Ode to Baby Teeth and Mom Ears

I have always loved a good set of pearly whites.
Anytime Kaj is in sight of his little elmo toothbrush
He must brush.
So he brushes...

Sometimes 5-6 times a day

But who am I to frown at oral hygiene?

It is amazing how thankful I can be for hearing
How you can distinguish the different sounds in the house
A crash
Kaj is dropping toys from his pack n play

A scraping

Kaj "vacuuming" very helpful, indeed

A bounce

The ball dropping down the stairs

Silence.
Listening isn't good enough then.
I usually find Kaj has dumped out my purse and wallet or he is on the chair laughing at the possibility of something funny happening at the computer.

RALPH'S FAMOUS ITALIAN ICE

Welcome to Ralph's! This is one of my new favorite places to go. The first time I went there, there was a line of at least 10 people, and I heard Sam's food advice echo through my mind:

"Just look for the places that are always busy..." Busy Busy Busy (the echo)

This is the menu! Wow, a little intimidating if you are amateur like I am.

The first time I got lemon because Sam told me he heard it was primo, that it is if you love to take bites out of lemons.. I, however, do not. But the texture was so amazing I had to give another shot!

As you can see Kaj is a little overwhelmed too! Ha! The second time I got chocolate hazelnut and peanutbutter! This time I learned you can add to flavors for the same price, and um..it was so so good! Bits of chocolate, bits of hazelnut in a delightful master piece

This is what I got today, the third time cookies n creme and chocolate milk. I'm just sayin,

Keep in mind this is ice..ground up so finely that it is like the best ice cream on the planet

Kaj is making sure that he is getting all of the dregs!

He got them!

Delicious!!!!

Come to New York

Perks of Port Jefferson

Living 15 minutes from the ocean!



Yes, yes, that is a park by the beach!



 



The Burger Shack Hunt

In New York, there is the gamet of good food. I speak from my obvious many years of being in New York...but really! And, it is not just the city- Long Island too has a few gems of it's own. The Burger Shack burger!! I love myself a good cheeseburger just like Sam likes himself a good pizza. Therefore, we have already found a pizza place Sam loves, and a burger place we all love! We're talking worthy of a showcase on the food network (that is if it hasn't already been showcased) they also have a 48oz man challenge of a burger!! And... I won. No! I really didn't! So I was out with Kaj today, running lots of different places, and I thought I want to take him back to the burger shack! (Back-to the burger shack) That has rap potential right there. I have  been travelling the roads of Long Island with my trusty GPS. It has been pretty great considering I would not be able to travel without out it just out of fear alone that I would not find my way home, but today...GPS system, sir, you failed me...I was looking for the burger shack, and it did not even register that it even existed.. Do not worry fellow future visitors! I have a little while longer here, and I am sure before long I will find the burger shack... with- or without my GPS!

Happy Sunday, Happy New York

Now, imagine, if you will, the boxes on the right towering high above the door frame, add an additional 25 boxes replacing the couch, and the floor space, what I am trying to say is: we have come a long way!! Yes, we are all together in New York, and it is nice to have our family in the same place again. We are facing the balance of home and school head on, and we are excited to see just how it is done.

All in all it was a good first few days here in New York, and a great first Sunday! The ward is great here, the people are very nice, I even made a fast friend... who will be moving to Boston in 2 weeks! HA! Of course!  We went to the park, saw the duck pond, and enjoyed the most uncomfortable humidity summer has to offer!

To Blog or not to blog...that is the question

I pose this, of course, because it has been over a month since I last posted anything. It is slightly odd that I would have to bring myself to write, to consciously say to myself: "Hey you, you should blog tonight." Anyone who knows me knows that I love, even have a passion for writing ever since I was young. I remember vividly sitting at my desk in the room I shared with my sister Megan writing stories, and wanting Megan to write stories with me. I still have get so much joy from writing, whether it be poetry or books, or thoughts. I would always say you can't lie on paper. Why would you bother? It would often make my emotions tangible, as if putting it on paper could ensure the reality of what I was feeling, even if it was just for that moment... So why... why do I have so much trouble with the blog? It comes down to the audience...statisically (according to Kathy, but probably very accurately) I am in the 1 percentile of the facebook world- yes, I do not have facebook. Nor do I want it. Though, I admittedly had a moment after watching "Social Network" that it crossed my mind. My point being, I would second guess doing it simply because why would ANYONE want to know my thoughts on fried versus baked, or the make shift toy chest, or the nonsense nothing that I am writing now...but it hit me, it doesn't matter. I will write for me, like everything else I have written. So cheers!
My mom advised me years ago, we're talking high school, to pick the people in your life that their opinion of you matters, and then stick with that. Since then I have been careful to select those people. I feel like the list may be small, but it will be those people that will always have your best interest at heart. I hope for my children that in the friendships they make they will be able to feel uplifted, happy, and leave feeling better about themselves, but mostly I hope they will have the courage to walk away from ones that don't. I am not saying to be a fair weather friend by any means, because there will be times where a friend needs you to lift them, whether it be just to listen, or just to care, and I am more than happy to be that friend, but to realize how you feel about yourself when you leave. There is something to be said about the kind of person that has the ability to make someone else feel better, when so much of the world wants you to feel worse...I hope I can be that person.

In Anticipation of...

All of the above. Wow... I remember back in December thinking... "Ok, we have 6 months."
 That is plenty of time to enjoy the company of family and friends, time to lally gag around, and shoot the breeze in whatever capacity we so choose. Now, we are here. it is mid May quickly approaching a time that we will be moving our little family to the east coast. I had been packing a box a day for a week, but because of the need/use of many items I found I would run out of things to pack. As Sam and I were calandaring the other day I said to him: "Hey! we can have a set time to pack every day!" Sam looked at my with a very Sam look that said..."really?? But said: "I'm not worried about packing, I can pack a whole house in a day..." I returned his same look. "...I won't," he added wisely, "but I could."
We have been talking means of moving, transportation, expenses, places to live, and many other things that go into moving, and it is A LOT of talk, we can talk scenerios till we turn blue in the face.
While this move will be taking us across the country we have been looking at cars as well. We have been to about 8 dealerships in 3 days, and I'm looking at cars on the road in a whole different way. Here, we are both pretty tired of the process, and know it is coming down to decision making time. But, as we found ourselves sitting with a salesman today as he offered us a way to just drive off with the new car, I believe if the room had been any quieter you could hear Sam and I gulping simultaneously. Uhhh...What?! Today?! Ha! I don't know about that.
In anticipation of the big upcoming events in our lives we will keep you posted. In the meantime...we will love the company of family and friends, lally gag around, and shoot the breeze in whatever capacity we please.