nyc here we are

In my exhausted state at night, I am going to attempt to keep track of our trip, for ourselves, our family and anyone else who is interested.  I love reading other families' blog posts for interesting tips. Most of our adventures are going to be pretty pedestrian because this is my childrens' first trip to NYC.

Notes from the day:

-Jet Blue was great. TVs at each seat made the flight fly :) by. And they had yummy snacks too!

-I want to spend my life in the Bryant Park, reading and drinking coffee, by myself.

-The Empire State Building was really impressive to my kids. They ohhhed and ahhhed about all the
marble and the view. It was exciting to hear them pick out landmarks we had talked about earlier.

-Renting an apartment when traveling with kids is always the way to go.

-Kids who can hike long distances in nature can hike long distances in the concrete jungle - the only thing that is different is the wildlife.

-The sound of the city is like music to my ears. I was built to live in an urban environment.

-At our first apartment, we are staying on the 13th floor. I thought they did not do that.

make lettuce rose wrapping paper

Another in my wrapping paper making series :) This time, we printed with the cut ends of romaine lettuce. I have also seen this done with the ends of celery. We chose to make Christmas roses. This is a fun thing to do while you are cooking dinner. Just keep throwing the dinner scraps to the kids and see what they come up with!

travel bags are ready

Tomorrow we are headed to the Big Apple. Whenever we take a plane ride, the kids always get a new backpack or bag packed with goodies to keep them occupied. This time, they helped design the bags. Each kid went through fabric to pick what they liked. Then, they all decided that they wanted some pockets from our stash of cut up jeans. Add a finger knitted drawstring, some bedazzling and a merit badge (they always think of ways to earn these) and they were set. We filled them with journals, markers and pencils, glue sticks, gum and tic tacs.

I am going to try to blog from the road, so stay tuned.... as mamascout travels with her little pack of crazy.

one little pick

Uh oh....I just meant to pick that one little paint bubble. Now, I feel like picking off the rest and leaving it distressed. Or is that junky?

carrot birthday cake

Every year, for my husband's birthday, we (the kids and I) make him a carrot cake. It is his favorite cake and has become a treasured tradition for everyone. Each kid stirs the batter so that it has love from everyone mixed in. 



The recipe is from the New York Cookbook by Molly O'Neill. This is a good cookbook with recipes of famous and not-so-famous eateries and people from New York. This carrot cake recipe is from Carrot Top Pastries and is possibly, according the New York Times, the best in the world!
what you need for the cake1 cup vegetable oil2 cups sugar3 cups grated carrots (we grate ours on the thick side)1 cup of walnuts chopped as coarsely or finely as you like2 cups all purpose flour1 T baking powder1 t cinnamon1 t nutmeg1/2 t salt4 large eggs
what you doPreheat oven to 350 degreesOil a 11 x 9 pan or rounds or cupcake tinsMix the oil, sugar, carrots, walnuts, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. stir to combine.Add in the eggs and mix well.Pour into pan and cook until spring to the touch - about 45 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack.
frosting I make a simple cream cheese frosting, for which I have no real recipe. It is basically two packages of cream cheese whipped up with 1/2 stick of butter and about 4 cups of powdered sugar (I know!). The added magic that makes this sing is a good amount of lemon or lime zest and a tablespoon or two of the juice. The bright citrus with the heavy sweet cake is a marriage of yum and wow!
Do you like carrot cake? Is there a secret in to your recipe that makes it extra special?

{this moment}

image from the week. no words. via soulemama.

first words

It seems that when you first start reading you should have an rapt audience of your sister, great grandma, and dog. It is that important.