Blessings Count

Thanks, Heather, for reminding me regularly, through your blog, to count my blessings. I forget sometimes.
Here goes:

1.) This face:

2.) The faces of that face's two sisters, that I'm too lazy to import pictures of at the moment.

3.) Having my family nearby to keep me going on a daily basis.

4.) A great babysitter who watches my three little faces and gives them loads of love and attention when I'm away.

5.) Cane's chicken tenders

6.) Great, big comfy sweatshirts to sleep in.

7.) The automatic door on my van.

8.) My blog.

9.) Warm weather.

I feel better now. Blessings counted.
It's only 8:44 but I'm going to bed.
Good-night.

Way Back Wednesday . . one day late

7 years ago.

Here I am, age 29, with my friend Tiffany (who has long since left town for the sunny beaches of Floriday, sniff, sniff). Why am I attempting to graze Tiff's right breast? You'd have to know me pretty well to know the answer to that. But she sure does look happy about it, doesn't she?

This was at our old workplace, months after I had Emma. Those were the days. Could my clothes be more baggy? But I DO wish I still had that sweater. It went with everything. So, umm, what's my point?

I'm pretty sure I don't have one. I just found this on my computer and wanted to share. I don't have a scanner so it's hard for me to participate in Way Back Wednesday because I have no old photos accessible.

So, that's all I have to say about that.

Overwhelmed

Do you find that you're constantly overwhelmed by everything that you have to do?

I've been finding that more and more.

Overwhelmed because my house is never clean. I have things stuck to my floor that I can't identify. I have enough hair on my bathroom floor to build Cousin It's wife.

Overwhelmed because I can't keep up with the huge tidal wave of laundry that my family manages to accumulate week after week.

Overwhelmed because I can't seem to keep enough food in my house. You'd swear I had 4 huge ogres living with me, instead of 2 smallish girls, 1 smallish husband and a wee tot of a boy.

Overwhelmed because the girls have so many school projects and extracurricular activities, that there's always at least one thing on the fire. This morning it was making pancakes to bring to Anna's class so she could do a presentation on Vermont (maple syrup and all), music lessons, Adopt-A-Class, art class after school and the book fair.

Overwhelmed because 1 smallish husband (mentioned above) seems to NEVER be home to help out.

Overwhelmed because I'm trying to accumulate a tiny bit of leave to make up for the vast amount of leave taken when I birthed the wee tot (mentioned above) almost a year and a half ago.

Overwhelmed because I never seem to have enough time for my immediate family, my extended family and my friends.

Just.Plain.Too.Much.To.Do.

You get my drift.

Mary Kay is not my friend

My mom hosted a Mary Kay make-up party at her house yesterday. I brought the girls with me. Observe Anna below. She looks about as excited as I was about going to this shindig. Let me just say, I'm not a make-up person. Maybe I need lots of it but I just can't bring myself to spend too much time or money on it. It took everything I had to fork over $38 for a lipstick, a lip gloss, and a tiny tube of concealer. All I could think of is how much loot I could have purchased at Wal-Mart with 38 bucks!

The main reason I go to these things is the FOOD. We had finger sandwiches, cocktail sausage, lots of chips and dips and some homemade petitfours. Yum.

I DID learn about all of the make-up, moisturizers, concealers, creams, and miracle products that I could be buying. Only I'm too cheap. And I don't care all that much if I look like an oily, wrinkly old hag. Not exactly the prime Mary Kay target market.

So, I'm happy that it's over. I'm sporting my Apricot Shimmer (glimmer, glaze, whatever it was called) lipstick today and feeling like a million bucks! Without having to spend it.

No more Mary Kay for me for a while. I've met my quota for this decade.

Rarity

BOTH the girls are sleeping over tonight. Can you believe it? No, you probably can't but it's true. Say a prayer
that they don't call at some ungodly hour and asked to be picked up. No seriously, stop and say a prayer. Thank
you. It was the PERFECT opportunity for Mark and I to get a babysitter for John M. and go out on the town.
Right?
Yes.
But here I sit at the computer blogging while Mark watches TV and enjoys a gourmet Sonic burger and cheese
sticks.
We are officially Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw Daig, the biggest sticks-in-the-mud. Ever. How old are we? About
85?
One day, we'll get our party on. Or at least go out to eat at Shoney's.
Peace out.

Great Toy Alert

A classmate of Emma's brought a toy for show and tell that Emma fell in love with. It's called Snap Circuits Junior. I thought of it as more of a boy thing at first. I know, bad mama giving into gender stereotypes but . . . anyway, we went and got one from Learning Express and she loves it!
Hell, I love it. So does Anna. And Mark. The ages on the box say 8-105 and that's right! It allows kids to build 100 different electronic circuits, that perform a variety of tasks from turning a light on to playing an alarm, spinning a fan, and creating a little electric light show.

It's really simple to do and teaches kids to pay attention to detail because if they miss one simple step, the entire project doesn't work. We all need help with that, right? It was $30 at Learning Express, but I'm sure you can find them a little cheaper. There are also bigger sets (Snap Circuits 300 and 500) that are more expensive.

Check it out and become an electronics wiz!

John M. Summer 2005

Not much to blog about today, so I thought I'd share a little sweaty baby head. From the Audubon Zoo last summer.

Sshhhh . . he's sleeping. Let's not wake the hurricane up.

How to get the 'skunk-eye' from a Coonass man in no time flat.

While at a high school basketball game . .

(note: the Stingerettes are the dance team at the girls' school. They are named 'Stinger'ettes because the school mascot is the Hornet and they wear little fancy, glittery dance outfits.)

John M.'s intently watching the basketball players go up and down the court. He's leaned over the bleachers and studying them.

Me: Mark, look at John.

Mark: Yep, he's thinking 'that's gonna be me one day'.

Later, at halftime as the soundtrack to Grease was being played and Emma and company were dancing. John M. is dancing like there's no tomorrow, wiggling his butt and waving his arms in the air, while closely watching the girls dance.

Me: Um, Mark, I think we have a Stingerette on our hands, rather than a basketball player.

All I get from Mark is the skunk eye.

Geez . .

16 months meme for John M.

Mr. John M. will be 16 months old tomorrow. The original purpose of this blog was to serve as a diary to record memories and have a 'snapshot' of various points in time. So, I figured I'd make a little list of John's favorite things at 16 months. Here goes. John, this one is for you:

Your favorite foods:

1.) Chocolate! (any way, any shape, any form). You'll even take candy bars with nuts and store the nuts in your chipmunk cheeks only to spew them out later without a lick of chocolate to be seen on them.
2.) Bananas - I can't keep bananas in the house for more than a couple of days.
3.) Corn - you love it, for any meal. Only it shows up in your diaper daily. Yuck.

Your favorite words (well, your ONLY words):

1.) M-maw (maw-maw) - you are really cute when you say this because for some reason, you try to say it and move your lips as little as possible. And you puff out your mouth a little like a blowfish.
2.) Uh-oh - this has been a favorite for a while after you toss things across the room.
3.) Da-da
You also like to moo and such.

Your favorite things to do:

1.) Play outside. Any minute of any day, rain, sleet, or snow, you'll go outside. you love it!
2.) Dance. Boy, you just have the music and me and sometimes, you have to let it out.
3.) Take a bath! This is a new one. In the past month or two, you've developed a liking for playing in the water. Look out, Blue Bayou Water Park, here we come this summer!
4.) Ride the Kawasaki mule with Daddy and look at the cows and the horses.

Your biggest talent:

1.) Wrapping everyone around your finger in no time flat. John M., you have us all wrapped, every single person that knows you. You have such a sweetness about you and you're always willing to give us a hug and a kiss (which for you, is leaning your little head right into ours). If someone is upset, you're the first one to walk up and comfort them. There's nothing we like better than that.

You're my boy. And Daddy's boy. And Anna and Emma's boy too. We've been waiting for you all along. We just didn't know it.

***News brief***News brief***News brief***

Hurricane John M. has been downgraded to a Category 4, as of about a week ago.

Maximum sustained winds of about 100 mph.

Still likely to dump the cat food on the floor daily and destroy a maximum of 2 rooms (BUT not 4 or 5 rooms, as in the past).

Meter reading for cuteness and pinchable-ness is still at max! Observe the cheeks in photo above.

Stages

Remember when I told y'all about Anna's anxiety about leaving me back in September? She has gotten a tad better about it but not much. She's gone to church with my mom a couple of times without me, but that's about it. She still seems to have much anxiety about being without me, unless she's at school. She has gotten much better in the morning about me leaving for work. She doesn't cry at all anymore and the goodbyes have gotten shorter and shorter. Poor little thing, she's so proud of herself when she does something without me, she points it out and says things like, 'Mom, I went to 'fill_in_the_blank" without you, by myself, wasn't that good?' and I always try to praise her and tell her how proud I am that she's doing more things on her own.

Well, her 2 best friends have birthdays coming up and they're both having sleepovers. She told me last night, 'Mom, Lauren (one of the best friends) is going to invite me to sleep over at her house this weekend and I'm going to go.' I said, 'Really, you are?', with much surprise because she hasn't slept over anywhere since last spring. I said 'that's a great attitude to have, Anna. What made you decide to do it?'. She told me, 'Well, I just HAVE to get out of this stage!'. As if she was a pyschiatrist and knew all the rules. I hope she does get out of this stage soon. Maybe since she seems to have put her mind to it, it will happen!

(weight update, I was down 4 lbs when I weighed this morning. I'm sure much of it has to do with weighing in the a.m. instead of p.m and Aunt Flo leaving the building, but still!)

Rows of teeth

Emma's evolving into a shark. She still hasn't lost her two top front teeth. She's eight years old, so that's kind of odd. These two teeth have been somewhat loose since last summer, but just not quite loose enough to come out. I brought her to the dentist a couple of months ago, but they said not to worry and that's it's actually better when kids lose their teeth a little later in life.

Well, now, one of her front permanent teeth is almost completely in, growing over the baby tooth and the other is starting to poke through her gums. I called the dentist and made an appt. for Monday to have at least the one tooth pulled. Emma is none too happy about this, and the dentist didn't seem all that concerned. But what was I supposed to do? Let her have 4 top front teeth?! I figured that can't be okay, right? Has anyone had this happen with their children?

The strange thing is, I realized over the weekend, that she will never be cute and gap-toothed in the front. I remember Anna was like that for a long time . . at least 6 months. Emma won't ever have the gap. She'll just go straight from baby to bunny (Anna has always called those 2 front teeth bunny teeth).

Still retaining every ounce of his masculinity

holding his pink balloon















doing nude housework















sitting on his effeminate bench

Maybe if I post about it, it will happen.

I want to lose about 10 lbs (I think it's 10, I'll need to actually WEIGH myself to find out). I've been wanting to lose this same 10 lbs for about a year now. I have no more excuses. I need to just do it. It's not as simple as it used to be when I was in my 20s. It got harder at about age 32. The thing is I need to exercise. I have no time to do this at home. I should start doing something at work, only I haven't. I also need to change my eating habits. As in, no excess fat (donut holes, Mr. Gatti's, Raising Cane's, etc). I'm going to work on this.

Maybe I'll try to post my weight every now and then as incentive. I'll start today. Let me go pee first.

Wish me luck.

Not as hol(e)y

Update on the ingestion of the holes brought in by my evil boss every Thursday.

This a.m., I only ate half the bag (about 6 or 7). I can feel the weight falling off of my thighs as I type this. ;^

DMV

Has anyone out there EVER gone to the Department of Motor Vehicles and come out in under 90 minutes?

Were any of the employees moving faster than an inch a minute?

Did anyone appear to be in the slightest bit of a hurry to do anything? At all?

Just wondering.

I'm just a little, tad bit frustrated with that place.

It's time for a list . .

I've been tagged by DryWall Mom and I can't pass up a good list, so here goes:

Four Jobs I’ve had:

1. Retail sales at D.H. Holmes during Christmas season. I also gift wrapped. It was some of the fonkiest wrapping you ever paid to get!
2. Intern at D.D.B. Needham in NYC during the Summer of '91 (aren't I the cool city girl?)
3. Purchasing Manager for the La. School for the Deaf (HATED my boss and left after 10 mo.)
4. IT Programmer/Analyst for the state of LA (over 10 1/2 years now, YIKES!)

Four Places I’ve Lived:

1. Hometown, LA
2. Baton Rouge, LA
3. Manhattan
4. Back to Hometown, LA (and that was it!)

Movies I’d Watch Again:

1. GoodFellas
2. As Good As It Gets
3. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005 version)
4. Urban Cowboy

TV Shows I love to Watch:

1. The Gauntlet
2. Supernanny
3. Survivor
4. Amazing Race

4 of My Favorite Foods:

1. French Fries
2. Fried Catfish
3. Chicken Fingers
4. Pizza (I wonder why I can't lose weight . . )

Four Places I’d Rather be Right Now:

1. On the beach
2. Hilton Head, SC
3. Disneyworld kissing Mickey Mouse
4. Eating all of the 4 foods above

4 Bloggers I’d Like to Tag:

1. Carrie
2. Daisy
3. Cindy
4. Vee

Peace out.

BLISS (n : a state of extreme happiness)

Do you ever have moments in life (and I mean literal moments, tiny little portions of time) when you feel almost perfect bliss? I had one yesterday. I have these every now and then, and they always involve my children. I wish I could freeze these moments and bottle them up, and open my 'bliss bottle' whenever I need a little happiness.

Anyway, yesterday, I took the kids to a small town right across the Mississippi River from my small town. It was a beautiful day, almost 80 degrees, sunny and breezy. We took the ferry across the river and went into town. It's a pretty shady, hilly area with lots of charm. We went to some antique shops (the girls have caught this shopping disease from me at an early age). I found a new place that we've never been to before, it was an antique shop on a hill, with a smaller antique place at the foot of the hill. There were 2 manmade ponds, one atop the hill linked to the other at the foot of the hill by a small waterfall. There were fountains, and benches and the little spot was so quaint and pretty. We stopped there, so that John M. could play for a while. He had the best time picking up rocks and throwing them into a little bucket of water and splashing Emma. Hold on . . my blissful moment is coming.

So, I'm watching the three of them. Noticing how they're each doing their own thing in their own way. Anna is walking around with her backpack on, exploring by herself, and looking way too grown up to be any part of what her little sister and brother are doing. Emma is talking non-stop, totally into her baby brother, and giggling at everything he does. John M. is totally captivated by the rocks and the water and the bucket. He's laughing everytime he splashes Emma and I think he would have thrown rocks into that bucket all afternoon if I would have let him. They were each so perfectly beautiful to me in that moment. I almost started crying watching them. I felt so blessed and blissfully happy.

I always stop, when I have moments like that, to thank God for blessing me with these three children that make every bad moment worth it 100 times over, with good moments. I know I complain a lot about these kids, but without them, I don't think I'd ever have moments like that one.

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Reason number 146 while I'll never lose the rest of my baby weight . .

from 15 months ago.

146.) Thursday is donut day at my office and my boss brings me a bag of donut holes.
No matter what I've eaten already for breakfast (3 crescent rolls and a banana this a.m.),
I still eat the entire bag of holes (probably about 12 this morning). He tells me that holes
have no calories because what is a hole, really? Just nothing.

I'm just gonna pretend I believe that.

Welcoming my Mom to the digital age

My mom bought her first ever digital camera last weekend. She was frightened by it. So 'hi-tech' and all. I told her I'd give her a lesson in using it which took all of about 15 minutes. I think she's still not over the fact that there is no film involved whatsoever. I guess when you've been needing film to take pictures for 60 years, it's hard to get that you no longer need it. At all. Ever.
But, she's already a pro. Look at these pictures she sent me this morning from New Year's Eve hanging around with the kids.

She even managed to travel to the Planet of the Apes for that last shot.

Raise your hand if you like Fresca

Me too!
A 'sparkling' grapefruit drink.
Sounds way nasty but I LOVE it.
That's all.
PTFO.

Thirty-six, but still in 7th grade, mentally . .

Will my brain ever grow up? If it hasn't by now, it probably won't ever, right?

Thanks, in large part, to a friend of mine, I can't hear certain words without thinking of them in a dirty light. I've been conditioned to do so, again, in large part by Nonrev 'Pavlov' Broussard. I can't help it.

The girls wanted to watch the New Year's Eve special to see the 'ball drop'.
Out of the blue, Anna asks, 'Mom, who's Dick?'.

Me: Uhh . . what?

Her: 'Who's DICK?!'.

Me: 'Dick?'. Oh, OH, Dick Clark, he hosts this show every year.

Her: 'Well, why does everyone love Dick so much?'

Me: (hee, hee . . ) Well, he's been around for a long time and people just like him.

Her: 'They have signs like 'I want to kiss Dick at midnight' and stuff'.

Me: (hee, hee . . ) Yeah.

I'm sorry but I can't help of thinking of a penis when the name 'Dick' is mentioned. I don't think this will ever go away.

I'm just happy the number of 'Dicks' is declining. Do you know anyone under the age of 50 called 'Dick' or 'Dickie'? I don't. If you do, please let me know and give some details. Why is this? Probably because we're all stuck in 7th grade.

Getting our shop on

My mom and I decided to take the girls and Cat. 5 to the mall today. What was I thinking? I don't know, but I had received a gift card for $25 for Christmas and like all 10-year olds, it was burning a hole. I really needed to get the girls some warm-up pants for their upcoming basketball games. So we set off, with only one problem. I.forgot.the.stroller. What does this mean? My mom and I have to take turns holding Cat. 5, or at least trying to contain him in a given store perimeter for a set amount of time. He.didn't.appreciate.it.

He's entranced by the mall. He loves looking around and hooking up with people he totally doesn't know. He can dart behind a clothes rack like nobody's business, and rip apart $38 costume jewelry like a pro (I found this out at Talbot's today). Did I 'fess' up and pay for it? SURE, I did. ;^) It wasn't attractive anyway. They can just call it a loss.

We survived with Cat. 5 for about 2 hours and then we let reality take hold and got the hell out of Dodge. I did get the pants for the girls though (thanks to a Gap Kids sale) and my mom got her birthday present from Talbots, while John M. reduced their inventory significantly with no profit. Anna and Emma bought more lip gloss than Donna Summer . . Mick Jagger . . who's that other huge-lipped celebrity??! . . oh yeah, Lisa Rinna. That chickaletto has some big, collagen-enhanced lips, doesn't she. Anyway, I digress. Let's just put it this way. They bought enough lip gloss to choke a chicken.

We're back, the kids are in bed, and it's back to our regular schedule of school, daycare, and work tomorrow. Let's all say it together, 'UGH!'.

Hoping for Mark's genes

This is the first year that the girls' school has offered a band class for the kids. It runs from 3rd-6th grade, with an option for 2nd graders to take part in a 'pre-band'. The children are given the choice of playing the saxophone, flute, trombone, or drums. Anna chose to play the flute (see her holding said instrument here at a Christmas concert). Emma is learning on a recorder (I think it's called a flutophone . . I'm definitely going to have to spellcheck that one).

We had the opportunity to go to this concert a couple of weeks ago. Emma was sick that day so Anna was our only musician in attendance. The older kids didn't play any actual songs, just short lessons that they've been learning, to help them to learn to read music and practice simple notes. Now, I know NONE of this, never having played an instrument. Mark plays guitar, but cannot read music. He just plays everything by ear. So, I was instantly impressed solely by the fact that they could read music. Both of the girls come home on Wednesdays after music class and are so excited to show us what they've learned. I'm amazed at how fast they catch on.

The little Christmas concert was great. We had a chance to be introduced to their music instructor, an older man that has been teaching music for over 30 years and has a genuine love for it, and the patience of a saint! The lessons had some good notes, and plenty of 'clunkers', and the kids were so proud to show off what they had learned. I hope the music program lasts and I hope the girls stick with it. Mark and his brothers are all musically inclined, so the girls have a shot at it somewhere in their genetic makeup. As for me, I'll just be sitting here, taking it all in, waiting to smother them with hugs when the performance is done.

New Year's Rockin' Eve on the Driveway!

We had a quiet (so to speak) little New Years Celebration, just Mark, the kids and my mom. We shot some firecrackers so here are a few pics. John M. LOVED it; I thought he may be scared but that little boy proved me wrong. He even wanted to hold the sparklers. Maybe next year. The girls love fireworks any day, any time. They'd keep the fireworks stores in business, if we'd let them.



Hope everyone had a great New Year's. I know you wish you could have joined us on the driveway in Pointe Coupee Parish, but hey, it's only so big.
Peace out.

OCD . . not officially diagnosed

I don't know if this falls into the category of OCD EXACTLY . . but I find it hard to part with things, purely physical THINGS without some sort of goodbye.

Case in point, today at work, I took my 2005 calendar down to hang up my new 2006 Lighthouse calendar (that I snagged for $1 at Target!). I felt bad simply tossing the old calendar in the trash. I had to kind of hold it for a moment and then give it a kiss before throwing it away.

Get that look off of your face. I know that's not normal.

Happy New Year.

Still no Christmas pictures, but a Birthday pig* instead

Tracy, my buddy from work (bottom row, on the left) celebrated her 27th b-day on the 20th of December. We celebrated by going to Semolina's and ingesting mass quantities of pasta dishes. Enjoy this lovely picture of a group of us. I detest the way I look in the picture, but hey, I guess it looks like me, so what you gonna do?

As I've said before, I'm so thankful for my friends here at work. They make my days bearable and keep me laughing on a regular basis. They also all enjoy eating, which is way up there on my list.

**When I ran the spellcheck on this, it changed my 'pic' to 'pig'. I thought it was appropriate, so I let it ride.

Peace out. Probably my last post before the New Year 2006, so have a great one. See you next year.

If you want Christmas pictures, don't look here.

I didn't take one Christmas picture this year. Not one. Why, you ask? Because I'm a bad mother and Christmas was so crazy with everything, I didn't bring my camera anywhere. I do like to share a good picture though so here's an oldie but goodie from 4 years ago, wee Anna and wee-wee Pearl. I found it on my PC last week and just had to share it because they both should win an award for cuteness. Don't you think?

Christmas was great. The girls had a great time opening all of their loot. I ended up spilling the beans to Anna about Santa because I screwed up on two of her 'Santa' gifts and put the wrong name (one Emma and one John M.). She looked very suspicious and she had every right to be. I told her about Santa a little while later and she took it well. She said she suspected it, but she was afraid she wouldn't get any gifts if she let on that she knew. So, that's that.

1 nosy 10-year-old + 1 scatterbrained mom = THERE IS NO SANTA!.

So, now the stress of Christmas is over and a new year is about to begin. Look out, 2006, here we come.

Renee's 5 Random Things . .

I've been tagged by Kether to share 5 random things about myself. Let's see what I can come up with. Can you feel the excitement? No?

1. I was a REALLY picky eater as a kid. As in, I wouldn't eat pizza, peanut butter (still don't, on that one), spaghetti, tacos, a lot of the normal kid stuff. All I would eat was hot dogs, bologna, macaroni and cheese, and french fries . . lots of those.

2. I never made an 'N', (equivalent to a 'D') in elementary school until I was in 5th grade. I distinctly remember it because I had missed a couple of days of school and had to do a 'make-up' paper about Johnny Appleseed. I hurried through it and Mr. Goodroe ( a long string-bean of a guy with a little tiny moustache) gave me an 'N' on it. I wanted to punch him square in the face.

3. My student job while at LSU, was at a library called Hill Memorial, which houses special collections. I worked in the basement and my main duty was to microfilm newspapers from throughout the state. This entailed flipping pages, flattening them out with a stick and taking a picture. I did this for hours at a time. ANY job seemed exciting after that.

4. I have deja vu very often.

5. Aunt Flo first visited when I was 12, my sister was 9 when she got her visit. 9!!

That's it for now. Do you know me better now?
I tag Tara,
MotherGooseMouse.
and Momyblogr.
Peace out.

A Christmas MeMe

Stolen from Christa and ChesneyGirl - the both of them! Thanks, girls.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate! I've never tried egg nog but I just know I don't like it!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? When I was growing up, they came unwrapped. My kids get them wrapped. More work for me, why did I start that?!

3. Colored or White lights on tree/house? Colored.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Sometimes.

5. When do you put up your decorations? I'm not a big decorator. Bah, humbug, but we usually put the tree up a couple of weeks before Christmas.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? It used to be Maw Maw Jean's roast and rice and gravy.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Hmm. . that's a hard one. I guess, when my sister and I saw the REAL Santa at Pike's Peak and came home and bragged to our cousins how we had seen the actual Santa Claus!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I think I was about 8. I cried.

9. Do you open a present on Christmas Eve? We open all of our family presents then.

10. What kind of cookies does Santa get set out for him? Chips Ahoy! I'm no baker.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I like it . . for about 15 minutes.

12. Can you ice skate? Well, yeah, it's not really skating though. More like ice walking.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I was really excited to get the Weeble McDonald's when I was about 4 or 5!

14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Spending time with my family.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Christmas cookies...I'm not much of a sweets/baked goods person.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Mass on Christmas Eve and then dinner and presents with my family

17. What tops your tree? An angel

18. Which do you prefer, Giving or Receiving? Okay, I can't lie - receiving.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Carol? Louisiana Christmas Day by Aaron Neville

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yum.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Santa's visit 2004

I just found this photo of this picture from last year's Christmas. It was a note that 'S.C.' left for the girls on our dry erase board. I look at the handwriting and wonder how in the world they didn't know it was me. It looks just like the way I normally write. I guess they're so sure it's Santa, that it being anyone else writing it would be out of the question.

I always leave a little cookie and milk remainder. I'm not sure why. Do you do the same? I mean, he must be so full from eating cookies at all of the other houses . . he couldn't possibly eat the whole thing, right?! And reindeer food, we usually leave that too. Every year, the girls make this at school and they make sure I don't forget the reindeer on Christmas Eve. That food probably stays on the ground all of 15 seconds before being gobbled up by Nala, the golden retriever 'pig' next door.

I can't believe Christmas is just a few days away. Break out the reindeer food and let's party.

Exactly 1 year, 2 months, 3 weeks and 1 day ago....

Shoppers Anonymous

I've ordered so much crap in the last couple of months from every online website known to man that I can't even tell you what I ordered. I am the queen of looking for promotional codes, deferred billing, and free shipping deals. I owe so much on credit cards, I could cry. Mark, you're not reading this, are you?
Well, most of it is Christmas gifts. Notice I say 'most'.
But the good news is, I'm almost done. Almost . . .

Happy 60th, Daddy!

Today would have been my Dad's 60th birthday. See him here on the left as a small boy. I just want to kiss the picture on my computer monitor. How cute is he?

My mom likes to have us think of what he must be doing up in heaven. Sleeping late (he loved that), having a drink, watching a ball game. The only thing that's missing is us. But not really.

See that little red fella hanging out of the olive?

Emma was eating a stuffed olive yesterday and commented how she doesn't like the 'little red slimy thing' in the olive. I said 'that's called a pimento'. She says 'well, I don't want my puppy-toe'.
That's what it should be called. Puppy-toe. Maybe if the puppy was in a horrible accident.

Shrinking Family

Here's Category 5 John M. and his Paw-Paw PJ (Mark's dad). Are they a cute couple?

This picture, combined with the holiday season, has started me thinking about how our family is shrinking. Mostly on my side, I guess, not Mark's. Mark's brother just got married so I guess his family actually grew instead. (Hi Emily, we love ya!).

In the past 3 years, my family has had many losses. My dad a year and a half ago, my paternal grandmother almost 2 years ago, and my maternal grandmother the year before. Our family has always been small anyway (my dad was an only child and my mom only has one brother who lives up in Washington). I have only 2 first cousins who also live up in Washington. So, holidays were usually spent with the 7 of us. My three grandparents (my maternal grandfather died when I was only 7), my parents, my sister and myself. It was always great though. We shared a closeness among the 7 of us that I think many larger families miss out on somewhat. We each had our place at my parent's dining room table and we could all eat together at the same time. It was nice.

As I'm writing this, I'm thinking, okay, Renee, we didn't shrink, we EXPANDED. Now, with my sister's family of 6, mine of 5, and my mom and grandfather, we have 13. But, it still feels like we've gotten smaller. I guess because I feel so much that the three people that we lost should be here. Especially my dad, he was young and he should still be with us. Sitting with us at the dinner table. Holding his namesake, Category 5, on his lap.

But I didn't mean for this post to be a downer, and now it is. So, I'm going to count my blessings . . Mark, Anna, Emma, John M., Adele, Kelli, and so on and so on. I AM indeed blessed and sometimes writing these posts is just what I need to realize that.

Morning confirmation that I'm still in Louisiana

Mark (on the phone to co-worker): Hey Paige, where y'at?

Y'at = you at

We know it's supposed to be 'Where are you?'.
And no, we're not uneducated hicks as normally portrayed on TV and movies.
We're just embracing our Cajun heritage. You see?

It's just kinda rolls off the tongue. Try it, 'Hey, where y'at?'

Happy Birthday, Emma!

Emma's birthday is today. Another baby girl growing up way too fast. She's been looking at me with those huge blue eyes for 8 years (and yes, she's had me wrapped all along, just like her brother) and getting her way, against my will.

Em, you are so much like me, it scares me sometimes. Thank you for being so silly and cracking me up on a daily basis. Your sense of humor is way beyond your years and sometimes I wonder where you come up with the things that you do. Your memory is like one I've never experienced. You remember EVERYTHING and you serve as my memory too most days. I'm so proud of you when I see you with your brother. You are so gentle and caring with him and I know one day, you'll be a great mother to your own babies. Keep making me laugh, girl! I really don't think I could make it through a day without it.

Happy 8th Birthday, my Emmy. I love you more than you can ever know.

Before she was the cream in the oreo

Here's little mini-Emma; she was 3 in this picture. She's holding mini-Pearl, how cute are they both? Even down to the little bruised leg. She was my baby back then. Little did I know that in 4 years, she would be my 'middle'. Emma had a few Jan Brady issues about not being the youngest, nor the oldest. She liked the 'baby' position in the family. And I can't blame her; that was my family position and it was a good one.

The girls love to watch reruns of 'Full House' and there's an episode about Stephanie, the middle daughter, not wanting to be in the middle. They tell her that many of the best things in life are in the middle, the meat of a sandwich, the cream in the oreo, etc. I reminded Em of this and I think it helped . . a little. I still have to remind her sometimes how lucky she is to have a taste of both worlds. Being an older sister, and a younger one, all at the same time.

So, she was the chocolate back then in 2000, but now she's my cream.

And she's going to be 8 years old tomorrow. As I always say, how did THAT happen?

Master Photographer

Check out the egret on the left. At least, I think it's an egret.
Anyway, I took this photo at the zoo Saturday and I think it actually came out pretty good. It's somewhat centered, not too blurry, no fingers in the shot, no kids body parts obscuring the bird. Right? Right.

Anyway, as you've probably guessed, not much to post about today so I'm giving you the bird.

(Happy Birthday to my best buddy, Alison! Hope you have a good one, Al. Your age has finally caught up with my bra size.) ;^)

The best entertainment after 'Wife Swap' ends

Something about a little nude baby booty never gets old. I could just sit there and watch it for hours. And knead it like dough.

That's all I have to say about that.

The Santa dilemma

I'm looking for advice. On the Santa situation. As you know, my oldest just turned 10 years old. My middle is about to turn 8 on Friday. They're a couple of little nosy children. Wonder where they get that from?! Anna's the worst. She feels the need to know everything going on this side of the Mississippi.

Anna's been very curious these past few weeks, with her birthday and now Christmas coming. She's been snooping worse than Cindy Brady. She discovered some of her birthday presents early, no big deal. Now, she's moved on to the hunt for her Christmas gifts. If we get a package (I've ordered lots from Mr. Internet . .it's so easy!), she wants to see what's in it right away. If there's a box anywhere in a 10 mile radius, she wants to open it up. Her big brown eyes are everywhere and it's starting to tick me off.

Mark had moved a box of Christmas things (one being a 'Santa' gift) into our office/junk room. The Santa gift was in sight and guess who saw it? She then proceeded to show Emma, who isn't naturally as nosy as her sister. They look at me with these little grins because they think it's funny. I don't. I finally blew and said to Anna, 'OKAY, do you WANT me to tell you about something that only grown-ups know?', and she got really sheepish and left the room with a quick little 'uh-uh'.

See, the thing is, I think she knows the truth, but doesn't want to have it in writing, so to speak. Because then the party would be over. She couldn't even pretend to believe anymore. Of course, I want her to believe and really hesitate to tell her, because you know, she's my first baby. A 10-year old baby, but hey. .

I'm lazy and the hiding and plotting and planning is getting to me. I'm not getting any younger, you know. This was much easier when I had just little kids, but these big, older, smart, James Bond types are hard to fool. What do y'all think? Should I tell Anna? What about Emma? What have y'all done or plan on doing?

Ho Ho Ho.

Bah Humbug.

Zoo Day

It was another Louisiana winter day here Saturday. Close to 80 degrees and breezy, so we decided to meet up with some friends and go to the Baton Rouge Zoo. Here's some pics from the playground there, where John M. had a great time. This was the first time he actually LOOKED at the animals and seemed interested. We had a good time and it was nice to spend some time with Joy, Frances, and Owen before they move back to New Orleans.
We're headed to a cookie swap in a minute to um . . swap cookies, I guess. Can you stand the excitement? I bet not.
Peace out.

The highpoint of my day . .

okay, maybe the highpoint of my week. The month . . the year?
When I picked John M. up yesterday from the babysitter's, he reached his little chubby arms up to me, as he does most days. When I scooped him up, he wrapped said arms around my neck, touched me ever so gently with his fat little baby fingers on my neck. And then leaned his little golden head against mine. For about 3 or 4 seconds. A hug! Initiated by him! I melted right there. He could have done absolutely anything right then and gotten away with it.

He's a little hurricane, a troublemaker, he breaks all of my things, and he's spoiled beyond belief. But, he's a keeper. He SO has me wrapped.

Anna and Emily

Anna approached me night before last and said this to me, "Mom, remember how you asked what we wanted for Christmas? I want an anthology of poems."

After I came to and got off of the floor, I said, "You DO?". She told me that her poetry teacher (a local poet who had volunteered to teach the kids poetry for 6 weeks) had told them about anthologies and she was interested in reading one. She has talked about the poetry class many times in the past few weeks and I could tell it was something that really caught her attention from the get-go.

She has a specific interest in Emily Dickinson. After asking for the poetry book, she gave me a pretty comprehensive background of Emily Dickinson that she had learned in her class. Anna spoke about it with such enthusiasm and genuine interest, that I knew this was something that had somehow struck a chord in her. She read me poems that she had written in class, including one about my Dad's shirt (a shirt that she kept to remember the smell of my Dad). It touched me so much that I started to cry. I felt so much pride, listening to her talk the poetry and her interpretations of that the words meant. At times like this, I'm so overcome with love and pride, I feel like I may blow. All you parents out there know exactly what I mean.

I hope her interest in poetry and writing sticks with her. I'll do what I can to lend to this interest. In the mean time, I'll just sit here about to burst with pride and try not to smother her with hugs and kisses every minute.