Times Square NYC on December 30th......

We went to a diner and as always, Luke orders way too much food....he has long stopped ordering from the kids' menu. 

Look at that amazing smile.....I love his smile

Family selfie......Mom's arm is not long enough. 

Dad's selfie skills are no better.....

There are tons of people dressed up as these characters....here is Bart

A silver tin-man.....he was making a killing 

Finally, we ask a total stranger to take our picture....30 degrees....felt like a lot colder. 

The scariest Minie Mouse ladies come after us later for a TIP.....tons of them surround you....Next time I know....no pictures with them....they are like sharks...

The toy store has a ride!!! we had to wait an hour and a quarter...so we did not do the ride....

Luke's dream toys.....this one Chris and I thought would be god if we have guests....we can all break out into a fun Nerf gun shooting frenzy.....

Caught Mrs. Liberty counting her money.....way too funny not to photograph. 

Woody has put on a few pounds.....and seems like he's in an argument with his gal....

Somewhere up there is the ball....the infamous ball.....

Great skylight on the way back to my mom's in Long Island. 

Ornament Making Evening......

I love making art out of trash...what better time to do this than the Holidays....The kids and I sat down tonight and made some ornaments from whatever was around....You will need trash, scissors, a great glue (tacky glue works best), ribbon or string.....

This tiny 2" gift box cube was made from a recycled box we got from the trash room. 

The snowman came from some ribbon and old greeting card stock I had leftover from last year. The arms were just colored black and cut into branches. 

The best purchase any mom of a girl could do is buy a huge box of gems for all sorts of projects. Above is Nora's name in gems.....

 I love buttons, especially layered buttons. The heart shape was cut from a cereal box we got from the recycling room in my apt building. 

I have a heart-shaped Fiskars puncher and we cut out some hearts from unwanted magazines we got in the mail. The wreath shape in the back is the top of an oatmeal container. 

This tag was made from a very nice box that was in the recycling box in our floor. I used sharpie to write the words 'Love' on the front. 

Th backing is cereal box cardboard. We used tacky glue to glue on these petals that were leftover from when we were making barrettes. The buttons, shiny stars and gems we also had laying around, leftover from past adventures. 

This again is the cardboard from a cereal box. To create a gingerbread house look I needed lots of colors and textures. I used gems, buttons, cut up magazine paper and shiny decorations. 

Luke, my 8 year old son did this one all by himself. He cut out the hearts with the Fiskars puncher, colored them green, then found shiny red stars and blue gems to go over each heart. The framework for the wreath is the top of the oatmeal jar. 

This beautiful flower is a water bottle cut up. The middle is decorated with gems, Nora's idea. 

Nora did this flat bulb. She gemmed both sides. 

This is the top of a huge jar. Nora gemmed the inside. 

N for Nora.....

Christmas Holiday Highlights

Nora with her double stroller at Lelas.

Sadie and the kids. I MISS having a dog.
Luke with his diamond. Santa sent it.
A strange bird we saw on our hike. Took me 2 hours to find out what it was.....a COOT!
got snow? (Nora loves to eat snow)
Nature walk finds.......adorable duckies. They look unreal.
Snow on my mom's bird feeder.
Six swans.
Nora in the snow.....have no idea what she's doing.
Alex and Nora dancing.
Yia with 5 of her 7 grandkids.
Yia reads to Luke.
Luke and Nora show off Auntie Jenna's handmade cookies.
And off with their heads.
New Years Drinks.......(non-alcoholic for L and N)
Nora and her drink......YUM! Happy New Year!
Mario and his coffee......none of us stayed up until midnight......yes, we are getting older!!LOL