Juniors

Glenn and I have heard about Juniors since before we moved here. We finally made it there this weekend. Our friends were very nice and made plans to watch our kiddos on Friday so we could get out on a date. I love those evenings when I don't have anything particular to do than to enjoy time with my hubby. So we headed out to Times Square and went to Juniors. Juniors is famous for thier cheesecake and they did not disappoint. I loved that the atmosphere was very touristy New York style but it still had the feeling of a 1950's cafe. The menus were very 50's looking and the pictures and were classic baseball pictures. Always good to go to the all american burger/fries/and milkshake joint, but get amazing cheesecake at the same time. They are famous for their combo cakes. Mine was half rich amazing cheesecake and the other half was chocolate mousse. The piece was so huge that I still have left overs and have been snacking on it throughout the day. Glenn's was by far the best though. His was half cheesecake and then there were layers of carrot cake and cream cheese frosting throughout. So so so so good. I was amazed that they could take two of the best things and combine them.

We then walked down Broadway a bit and finally made our way over to the Empire State building. Overall a great date...good food...a nice walk..and time with my hubby.

Easter

Easter was pretty calm for us, but I think the girls had a fun time. We finally got our new replacement camera on Friday so I did get a few pictures and I mean a few. I have not been as picture happy as usual, so sorry there isn't much. We went to a park on Friday and met some friends in the ward. We had an easter egg hunt there which the girls loved. Miriam ate all the candy in one sitting. It was so funny. Bekah had more fun looking for the eggs and playing with her friends. She ate a few pieces of candy and then was off to play. No pictures from that.
On Sat. evening we dyed and painted our Easter eggs. The dying was fun, but the painting was even better. Then Sunday morning we had the girls baskets out on the table. I was afraid to put them anywhere else lower in the room due to our little mice problem. Miriam was again in heaven with all the candy and Bekah was all about her pink ring she got in her basket. After church we had friends over and enjoyed a nice Easter dinner. Here are the few pictures we took from Easter. I will do better next year....hopefully.

My Girls

I had my birthday this week. Glenn and the girls were really sweet and we had a fun birthday evening. My mom called me and one comment she made was, "I can't believe that my baby girl is 27 years old." It has been a long time since I have thought of myself as my mother's baby girl. It got me thinking about my girls and how they are growing so quickly. So as I think of Bekah and Miriam and how they have changed in that time it is amazing to me. Here are a few things that I love about how they are changing.

Rebekah

Rebekah is incredibly sweet right now. She loves her little rewards and I guess most of all she loves making the choice to be happy. She is such a little helper and is always in the kitchen with me "working." I love it. The other day while we were making dinner she told me not to come out of the kitchen. I could hear her running around the front room, shuffling things around. Occasionaly she would ask me to close my eyes and come out and help lift something. 10 min later I came out to a sparkling clean front room and the biggest smile in the world.

She is so sweet to Miriam. If Bekah does something for herself she does it for Miriam too. She puts toothpaste on Miriam's toothbrush and brings it to her. She brings her food that she is begging for. She finds her sippees (which have been sprawled around the house). If her sister is hurt she is the first one there to help her. I love it. And in turn Miriam does the same for Bekah.

Bekah is loves learning these days too. Her newest thing is that if something is hard she keeps trying. She says, "Mom this is hard, but I am still trying, because if I try and mess up, I can try again, I think I can....I think I can...I think I can." It is so nice, she is really doing a lot more things.

One of my favorite things about her now is that her prayers have gotten so much more detailed and sincere. I never thought the day would come when the 2 or 3 line prayer would end. But she is so incredibly thoughtful. I love to see her take to the concept of prayer and care for others so much.

Oh and one last thing...it amazes me at how tall she has gotten just in this year alone. I think she has gone through more than three pant sizes, because she has gotten so tall. The other night she wore PJ shorts to bed and her long gangly legs were hanging out. I couldn't believe how long they were.

Miriam
Oh, were do I begin with our Miriam. She is such a snuggly bug. She always wants to be with whoever is on the couch so she can snuggle.

She is becoming such the toddler. She is starting deny my hand when walking and wants to do everything her way. That makes for a difficult walk up our 4 flights of stairs.

She is a mischievious little thing too. Today we went to the zoo and I knew if I brought the stroller I would end up letting her out and then trying to tote it around so I left it. But she was into everything. Any fence she found she was not wanting to climb up to get a better look she was trying to climb in to get to the forbidden terrotory (she did have success a few times, thankfully the kangaroos are pretty lazy). Any chair or stool she can find she will scoot over to somewhere she shouldn't be and begin exploring. She is always into my bags, laundry, phone, linen closet, dresser, and more.

Miriam is a MAJOR talker. When we go out for the day and Bekah is way ahead of us on the scooter Miriam just gabs away. Not neccesarily to me, but to the world. She mainly talks about Bekah or whatever she sees that she knows the name of. Usually it turns into a little tune. Here are a few of my favorite phrases..."Oh well" she says this all drawn out like she is sighing......after I get off the phone she always says.."who you talk to?".....if you aren't following her she yells out..."come on Mommy/Daddy/Bekah."

Miriam is into anything that Bekah does. That includes a really young princess obession. She will follow Bekah around and say or do what Bekah says. However, she has figured out how to push Bekah's buttons. She will take a toy of Bekah's and with a giant grin run and hide. It makes Bekah so mad and Bingo Miriam gets the reaction she is looking for.
She loves singing songs and you can usually hear her singing..ABCD... or asking for a song she loves. She loves the game of hide and seek too. She will randomly turn into whatever wall she is near and start saying..."4,8,9...come and det you."
She is such a fun little girl. I am excited to see how she will grow and change just like how Bekah has.

I really do love my girls. I am actually sad for the day Bekah starts school, I am going to miss having her everyday with me and I know Miriam will miss her infinitely more than I will.

Oh so delicious

I thought I would share a little something that I have come to love here in NY. I am sure they have them other places too. But you can walk into almost any pizzaria here and ask for an order of garlic knots. They are ridiculouly delcious. I especially like them with pepperoni. They are chalk full of garlic and dare I say for any of the Haslers out there, they are much stronger than Louis triple garlic bread sticks. The girls and I met a friend at Sals pizzaria and ordered our breadsticks. It is still annoying to me that people crowd in all around you when you go to order something. Sometimes I am sure that I am too polite or that maybe I have personal space issues, because no one else here seems to. They just want their food or spot on the train as fast as possible. Funny thing. Anyway....we took our garlic knots to the park and enjoyed the 40 degree weather with our friends. We had such a nice time. The girls played at the park and I was in heaven with my garlic knots. So even if you don't live in New York maybe see if your pizza place sells them. You won't regret it.