Update

So as many of you know there was another crane accident this morning. 2 people died. It happened on 91st and 1st. It is so crazy that this happened again. It is pretty scary to think that you could just be going about your business and then all of a sudden....our prayers are with the families affected.




On a lighter note I have been to the gym almost everyday since I joined! I am super proud of myself!!

We had a great memorial day. We spent most of it in central park with friends...it was a perfect day and I am ashamed to say that E has never flown a kite before that day. She had fun and did a great job. Oh and we even played duck duck goose...or if you're E permanent marker, or gobble or whatever else comes to mind...when is the last time you played that? It was a blast! Pics to come.

(L seriously sat in this stroller for 45 min!)

So just a note about CP in the summer....it is seriously sad that since we have no beach CP is the beach. Everyone is in bikini's and speedo's and yes even thongs! What the??? Seriously there are families here show some decency people. But since it is NY and people will wear whatever they please you see all kinds...the ones who should definitely NOT wear bikini's/speedo's and the ones that look so good they make you wish you could have your pre-baby body (rock hard abs, firm butt and perky boobs) back...le sigh...

L and I went to the zoo with a friend last week...I just had to share some pics of he and his friend Henry...so cute!


Oh and for all of you Lost fanatics...who else guessed it was JL in the coffin?? i did and I am proud. But seriously they could have done better than the fakey backgrounds in the boat and helicopter scenes...and since when was Kate a tracker?? Oh well, in spite of all its flaws we loved it and can't wait until 2014 when it comes back on again.

Workin' it

So I finally broke down and joined a gym in the area. It was super cheap for NYC considering most gyms cost over $100/month. It is pretty small but it will get the job done....I hope! I was running with my friend Amber a couple mornings a week but I know my body, if I want to get ripped again I have to work out in a gym and lift weights. I kept telling myself you're young it will just come off...hah! No such luck. No more complaining about my jello belly. I will be at the pool all summer and I refuse to wear a bathing suit with the little skirt...I won't be that mom! So wish me luck as I work off the baby weight! (by the way my "baby" is 16 months...don't judge me)

PS She's hot...I hope I can get that ripped....stay tuned.

Mother's Day

Today was my 6th Mother's day...well really 7th if you count my first when I was about 4 weeks pregnant with E.

Except for the fact that L was sick all day and we had to stay home from church it was great. I woke up to a lovely breakfast of yummy fruit and flowers (the one in the middle E made at the botanical gardens)






And then C cooked a fabulous dinner of coconut curry chicken over rice....yum! We'll definitely work this one into our meal rotation.

Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry-in-a-Hurry

2 TBS. coconut oil or olive oil

1 large sweet potato (or yam), diced

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 TBS. curry powder

1 lb. chicken breast, bite-size chunks (can use ½ lb. if you like)

1 c. onion (1 medium sized)

1 TBS. flour (white or WW)

2 ½ c. chicken or vegetable stock

½ c. cream or milk (we used coconut milk)

¼ c. pineapple-mango jam (a couple of heaping TBS.but we left it out b/c we didn't have any...I'm sure you could also use any kind of chunky jam/chutnety/salsa)

2 TBS. cornstarch & 4 TBS water (optional—I add it to thicken sauce)

1. Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat with the oil. Add the sweet potatoes to the skillet, season with salt, pepper and curry powder, and cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes, or until lightly browned.
2. Scoot the potatoes over to one side of the pan and add the chunks of chicken, season with salt and pepper. And cook, browning slightly for 4-5 minutes.
3. Add the onions and toss to combine. Add the flour and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the vegetable stock, milk and jam, bring to a simmer. Add cornstarch/water mixture and cook for 10 minutes or until potatoes are nice and soft. Serve over rice.

I love my family and am so blessed to be the mom of my sweet (sometimes) kiddies and my amazing (all the time) hubby.

I also want to give a shout out to my two moms...Maria and Debbie.

Mom you are amazing and I admire your strength and perseverance. You are such an example to me. You are so much fun and I am so glad that we have become so close over the past couple of years, thanks for being my best friend...I love you!

Debbie...you are so patient and raised such an amazingly beautiful son. I admire your strength so much. You have been so accepting of me from the very beginning when I was a little 17 year old who wanted to marry your son! Thank you for being my sweet friend and such a wonderful grandma to my kiddies....I love you!

To all my friends who are mothers...thank you for your examples, I learn from you guys all the time!

Happy Mother's Day!

It does a body good....or does it?

Food glorious food as someone once belted out...or is it? As we roam the supermarket isles our eyes and our noses are assaulted with a plethora of choices. What to eat? Do we choose the brightly colored box of cereal that claims to be high in fiber? Do we get the "oats" that are sweetened and formed into a square and individually packaged for those "on the go"? Do we choose the junk food disguised as health food that claims to have added vitamins or our daily dose of this or that? Or do we skip the convenience and buy food in its *gasp* original form!!

My mom sent me this article...all I have to say is AMEN to that!
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4757872

Many of you know that I am somewhat of a food Nazi(the spell checker said that I should capitalize that word, but just so you know I am not now nor have I ever been affiliated with the Nazi party....is it a party...didn't really seem like anyone was having much fun?? but I digress) I am far from perfect (especially compared to my sister Alicia) but the more that I learn and see the more I can't wait to get my farm and try and live off of the land! Our society is so incredibly unhealthy and all we do with the symptoms of our unhealthy lifestyle is cover them up with over the counter this and that and prescription drugs. When really so many of our problems that we have could be cured by a change in lifestyle IE: FOOD!

As our good friend Tara pointed out a few weeks ago at church we are the wealthiest nation and we have endless amounts of food...yet we are starving because of the poor quality of the food that we are eating.(she paralleled that with how many of us are spiritually starving...it was a great talk) I really could go on and on with both of those topics but I will spare you : )

My new friend Kirstin has a great link on her blog about MSG...very interesting stuff. MSG is a neurotoxin which basically means that it tricks our brain into believing that it tastes good....crazy man!

Here is another good one for the next time you think about eating fast food

http://www.newstarget.com/022194.html

Anyway, sorry for the rant...again! I think I apologize a lot on here. But it is good information and it needs to be shared.

Blog Update

Wow...so a lot has happened that I just haven't taken the time to blog about. But I just uploaded pictures from the beginning of the month so you will get a rundown of our activities in no particular order. If you want a giant sized look at these small pics you can click on them.

The first Friday of every month is free at the Childrens Museum of Manhattan AKA CMOM. Here are some cute pics of the night. We had a blast!

E went to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens on a field trip with her class. She and Can who was a chaperone had lots of fun. Although he said the bus ride was insane...glad I wasn't there!

We went to the Brooklyn aquarium with some friends from the Union Square ward...it was a gorgeous day but unfortunately I only took 2 pics the whole time!

We had a blast in DC and completely enjoyed the gorgeous 80 degree weather and had fun with my family. I planted a garden and E played with my siblings and the other neighborhood kids, ran around outside and got dirty and sweaty and did lots of stuff that she doesn't get to do in the city....I miss the suburbs! Although I'm sure once I'm there I'll blog about how much I miss the city. My mom and I went yard saleing? and had a blast! The only touristy thing we did in DC was go to the Zoo and drive through Georgetown...twice...though totally not on purpose. I thought I knew how to get there and I got a quick rundown of the directions from my dad upon departure. But somewhere we made a wrong turn and it ended up taking about 30 min to get there argh! Then once we get there every kid in the greater washington area is there with about 25 of his friends. So we went had a good time then got hopelessly lost again and it took about 1 hour to get home because of the traffic.

Yummy!

So it was fun, but it also majorly sucked because my parents still have the same van that I learned to drive on so that means no AC and even if it did have AC one of the windows only sometimes rolls up. We used to call it the boogie van and it actually had a thumpin' base for its time, but now it is just an old purple piece o' hud that we are privileged to drive around in.

You can see the corner of it here next to a nice Benz

My dear wonderful friend Linda Ash is visiting with her husband Cecil this weekend from Mesa AZ. They lived in the city for about 2.5 yrs. and moved back last year. They were here working for the UN on a project called United Families International. We have had so much fun! Yesterday we went to a street fair which was Linda's favorite thing to do in the city. Then we went to the east village and ate Shwarma at our favorite middle eastern place Mamoun's Falafel. Linda is so sweet. She watched Elyse for us while I was in labor with Levi and she was the first (other than us and the midwives) person to meet Levi. I love you Linda!

Pauline is the new enrichment counselor who I will be working with. We had a dinner meeting the other night and she brought these beauties with her. Everytime I look at them I have to smile...they are GORGEOUS!




L has been climbing E's ladder for a few months now. We let him get to the top every now and then...but it makes us very nervous!

And here are a couple just because I think my kiddies are cute!

On a more sober note I saw this story on my sister's blog. It made me cry as I admired the strength and faith of this little girl and her family.