The Big Easy

I have not been neglecting my blog...have just been preoccupied with much more important things...like being in New Orleans with Matt! I flew out last Thursday, November 5, and just returned yesterday, November 10. It was a long time to be gone from my kiddos...but what a nice break too. Matt's been working on a project for Ursuline Academy, the oldest operating school in the country, down in New Orleans since July. They had a fundraising event and homecoming weekend, so it was a good time for Matt to stay and meet alum and me to come down and visit. (Thanks, Mom, for watching the kids!!!) I should have had my camera with me more often, but here are a few pictures from our vacation.


Going to La Fete Friday night...Ursuline's big fundraiser. Fete means party in French. The event was really nice, and once again, the food was amazing. It was catered by several different restaurants. I tried turtle soup (not bad but probably won't eat that again), all sorts of yummy shrimp dishes, carrot souffle (would LOVE to eat this again), spinach and artichoke pasta, etc. They had oysters on the half shell which Matt loves, and I just can't do. So, he enjoyed those.


After La Fete at midnight we went to Cafe Du Monde. It's the original French Market coffee stand. They have coffee with steamed milk and beignets. They are hot square doughnuts fried and piled with powdered sugar (as you can see). We were SO not hungry when we went here...but they were good! And...to top it off...we were served by Wednesday from The Addams Family! :-)

Saturday we walked and walked all over the French Quarter. We saw the beautiful St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest continuously active cathedral in the U.S. and walked the Riverwalk to see the Mississippi River and the River Boats and barges. We ate at the Napoleon House but unfortunately as you can see we were tucked into a corner instead of seated in the beautiful courtyard they had. The wall was covered with graffiti...we should have added our name. :-)

They do have city fountains and park areas throughout the city...Here is a fountain area that was dedicated by a past Mayor of New Orleans who we met at La Fete Friday night.

There are cable cars that run along the streets. They don't run on a set schedule but have several stops that people just wait at. It costs $1.25 to ride as far as you want.

These are the views from our hotel room of the Mississippi River. It was fun to watch the different kinds of boats.



Saturday night we had reservations at The Bistro at Maison de Ville. The President at Ursuline Academy is personal friends with the chef so called in a favor to get us a reservation. It was probably one of the best if not the best meal I've ever eaten. And..the chef gave us free desserts...scrumptious!

Here we are with Chef Greg...what a nice man.

After dinner we walked around. I took this picture because there are these lanterns hanging everywhere. Matt and I love them...they even had a standing one on the auction at La Fete. They have a gas flame that continuously flickers...cool.


Here is the famous Bourbon Street. The party-goers LOVE this place. There is no open container law there, so you can walk around the street any time of day with a beer or any type of alcoholic drink in your hand...that was a little weird at first to see. I personally found it very dirty. People watching was quite interesting though!

On Sunday we did the very touristy thing and took a swamp tour. We didn't see any gators, but we did learn some very interesting facts. I had a very stereotypical idea of the swamp...mossy, stinky, gross. I was very wrong. It really was very clean and beautiful...and not stinky at all. :-) The white bird is an egret. The blue one...a blue heron. The birds in the trees are killed and their meat sold on the black market for $13/lb. I can't remember what they're called. The mossy stuff hanging from the trees (you can just see a little in the tree with the birds) used to be harvested by our tour guide's grandfather who contracted with Henry Ford and put it in the seats of the cars. The cotton that they used to use would not dry out, and this would dry out and spring right back into shape.





Being in the swamp was very serene. It was beautiful. And, it was a place I probably won't be again, so even though we didn't see a gator, I'm glad we went.

The nicest part was completing conversations with my husband, going to bed early and sleeping in, having complete (HOT) meals (and LOTS of them...I think all we did was eat!), reading a book on the plane and at the airport, and just generally enjoying Matt's company.

Trick-or-Treat!

Here are the Halloween pictures of the kiddos. I must not have had a setting right on my camera when taking their pictures :-( so they didn't turn out the best (except the one of Sawyer when I brought him in for the night). It was absolutely gorgeous weather! ...so much so that Sawyer loved riding in the wagon watching the other kids and we were out much longer than anticipated. So, when he and I got home (Matt stayed out longer with the girls)...we didn't have any trick-or-treaters at our door. Had I known we were going to be gone so long, I would have left the bowl on the front porch. I guess Matt's co-workers will be getting a load of candy tomorrow. :-)

Anyway...the girls LOVED trick-or-treating and were so, so, so excited to go this year!

Lainey was a pink poodle and practiced all week...

Me: "Ding-Dong" Lainey: (high voice) "Arf-Arf, Trick-or-Treat, Please....Thank You!"

Sophie was a pirate princess (SO fitting for her...a gift from her Uncle Scott and Maggie for her birthday) and practiced all week...

Me: "Ding-Dong" Sophie: (low voice) "Arrrr, Matey! Trick-or-Treat, Please...Thank You!"

Sawyer was a very soft and cuddly Tigger. He kept the head on just fine and didn't seem to mind wearing the mittens either. He was just perfectly content to be in the wagon watching all of the dressed up kids!

Many Mini Mummies

I made these party favor mummies for Lainey's pre-school Halloween party today. They were so easy that I thought I would share. They are simply toilet paper rolls cut in half then wrapped in muslin strips. (The idea is from Family Fun magazine and called for 2" wide gauze, but I thought that would be too expensive so did the muslin strips instead. I used the bleached muslin but the natural would be cute...giving it a more aged look.) You cut out circles from white cardstock and tape with packing tape to one end of the tube. Next, tape one end of the strip of fabric to the tube and start wrapping, tucking the end into the fabric when done. Glue the googly eyes on, and you're finished. I thought they turned out cute, and the kids really liked them.

Happy Halloween, everyone! Pics of the kids to follow soon!

Under the Weather

Well, the long season has started at our house...the season of sickness. Sawyer woke up Sunday morning with a high fever and was just really under the weather all day long until getting sick Sunday evening. Today he was lethargic and just wanted to be held and snuggled. You could tell he just hurt every time he moved. He finally ate late afternoon...some applesauce...and some cooked noodles tonight. He's been drinking water thankfully the last two days and had some Gatorade tonight. What mother's heart doesn't just ache for her baby (no matter how old) to see them sick or in pain? All we want is to kiss them, hold them, rock them, and make it all better. I watch his little eyes look into mine, pleading to help him feel better. I just pray that he sleeps through the night and awakes in the morning feeling much more like his smiley happy little boy self.

We've also been sanitizing our hands (a lot) throughout the day. I am heading to clean the bathrooms right after posting this...just in case. It's nearly impossible when one gets sick that the rest won't follow, but we'll do our best. He does have big sisters that constantly want to love, love, love on him. Which is wonderful...when he feels well...he barely had the energy to ward them off the last 2 days this time...not to mention the germs that are swapped when the lovin' happens.

So, I'm crossing our fingers we'll all be healthy the rest of the week and nobody will be sick for trick-or-treating. It'll be a sad night if that happens, so we won't think of that now....and we'll just hope this is a one-time, one-shot bug.

'Tis the start of the season...only this isn't the season I like.

Trap Update

This morning Matt found one of the creatures in one of the traps...enough said. Yippee! I had a feeling. It was one of the traps not quite so visible, which is why I hadn't checked it, but I thought I heard something the other night when I had to go out in the garage. (I told myself it was the freezer.) I would scan the visible ones as I came in and out of the garage but I certainly wasn't going to seek the traps out. After delays in New Orleans and missing his flight in Houston, Matt got home late last night. It was too dark (and too late) last night, but he checked all the traps on his way to work this morning and poked his head in to report the casualty. I shuddered and felt a small victory. Small because I know where there is one there are many more, but hopefully the word got around. I will replace that trap today. Like I said, I'm going to be proactive from now on this fall/winter. :-)

Traps

Yep...it's that time of year. It's getting cold outside. The fields surrounding our house are being harvested. The lot just down the street is being built upon. All of that equals little things that aren't supposed to be inside trying to find warm places to bunker down for the long winter ahead. Well...that warm place will not be here...not if I can help it. I stepped out to open the garage door this morning, and as soon as the door lifted, I saw that little 4-legged creature with that long dragging tail scurry from the outside rain straight into our garage. Of course, I let out a scream...it was an involuntary reflex...then started to shut the garage door...then opened it again...why trap the thing inside? Then, I slammed the door (all in a matter of 1 second). I loaded Sophie and Sawyer up into the van AS FAST AS I COULD, picked Lainey up from pre-school, and headed straight to Dollar General...my only option here in Gretna. I picked up 8 sticky mouse traps, then put them down for 8 rat traps. (They happened to already be baited, but I bought gummy bears and placed one in the center of each just for extra enticement.) No way in heck was I going to place a little 1"x3" piece of sticky plastic down in my garage. I just don't think that type of coverage will have staying power. Now, I do realize that the snap of the trap is a surer deal, but that snap could just as easily break little fingers that might wonder just what would happen... My neighbor across the street had big problems with little rodents last year and found these high frequency plug-ins from Lowe's that really worked for them. So, there is now one in the garage, and two in our house to hopefully help keep the mice away. I think it's like the Pied Piper in reverse... Gimmick? Maybe...but it seemed to work for them, and it sure makes me feel a lot better.

When I see a mouse, my blood runs cold. I hate them. I truly do. They are filthy, sneaky, disgusting. It sicks me out that they can squeeze their bodies into such an itty bitty little space to get where I don't think they should be. I'm sure my pure petrification of these animals has to do with a very early memory I have of being at my grandma's farm. I was only about 2 years old when a mouse ran across the floor of my grandma's kitchen. Every one of my aunts was up on her chair screaming, and my grandma was chasing after the mouse with a broom...while I was standing on the floor. Who knows if that's why I hate the critters so much....but it really doesn't matter, I do.

As of tonight, the traps are clear. I haven't checked them; I don't want to...but I don't hear anything. I am hoping the mouse turned and ran back out of the nice warm garage into the cold driving ran...ha...when it heard me scream. I can wish. It doesn't matter. The traps aren't going anywhere. I'm going to be proactive at least if this little mouse went elsewhere. I'm going to do my best to show that rodents are not welcome at this house.

Bring a Friend

Yesterday was Bring-a-Friend day in Lainey's dance class. With no hesitation at all she knew she was going to bring Sophie...and Sophie could not have been more excited to put on that little pink leotard and actually get to dance WITH the dance class instead of in the back of the room standing by me and Sawyer. All afternoon Lainey gave Sophie instructions about listening to the teacher, pointing her toes in, then out, no screaming in class, etc. Both of them were excited to be with the other at dance. As much as they fight like cats throughout the day, the girls truly are the very best of friends. They came home and continued to play dance class while I got dinner ready. It was a kick listening to them while I was in the kitchen. You can see by the pictures just how much fun Sophie had in class. I was videotaping most of the time so kind of forgot about my camera sitting on the table during some of the song routines. Oh..and yes, I do realize that they are holding onto chairs for the ballet bar...this is supposed to be a temporary location...we shall see.

(I just have to throw this in because I think it's so sweet....Last night as my little very, very overtired Sophie was crying as she was having a tough time falling asleep because she was upset about the new light bulb in her lamp; Lainey brought in a very special picture of a sunflower and the sun that she had worked so hard to color that afternoon. Sophie cuddled up as best she could to the construction paper picture and fell fast asleep. And, when she awoke in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, she looked all over for her picture before she drifted back to sleep because as she told me it's her "special picture from Nainey because she loves me so much." Sometimes they really do get it.)

Happy Birthday, to our Dear Daddy!

Matt's birthday is today...unfortunately he is celebrating it in New Orleans. However, the wonderful thing about birthdays...and especially kids and birthdays...it's not THE day...it's just the BIRTHDAY. We went back to Wallace this weekend to help with harvest, and although mother nature had other ideas and Matt was only able to be in the field very little due to rain, we did celebrate his birthday on Sunday. The girls made Matt beautiful cards before we left and snuck them with his gifts we brought. Saturday they helped make him his pumpkin cake which everyone thought was yummy, yummy...even Sawyer. Tonight we tried to call him but ended up singing "Happy Birthday" and "God's Blessings" on his cell phone message which I think was probably even better, so he can replay it over and over while he's away this week. So, to end his birthday day, here are a just a few reasons we love our daddy so much:

• Matt tells Lainey THE BEST stories before bed. He makes them up, and I know this has contributed to Lainey's wonderful imagination. I also heard her telling Sophie a story in the bathtub the other night...and it was a pretty darn good story too!


• Matt takes the kids on bike rides, practices baseball and soccer, wrestles and just generally plays with the kids...especially outside.


• Matt can talk to anybody, anytime, anywhere...and really talks to them, wanting to know where they're from, what they do, who they're related to...you get them point :-)


• To go along with the one above, Matt knows (or thinks he knows) :) someone from just about everywhere we go.


• This guy can remember details from ever high school sports game he ever played.


• He lets me sleep in on Saturday mornings.


• Matt makes up the best songs for the kids about anything and everything.


• Matt takes the time every Monday morning before he leaves at the crack of dawn to write notes for each one of us...and hides them for us to find...which makes waking up to him being gone just a little bit easier.


• He loves us very much...and tells all of us often!

Fall = Vala's Pumpkin Patch!

I love fall! (I hate my allergies, but several things trump that.) I love the smells. I love the colors. I love that there isn't so much humidity and heat, but we can still be outside playing a lot. In fact, it's probably more enjoyable being outside than it is in the summertime now. And...I love that Vala's Pumpkin Patch is open! (The sign at the top of this chair reads "Vala's Pumpkin Patch Rocks!")This ginormous piece of land is open 5 weeks out of the year...that's it. These people make their living (and a pretty good one, I'm guessing) having this huge operation open 5 weeks out of every year. It's not JUST a pumpkin patch though; it's much more. First and foremost, it's a retreat from our everyday routine...and that right there is worth the cost of a family pass. In fact, we were there 3 times this week alone. It's a place for the kids to be outside and run and run and run and do different things. So, I will include lots of pictures in this blog from our three trips, so you can get a small glimpse of what we do while at Vala's. The first trip was with Lainey's pre-school class on Monday. Tuesday we went with my cousin, Sheila, and her kids Alison and Connor. My cousin, Melissa, her husband, Joe, and their kids, Cohen and Savannah, joined us later in the day. Today (Friday) it was just too beautiful not to head out there. So, we picked Lainey up from pre-school, got Lunchables and went out for 3 hours. The kids have a blast and we manage to make it out of the park without spending a dime. There are plenty of things to do without spending any money (and several things to purchase once inside as well...pony rides, food, pumpkins, etc.) But, the kids know that we're there to have fun not buy things...and they are just fine with that! (On rare occasions, we do have to splurge on a small bag of kettle corn...a treat for the kids, you know.) :-) Anyway...here you are...hope you're enjoying this beautiful fall weather as well while it lasts.


Monday - Wee Lambs Field Trip

The kids took a train ride around all of Vala's. This you do have to pay for (so we usually don't do) but was included in the field trip so was a special treat for Lainey.

Each child got to pick their own apples from the orchard after taking the tour.

Lainey and Sophie enjoyed the huge slide...all 20 times they went down!

They have a tricycle track that kids 6 and under can ride all around. The girls have a blast and can ride and ride and ride...

Sawyer LOVED being out there too...just watching all that was happening!

Some of Lainey's pre-school buddies (and Sophie too).

Tuesday - Sheila, Alison & Connor Rempe - Joe, Melissa, Cohen & Savannah Dirks

Lainey, Alison, & Sophie on the hayrack ride out to the pumpkin fields. Cohen and Savannah were on the hayrack too. Cohen goes because he LOVES the tractor ride. The kids didn't actually pick any pumpkins while in the patch. But, we did search for them and let them pick all ladybugs they wanted...and there were lots. They had a blast!

Lainey, Melissa and Savannah on the kiddie "train."

Sawyer was fascinated by the goats, sheep, camels and other animals they had there. He was SO excited every time he saw one.

The girls jumped and jumped on the big pumpkin bounce. We went at the perfect time on the perfect day too. There were hardly any other kids there.

Lainey wanted me to take their picture at every wood cut-out there was. :-) There are lots and lots to choose from. :-)

Friday - Just Us

This is Zander, a mechanical dragon, who likes to eat pumpkins. They have a few different types of shows throughout the day. The girls REALLY wanted to see Zander today as we missed him the other two times this week. Lainey was very proud of herself that she wasn't afraid at all this year. Sophie was a little apprehensive of the friendly dragon still.

Lainey LOVES the bikes!

One of the girls' favorite attractions is the pig races. They race baby pigs around 5 at a time, each with a colored bandanna around its neck. They have little jokes throughout the show as well. We watch this if we catch it in time each time we're there.

Poor Sawyer had just about had enough today. One bad thing about Vala's is the lack of nap schedule that we keep. It's not too bad...except for Sawyer. Of course, he couldn't dare fall asleep in his stroller. None of my kids could ever do that. They're too afraid to miss what's going on, I guess. (I think they get that from me.)

This was several failed attempts at getting a picture of the kids in the pumpkins. Any idea why they would put goats right next to a photo op area??? (I thought about turning the camera on me to show what a sweaty mess I was after this little ordeal but thought better of it!)

Love the fall colors!

I just couldn't resist this one!