute is 15 minutes versus the hour and a half it was in New Jersey. Can't beat that!

There was always this guy in front of the World Trade Center with pamphlets about September 11th and his tag line to get people to listen to him was "This is history, don't let it be a mystery". That guy always cracked me up and guess what?? I saw him still there this week! It was comforting to know some things haven't changed. Unlike Jersey City that is exploding! There are so many new apartment buildings, condos and townhomes. The place is looking nice!

I am really looking forward to when we can take the kids to New York. I think a couple more years will be good and we will have a fantastic time showing them all around and making their feet and legs just as sore as mine are!!

Wednesday

Wednesday morning we had to get up early and pack so we could head into New Jersey for Andy's work appointment. We caught a cab to take us to the Hertz rental car place to get our cute Ford Edge and left New York via the Lincoln Tunnel. It was fun to drive through Jersey again and when we drove into Woodbridge, again, I cried. Especially when we reached the Holy Grail......WEGMANS!! The grocery store to end all grocery stores! We had breakfast and lunch there if that says anything. After breakfast we drove to Princeton and Andy went to his appointment and I wandered around. Downtown Princeton is full of cute shops and the campus is just wonderful and old. I found a great shady bench and watched students come and go and read my book. It was very pleasant.When Andy's appointment was done we had lunch at Wegmans then drove to the shopping center Jersey Gardens to kill time until my flight. We found some adorable outfits for the kids at H&M but not much else. Andy drove me to the airport around 4:00 and I flew home!

Tuesday (My Birthday!!!)

The hotel bed was too soft for my delicate back so I was up early with Andy and he took me to breakfast at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle. The restaurant is called Landmarc and I had the most giant French toast EVER! It was so good and I know probably so bad for me, but I didn't care, it was my birthday!! After breakfast Andy headed into work and I went back to the hotel and took a little nap watching VH1's top 20 countdown. I never get to watch it because the kids dominate the TV in the mornings, so it was a treat! Too bad music these days is CRAP! But the best part was the nap and when I woke up I got ready to meet Sarah and Andy at work for lunch. Sarah was sweet enough to take the day off of work to hang out with me but I think she enjoyed the sleeping in as well! Andy's boss Mike came to lunch with us which was great because he ended up paying and he made some cracks that made me laugh, so it was fun to see a side of him I've not seen before.

After lunch Sarah and I headed up 5th Ave for our day of shopping while poor Andy had to go back to work. Normally I wouldn't have wanted to hike 5th Ave because of the major quantity of tourists, but all of the shopping I needed to get done happened to be located on 5th Ave, so we just went for it. Sephora for makeup, American Girls for a doll for Samantha, H&M for clothes and FAO Schwartz for Alex. The weather was heavenly so after all was said and done we sat in some chairs outside FAO and enjoyed the sunshine and people watching. Sarah bought me some hilarious Smurfs for my birthday so we took some good pictures.
We went across Central Park for the Bouchon Bakery for some tasty treats before I had to head back to the hotel to get ready for my date night with my sweet husband. We had just enough time to make it to our reservation at this Greek restaurant named Kellari and the food was incredible but we had to hurry through it all so we could make our 7:00 play of Young Frankenstein in Times Square. The play was very funny but nothing can compare with the movie. If you've never seen it before......we can't be friends.

Monday

Andy had to go to work Monday morning (this was a work trip after all) so he got up early and I slept in! hehehe. After I got up I put on my swimming suit and went up to the indoor swimming pool in the hotel for a little morning exercise. It was so fun and refreshing but made me miss my kids a bit because I know they would have loved swimming. When I was done I got ready to meet Andy at work for lunch. I'd never been to their office on Park Avenue so it was fun to see it and meet some people I'd heard about and also see some old friends. We had lunch at the Blue Flowers Cafe with Sarah which was casual and huge and just good!

After lunch I took the subway to the World Trade Center so I could hop on the Path and ride to Jersey City. It was the same route that I always took when I lived and worked there and I got all dumb and sad thinking about the good ol' days! Seeing Jersey City again also brought back a lot of good memories. I rode the light rail to my friends house by the Liberty Science Center and the light rail took me right past my old apartment building and I will admit....a few tears welled up! Jersey City was a great place to live! It was a lot of fun to see Maile and her adorable kids and hang out with them for a couple of hours. Kaia was hilarious and came out to greet me in a purple princess dress with pink heels and by the time I left, she was dressed in a chicken costume! It made me sad that we don't live near them because she and Samantha would be such good friends!

Maile drove me back to the Path station where I returned to Andy's work and he and Sarah and I met our buddy James for dinner. We ended up going to Bobby Flay's restaurant Mesa Grill. Andy and I had eaten at the Mesa Grill in Las Vegas before and the food was just as good. We had an enjoyable evening catching up with James and the whole day ended up being another great day in NYC!

Sunday

Sunday morning we slept in, packed, and left the hotel. We took a cab to our next hotel in the city called the Le Parker Meridien. It was a very nice hotel and we had a very big room and the biggest shower I've ever been in!! I kept thinking how much the kids would have loved to play in that shower! I know I did!!! We dropped our bags in the room then went downstairs to this awesome restaurant in the hotel. It looks like a little hole-in-the-wall place but it's in this fancy hotel! It's called The Burger Joint and we each had a juicy cheeseburger. Num. After being recharged by the food we wandered around for a while and found a Pink Berry to have some frozen yogurt. We had it with blackberries and Fruity Pebbles. It was delicious! We shopped around, went to Chelsea Market and back to a Brooklyn Industries where we spent even more money on cool clothes (Andy bought a button-down shirt with blue pigeons on it...trust me, it's cool). We figured there might be a street market going on at Union Square so we went to check that out and I'm glad that we did! We have a couple of pictures up on a wall in our staircase that we don't really love and have been looking for something else to replace them, and we found a beautiful print that is colorful and I think will look great. I'll take a picture of it when Andy brings it home and post it.

There is a little place called Pommes Frittes that sells only French Fries with about 30 different dipping sauces and is SO yummy. We snacked on that before we headed to our friend Sarah's apartment to visit and bake cookies. Sarah moved to NY from Utah about 2 months ago and lives in a great little apartment......except it's 5 bloody floors up!! No elevator!! I guess the exercise is good for me! We talked and baked my chocolate chip cookies for all the guys at Neovest (and James) and then went to the Delta Grill for dinner. It's a southern restaurant which I generally don't enjoy, but I had some terrific Mac and Cheese there and everything else we tried was delicious. We caught a cab, took Sarah back to her apartment and headed back to our hotel.
I have to add.......the weather thus far has been great.....and it only gets better!!

Saturday

We arrived in New York on Saturday morning and tried to check into our hotel in Brooklyn. The hotel was packed with a bunch of school kids so we were not able to check in. They suggested we try back around 1:00. We roamed around Brooklyn Heights after a terrific breakfast at a little cafe. Brooklyn Heights was so nice and had so many cute streets and shops.....not to mention a fantastic view of Manhattan! After roaming for a couple of hours we passed a movie theatre and decided to watch a movie until 1 when we could hopefully check into the hotel. The only movie we thought might be good and played at the right time was Forbidden Kingdom (the Kung-fu flick with Jackie Chan and Jet Li). Let me just say, it was awful! The kung-fu was good but the acting and story was TERRIBLE! I was so tired because of the overnight flight so I curled up in the seats, laid my head on Andy's lap and took a little nap during the movie! Best $8 nap EVER!
After the movie we were able to check into the hotel and we watched the Pope make his way up 5th Avenue in the Popemobile. We were both still tired so we took a little nap and woke up around 5:00. We got dressed and headed to an area of Brooklyn known as Park Slope. We wandered the streets there and found a great store called Brooklyn Industries and spent a good chunk of money there. Then we found a cute Italian restaurant where we shared a pizza and some of the best ravioli I've ever eaten. For dessert we went to The Chocolate Room and had some Butterscotch Custard and a Triple Chocolate Cake that was featured in an issue of O Magazine (Oprah's magazine).

It was a very fun, successful day in Brooklyn!
By the way, food is important and fun for us, so you will hear a lot about what we eat.....get used to it!!!

I told you!

I told you that I'd suck at posting while I'm here in NY! In my defense though, I haven't had a laptop with me except in the evenings when I'm rubbing my sore feet and applying bandages to my blisters. Busy, busy!
I have written down every days events though and will fill you all in when I get home. You're excited....I know it!
Thanks to all of you who wished me a happy birthday today!! It was a fantastic day! Maybe my favorite birthday! I fly home tomorrow evening and am excited to see my babies again! Thanks for the wonderful trip to NY, Andy!!!

We're here.....but first....

We are here in Brooklyn and having a great time so far, but before I post on our happenings thus far I need to write the funniest thing Alex has said/done before I forget!

On Friday we were in Costco (surprise, surprise) and they were giving out lots of samples. One of the samples the kids spotted was cheese and crackers. Not some mild cheese that kids usually like, but gorgonzola cheese. I have to admit I was looking forward to their faces when they realized how nasty the cheese was and spitted it out. Alex took a bite and just kept on chewing and looking around all casual like while Andy and I peeked at him to see what he would do. He chewed and swallowed, looked down at the cheese, looked up at me, held up the cheese and with a furrowed brow exclaimed, "This cheese tastes stinky!". I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time! To make it even better, he popped the rest of the cheese in his mouth and ate it all! What a freakin' cute kid!!!

I'll catch up the blog tonight with our New York fun. The pope is in town so we might hang with him, ya know, bless some people, chill at Mass in Yankee Stadium, the usual!

Phew!

We are leaving tonight for New York on the midnight flight and it's difficult for me to express how badly this trip is needed!! So I won't. Let's just say that Andy's sister Cathy who is staying with the kids is my hero!!! Thank you Cathy!

We will, of course, have a computer with us since Andy will be working while we're out there, so I plan on posting every night about the days events. We'll see if it actually happens!

I love you dearly Samantha and Alex.......and I will love you even more after some time away!
Toodles!

Ahhhhhhhh

Yesterday Andy and I were sitting together on the couch and we kissed. Samantha saw the kiss and said "Ahhhh, true love's first kiss!". What an observant little girl we have........orrrrrrrrrrr we've watched Enchanted too many times!!

Also, (this is for you Andy) our daughter has trouble CONTROLLING THE VOLUME OF HER VOICE!!!!