Mardi Gras

We all had a great time Friday night attending the Eve parade with the Bristers and Heberts...KK was very kind (and brave) to have us all over. David and I totally forgot our camera, so I stole these pics from the Brister Blog.







Little do our three munchkins know that that was the extent of our Mardi Gras this year...the countdown to Disney is on!!! So, we are all thankful that we had such a great time Friday night at our 2011 Mardi Gras....
A funny little story from that night, we have a ladder with a seat on top, which is a lifesaver for David and I at parades. Not only does it give the kids a better view, but it usually means at least two of the kids are sitting in it at all times, which allows us to play "man to man" defense rather than the "zone" we are usually on...
Well, after the parade we loaded it on top of our car for the short ride across the neighborhood....and then totally forgot it was on top until we heard a HUGE crash as David pulled into the garage!!!
R.I.P. Mardi Gras ladder- you've been great to us!!
So, it is probably a good thing that was our only parade this year- wouldn't be the same without our ladder!!

a glimpse...

...into my afternoon...

Just sent Elise to the corner because she was disrespectful when I told her she could not play on the computer right now.
She stomped off and returned a few seconds later and said, "I can't find a corner without a spider web."

So there.

a little visit and a little mardi gras

Yesterday after school we picked up Aunt K and headed across the bridge to visit Grandpa Roland and Virgina. We had not seen them since Christmas, which is way tooooo long.



Lila and her Great Grandpa. He is looking really good, especially for 92 (or is it 93?)...



Elise was being a goofball during their pic....the two Laurents....




My big boy Bennett!!
I feel like a broken record, but he is so big all of the sudden! I have been sewing pants for him for our trip, and I look at the pattern and think- no way these will fit him, they are huge, and then they do!!!

We loved spending a little time with them and I could tell that they were very, very happy to see us (well, really the kids- who am I kidding!). I think they were worn out by the time we left!

When we got home Lila and Bennett got out the floats they had made at school yesterday and made their own Mardi Gras parade. Elise hasn't yet made her float at school, so she turned her Valentine's Day mailbox into a very fancy float! Quite resourceful!




Lining up the parade...(fuzzy pics from my phone b/c they wouldn't stay still!)




Bennett's float with the giant crab...and I love the army men he put on top "to guard his float from bad men".....




Elise and her Valentine's mailbox/float...




Lila and her giant flower float....

I have a feeling these will provide lots of fun.....although there is a trail of glitter all around the house! :)

Happy Wednesday!!

he....

Just makes me smile.....

boss's graveyard and elise's dvd debut

Boss has converted our dining room into his own personal graveyard. Or maybe a less morbid way to describe is that it is his collection room...kind of like Ariel's cave in the little mermaid!
Can you tell our trip is getting close, I have Disney on the mind!
Any time we cannot find a toy we check the graveyard....



He kind of blends in with the stuffed animals here...



He is especially fond of GiGi and LuLu and so David or I typically visit the graveyard every night in order to get the girls their special little friends back for bedtime....
Then we return the other toys to their homes......and then he drags out a new group the next day!

***


On another note, after doing Yoga at school all last year the instructor asked for volunteers for a video that she was creating. They were shooting it in our own neighborhood! Elise really wanted to do it, and so we signed up and went. The Scooter and Me videos arrived today and Elise is soooo proud. They are absolutely adorable, and, of course, the kids especially like the "monkeying around at the zoo" segment, because that is the one that Elise (and her friend William) are in together. You can check it out here. Looking forward to using these on rainy days...won't feel as guilty putting on a DVD when it gets them moving!

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Nicole

happy valentine's day!

{yes, B has girl pjs on. what happens when you change your kids in a dark gas station parking lot.}

We had a low key day today hanging around the house. Elise woke up not feeling so well, and so she stayed and hung with us. We read books, watched t.v., I gave the girls manis and pedis....and that was about it....

The kids were spoiled (as usual) with treats from both sets of Grandparents, and sweet cards from their Aunt Mo and Uncle P! Their favorites were these adorable bookmarks that SuSu made them, as well as the cute little make up bags (with polka dots) full of lip gloss (girls) and Buzz bubblebath (Bennett) from Emmy and Pop.

David and I went our usual mostly practical route and gave them electric toothbrushes (which they actually LOVED) to combat the sugar overload, and lots of books. The toothbrushes were something we had planned for a while, so we figured why not wrap them up for a holiday for a little extra "wow" factor!!! E was thrilled with her books, as that is all she is doing these days!! Makes me so happy and proud!!

Hope everyone had a very Happy Valentine's Day!!

good friends and fun in the mississippi delta

We returned late last night from a fabulous, full two days in the Mississippi delta...it was such a great trip!!!

We headed that way for the Christening of sweet little Mary Cooper Adams. I was beyond thrilled and honored when Shelley and Gray asked me to be one of her Godmothers. And even more thrilled to share honors with Dianne (we now refer to each other as MCOG- Mary Cooper's other Godmother)!!

David and I loaded up the kids Saturday morning and headed to Greenville, MS to Dianne's parents' house. Sadly for us, but probably awesome for them, they were out of town for the weekend, so we took over their house with Dianne and Russell and a total of 5 kids- and 4 HUGE dogs!!

My biggest disappoint of the weekend was that, of all things, I forgot my camera!!!!! UGH!!! So, I snapped a few pictures with my phone, but am hoping to get some more pictures from Shelley and Elizabeth.

What a nice surprise that there was still a little snow on the ground!!!!!!!!! The kids loved it!!

After a little playing and leg stretching we loaded up again and headed to Gray's hometown of Cleveland, MS.

There we met up with a large group for dinner, Shelley and Gray had so much family in town for the big occasion. Their sweet little girl is definitely loved!!!

Dinner gave me the chance to introduce Elise, Lila, and Bennett to Elizabeth (Dianne's older sister who we also went to college with) and West's kids, and the kids all hit it off immediately.

Elizabeth had tons of fun stuff for the kids to do at dinner, which was such a lifesaver because I don't think the restaurant was quite ready for the amount of people that showed up. I was so impressed how well the kids did considering we were there for over 3 hours! They had a blast!!
When we got into the car around 9 o'clock all three were passed out before we even got out of the parking lot!

So we actually got to have some fun catching up with Dianne and Russell on the way back to Greenville!

Sunday morning we all got up and left (on time!- Dianne and I were so proud!) for Rosedale, MS by 7:30 a.m. The Christening was at a tiny, yet beautiful, little Episcopal Church that has been attended by Gray's family for years. The little church was completely full with MC's family and friends! It was such a warm, intimate, occasion...we were so thrilled to be there!

After the service, we all caravaned back to Cleveland to Gray's parents house for a beautiful little reception. It was a gorgeous day and a gorgeous party. We had a blast! Gray's parents have four sons and one Grandson, so needless to say the excuse for a pink party finally arrived and it was girly and precious!! MC is the queen in that family!

This looks kind of scary in the above picture, but Wyatt and Dyer actually really loved swinging in the hammock, and their Uncle West was just making sure no one fell. They are too, too precious, and we had so much fun seeing them again.

The kids had so much fun playing in the Adam's big backyard.

Bennett and his new BFF little West played non-stop the whole weekend and had sooo much fun! West turned 4 on Saturday, so he is just 6 months older than Lila and Bennett and a perfect playmate!

Elise and Lila both loved sweet Anne Hartmann (isn't she soooo precious?)...she was great to share all of her toys with them and they just loved her....poor Lila struggled with her name a bit and kept callling her "apartment"..even this morning asking me where "apartment" lives......so funny (only because it is completely unintentional..)

I must admit I was a little "star stuck" to meet Mr. McCarty- the potter who makes all of the fabulous Mississippi Mud pottery that I ADORE. He is 92 and still going strong and sat behind David and the kids during church. He was such a sweet and kind man, with fabulous stories to tell. I could have sat and listened to him all day, and wished I could have yesterday!!

We hated to go, but finally had to leave...and we motivated ourselves by planning to stop in Jackson for dinner at our old favorite place Kiefer's. So we timed it just perfectly and got to Keifer's around 5. YUM YUM. We were also so excited that David's "little brother" Andrew from Millsaps came up and met us so that we could catch up. He is such a nice guy!

David and Bennett enjoying a pita mozz. YUM.

After dinner we took the kids on a little driving tour of Millsaps, and David even drove them by my little apartment in Belhaven where he proposed! :) So, I guess you could say we celebrated Valentine's day yesterday!

Then we stopped at a gas station, changed the kids into their pajamas, and headed home. We got back around 9:30, carried the three, tired, sleeping kids to their beds, and crashed.

What a fun, full weekend. I think we are both pretty thankful for our time in Jackson, MS...for it is where we found each other, and some fabulous friends that I know we will be friends with for a lifetime.....

elise

Elise is seeming soooo grown up to me lately. Almost shocking. For example, tonight she basically read the entire Olivia book to me. By herself. I helped her with some words, but was completely AMAZED at how much she could do on her own!!!!
I have never doubted that she had the ability to read, we just don't have alot of time alone with her to work on it (without the dynamic duo vying for attention)...but, we do read to her most nights (her current favorites are the Ramona books the Bristers gave her for Christmas). So I was extremely impressed with what she has either taught herself, or what they have been working on in PRE-K!!!

On the way home from dinner tonight she told us that 3 of the boys in her class want to marry her. Nice. Then she said "William has always wanted to marry me, and I think I want to marry him too, BUT I am going to keep that a secret and not tell him".
SMART GIRL!!! :) Hope this "hard to get" mentality sticks with her through her teenage years!

And, my little "girly" girl who ONLY wanted to wear dresses and skirts (which is pretty much all she has) is all of the sudden really into jeans and boots. I have been washing her one pair of jeans(she NEVER wanted to wear them before) almost every day! Definitely looking forward to the (although relaxed) uniforms she'll be wearing next year. Yeah!

E with her favorite jeans on, striking an attitude pose!

She also comes up with quite the outfit for bedtime these days. We just let her go with it...It usually involves leggings or tights, then pajama pants or shorts, a long sleeve pj tee, and another layered tee on top. And she usually tops it all off with a pair of mismatched socks!

Another funny story from the other night....We were eating dinner (me and the kids) waiting for David, and I asked her to tell us about her day at school. She said, "why do I have to tell you about my day everyday?" So I said, "well, you don't, but we care about you and your life and love hearing about your day."
Her response? "Some days are "tell" days and some days aren't. Today is a "don't tell" day."
Whatever that means. :)

She definitely makes things very interesting....:)
We love our "grown up" little girl!

one month....

...and then our big, exciting, surprise that I alluded to earlier will be here....

we are taking the kids to Disney World!!!!!

We are so, so, so excited. It is pretty much all that David and I talk about these days, although at this point everything is so planned out that there is not really much more to talk about. This is something we had been trying to save for, planning (hoping) to take the kids sometime next year. Then about a month ago, David realized that there is a CLE (continuing legal education) seminar in Disney this Mardi Gras for Louisiana lawyers, which = awesome discounts and a we-can't-pass-this-up opportunity. Thanks to some generous Christmas gifts from our parents, we were able to take advantage of the great deals and book our trip. Other than trips to the beach with my family, and our first flying trip to VA with David's parents, we have not traveled much {at all} with our kids. We have never taken a family vacation with just our immediate family.

WE ARE SOOO EXCITED to be able to give them this adventure.

Don't get me wrong, I realize that David and I will most probably feel like we need another vacation from our vacation after keeping up with three kids for 7 days in DisneyWorld. But that is a pretty good problem to have. And, I honestly think, since David has never been there himself, that he is going to have as much, if not more, fun than the kids. I think we both will.

The kids have no clue, and we have no plans to tell them anytime soon.....we are going for the whole effect on the commercial that plays constantly (and makes me cry every time) where the kids open the presents Christmas morning and their parents tell them they are going NOW.

We are still ironing out the details of how we will tell them, but trust me, a video camera will be involved, as I cannot wait to see the looks on their faces. In fact, Bennett has been mentioning Disney for quite a while and is currently saving in his piggy bank to go "meet the real Buzz Lightyear"....not even sure how he thought of that.....

Feeling grateful for an exciting adventure to look forward to....

hair really is important....

Trust me...David hears this phrase alot when I am justifying my bill from the salon to maintain my "natural" (wink, wink) blond hair....
Well, there was never more proof of this than when I picked up our formerly precious, looked just like a teddy bear, dog from his grooming appointment yesterday.....



and he looked like this.....

He seriously looks like a very miniature deer.....not a cute look for him.....

I brought him with me to pick the kids up from school and they could not stop laughing....poor Boss! When David got home he said, "that groomer is never touching my dog again."

So funny.

In all seriousness, it is just a bad hair cut, and it will grow out...not a big deal, just something funny to document around here....

Coincidentally, Boss and I were both at the "salon" at the same time yesterday and my girl also got a little carried away....don't think I've been this blond since I was Elise's age!! Oh well, I'll enjoy it while it lasts! :)

Weekend at the Boerner's

We had a family filled weekend last weekend starting with Elise's first soccer game of this season- in which she scored a goal! So glad she is having a blast out there!

After the game we gathered up the troops for a much overdue and much needed visit with the Boerner's. We had not gotten the kids together since last Mardi Gras- almost a full year- and way TOO long!!
I still can't get over how precious and how BIG Tyndale is...at 2 he is almost as big as Bennett (who is big for a 3 year old!)...

We had a great time just hanging at their house and spending time together. After Elise's usual 30 minutes to warm up she and Quinn were inseparable for the rest of the time!
We loved visiting their church and seeing Brad's parents and his sister, Betsy, and her family as well...
It was a short, but nice visit, and hopefully we won't go this long without getting together again!