Family – Page 6 – Pure Sugar

christmas 2011

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

As you could probably tell, I’ve taken a little break from blogging and instead scheduled some posts for this week. We had a wonderful holiday here! Both sides of the family came over for dinner and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.

I received some very thoughtful gifts including books, a sock knitting kit, jewelry, hand-felted brooches, cookware, and a few other things. Drew was very excited about the dehydrator I gave him (though I still think I’m more excited about it)! He’s been wanting to try his hand at making beef jerky for a long time. It’s a favorite snack and as I’m sure you know — it can be pretty expensive. Making our own will be cheaper and healthier. There are so many things I want to try. In fact, I’ve even started a Pinterest board for dehydrator recipes!

And while in previous years, the chaos of Christmas morning was enough to make me seek a migraine treatment, this year was a lot calmer (though still full of excitement). The boys got plenty of fun toys and so did Laura!

The day flew by and then, just like that, it was over. It’s school vacation week so the boys have had plenty of time to try out their new toys, watch movies, and just relax as we wind down the year.

2011 radio city christmas spectacular

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

When I was a little girl, I’d watch the Rockettes in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and wish I could dance like they do. Alas, I am terribly uncoordinated and can’t really dance at all. So I simply hoped to see them live at Radio City Music Hall someday.

Back in 2008 we had the opportunity to take Jake (who was then in 1st grade) to see the show and I think I was more excited than he was! It was everything I hoped it would be. So this year I wondered if it would still be magical for me, having seen it so recently. Well let me tell you, it was even better and totally blew me away!

Before I get to the photos of the show, I just have to share this pic of the chandelier in the lobby. I asked Drew if we could get one like it for our dining room.

How beautiful! The entire theatre is gorgeous and makes me think of old-timey New York. Love it! The show itself is just bigger than life. At the risk of sounding super cheesy, it took my breath away. And being the sap that I am, I found myself getting teary randomly during the numbers. I don’t really know why, but yeah — I was one using her sleeve like a tissue because I forgot to take actual tissues.

The grand finale is the living nativity and it gave me chills and — yes — made me cry again. You don’t have to be Christian or even believe in God to get emotional during this last act. (At least in my opinion.) With the live animals (including camels!), the slow movement, the music, the lighting… it’s just breathtaking.

It’s not a cheap day out, I’ll be honest, but it is worth every penny. They boys loved it and to hear their ooohs and ahhs and see them riveted during certain scenes… well, you just can’t put a price on that. I’m already looking forward to Laura’s turn 🙂

i ♥ new york (especially during the holidays)

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Last week, the kids had two half-days of school to allow for parent-teacher conferences in the afternoon. We decided to keep them out of school on one of those days (I know, I know…) in order to take them into New York City for the day. This would be Noah’s first visit there! When Jake was in 1st grade we took him to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, so of course we had to do the same for Noah.

We kept it a secret from them, as we are known to do. Poor Jake was stressing out because normally I’d be rushing him out the door to get to morning Math Club on time and he couldn’t understand why we weren’t in the car. So Drew just told them we had something else in mind.

First they thought they were spending the day with Grandma because we pulled into her driveway. But when we simply dropped off Laura and headed to the train station, they began to seriously wonder what was up! Both guys were so super excited when they found out what our plans were! Noah has been wanting to go on a train ride for such a long time 🙂

When we got into Grand Central, the first thing we did was show them the ceiling and Drew explained how when he was in high school, it was so black he never even knew the constellations were painted on it. Then, when we were engaged and he was working in the city, they were doing the restoration and he said how unbelievable it was to watch the transformation. Next up was the Whispering Wall — always so cool, no matter how many times you’ve done it!

Normally we would have walked up to Times Square, but it was pouring rain, so we took the subway. The boys had a blast at Toys R Us and couldn’t believe that there was a ferris wheel inside. I think this was the first time I’ve ever been on an indoor ferris wheel!

We looked at the Lego section at least 25 times.

And Noah was in “Hot Wheels Heaven” as he put it!

We let the boys pick out a small Lego set and also got them one of these Myachi things someone was demo’ing (think: Hacky Sack for your hands). When we left the rain had let up so we grabbed a hot dog on the street and started walking up to Rockefeller Center. (I only wish I’d had the common sense to wear some sensible womens wide shoes instead of my heeled boots, but that’s the price we pay for beauty, LOL!).

I’ll continue tomorrow with Part 2 of our day in the city!

first day of school 2011

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Who can believe that I have a 4th grader and a 1st grader? Surely not me! At least, it seems impossible. Of course, the boys were super excited to get back to a routine and seeing their friends every day. The summer is fun, but very long.

Armed with backpacks and lunch bags they climbed aboard the bus and were off for the day. This is the first day of school since Jake started going to school that it was rainy and I couldn’t take photos outside! Oh well. I made the best of it.

Also, as I mentioned in another post, this year I am trying to break out of the sandwich rut and find creative things to pack for the boys. Here is their first day of school lunch box:

I packed corn dog muffins, strawberries and grapes, cucumber slices and a couple carrots, and an Oreo for dessert. I made the muffins yesterday and just warmed them slightly this morning to take away the chill — my kids don’t mind eating room-temperature food, but if yours are picky, you’d have to wrap the muffins in foil or stick them in an insulated jar to keep them warm.

Jake devoured the whole thing and Noah ate most of it. They both came home happy – yay!

Who is ready for an awesome school year?

These guys!

what i’ve been doing instead of blogging

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Hello, friends! It’s been a while. Did you miss me? 😉 Sometimes it’s nice to take a little bit of a break from the online world and with just a few exceptions (checking e-mail and the occasional post on Facebook), that’s what I did this last week. Instead of finding myself glued to the computer, here’s what I’ve been up to:

1. I spent nearly 24 hours in a car (total) with three kids and a husband, driving through torrential downpours on the way home, realizing that Virginia is one boring state to drive through (speaking only of the highways), and learning that the kids handle long car rides better than I do. I also learned that Raleigh is a cute little city! I think I expected it to be bigger, but it was pretty easy to get around (which was very nice).

2. I saw some cool dinosaur bones and great exhibits at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and laughed hysterically at the “Terror of the South” banner on the the Acrocanthosaurus exhibit. I want a t-shirt that says “Terror of the South” (or maybe a pint-sized one for Lulu!)

3. I went swimming. A lot. And got sunburned. A lot. (My pale Polish skin is just not meant for that kind of exposure.)

4. I got up close and personal with some butterflies.

5. And some adorable little lizards.

6. I ate more than my fair share of Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and enjoyed every single bite.

7. I showed my kids how ridiculously uncoordinated I am at the Marbles Kids Museum.

8. I learned how to make eggplant parm that is so good that even I devoured it. My brother-in-law’s girlfriend (who is very Italian) gave me all her secrets!

9. I ate ice cream every single night.

10. I spent a lot of down time relaxing with my husband, kids, and other family members.

Visiting my brother-in-law in N. Carolina was such a fun time! We got home late last night and I feel totally refreshed and ready to take on the world. (Well, maybe after I get a little more sleep.) I’ll have a few more posts on some of the highlights of our trip, but those will have to wait a day or two. After a “no rules” kind of vacation, I find myself craving routine, so I need to get back into the swing of things. But it sure was nice to get away.

father’s day weekend

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Playing catch-up here, so bear with me! I hope you all spoiled your dads on Father’s Day weekend. I hung out with Big Z on Friday and Saturday and had a great visit with my family. Drew had been camping with Jake and came home on Sunday morning. I’d been joking that he was going to get zumba dancing lessons as his gift, so he was relieved when the kids gave him his real gift. I’d ordered this copper guitar pick for him and he loved it! I also arranged to have our piano tuned. It is long, long, long overdue. He will finally enjoy playing the piano again 🙂

His mom and aunt came up for lunch and I whipped everything together pretty quick (since I myself got home at 9 a.m. from Massachusetts). I made a beef tenderloin, black bean salad (with the addition of spinach), scalloped potatoes, and creamy fruit salad (a recipe Lisanne gave me years ago — it is one of our favorites!)

For dessert, Drew’s mom brought a cheesecake. It was super yummy! (In fact, there is still a little left in the fridge and I intend to have a piece tonight!)

I tried to give my guy a nice, relaxing day, even though he still had to put away all that camping gear! Did you do anything special?

honey, i’m home!

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Carol — 3 Comments ↓

Did you miss me? LOL… I’m sure you didn’t even realize I was gone! We were in Canada for a few days while the boys are on spring break. After Albany ComicCon on Sunday (post about that forthcoming), we continued north to Niagara Falls. The boys had no idea and didn’t even guess that something was up until we were around Rochester! It was great. Well, maybe driving through blizzard conditions in Buffalo wasn’t so great, but otherwise we had a fabulous time.

This is the second time D. & I have been up there. The first time we went alone for Valentine’s Day when I was pregnant with Noah. Interestingly enough, the weather wasn’t too different! It was gray and windy and cold, and it even snowed a bit, and yes, the river was still frozen but I didn’t mind at all. It is just so beautiful and majestic. I don’t think there is a bad time to visit! I thought I’d share some photos with you.

This was the view from our hotel the first night. Every night, starting at 9 p.m., they light the falls up and it is really neat. The boys didn’t want to go to sleep; they kept getting out of bed to check what color the water was.

Maid of the Mist was not running because the river was still frozen (I was a little bummed about that — hopefully someday I’ll get to go!), so we went “Behind the Falls” instead. They said that these portals were still frozen solid until just days before we got there. The wind was insane!

After spending the morning by the falls, we headed up to the Clifton Hill area to have some fun. With our hotel package came a free game of mini golf at Dave & Busters, as well as $20 worth of games, so the boys had a blast playing. We had lunch at Boston Pizza and as you can see in the photo, it was snowing pretty hard! We also went on the Sky Wheel, which is easily the biggest ferris wheel I’ve ever been on. It was pricey, but the views were stunning and we all really enjoyed it.

It’s also nice to have a child old enough to trust with my camera (provided he wears the strap around his neck). This means that I actually get a picture of me and the hubs!

For us, it’s an easy trip and the drive isn’t too long (about 6 hours). I’m already looking forward to going back in a few years.

counting down to spring break

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Happy Friday! I can’t believe that it’s finally spring vacation! The boys have not had a break since Christmas (unless you count snow days), so they’re looking forward to their break, which starts as soon as school ends today. I have some fun activities planned, but they have to remain top-secret. Sometimes I leave my blog up on my laptop and since they both can read… well, I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

Yesterday my parents came down for the day. The boys didn’t expect to see them so that was another surprise. I got so much done while my mom played with Laura! Of course, as you look upon my dirty countertops in the above photo you wouldn’t think so 😉 I picked a few daffodils yesterday to brighten up the kitchen. I figure that if I don’t pick them, the deer will eat them so I might as well enjoy them! And I snipped a few forsythia stems, as well. I love yellow!

Speaking of yellow, here’s the Clapochet I’m working on right now. I don’t know… I think it just seems a little boring. Some of the other projects on Ravelry seem to mimic the original Clapotis a lot closer. What do you think?

Also, as I was cleaning up my work last night I found one huge, glaring mistake. I don’t think I can just come to peace with it and move on (because it looks incredibly sloppy). So, if I’m going to rip it out anyway, maybe I should just try another pattern. I think that the One Skein Summer Wrap might work (and it should hook up quickly). I think I might have to try the Clapochet in a different yarn. I like the pattern, but… the weight just doesn’t seem right.

Well, there are certainly worse problems to have. Maybe this afternoon I can give the Summer Wrap a go and get back with my decision.

happy birthday, big z!

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Happy birthday, Daddy! (I know you’re reading 🙂 ) I love you!

don’t let her cuteness fool you

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Although my little pixie is adorable, don’t be fooled into thinking she is all sweet all the time. This morning I made the mistake of taking her to Target. We all went out to breakfast after we picked up the boys from CCD and I needed to pick up a few things. I thought, Gee, how hard can it be? It’s not like I need to do a lot of shopping. We can make this work.

Well, we made it work because we had to, but it was not easy. Lesson learned: Attempting to shop with Lulu is akin to searching for Charlotte jobs in the LA Times. In other words: it’s an exercise in futility. I’ll have to stick to running errands on my own.

I did get the three items I needed, at least. And I found a solution to my fashion dilemma. Although originally I wanted to stay away from buying yet another little black dress, the truth is that I no longer have a LBD that fits (a good thing). This dress is the right fit, and the right price:

It can be dressed up or down, so I think I’ll get a lot of wear out of it. Now for the fun part: shoes and accessories!