Remember the Time . . . .

That my husband got me a ticket to see In the Heights on Broadway for Valentine's Day?

And remember how I loved it and thought I would like to become a Dominican dancer?

And how I also wished that I knew a little more Spanish?

And how I got my picture taken with KeKe Palmer from 'Akeelah and the Bee' even though I've never seen that movie and didn't know she was famous until Susie recognized her?

And, finally, remember how much I love Noah and how he always does super sweet things for me, and I just happened to document this one?

Yeah, I remember, too.

Park Action

We have a su-weet park just behind our apartment. The other day the weather tricked us, and we thought it was warm enough to play outside. Kind of, it was. But mostly, we were cold. We still got in about 30 minutes of playing, which is not too shabby if you ask me.

Here we have Calvin striking the "Power Ranger" pose. He certainly looks tough, although I'm not sure if it's because he looks like he is doing a half-pirate, half-body builder pose or if he just exudes that frightening look that only a Power Ranger can give. Either way, it had me shaking in my booties.

This is one of all-time best "funny Mom" techniques. I feel inspired to let you in on it. When your kid is swinging and you are pushing them from the front, turn around and stick your rump way out. THEN (and this is the important part) when they are swinging back towards you, just before they hit you on the tushy with their cute little feet, jump up in the air, barely missing the hit, and fake yell, "Oooooowwwwwww!!!!!" It kills. It never fails to get yo mama a laugh. And I live for a laugh. Noah was kind enough to catch Wyatt and I mid fake-rump hit.

Have you ever seen anything sweeter? Noah was "getting Calvin warm" by wrapping him up in his coat. The boys don't like it when I try to get them warm because my arms aren't as long and snuggly as Noah's. Oh well, I'll always have the swing trick, I guess.

Wyatt thought he was big stuff climbing the ladder. It was all fun until just one more step up, and then he cried. I just left him there. In fact, he's still there. He'll figure out how to get down. KIDDING!! Come on! Of course I got him down. After 20 minutes. KIDDING AGAIN!!! I rescued him and weaseled a grateful, little kiss out him.

Cool silhouette shot of Calvin on the twisty slide. I know. I know. This will probably be in a National Geographic someday because it's such a good shot. I know.

The is a sure sign that you must go home -- - Blue Lips and A Lotta Snotta.

# 26 of 30

I took the boys on a ride around Staten Island via the bus. Public transportation is so fun!! A little bit germy, but still so fun!

I know. I know. With a su-weet ride like this why would I ever venture out in anything else? We all know the two-tone hood is in. It screams, "Next time I won't turn around to answer a hey mom when I'm driving."

But back to the matter at hand. Me. The boys. The bus.

Silly to you maybe, but a grand ole' time for us. We loved every detail from the gum on the floor to the regulars giving us crazy looks for taking pictures. Our only regret is that we didn't cruise around longer. I was afraid, however, what might happen if I went too far without enough snacks in my purse. Hungry children strike fear into my heart. I don't leave home without at least a baggie of goldfish. It's just too risky.

Here are the boys waiting for the bus. I actually didn't even go. I just gave Calvin the metro card and told him how to get home. He's so mature for his age. KIDDING! I didn't send them out by themselves. I paid the bum on the corner to ride with them. KIDDING!

Nothing says love like hugging a transit map pole.
I know this looks like he is in pain, but he is actually giving me the biggest smile that he could. By this moment he was so excited to be on the bus he could hardly stand it.
Do you like my glossy lips? It's just some nude colored gloss from Clinique. It's too bad that I can't say the same for the glistening blob beside Wyatt's nose. It is, in fact, snot. Yes. I'm just glad that he didn't lick it before I wiped it up. Simple pleasures.

The Mall

I took Wyatt out while Calvin was at a birthday party.

We roamed the mall like we were in middle school.

We rode up and down the escalators eight times just because.

We rode the overpriced train and crammed into the engine for the best view, but had to share it with an overly chatty tween. ugh.

Then we perused the toy store and found that we could enjoy it without buying anything.

The candy kiosk begged us to buy a sucker, so we obliged. We even bought the begging tootsie roll. And shared it.

We tried on pants at the Gap. Well, I did anyway. He just licked the mirror.

We washed the sticky sucker hand in a complimentary cup from Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, but didn't eat a hot dog.

We almost shop lifted from The Disney Store, but managed to rein ourselves in and return the Lightening McQueen before we got too far.

And last, but not least, we were fooled by the over sized basketball goal in Foot Locker. We really thought that we might find a giant basketball to go with it. No dice.

Then we cried.

But just for a second.

Then we were happy to just be together.

30

5 months and I'm toast. I'll be kissing my beloved 20's good-bye. In honor of 3 su-weet decades, I'm checking off items on my "30 Things To Do Before I Turn 30." I'll post a few for you because I'm sure you will be waiting with fevered hearts to see just what I MUST do before I become a REAL adult.

Cu-check. Read Othello. One of the few Shakespearean tragedies I had never read. Much like I expected: miscommunication and treachery leading to turmoil, heartbreak, and death of innocent and guilty alike. That Billy Shakespeare is quite talented. He was working me overtime. I admit I had to sit next to the dictionary and fill my margins with notes as I read. And yes, one of my notes says, "He talks a good talk, but he's full of it." That Iago is a punk. A real piece of work.

THE Parade

While Noah's family was in town, we took off to the city to watch the THE Macy's Thanksgiving's Day parade. Two things to note if we do it again:

1. Take EVERYONE'S advice and get there early, so that you can see. Try as we might in our alley, we could only see the ginormous ballons glide by. No Floats. Lucky for us, we were so busy keeping an eye on our kids, trying to keep them happy that we hardly realized that there was anything out there. Even luckier - - - we only got one decent pic of the floats: our dear favorite Sponge Bob. And you get just as good of a view as we did. 2. Don't stand next to the vent. My friend Mary Pack was right. Standing beside the nasty, stinky subway vent will ruin your parade experience. We moved after we noticed that stank. And no, I'm talking about the purple boots.Despite the imperfections, it was perfect! What's better than seeing your babies smile? What's better than laughing with your friends and family for a couple of hours? What's better than having this once in a lifetime experience in the city?

I can only think of one thing: coming home to Thanksgiving Dinner already made. Thanks to Boston Market and Cathy and Shaf.

I (heart) my life.

The Shafers Visit Lady Liberty

I'll make this short. I know that you have lots of blogs to surf. I know how Monday morning brings the promise of weekend posting. So, no stories, just witty quips under pictures. Enjoy.

My three dudes on the ferry out to Ellis Island.
Same Boat. Attempt at a group photo. As you can see, I'm not even willing to put a sandwich down for a family photo. I love sandwiches.
The beautiful ceiling in the main building at Ellis Island.

Lady Liberty. She's so tall.

I heard she's a member of Oprah's book club. She's always reading something. I admire that in a statue.
You have to climb 156 stairs to get to the feet. I had only climbed three stairs and started to dread the remaining 153. I am so proud of Calvin. He climbed all 156 up and down without any help!! He loved it. Wyatt slept through the whole thing.
This is a picture of me removing toe jam from Lady Liberty's toes. This particular piece was giving me some trouble. I'm kidding. I would never call my child toe jam. Or would I?
More comedic genius at work as I train my son in the ways of humorous fake nose picking

This is what you get when you go to the Statue of Liberty on such a rainy day and wear your hood.
So cold. So wet. I think my exact words to Noah were, "Hurry and take a picture of this because I want to remember exactly how miserable this wet moment was." We don't look too miserable, huh? I have to say spending the day with those boys of mine is always pretty fun. Even if it's wet.

Photo Share

I didn't get a chance post the pics from when Mom was here. I'm not sure why there are so many pics of us taken by us. I guess we didn't want to trouble anyone. She was such a fun guest. She was willing to do anything. We walked around a ton, looked at lots and lots of dish stores, and ate one of the most memorable burritos of all time. Mom, I loved spending lots of time and your money with you.

Oh please pick me Wicked lottery!!!!

Mom, Me, Ryan

Guest Blogger: My Mom

In an effort to bring diversity, equality, and plain ole' fun, I introduce my guest blogger: Kay Cruze (my Mom).

Topic: City Highlights

At the ferry
...Katie, "We have to run Mom."
Mom. "Run, run?"
Katie, "Run."
Katie, "You can stop running now." (with me still running)

My question of the day,
"Now where are we?"

Best statement,
"O.K, what next?"

What I learned in Kindergarten came in handy,
"Wait, we can't cross the street until the light changes!"

Walking Two Miles with Ryan for a Cookie
That Nobody Wanted to eat.

Walking, walking, walking, walking, walking.

Defective fans from Chinatown. Always check your merchandise, especially when you can't haggle them for a deal.

Lovely dreams...
Crate and Barrel, Anthropology, dishes, dishes, dishes.

"It's so simple, all that matters is chocolate." -a true insight from MAX BRENNER.

No Wicked for the weary, (sniff, sniff). Like lotteries mean anything.

A lovely night walk on Fifth Avenue.

One.... more..... ride..... on.... the..... subway.....uggg.

Watching the lovely city lights fade away on the ferry.....

What a lovely day with Katie, and in the words of Calvin, "I love the city."

Have You Missed Us?

Don't harp on me over that whole, "I'll post everyday for a month" thing. I've been living it up with my parents. Yesterday we took a jaunt into the city for the important stuff: lunch at Blue Smoke, rice pudding, and discount fans from China Town. We ended up in New Jersey outlet shopping and from there it was a blur of running, chasing, dragging, exhaustion, hunger, fun, and McDonald's. Here are a few pics of our journey.

Blue Smoke had the best pulled pork sandwich I have ever eaten. And I have eaten a lot of Buddy's BBQ and feel as though I could testify under oath that it pales in comparison to Blue Smoke's tender, oh so tender, and smokey sandwich.

We were only 24 hours early for the filming of a scene from CSI New York. We even beat the film crew there. We would have waiting longer, but our kids were cranky after just 6 hours of waiting. Just kidding, we didn't wait. We're not that crazy.

While meandering through the toy store with Grandma, Calvin found a little shopping cart and tried to load it up with goodies for himself. I have to say that I think it was the right approach. Grandma was eating out of his hands and if he had stuck with a moment of two longer, I think he could have haggled some more toys out of her.

When set free from the stroller for seconds, Wyatt ran right to some tree thing and climbed all over it. I don't have much else to say other than I thought it was adorable.

A Package of Bubble Tape, A Smattering of Gummy Bears, and 1 Fast Break

Tonight we Shafers settled. We started off well enough, but managed to end . . . ehhh ( that's a disgusted sound meaning we settled). We had grand intentions of returning our redbox movie to the Stop 'N Shop and while there pick up some ice cream. This was Plan A.

We were gonna go big. By big, I mean Klondike, Nutty Buddy, or Ben & Jerry's. The ice creams that yo mamma would never buy you. Yeah Baby.

The kids got impatient, so we moved to Plan B. McDonald's soft serve. You'll never hear me complain. I've always respected the Mickey D's soft serve. So, we're driving, and I'm imagining stealing a lick from Wyatt's cone. Then. We. Spot. The. Wendy's.

Oh! Maybe Plan C would be better? We almost sidetracked for that Frosty. MMMMmmmmm.....I like those frosties. But alas, no dice. No drive thru (I know. I thought the same thing. I'm not sure why they don't have one, but it wasn't there.)

Back to Plan B. We pressed forward to the Mickey D's. The drive thru line was too long.

Plan D. Mickey D's up the road. Ahhhh!!! What do you mean you don't sell ice cream. Whatever.

Plan E. CVS. I know, I know, I know. But we did it. We settled for:

1 package of Bubble Tape

1 package of Gummy Bears

1 Fast Break Candy Bar

All paid for with the change from the change jar.

Fridays Are The Best Days

The Boys and I decided to take Friday off. We called in sick to work and took a jaunt into the city.

We stopped at the playground to play.

But decided to chase pigeons instead.

Ate our lunch.

Took a ferry to Governor's island and took advantage of Free Bike Fridays.

We smiled at the feeling of the wind blowing through our hair.

Found a cool "cave" and climbed in.

Jumped out.

Finished exploring the island and went back to Manhattan to wait for Noah at the ferry terminal.

While there we wrestled . . . .

. . . and hung upside down.

And went home for a big, fat nap.

It was a good day.