Holidays

Christmas was a good one. The kids got way too many presents from Santa, but what else is new?
The favorites seem to be Anna's new cell phone, Emma's little Tracphone and John M.'s play-dough. He also loves his Elmo, which he insists on calling 'Nemo'.

We still have unopened gifts at home, but we're getting to them one by one. We opened a bottle of bubbles yesterday and I swear, Anna and Emma enjoyed them more than John M. did. Note to self, when in need of a gift, a 99 cent bottle of bubbles is the answer.

We spent Christmas Eve with my mom and my sister and her family, as is the tradition. There are 7 grandkids total, so my mom's living room looked like Toys R Us threw up. Christmas day, we made the rounds to a few different places, including my in-laws' house. I had to get a picture of Anna and Mark's mom, because they're about the same height now. And the boys all matched so I got some pictures of them too.




















I hope y'all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to a Happy New Year. Let the fireworks begin!

I present . . .

The Virgin Mary and the Angel Gabriel.



















And about 2 seconds later, the real Anna and Emma came out.

'Ice Princesses'

Anna and Emma 'graduated' from their ice skating class last week. They absolutely loved it and we may do the next one in the spring. I think it's great that they're learning how to ice skate because that's something I never even tried as a child. Growing up in Southern Louisiana, you don't see much ice unless it's floating in your lemonade.

All I Want for Christmas . .

I actually made a list this year that I have saved on my desktop at work of things that I want for Christmas. Not things that I actually expect to get, but things that I yearn to have. Problem being lack of dinero.

Anyway, I thought I'd share. Let me know what's on your list so we can whine about not getting these things the day after Christmas.

1.) An I-pod Nano (Apple has these on their site refurbished for under 100 bucks. Hmmm...)
2.) A new laptop. I know I just got one but, long story.
3.) New bathroom towels.
4.) New set of pots/pans. Boring, yes, but I need them.
5.) New oven. Ditto #4. Mine has been broken for over 2 years now, but I'm not a cook so I put it off.
6.) New chairs for my dining room table.

I figured these things would be about 2000 bucks. So, I'm only about 1960 short.

Yeah, yeah, Merry Christmas. Only 8 more days. Yikes.

Happy 61st, Daddy!

My father would have been 61 today. I did a similar post to this one last year with a baby picture of him, so I figured I'd do a teen picture this time. It's hard to believe, but I think he may have even gotten cuter.

I see so many people in my father's face. I see a little bit of me, a little of my boy, and a lot of my sister's oldest boy. The funny thing is both of the boys mentioned are named after my dad. That says a lot right there.

I could never fully express what a wonderful father he was, how thinking about him just for a few seconds makes me cry. How I miss him so much every day and how little things remind me of him all the time.

His death has definitely given me a different perspective on the death of others since. Before, I could only see the sadness in death, but now I see a reuniting of my father with his friends and family. Our family may be shrinking here, but his is growing and that makes me smile.

Happy Birthday, Daddy. I love you.

Birthday Festivities

The party went well and the best part of it is . . . it's over!
We had 23 kids there. And I don't think we lost any. (If we did, their parents aren't complaining yet).
Emma is now officially 9 years old.

And now, some pictures from the festivities:

All lined up eating their Cane's.













Emma and her buddies:















John M. asked 400 times to 'wide' the carousel, and then
this was the look on his face when we put him on. He made
a quick exit.















Emma and the 'love' fry.

Happy 9th, Emma!

I hope you have a great birthday, my girl.

You make me laugh so much every day and I'm always amazed at your humor and wit. Sometimes I swear I'm talking to a 30-year old.

I'm so proud of your dedication to your family and the importance of prayer and spirituality in your life. You show me on a daily basis your firm belief in a life that goes beyond this one and your anticipation of seeing 'June' and others once you're there.

I love the fact that you're so much still a little girl and want to play Polly Pockets with me and dance in the living room. I always ask you to stay little and live with me forever and you say you can't promise to do that. But I sure wish you could.

I feel so blessed to have you as my girl.

Love,

Mom

John and Pearl

John M. has a thing lately for picking up Pearl, our cat. Thank God Pearl is a nice, old, patient cat that puts up with lots of crap. She tolerates him, but runs away at the sight of him too. I swear, she's thinking 'I'm not sure where this boy child came from, but can you please stick a stamp on him and return to sender.'

Single Mom

That's what I feel like these days.

Mark has been working like crazy. I knew this. I expected it. I mean, he just started a new job less than a month ago that's in a galaxy far, far away. I knew what I was in store for, and I put on my 'positive attitude, it'll get better' cap.

Surprisingly, that cap has been doing its job. It hasn't been all that bad.

Mark used to travel A LOT when the girls were babies and when I tell you, I had a time with the 'single mother' thing, I'm not lying. Of course, back then I had 2 babies only 2 years apart that required all of my attention. Now, with the 11 and 9-year-olds and one small hurricane, it's so much different. Actually, so much easier.

I'm hoping that these 15-hour work days shorten in the very near future though, just because we miss having him around. And that, in the long run, this was a good decision. I have a feeling that it was, I just have to give it time.

By the way, that picture there is of the 5-day-old hurricane about 2 years ago. I didn't have new pictures, so I thought we'd review that one.


P.S. The Emma-sheep performed last night and guess who didn't take one picture? you guessed it. Add that to my bad-mother list. But there is a DVD to buy of the whole production! Yippee!

December-Eve, how did that happen?

Can you believe tomorrow is the 1st of December? That totally snuck up on me. Here's
a little of what's been going on.

The good news is, I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. I'm completely
done with Santa shopping, woo-hoo!

Emma's birthday party is next weekend though. That'll be some work. We're going
to do a 'movie and the mall' party with about 20 kids. Yikes.

Mark's been at his new job for about 3 weeks now. There's been some ups and downs,
but I think he (and we) are adjusting slowly. He's been working mucho hours, as in he
leaves at 4:00 am and gets back at 7:00 pm, but we're hoping this doesn't last long. Please
hope with us.

Emma is a sheep in her Christmas play and a cuter sheep, I have never seen.

Anna starts basketball practice next week, and is super-happy about it after having missed
the soccer season, because her bad mother didn't sign her up.

John M. has discovered the joy of playing Pac-Man and goes around saying 'I wanna play my GAME, mama!' all the time.

That's all for now. I've been blog-o-boring lately, can you tell?
But I do love y'all. Promise.

Black Friday I Wanna Know

So, if I have something that I really want to get for my girl for Xmas cheap... and it's at Best Buy starting at 5:00a.m. Friday.
What time do you think I would have to be there to beat the other crazies to it?

Ideas?

Happy 11th Anna!

I (heart) Montages by OneTrueMedia

Emma Marie


Anna Adele


John M.

The last 10 days or so

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, or kept up with my bloggy friends. It's been a crazy last couple of weeks. I'm going to try and post some pictures here, if Blogger decides to cooperate.
We spent a nice Sunday in a small town right across the Mississippi River from us. We did a little eating and a little shopping and just enjoyed the nice South Louisiana weather.
















Last week, I got to go on Emma's field trip to the corn maze. I even rode on the bus, something I haven't done in quite a while! We had a great time, and completed the maze first. We won't mention the little bit of cheating we did to accomplish that.
















Then, last weekend was Anna's 11th Birthday Sleepover. It was challenging, let's just leave it at that. Some of the girls didn't go to sleep at all that night. They're killing me here.
















A hot man in a pink soccer coach shirt. ;^)














Now, I'll just leave you with 4 of my favorite eyes.

Times, they are a-changin'

I don't like change, have I mentioned that?

Changes are coming though. Mark starts a new job Monday. After being at the same
company for over 11 years. And the job is 90 miles away, one way.

He traded in his gas-guzzling Chevy Silverado for a Corolla. He's not thrilled about that.
But 39 miles/gallon is a lot better than 18.

Wish us luck. Hopefully this new chapter will be a good one.

Okay ... I take it back

Remember this post?

Well, little Miss Talkity-Talk is at a sleep-over tonight.
And you know what?

I miss the talking.

My other girl

Kelli and I were like 2 peas in a pod growing up. We always had a built-in playmate in the room next door. But that doesn't mean that we didn't long for an extra girl. Someone to hold the other side of the jump rope so one of us could jump in the middle, someone to be the 3rd Charlie's Angel. What good are Sabrina and Kelly without Jill, right? We had that in a cousin of mine who lived a few houses down from us. She was Jill, she held the rope, she got on our nerves often, but hey, she completed our 'Three Muskateers'.

This face to the left is Anna and Emma's third muskateer. She's my niece, Katie. Right between my two girls in age, she's in 4th grade, while Emma's in 3rd and Anna's in 5th. She has been their partner in crime ever since they were toddlers. They've had many sleepovers, choreographed countless dances, and fought and argued like only 'sisters' can. I can't help but be reminded of my sister and I growing up with my cousin whenever I look at them. It's great that Katie lives just a couple of houses down so the 'commute' from house to house is a common occurrence.

Kelli and I grew apart from our cousin when we got a little older. I hope that this isn't the case for these three. I look forward to many more sleepovers, all day swimming marathons, and having 3 girls on occasion, instead of 2, to keep me smiling.

The Butt Paste of Champions

Do any of you use this stuff? It's great! For diaper rash. Or anything else you so desire, I guess.

I have Boudreaux's on the mind because John M. made me almost pee myself laughing a couple of weeks ago, as I was changing his diaper. I noticed he had a little bit of a rash, so I told him "stay right there and Mom's gonna get you some cream". I walk back over to him and he says, "Boo-doh's, Mom?". I had no idea he could identify the butt paste.

I called everyone in the room to hear it and we grill him regular now on what I spread on his bottom. Anna especially loves to hear it.

Anna: John M., what does Mom put on your 'wee-wee'?

John M: Boo-doh's!!!

Anna: Boo-doh's what?

John M: Buh Pace!

I'm so proud.

From Billy Ray to Miley

Emma's latest purchase is a 'Hannah Montana' CD, you know from Disney? She is the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus (remember? Achey Breakey Heart?) and her real name is Miley. My girl has been waiting for a Miley Cyrus CD to come out since the summer, so she pounced on it when it appeared at the Mart of Wal.

Here comes the strange part: I listen to it all the time. In my car, by myself. Sans kids. What the hell? The thing is, I love fun music. It doesn't have to be quality music, as long as it's fun and dance-able. In my own 'white-girl', geeky dance way, I enjoy it. To quote American Bandstanders, if 'it has a good beat and you can dance to it.' , I'm there.

And it doesn't hurt that when I don't have the girls with me, Hannah Montana keeps their energy with me. So, I'm learning every single song on that CD and I'll be singing them over and over for a while, at least until Christmas.

So, try not to knock those 'weirdos' listening to The Gogos, Debbie Gibson, New Kids OnThe Block, Tiffany, Midnight Star (and the list goes on . . ) because hey, I'm one of them.

Now, I'm off to rock to some Milli Vanilli.

Halloween 2006

One slightly hoochified pumpkin girl (Lillian Vernon costume that was rather short), one Queen of Hearts, and one petrified dalmatian pup.
He was terrified of my 12-year old nephew's costume (I kind of was too). That's him in the back, looking like a giant squid is engulfing his face.





I think John M. thought if he shoved his face in the side of the stroller, the monsters couldn't see him. Later . . .