spy kids

My date night on Friday with the boys consisted of activities and food tailored to their active lifestyle :) They wanted to enjoy the fine fare of a McDonald's Happy Meal...why do those meals make kids so happy?....I was hoping for something a little more along the lines of Cafe Rio(!), but a good french fry is hard to turn down...unfortunately! :/

They then ran and ran up and down the play area and got out a lot of energy. And yet - there is always more energy built up in these boy bodies...how DO they do that?!

We came home and had movie night watching 'Mars Needs Moms' - the message of that show is tender & I'm hoping they got the message that moms that ask their children to do things, do it for that crazy LOVE thing....the female martian in the show that says that line over and over is my favorite :)

The next day we split into groups - I took Madeleine to dance and then we had lunch with the Lord girls. The boys got haircuts and went and bought a new toilet seat as Jacob broke the seat when he was in time out. That boy is 98% sweet - it's the 2% that is an intense storm!

We all came home mid-afternoon to finish our Saturday jobs and play Legos....the latter wasn't exactly on the list of work for the afternoon but the 3 kiddos are in serious Lego building moods lately.

We finally had everything finished for the day & started to get ready to go to Grandma Joy's for her Valentine's Party with the Utah grandkids. The boys came decked out in their Spy Kids gear --- this is their other joy besides Legos it's to dress up and play spies and it's hilarious what they come up with. Such as Bryson's disguise of the yellow wig!

These boys crack me up - they are becoming such great friends and playing together super well for the majority of the time. When they don't get along it's intense and fireworks definitely shoot out from their personalities...but overall I love how much they can play and entertain one another and that they get so excited to show one another things that they have done. Throughout the day I hear Jacob talking about "Bryson will be so excited that I found this for him" (usually something to do with a Lego piece) or "When will the kids be home so that I can play with Bryson?"

I love my Spy Boys!

{here's a little video of Spy Boy Jacob doing a little dance with his spy get-up....I did actually watch this on the blog so I know it was up at some point - but if you can't see it please state in the comments...I can see it on one of our computers and not the other! }

Dynamic Duo

We found out there would be a Daddy Daughter Dance to celebrate Valentine's Day at the children's new school. Madeleine was really excited about the opportunity to invite Dad to come to a dance at the school - she asked him to come, plans were made, the ticket was purchased and tonight was the big event!

This is one of the times when I'm so grateful that Bryson has a job that actually works for our family to do...family things.  It would have been so rare for him to have a night back in NY when he could have taken any of the children to an event....this move continues to bless our lives in so many little ways that are proving to make big impacts.  The schedule finally fell into place yesterday when Bryson & I were talking about how to get Madeleine down to his work place so that they could go to dinner.  The older two have early out each Friday, and Grandma Joy has picked them up every Friday but today she was working...so I picked them up and we zoomed up to drop Jacob up at his Kindergarten program at the U.

I finally remembered to get a photo of our little Ute today...and appropriately he was all in red!  No worries - yesterday he was all in BYU blue....but people up at the U just call it blue.  Strange.  

I needed to run up to the outlets in Park City to exchange some clothes for the kiddos, so with the older two we drove up the canyon and marveled that there is actually more snow up at the top of those mountains!
The weather was beautiful - sunny and 40 degrees.  After being in two stores, Madeleine & Bryson begged to play on the playground in the parking lot...which I forget to do as often as I should now that we have moved back and NO ONE in Utah it seems goes to the park in the winter.

 Why would people need to do that when they have homes with playrooms they can play in, or other places they can go I suppose?  For us - this is one NYC habit that I'd like to keep....on days when the sun is pouring down & the air is brilliant blue, it's almost as if the weather is begging for people to be outside enjoying the brilliance!

 We obliged Mother Nature's request and M & B had a blast running around and chasing each other around the playground.  I don't remember the playgrounds in NY being covered with so much snow...either I'm already forgetting or they did have people that came and shoveled them knowing that children would be out to play.  The only tricky part in playing on all the snow came when Bryson stepped in a slush puddle and his feet became sopping wet - so, yes that wouldn't happen at home, but neither would getting outside and gulping in the fresh air and turning your face up to the sun to say a big cheery HELLO!

We picked Jacob up from his class and then drove down to Bryson's work. It was our first time in his office and although Salt Lake is not NYC - it's a beautiful downtown! I want to spend more time discovering the streets - there are beautiful buildings that I'd love to try my hand at taking photos of - more importantly I picture the children standing around these visual masterpieces.  I need to work on getting down there - as a huge lesson learned from NY is that time goes so quickly and I don't want to procrastinate any day that I have in any place we live.

We enjoyed seeing Bryson's office while Madeleine changed into her cute Valentine's outfit, and then Bryson surprised Madeleine with a bouquet of flowers and we pretended he was coming to pick her up when he knocked on the office door. Bryson had asked Madeleine where she wanted to go to dinner before the dance, and she chose The Garden on top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building...she has great taste! I was able to convince Madeleine to let me take a few pictures of her after much persuasion, and then even more persuasion to take a picture with the handsome man she gets to go out with!

She is one lucky girl to enjoy a date with this man.  They got home from the dance and I asked them both how it was....did Dad show her a lot of dance moves?  She gave me a cute but funny look...."I danced with  my friends a lot Mom."

I looked at Bryson and he nodded in the affirmative.  She then proceeded to tell us, "But I did INVITE Dad, and we did dance for some of the songs.  It's just I wanted to dance with my friends."  And so it begins - the point in life when our little girl doesn't cling to her Daddy's legs for her dance.  She doesn't beg to be twirled around anymore....at least in public :)  I know they had a great time together and that it builds their relationship - however, as life moves on moments like this are a little bitter-sweet....she is growing up all too fast.  

He is one lucky dad to have this beautiful, smart and incredibly sweet GIRL to take out!

oh la la!

Tonight we had a Stake Relief Society Conference, and I went and enjoyed the speaker and meeting some of the sisters in my ward more. The highlight came when a sister came up and told me with a beautiful French accent, "You must think I have been rude staring at you, but I was certain you were French when I first saw you. And so I waited for you to speak, and when you spoke I realized you were not French....however, you still look quite French."

Ah - j'adore Pascal, ma nouvelle amie! :)

the theater ~ the theater

In making a move mid-year my thoughts & hopes were to give the children growing experiences that would help through the transition process.  I didn't want them to feel that they were giving up everything they had known in NY - extra-curricular classes, friends and social activities.  At the same time I knew that we needed to be careful with our time - we were close to an over-scheduled life with the classes in NY.  While perusing websites looking for events & classes I thought I found a perfect idea.  It was a play that would only be one week long.  Madeleine had been in a fall theater class and loved it, and was disappointed that she was leaving right when they were assigning parts to those in the class for the play they put on each spring.  Murray Arts were advertising "try-outs" for the play Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs on Monday, January 3rd - which was a mere three days after we landed, but I'd be able to take the kiddos over and try out, and perhaps they'd be able to jump into this activity.

We went to a Jr. High late in the afternoon on Monday and I was impressed with the 2 directors that are part of the Missoula Children's Theater {it's amazing what their organization does!}.  They put the children into a huge circle and did a very low-key, but spot on audition.  The children spoke in groups & then as individuals, they sang in groups and did little pantomime activities.  I was so impressed that these young ladies (they are college graduates, about 21+ years of age) kept over 100 children engaged for an hour and a half while having them speak parts and do these activities.  The only part that was hard to digest was that there were over 100 children and they had stated only 50 children would get parts.  I turned to Bryson Sr. and told him it would be ironic if Bryson Jr. or Jacob got a part, but Madeleine didn't as I had chosen this experience in particular to help her during the transition with the move.

The group being led through try-outs & the only disappointment ...no diversity.  It's like looking at a large container of white milk....we realize our days of the NYC mixed races and culture might not be at the same level here in SLC.  

It turned out that of the three children - our Bryson got a part in the show.  The group he was in were cast as Bats --- yes, bats.  I don't remember bats in the Snow White book or movie either however this was a new Snow White adaptation and most importantly - he was thrilled and so excited for his part!  Madeleine put on a brave face, although she allowed me to give her a side hug and whispered that she wished it could have been like the Up With Kids performance that we did 2 summers ago...everyone got a part :)

During the week between myself and Grandma Joy we took Bryson to his rehearsals and he had a blast learning the songs and moves that he and the group would do on the stage.  He was ecstatic when he found out in one of the songs he would get to play the part of Dracula and have an extra special part in his actions.  To be cast as Dracula when you are a young boy - he could end his stage career and be happy!  However, with this experience I noticed that we have someone who really loves the stage, and the outlet that it brings for his ham it up personality.

Again I was impressed while watching the directors working with the children and youth in the production.  They moved everyone through at a very quick pace (after all you don't have a lot of time in one week with rehearsals only after school!), and the children responded really well and knew the songs, movements and play inside and out by Saturday!

A rather handsome and precious bat, which gave great opportunity to act and pretend to be the mean & nasty bats his group sang about!  

There were two performances that day - which was perfect....it was actually a rather busy day for us!  We had moved our things into the new place on Friday, Madeleine had her first dance class for Irish Step-Dancing on Saturday morning...thankfully there was Plan B to get her involved!

The great part about being by family is the help and that you can divide and conquer!  When we came back from dance Grandma Joy was already at the house putting together Jacob's bed and Nana Lord was just arriving after dropping Bryson off at his dress-rehearsal that morning.  Papa Lord showed up soon after and with everyone helping out we worked hard to unpack and get beds set up for the next few hours - we were able to get a lot accomplished with so many hands working together!

Nana & Papa then took the kiddos and picked up the Lord cousins to go and see the matinee performance while we finished up a few more items around the house.  We then cleaned up and met the kiddos down at Grandma Joy's house to eat dinner and then I ran Bryson back down to get back into his costume for the final performance.  It was a lot of running around that day & again we are grateful for all the help family has been with this move.  We forgot how incredibly nice it would be to share the load with others that wanted to help - we might get used to this business of having family around! :)

We finally settled into our seats to enjoy the entire production of Snow White, and wow --- we were impressed!  To see what they had accomplished in a week was amazing - the children all knew their parts and we had a few favorite characters and lines by the end of the evening!  Down below in this picture is Ms. Hannah, one of the co-directors for the play.  She actually was the Woodsmen and her part integrated itself into almost every scene in the play so that she was on stage and present to help move things along.  The children weren't waiting for her cues - but her presence was a perfect fit for the production --- and she was really talented and fun to watch!   {Bryson is in front and to the left of her performing during his Bat number}

Bryson turned to Dracula!

And now for his BIG LINE {referring to himself as Dracula}...."That's right the one and only!"  And oh wow, did he do great...he spoke clearly and loud and I realized he loves the stage.  He comes alive up there - and although we know he is a ham at home, it's great to see extra personality come out on stage....what a character this boy is and can be!

The end of the production came all too soon - we really enjoyed this show!  For having children do all the parts we thought it was well done and the girl that was cast as the Wicked Queen was phenomenal!  I wish I could have captured her facial expressions and her acting abilities...she really helped to make the entire play.  Oh, and she had the best cackle of a witch I've ever heard!

Well done Sir Dracula and Bat-Man....we look forward with great anticipation for whatever show you are in next.  Braaahhhhhaaaaa!!!!

1776

We were up until 10:45pm with Madeleine doing her homework! I can't believe the amount of homework that girl has - then again, she is very detailed and makes sure everything is done to perfection.

Although it was was too late to be up for a 5th grader doing homework - I started to think how much I love the curriculum that she is learning here. From my observations on what she brings home for homework and talking to the teachers, there is a balance to what is being taught...and finally and thankfully Madeleine is receiving real Social Studies lessons. In fact - they get it in double-doses each day. Madeleine sits with Mrs. Moore for the first half of the day with their homeroom class - they are taught Reading/Writing, Spelling/Vocabulary & handwriting (all Language Arts) and Math. In the afternoon the two 5th grade classes switch teachers, and Madeleine's class goes to Ms. Ross who then teaches Social Studies & Science. This is also the time when twice a week the students divide up and attend their extra classes - orchestra and gym.

I can't express how much I love that although her workload is heavy and she has so much to do each evening - Madeleine is really studying the history of this country. The classes have a reader that goes through stories from history - so even in Language Arts their stories are history based (this is cross-curriculum teaching which I assumed every school did....but the NYC schools, or at least ours, was severely lacking in their Social Studies instruction as well as their Language Arts....they wrote stories ALL the time, but there was no focus on spelling and making sure children were understanding rules for grammar. I had no idea how much we were lacking in this area until we moved here!). The class right now is focusing on the beginning of the American Revolution - Madeleine has written persuasive papers on being a Loyalist or a Patriot. She draws and composes bulletins that show sides to both the Americans & the British, and her spelling and vocabulary words each week are full of words from history.

They are within a few weeks of finishing up the Revolution and then starting on how the government was established - which is part of the Declaration of Independence and learning why 1776 was so important.

I love history. It's incredible to then see your children learn and love history. We have lived in some very significant places where history was made in this country. I'm thankful that we've had the opportunity to visit these places as our family - and now I'm so thankful that Madeleine is learning more about the facts and why these places have such an impact on our lives and the story of America.

And, on a different important not about 1776....check out this bounty that I got at the store --- all for $17.76.  No kidding....I laughed when the total came up!

I am not an extreme couponer by any stretch of the imagination....however, I have been working to buy things that are advertised specials & if I can get a coupon to bring down the total that is double fantastic.

This deal above was to buy the Stauffer's Lasagna and then the bread, salad and a liter of Coke product was free (THAT is what is missing...my 2 bottles of Fresca!  How did I forget to put them in the photo?!).  The best part is that I have remembered that you can price match when you shop at Wal-Mart, so instead of running to different stores (unless I am driving by one and can go in) and taking extra time & gas I shopped at Wal-Mart this week and I was excited about the results!  This meal deal then got better - before I left I remembered reading about a coupon that Facebook put out for Stauffers....a few clicks later and I had two $2 off coupons for the lasagna.  Then when I got to the store and reached into the freezer to retrieve the lasagna I noticed that each box had a sticker on for a free package of cookie dough when you purchased a Stauffer product.  Hurray - that would come in handy for our FHE treat that night! :)

This deal is not free, and it's not even below $10 for everything...which I'm sure is against the rules of Extreme Couponing!  However, I was excited for what I found and that I was able to work with a sale and use the coupon...and throw in that cookie dough (yummy!).  The best part is that when I added up all of the items that I got - and even adding up what it would cost if I make the lasagna on my own....I came out ahead with this purchase!  And I love knowing that I have 2 lasagnas sitting in the freezer for a day when life gets too busy, or a time when I need to take dinner to someone...I say that really saves the day!  

Fancy ~ FANCY!

Today while I was driving around, Jacob was chatting in the backseat.  Sometimes he was talking to me - sometimes just chatting about life to himself.

I heard him start to say some P words - and then Pa, Pap - Pap --- Papillon.  
"Hey Mom, did you know Papillon is butterfly in French?"

"Wow Bud - I did know that, but how did YOU know that?!"

"Oh, I learned in in my class in a book."

"What book was it in - one you read with Ms. Rachel?"

"No, it was just in a Fancy Nancy books - she uses really fancy words for everything."

speaking of fancy - check out Jacob's newest "fancy" glasses...it's part of his spy-gear that he got for Christmas and he wore these around for about a week straight.

I love that he learned this amazing word in his new class - and it cracks me up that it's from a Fancy Nancy book.  I do love that sassy little character and if her books teach my child to have a fancy vocubulary -- Hooked on Fancy Nancy works for us!

Jacob's fancy life keeps us in a state of smiles and laughter!  The first few days that the older kids were in school, Jacob and I would hit the DI (Deseret Industries - I am seriously liking that place!) looking for a few things that we needed in setting up our home....we thought we'd lost the iron (turns out it was just in a random box), but we found snow shovels and all sorts of needed "junk" there!  Jacob would always find a toy that he'd talk me into buying - and since they aren't super expensive it was fun to have him walk around so excited about his new treasurers!  The astronaut helmet in the picture was a mere $1 and it talks to you in your ear....how super cool!  Also, that same day Jacob found a Buzz Lightyear arm control that was again a whopping $1, and it did all these super cool tricks when you pushed the right buttons - and well, I'm a sucker in a store is the bottom line.  It was very cute to see him come right home and put on his Buzz Lightyear pajamas and run around with the Buzz arm control and the astronaut helmet on his head.  

And - so that I don't sweep the obvious part of this story under the rug...Jacob's new class.  There is of course a story with this - so get comfy!  When I went to enroll the children at the public school in the neighborhood, I gave them all the papers for each child and they stopped when they got to Jacob and told me that he wouldn't be allowed into Kindergarten due to his birthday.  His birthday is on September 24th, and the deadline for entering Kindergarten in Utah is September 1st.  I asked the secretary if I could speak to the Principal about this, and within a few minutes I was standing before the Principal trying to plead the case of Jacob - that he had already been enrolled in Kindergarten back in NYC and that he had not only already completed a 1/2 year of Kindergarten there - it is full-day Kindergarten so he's already done the same amount of hours for Kindergarten that the Kindergarten children will do here in Utah.  I also told her that we had Pre-K in the school last year, and that was a 1/2 day program, 5 days a week - much like the K program here.


I then tried to sell her on how well Jacob was doing in class and that he was socially ready for Kindergarten....however that is when I think I lost my sales pitch.  For it was right at this time, that the boys behavior got the better of them, and true to character someone had touched someone else, and that lead to another touch, and then the touch become a hit and the hit became a pinch and the pinch became a kick --- until heaven help me they were on the ground wrestling while I was still trying to talk to the Principal while also realizing that I needed and started to pull them apart.  I was shooting daggers at them from my eyes -- yet, I was trying to keep a very sweet look on the Principal who was again going through Utah law and they just don't accept children that aren't 5 by September 1st.  The boys were swinging punches at each other around my body and I decided that today was probably not the day to convince the Principal that my children were extraordinary and that Jacob would add to the Kindergarten program.  If anything, I was worried that she would tell me they had NO room for us in this public school.

I left the school firmly holding two boys hands on either side of me, and they definitely found out that mom was very, deeply disappointed in them.  Oh, some day I will laugh on this --- even more than I am right now, because I get how funny the moment was...irony is not lost on me!  However, at the moment I thought Jacob's chance to get into Kindergarten at that school was over.  Thankfully - it's really not up to the Principal...I got this loud and clear the day when I went back to register all the children and have them start their first day of school - only to have it told me that due to State Law and that the Principal had called down to the District Office - Jacob would not be allowed to start Kindergarten this year.  I told the Principal that I needed to make the phone calls myself to try to see if they could appeal the process and so I started to make my phone calls.  I called and got a no from not only Granite School District but also the top of the State Board of Education that they absolutely, without any chance of appeal let any child enter Kindergarten during a school year where they have already started a Kindergarten program in another state ---- if they do not meet the Sept. 1st deadline.  Can you talk about extreme frustration?!  Where is the good neighbor policy when you need one?  How can they deny a child an education that they have already been accustomed to, and why would you pause/stop a child's growth only due to that his birth date does not make up to your records because (gasp) --- said child started their education in another state because that is where they lived at the time!  I couldn't believe it when the lady told me that they have had families move here in late Spring (April and May) from out of state, and Utah will absolutely not let their child into Kindergarten if they don't meet the deadline - these children would have been attending K in their other state for at least the past 8-9 months and they don't let them into a class here?  Well, it's good to know that our children's future and education is placed into such caring and considerate individuals who make these laws!

Thankfully - I have a name of someone in Legislation here and because I'm starting to go a little crazy not having a project to keep me busy --- I'm going to try my hand at politics and trying to get a bill proposed in the Utah Legislation.  I hope they will see that there should at least be an appeals process for families, like ours, that move here from out of state and have proof of the child attending another school.  It just makes sense this way - really, I'd love to know what person came up with the current law....I'd love to have them be the one to explain it to the children that aren't able to go to school and continue on with the class level they have just left.

Anyway - the good news is....there are Kindergarten programs at private schools and after looking for a few, I am thankful that I found out about the U of U program through a gal that I bought a chair from on Craigslist (there are some amazing blessings that come when we open our mouths and share stories that I think at times must be dull to the other person...however, many times it turns out that by opening my mouth the Lord is answering my small prayers of what needs to be done in my life).  I went on a tour of the U's program with Jacob, and although he was hesitant and wouldn't talk to anyone I was immediately in love with the entire program.  The director is from Scotland and has her master's in Early Child Education and creates the way that they teach the Utah State Curriculum (so Jacob is learning exactly what other K students are as well), however the way she approaches education is very child centered and wanting the child to be in charge of their own learning and develop their own love of learning.  That is where my heart lies as well - NYC was too caught up in the rat race of education and while there are some pros to being that on top of education and pushing for your child to be and get the best...sometimes its just too much and the focus in not on the child which is where it should be.  The other bonus to this program is that it uses the students that are studying education and they get practicum hours for working in the classroom.  For a class of only 15 students, there are usually 5 adults in the room!  I still can't believe it when I stop to observe his class from the little concealed window and I'll see Jacob working with a small group of 3-4 children and at least one adult...many times I've seen just Jacob getting one-on-one attention.  It was such a wonderful program that landed in our laps & although it's a crazy time of day to have his class (1:10pm - 4pm) and I wish the commute weren't so long it's only 20 minutes each way and thankfully our lives are not busy as we have just moved and I'm committed to keeping the schedule for family this go-around....in the city it was a priority among too many other priorities!

Jacob in his classroom as captured through the "secret window" - Bryson Jr. likes to pop in here and say he's spying on Jacob, which makes Jacob mad at B....and so goes the circle of brotherly love....

Anyway, I had no idea that we would have a UTE in the family ever - or this young - however, I'm grateful to the university that it has this program and that Jacob is benefiting from it.  We are BYU fans through and through - and yet I can appreciate the U for the great job it does with its education programs...especially this education program.  And I'm so grateful that our Jacob just loves his class, all his new friends, and the fancy new words like Papillon that he is learning!

We'll just have to remember to save all the BYU shirts to wear just around home for the next few months :) 

Memories

Each day there is a moment where I miss NYC. Perhaps it's seeing a friend, running to Debbie & Lillian's to borrow something or to send the boys to say hello or show Lillian something, missing the beat of the city or the treats that we enjoyed there.  Thankfully --- we can recreate the latter.  The other things, we aren't really homesick for them, but there is a part in my heart that misses much of what was our life the past 2+ years.

Today, we must have all needed to do something about our NYC memories, as it seemed the afternoon was full of city trademarks right within our home way out here in the good ol' west.

To pay homage to the city that we just left we went all out & I made the copy-cat recipe for Banana Pudding (I call it Banana Mousse since it's SO thick!) from the one and only (well, not the only one as there are quite a few in the city!)....MAGNOLIA BAKERY

Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding (Mousse) Recipe

1 package instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups cold water
1-14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups heavy cream
1 box Nilla wafers
4 ripe bananas

Put vanilla pudding mix in a bowl. Whisk in water and sweetened condensed milk. Once it's whisked together, refrigerate for at least 15-30 minutes, preferably an hour.

Whip cream with an electric mixer until it gets soft peaks. Fold the cream into the pudding base.  Be sure to mix completely so there are no more yellow streaks.

Slice up bananas. Arrange1/3 of Nilla wafers along the bottom of a pan or bowl (I like to make mine in a deep glass bowl we got for our wedding - it's almost like a Trifle bowl so that you can see the layers) and then top with half of the bananas. Top with half of the pudding mixture. Top with another 3rd of your Nilla wafers and the rest of your bananas. Put the rest of the pudding on top and then crush the remaining Nilla wafers until they're a powder and sprinkle over the finished pudding.

Cover with plastic wrap, keep in the fridge for at least 4-6 hours.  I just learned with this 2nd time of making it....that it really is that much better when it gets almost 12 hours to set....I'm eating the left-overs now and I like the consistency that the wafers have become with how long it has sat in the fridge to soften them up.  Oh this is divine --- it's almost scary that I know how to make it, as now I can have it anytime when in the city it would be a rare treat when I'd let myself stop and get this nectar of the gods! 

I had started the pudding the night before, however Madeleine & Bryson were so excited to help me finish making it, and then Bryson Jr. talked me into making Black & White cookies.  To make a long story somewhat short :)  I went in on Friday to his class as he had been Friend of the Week in his class.  I had already done a presentation just about Bryson on Wednesday - showing pictures and the two of us told about who he was and what he liked.  On Friday I got to go in again, and this time he and I did a presentation on what it's like to live in NYC.  We had talked about making the Black & White cookies to share with his class so earlier this week I had collected all the ingredients and then Thursday came along and it was a crazy day -- our van windshield wipers has stopped working when I was driving to get Jacob from school and it was pouring rain!  The older kids and I had to pull over and Bryson left work to pick up Jacob and pick us up so that we could run him back to work and then drive home.  We were off-schedule, cranky and the timing was not working in the first place to make the cookies...so that by 8pm when I started to finally pull things out and realized I didn't even have a cookie sheet (mine were old & nasty so I threw them out when we moved)....I just figured I'd find some at a local bakery and serve those to Bryson's class.

Bryson had really wanted to make these cookies for his class with me - that boy loves to cook!  As we have church from 9am - 12noon we had most of the afternoon to bake and play games...so after the pudding was finished we started on the specialty of almost every deli or bakery in the city, the famous
Black & Whites! 

And a funny part to this story - I found the Black & White recipe while browsing many magazine articles while at Dr. Lord's office (the Dentist Dr. Lord the first week we had moved here).  I came across the recipe and wondered why I hadn't tried them before - which I know why as our kitchen was so small in the city I really gave up most fun cooking...but now, with a kitchen that I can actually work in I knew I'd have to try these.  


I pulled out my iphone and took a few photos of the recipe, which I told this story when we got to Nana & Papa Lord's house for Sunday dinner when someone asked where I'd found the recipe.  Papa Lord laughed and said that was the difference between our generations - he would have asked for a photo copy of the recipe, Nana said she'd probably have written it down by hand & I pulled out the phone to take a picture....I wonder what trajectory path our children are on....will there be some gadget that can produce the item on the spot?  Probably not, but I'm sure it will exceed what I did in "copying" the recipe down.  

I made a few tweaks in the recipe - I doubled the recipe and even then I don't think it made near the amount I had expected.  I need to get a cookie scoop so that I can get even amounts for each mound.  The spoon worked fine, however some of my edges were really scraggly and it would be nice to have more of the moon look of a perfect circle for these cookies.  Also, I put a little more lemon zest into the batter...probably by just 1/4 tsp. but I liked how it picked up the lemon flavor and then also I squeezed fresh lemon juice into the white frosting mixture as it tasted too much like powdered sugar.  I didn't measure, but I'm guessing 1/2 - 1 tsp. of lemon juice according to what your palette likes.  

The frosting takes awhile, so listen to music you like or bake with someone that you want to catch up with and enjoy talking because you'll be there for some time frosting these cookies!  The key is to do the white first - if you have time let it set up and then do the chocolate....we didn't have time so we did them at the same time and I was surprised how well the dividing line worked between the vanilla & chocolate.  There was no problem  with that - the only issue was that the frosting hardens up rather quickly so I made it in 1/2 batches or someone else on a blog I read put a little butter in hers which kept the frosting smooth and easy to work with.

Either way - these are delicious cookies that are enjoyed....the biggest question is how you'll eat them?  White first - or black first - or trying to get the perfect mix of black & white in every cookie (this last one is attributed to Jerry Seinfield in one his episodes, which I'd love to find....the classic episodes (meaning the clean ones) are so true to living in the city, Bryson and I laugh with new appreciation for that show!

While we were busy making the cookies, Jacob had taken our last game of Blokus and turned it into his art masterpiece where he created his version of The Empire State Buildling (the building is in red, blue clouds in the sky and then some trees or the playground (at Madison Square Park) is on the left. It looks like in the eyes of a child the tallest parts of a playground are close to that of the tallest building in NYC!

We had a fun afternoon enjoying time together, and making some memories of our time in NYC.  We are definitely enjoying many of the perks of living in a home, and being by family - however it's nice to give into memories and recreate things we loved about one of the great places we have lived.  

I'll make a list/post soon of all the things we love about the changes and the things we do miss.....as I said we are more than grateful to be here, and yet at the same time We Love NYC!