Little bit of heaven in Lower Manhattan

A few years back we found this grand place in Manhattan that is right on the way back to the apartment. You get a pretty great blend of all different countries and styles of play from the brazilians to the Italians, Chinese, Koreans, Americans. From what I hear this even where Steve Nash plays in the summer though I have never seen him.

Happy New Year 2009!

Homemade Christmas Projects

The boys made their own cute manger scene out of homemade dough. Their homemade Christmas decor and projects they put together gave the house a kind of "Child's christmas touch at home" which I always loved and had fond memories of in my years of growing up. Homemade decor at Christmas is my favorite kind of way to decorate as it makes everything look and feel so much more personal, homey, and makes for fun times and memories for the kids and as a family. Here are the boys making the manger scene. Ryan (5) prepared the dough for it.

Here the boys made and painted homemade dough decorations for the Christmas tree. Bradyn (3) is prepared the dough for it. The boys cut out the shapes with cookie cutters and then I baked them in the oven. The boys then painted them and once the decorations dried, they hung them on the tree.

Trip to Tree Farm!

The boys got to meet our dear old friend at his tree farm last month. He has donated our Christmas tree(s) over the last several years and lets us pick whichever one we like. So the kids were really happy to be the ones to pick out the tree this time (which also happened to be the biggest one we've ever had to fit in our living room) and be a further witness to our dear friend. Here are some pics of the event: