Brooklyn Bridge

Last Saturday I went into NY with my sister-in-law and her friend from London. We did downtown Manhattan and ended the day by walking over the Brooklyn Bridge. I must say that it is by far one of the best things that I've done in NY. It was unbelievably busy, as NY always is, and the views were spectacular. You just have to be sure to never cross the dividing line separating the walkers from the cyclists. Most of the cyclists were in a mad dash to get somewhere, they clearly weren't enjoying the views like we were! We then headed into Soho and had dinner as a wonderful Italian restaurant called Pinocchio's where we were educated on Lemonchella by the witty and entertaining staff.

The Revolving Door

We have had such a busy week so far! Very eventful too ... Last Thursday Sue and a friend of hers arrived from London for a long weekend. Friday morning Christopher and I received our green cards (after a 6 year process) which we are of course totally ecstatic about. Sat I spent the day in downtown NY and we also walked over the Brooklyn bridge which was amazing. (Will post some pics as soon as I've downloaded them). Sunday it was a bit of outlet shopping and then off to JFK to drop them off. I then had Monday to recover a bit and do the washing of towels and bedding as our next guests arrived on Tuesday morning. Alison and her 3 kids came down from Canada for a visit and left this morning. We had a fantastic time catching up and seeing how each other's kids have grown. I now have two days to wash the bedding and towels and stock up on groceries again before we have some family from South Africa arrive on Sunday for 10 days. Of course all 3 of my kids go to school at totally different times plus then the sport schedule and their social lives on top of that! I feel tired just thinking about it! The other good news is that I am cancer free - no signs of cancer in my thyroid. They will now continue to monitor it every 6 months, but the stress of that ordeal has now totally been lifted. We of course welcome our friends and family into our home and love having them to stay - so keep coming please! At the moment bookings will be required though!! Hope to see you someday on our end of the world.

Kitchen Blues

At the moment I'm feeling like I'm trapped in the kitchen! If it's not preparing and serving breakfast, lunch and dinner it's finding snacks that appeal to all three boys! Then of course there's all the clean-up which somehow never seems to end. And don't forget the menu planning - can't repeat the same meals too often!! In Jan I found a sign that puts it all into perspective - now I just have to figure out how to get everyone to pay me for it!! Then of course there's the clean up your own mess part ... somehow my boys always manage to over look that!

Snow Parafhenalia

The joys of having lots of snow is that you need lots of clothes! Mike and the boys went sledding yesterday afternoon and this is what I found when they came home ... Snow suites, gloves, hats and snow boots littering my entry way. Thank goodness for tumble dryers to dry it all quickly so it's ready for round 2 ...

Snow Depth

That's Baxter, our Cockapoo (Spaniel / Poodle mix) running on the deck out back. It gives you an idea of how deep the snow is.

Snow Day

Last night we got a call from the school district telling us the kids would have a snow day today - ie no school for them! We didn't expect to find too much snow this morning, but boy were we surprised. We must have gotten at least 12 inches so far and the snow's still falling. The boys have had such fun shovelling and building snow forts. Other than that we've just been hanging out together watching movies and baking cookies.

As you can see from the photo's there's plenty of snow - and Mike has been out there doing plenty of shovelling as well. Right now as I'm typing this he's trying to dig out his car. If he doesn't do it now it'll ice over tonight or tomorrow and he won't be going anywhere for a good few days - so keep digging Mike!!

The best thing about a day like today is all three boys will be asleep by 8pm at the latest as they'll be totally worn out and I'm looking forward to a peaceful evening catching up on some scrapbooking and journals.