Posted in Beautiful Things, Fun in NYC, Kid style, Parenting, tagged baby boy, bbq, birthday cake, cookout, cousins, family, first birthday, heat, party, pool party, relatives, summer, summertime, swimming on July 18, 2017| 2 Comments »
Can you believe it’s already been a full year? I can’t.
We are always excited to get out to see Carl and Tricia and now… new Angelo. His first birthday was amazing; with hours of food and fun in the pool. I think Angelo enjoyed smashing his cake more than anything else going on … happy birthday delicious little man!
my brother chatting with clients and friends
a pool during summer parties: dreamy
“hmmm what’s dat?”
“me like!”
Bubby and her 5 sweet grandkids
Posted in Kid style, Parenting, tagged celiac kids, children, family life, gluten free, parenting, testing on July 17, 2017| 1 Comment »
Well it seems our little muffin cannot tolerate gluten like some of us do. We have to start a GF (gluten free) home and frankly, I’m somewhat excited to see how it may improve the health of all of us. Surprisingly it’s a lot easier to do this than – say 10 years ago. So much GF food is available these days and – as it just so happens – it seems Zoe is eating mostly GF anyhow (perhaps her body already knew?) She loves hard boiled eggs and seaweed for lunch, and balks at the idea of eating a sandwich with it’s bread – so half the battle is won for us. It’s just new to my husband and I – who for years have said with pride “our kids will eat anything!” Now sadly – our dumpling outings may be curtailed a bit – but all for a good reason.
This little trooper is done with tests and ready to eat gluten free! And in the photo mix below; see her using my yellow sweater in a new way while snoozing in the car ride home from upstate. (Sleeves as pants! This girl comes up with the most interesting ideas sometimes… )
I could eat these little French fry toes: 
Posted in Beautiful Things, Fun in NYC, Kid style, Parenting, Queens Life, tagged children, drumming, funk, George Clinton, music and kids, parenting, parliament funk, Queens flushing meadows on June 19, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Last weekend Ezra went to see George Clinton and his notorious P Funk band play at Flushing Meadows. When Ezra saw the drummer offstage, he commented that he loved his ’32nd beats’ and the drummer was so pleased that he had to sign a drum stick for E! See more about the drummer Benzel Baltimore here: http://georgeclinton.com/family/benjamin-benzel-cowan/
Clearly my boy loves hanging with the band.
Posted in Beautiful Things, Crafting, Fun in NYC, Kid style, Parenting, tagged Art Tech, ball pit, children, CMA, crafting, fun, kids, learning, making cars, Manhattan, New York Hall of Science, NYC, pop up, science and art, shadow wall, velocity on April 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »
The kids loved exploring Art Tech last week – a pop up event of kid art and technology activities that they could explore. For some reason the ‘large ball pit’ is so much more challenging than little balls. I love how hands-on everything was … making cars in the ‘Velocity’ learning zone, racing them down various tracks, building structures with gears and brackets, and a wall that had pivoting tiles that react to your shadow. Tomorrow is the last day to try this out so check it out while you can!
http://cmany.org/classes-and-activities/events/artech-adventures-art-technology/
this wall’s tiles move when a shadow passes over! So cool! 
Posted in Kid style, Parenting, Queens Life, tagged athletic, children, dogs, family, gymnastics, kids, NYC, parenting, pets, Queens life, strong girl on March 23, 2017| 1 Comment »
Little Zoe is proving to be quite the gymnast. We finally got her to a gymnastic class after getting worried that she’d knock over furniture at home – and she was given an award at the end of all the sessions for being such a great listener. I think she looks pretty dang proud in these photos, doesn’t she? And we are mighty proud of her too:
so fearless – I hope she never loses this!
and Louie rubs her feet when she gets home
Posted in Beautiful Things, Crafting, Fun in NYC, Holidays, Kid style, Parenting, Queens Life, tagged acting, ballerina swan, children, culture, dancing, family, Grinch, kids, nyc area, parenting, plays, Queens, seasons, snow, snowing on December 28, 2016| 1 Comment »
Well here’s what’s been going on here: we had a dusting of snow that lasted for all of a couple of hours and then melted away as rain within the same day. It was pretty enough to photograph but didn’t linger long enough to turn into snowmen. My Jewish kids were once again tapped for their acting skills – as Zoe played the Grinch in the school play just as her brother did 3 years ago. I’m glad the school hung on to that backdrop that I made all those years ago! This year was spruced up with a sled made from the janitor’s cart – it was Zoe’s favorite scene, riding in that thing. We got to squeeze in a kid-version mash up of Swan Lake and Nutcracker called ‘Ballerina Swan‘. Zoe loves posing with the dancers!
Zoe’s classmates from front left: Haitia, Isabella, Grace and Annissa
Posted in Alley life, Beautiful Things, Food Adventures, Holidays, Kid style, Parenting, Queens Life, tagged block party, bobbing for apples, boxer, children, chocolate bar, costumes, crafting, Diwali, fighter, flapper, for kids, fun, Halloween 2016, Harry Potter, Hermione, holidays, homemade costumes, neighborhood, parenting, photo booth, princess, Rocky, unicorn, vampire on October 31, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Since we have only a limited amount of time after school and work today (Monday) we decided to have a Halloween ‘carnival’ of sorts in our alley for the kids. As it turned out the weather was amazing and cooperated until about dinner time, when the skies opened up and rain drove us all indoors. Our house provided a bean bag toss (like this easy one to make), and there was a Diwali station where kids could henna their hands. We created a photo booth, and other neighbors set out chalk stations, apple bobbing, karaoke and ‘Boo-sket ball’ hoop. In each station, kids could earn a ticket (or many) for participating and scoring. At the end of the alley tickets could be cashed in for treats – including berries, pretzels and access to the chocolate fountain!
since the Indian festival of lights is happening now as well, a neighbor created a station where hands were henna’d
the chocolate bar has treats for tickets
‘Rocky’ is ready for Halloween
Zoe as a unicorn!
