Sunday, December 26, 2010

Our news

So, in mid-November this year, Scott & I received some very exciting news--we're expecting again! We didn't say anything to anyone because we wanted to be able to tell our families face-to-face. Needless to say, everyone was a little surprised. Hopefully, happily surprised, but surprised nontheless!! The estimated due date is July 29, so she/he will likely make an appearance sometime around the 22 of July since I have scheduled C-sections. Since we'll be moving around that time, it will definitely make things complicated, but what would a military move be without a few complications?????

We are kind of hoping for a girl this time, but really only want a healthy one with 10 fingers and 10 toes. We'll be finding out the sex as soon as feasibly possibly, so stay tuned for updates :-)

Louisiana Trip--part II

On the 23rd, we drove the almost 3 hours to Nana and Grandpa Sam's, also known as my mom and dad's. The boys were excited about a change of venue and very excited to see my mom and dad's dogs!

On Christmas Eve every year, my mom hosts a gathering for all of my dad's family and their kids and their kids' kids. As it sounds, it gets "extended" and crazy!! But, it's a ton of fun and we always miss it when we don't get to head that way for the holidays. The boys got to run around with some older cousins and the weather was beautiful and really cooperated this year. With Louisiana Christmas weather, you never really know what you're going to get! After the get-together, it's our Christmas tradition to head over to our church for 6 PM vigil Mass. The boys were really good this year, and only Colin ended up in the cryroom. Daniel was fascinated with the Christmas trees IN CHURCH! Our church hadn't put them up yet before we left for down south.

After Mass, it was back to Mom and Dad's for some present-opening. If only some of these pictures had audio!!!

I'd told my sister that William really wanted a sled for Christmas. Now, I'm thinking about one of the little one person ones that are about 2 feet in diameter. But, in true Auntie style, she bought the biggest one she could find! In case you were wondering, it seats THREE! You should've seen William's face when he pulled it out of the box!
From Nana's


And, of course, little brother immediately had to try it out:

From Nana's


My mom bought animal hats for all the boys this year. Daniel is in love with all things "penguin", and not knowing that, she bought him a penguin hat!! We got a stuffed penguin in a Happy Meal a couple of years ago and his tag said his name was Chill. From that point on, all penguins have been "chills". So, here is my smiley boy in his Chill hat.

From Nana's


William's was a tiger:

From Nana's


After all the presents were open, it was off to bed with the kiddos so Santa could come. William decided Santa wanted Oreos this year, so Oreos and a big glass of milk it was. Santa must really like Oreos because he ate them all! But, he was probably in a big hurry, they decided the next morning, because he left a lot of crumbs ;-)

From Nana's


The next morning, Colin's favorite presents were the talking Thomas and the talking Percy Santa put in his stocking.

From Nana's


William's didn't even come from Santa--it was a toss up between that enormous sled and the Lincoln Logs my mom and dad gave him. Apparently, Grandpa Sam really liked Lincoln Logs when he was a little boy, so he wanted William to have some. As far as I knew, William had never seen them before--none of our friends have ever pulled them out when we've been over. But, the minute he unwrapped them, he started screeching, "Look, Mom!! LINCOLN LOGS!!" Apparently, when he tells me they build stuff in his PM centers at school, they use Lincoln Logs. Who knew? I never asked--just assumed he was building with blocks. Here is a snap of our two construction men going after it with the Lincoln Logs:

From Nana's


And, the finished log cabin:

From Nana's


Later on Christmas Day, my mom's sister and her husband (Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jim) came over to have lunch with us. My boys just adore her, so that was a huge highlight! Overall, it was a Christmas filled with family, so what more could one want????

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Louisiana trip--part I

On December 18, we got up bright and early, finished loading up the van and hit the road for a 10+ hour drive down to Scott's parents' house. I couldn't believe how good our 3 boys were!! There was NO fighting from the back of the van and even Colin did better than expected. He didn't really understand why he couldn't get out and run around, so when we stopped, he ran around like a MADMAN until we forced him back into his seat. But, overall, things went pretty smoothly, thank goodness.

The boys were very concerned that Trix wouldn't know where to find us, but William quickly decided that he must be flying over our van and following us. This quickly led to lots of warnings to Trix when we went under overpasses--"Watch out, Trix, there's a bridge coming up! Don't hit your head!" Scott & I were in stitches in the front seat. And, imagine the excitement when they woke up on day 2 and this is what they found:

From Maw Maw Lin's


On Monday night, we finally got to head over to NOLA for Christmas in the Oaks. (It's been closed due to weather the last 3 times we've tried!) The boys had a blast taking pictures and riding rides. Here are the 3 of them posing with a huge alligator statue--it's wearing a Santa costume!

From Maw Maw Lin's


And on the carousel:

From Maw Maw Lin's


From Maw Maw Lin's


From Maw Maw Lin's


William's favorite part was a roller coaster with a roaring dinosaur that lit up and scared you as the coaster car raced by in front of it! Daniel's favorite part was the ferris wheel--William's response to that was, "Daniel, I can't BELIEVE you picked that!" Not, as you might think, because it's not exciting, but rather because he seems to have inherited his daddy's fear of all heights!! And, poor Scott had to go on it with them because it was not advised that you ride pregnant. What do you mean??? Of COURSE I wasn't milking that........

On the Wednesday, Scott's brother Brian and his wife Kristy came over with their 3 kids to exchange presents and hang out. My boys were very excited to see their older cousins! We even managed to get them all (remotely) still for a group pic. Scott had to get down on the floor with Colin because he kept wanting to run up to the camera and yell "Cheese!"--imagine that!

Jay Douglas (12), Meredith and Madelaine (8), William (5), Colin (19 months), and Daniel (4)

From Maw Maw Lin's


And, we got a very rare shot of Scott's entire family--Chad (younger brother), Maw-Maw Lin (AKA Ms. Linda), Paw-Paw Bip (AKA Mr. Bill), Scott, and Brian (oldest brother).

From Maw Maw Lin's

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Ugly Sweater Party

Scott & I got invited to our first ugly sweater party this Christmas. I scoured the neighborhood stores looking for the ugliest sweaters I could find. Here is what we ended up in.

Me and Buddy the Elf:

From Ugly Sweater Party


Lea, me, Dawn, and Jennifer (the hostess):

From Ugly Sweater Party


Scott ended up winning the guys' prize for ugliest sweater (do you think it had anything to do with the too-tight turtleneck and sweater vest sized Women's M?) and this lady won in the womens' division:

From Ugly Sweater Party


And, here is Scott with Jeremy, our host. Yes, that IS a toilet seat cover that Jeremy glued onto his shirt!

From Ugly Sweater Party

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Downslide to 40!

Today was my birthday! Scott surprised me with a cake after he got home from work & the boys were very excited to put candles on it and sing to me. I just thank goodness they didn't insist on actually putting 35 candles on there--talk about a house fire! They happily agreed on 3 and 5.

From Sarah Birthday


My 3 little monkeys enjoying their cake:

From Sarah Birthday


From Sarah Birthday


From Sarah Birthday


And, the obligatory shot of the birthday girl (don't I look fabulous, LOL???) with the cake:

From Sarah Birthday


What a great way to turn 35!

Friday, November 26, 2010

After Thanksgiving Magic....

We hung around here for Thanksgiving this year since Mommy had to work the Saturday and Sunday after. We had dinner with our friends and neighbors, Christine and Carl. Carl fried his first Thanksgiving turkey in what they call a "turkey fryer" and we call a "crawfish pot"! Carl thought it was a bit overdone, but we thought it was yummy! Their two year old, Michael, looks a lot like Daniel--some people even assume they're brothers when we're out together--and both my boys love him. William has even been known to argue with me on occasion that he's their cousin :-)

The day after Thanksgiving is usually when we pull out the Christmas stuff & decorate, after we go searching for a tree, of course! Since we're planning to head home for the holidays, we didn't want to get a live tree this year, so we headed to Lowe's to pick out the perfect artificial one. BUT, before we did all that, the boys were surprised by a little bit of Christmas magic: Trix came back!!

From November 2010


Boy, were they happy to see him! William reminded Daniel that he was going to keep an eye on them & report on their behavior to the North Pole. He also reminded him that you could never, ever touch Trix or his magic might disappear!

After all the Trix excitement (and after breakfast, of course!) we picked out a tree, then rushed home to get out the decorations. After putting the wild man down for a nap, the big boys helped Mommy & Daddy hang all the decorations up on the tree. Every time an ornament came out of a box, one of them yelled, "Oh, my gosh--it's the McQueen one!", etc. I think they might have honestly been as excited to see all of the familiar ornaments as they will be for their gifts on Christmas morning!! (Then again, maybe not!) So, a big thanks to Nana for all the Hallmark ornaments--they were definitely the highlight of our tree decorating this year.

From November 2010


And, the finished product, complete with Hallmark ornaments and homemade preschool creations :-)

From November 2010

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Movie Night

There were a couple of Christmas shows that came on TV this week that we recorded for the boys so they could stay up late and watch one night. We put Colin to bed, made popcorn, then snuggled in to watch a Madagascar Christmas Special and then a Kung Fu Panda one. Here is how things started:

From November 2010


And, how they ended! I didn't think Daniel was going to make it all the way through the second show. And, I have to admit--rare four year old snuggles make Mommy very happy!

From November 2010

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Just Like Them!

Colin spied a teddy bear in my toy closet today. I bought this for William for the airport the couple of times I flew with both big boys when William was under 3 and Daniel was a teeny one. Colin got very excited when he realized the bear went on his back! It's a BACKPACK! JUST like the big boys use! I had to immediately put it on & then he wanted pictures. Oh, this little ham of mine :-)

From November 2010


From November 2010

Monday, November 22, 2010

Enapay

William's kindergarden class learned all about the Pilgrims and Indians at Thanksgiving time. They had a big Thanksgiving feast right before Thanksgiving and made their own Indian costumes, complete with headgear. Each child had to pick an Indian name and that name was the name they went by at the feast. William was very methodical about choosing his name--we had to get online and look up Indian names and their meanings. He vetoed a ton of them before settling on "Enapay", which is a Native American Souix name meaning "brave". Here is my little Enapay, all costumed up:
From November 2010


And, then just because everyone has to get in on the action, Enapay the second:

From November 2010


And, the third!

From November 2010


And, then just because you can't pull a camera out these days without little man running up to you & yelling "Cheese!":

From November 2010

Saturday, November 20, 2010

LSU vs. Ole Miss

My friend Lea and I have tried for two years now to have a big blowout football party for the LSU/Ole Miss football game. Last year, it didn't work out because we were out of town the weekend of the game, but this year, we made sure to keep our calendars free! We invited a few friends and neighbors, scoured cookbooks, made drink lists (and grocery lists, and decoration lists, but who's counting??), and threw together a pretty awesome party, if I do say so myself!

A quick snap of the tiger threatening old Colonel Reb pre-game:

From LSU vs. Ole Miss


Pic of the table, complete with green felt football "field", yard lines with numerical markers, and lots of yummy Southern-inspired food! We had mini-shrimp po-boys (otherwise known as "sliders"), cheeseburger sliders, bacon-Rotel muffins, Louisiana smoked sausage right from the heart of Cajun country, spinach dip, and that was just to start! Red beans and rice was the main part of the meal, and we finished up with ooey-gooey brownies and Southern pecan pie for dessert!

From LSU vs. Ole Miss


From LSU vs. Ole Miss


Lea & I, all decked out in our opposing team gear:

From LSU vs. Ole Miss


Kinda grainy, but here are all the women. Some people chose to support one of the two rival teams (brave, brave, brave people!) and some stayed "neutral" and were very careful to stay away from both red/blue and purple/gold, and still more just wore their own team jerseys:

From LSU vs. Ole Miss


And, the guys:

From LSU vs. Ole Miss


And, of course, we were very happy when the outcome turned out in our favor! Although, the game was a nail-biter and much closer than it was "supposed" to be. Lea was excited that her team hung in there the whole game, & Scott & I were excited that LSU managed to squeak by in the end! Geaux, Tigers!!!!

From LSU vs. Ole Miss

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Daniel's Thanksgiving Program

Daniel's preschool has a Thanksgiving dinner every year. Each grade level performs a song and dresses up in Thanksgiving costumes. This year, the two Frog classes were Pilgrims. The parents sit far back from the stage & my camera wasn't behaving very well (and by the end of the night, neither was my toddler!) so I didn't get many good pictures of the performance. Here is one of Daniel heading up to the stage, complete with Pilgrim hat:

From D Thanksgiving feast


William and Shelby waiting patiently for their dinner:

From D Thanksgiving feast


And, Daniel and Luke waiting for theirs:

From D Thanksgiving feast


Overall, a great pre-Thanksgiving celebration with our good friends and "family"!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Jack O' Lanterns, Parties, and Costumes

My sister Laura was able to come for a visit, so the boys wanted to carve their Jack O' Lanterns while she was here. They worked hard to help us scrape out all the pulp, we saved the seeds for roasting, then they drew their faces & Daddy carved them. They even worked together to make one for Colin.Here they are after all of their hard work:

From Halloween 2010


From Halloween 2010


At Daniel's preschool, they have a "Harvest Party" for Halloween. All of the kids in his class made owl masks & then they got to trick or treat around the preschool. Afterward, they had some Halloween cupcakes, then got to bowl with pumpkins. All of that excitement was followed by a spooky Halloween song! Daniel had a blast:

From Halloween 2010


Will and Daniel enjoying their cupcakes:

From Halloween 2010


Daniel LOVING the spooky Halloween song. Lucas not liking it so much!

From Halloween 2010


For costumes this year, I went to Costco & got a great deal on a fireman and an astronaut. William is very into all-things-space-related & Daniel was having a fireman party, so I (very mistakenly!) figured he'd be so excited to be a fireman with a real fireman costume. When I told them what I'd bought, William's face lit up as expected, but Daniel's just FELL. He got very quiet & sad and said, "But I don't want to be a fireman, Mommy. I want to be Frank the Combine." Now, if you have no boys, you may not know exactly what that means. Frank the Combine is the big, mean "bull" character from the Disney "Cars" movie. For some reason, Daniel has just fallen in love with ole Frank. Every time we pass any kind of big truck or tractor that even remotely resembles a combine, I hear a ton of shouting from the rear of my van. It's such excited chatter that I seriously doubt you could understand it if you didn't know what he was saying! So, being the good Mommy that I try to be, I immediately fired up the computer and looked online :-) Of course, Frank the Combine is NOT one of the "Cars" characters you have the option to purchase as a Halloween costume. I tried and tried to convince the D-man that he REALLY wanted to be a fireman, even holding out hope that his birthday party would change his mind. NO DICE! So, I then dredged up my non-existent artistic skills, found a large cardboard box in the basement, grabbed some packing tape, spray paint, and tin foil, and went to work. Here is the finished product. Looks pretty darn good, if I do say so myself!

From Halloween 2010


Our little space man (with a super-scary witch getting ready in the background!):

From Halloween 2010


One very happy Frank the Combine:

From Halloween 2010


And our resident "Spooky Spider":

From Halloween 2010


Super-scary witch-girl and pink Batgirl (aka "Allie" and "Maddie") who trick or treated with us:

From Halloween 2010


And, Spooky Spider all settled into his wagon with his paci. He was AWESOME all evening & we only had to ply him with candy for about the last 30 minutes. He was so in awe of all the costumes, lights, and noise that he forgot to ask to get out & run around!

From Halloween 2010


Overall, the boys had a wonderful night! Things got a little hairy when we first started out because I was concentrating only on making Frank look nice, and forgot to find out if my design actually WORKED! He was a little front-heavy and kept tipping forward, which meant his front dragged on the ground when Daniel went up driveways to get his loot. When Daniel realized how far behind he was getting, he was agreeable to letting Frank "rest" in the garage & just wore the Little Einsteins Rocket costume that was hiding under Frank. PHEW! Scott & I got to walk around with our (cough, cough) hot chocolate and visit with the other grown-ups while pulling Spooky Spider in the wagon, while the big boys ran ahead with Allie & Maddie. So nice that this year, everyone knew what to do & no one was scared!!!