Disney On Ice

Meet Jen.

Jen is my really fun friend. You can always have a good time with her, doing the most random things. She'll take an impromptu vacation, try any type of festival food and is even the type of friend that would go with you and take stupid pictures in a bathroom using the disposable camera from someones wedding reception (not that we'd do that). Anyway, a few weeks back Jen got some free tickets to Disney On Ice and shared them with us for a show this past week. Jordis got all dressed up in her Minnie Mouse outfit (thanks to Aunt Karrie) and Mickey Mouse hair barrette and set up shop next to her future prom date, a.k.a. Jen's little guy, Arjun.

We anxiously awaited the start of the show.

The kids were so excited when it started!

Mickey and Goofy

It's A Small World

Beauty and the Beast

Nemo

All the characters

It was past bedtime when we left and the kids were completely worn out.

But it was so much fun.

Lent

As most of you know, I've been having serious trouble finding a good church for us. If I like the service they don't have good options for the kids. If the kids like it, I don't (usually because of the contemporary rock band-type music). Some of them are too legalistic and others I just don't agree with. I'm pretty sure I've checked out almost every religion since we moved here. What I have learned though is that I do like the liturgical style of worship. Non-denominationally speaking there is a focus on Christmas and on Easter, but I like the idea of everything having a season, like Advent and Lent. I like the predicatable organization of it all and the preparation it involves. However, explaining it to the kids is difficult for me because I don't know a whole lot about it.

As luck would have it, my blog friend, Meredith, posted a great blog on her site about Lenten ideas. I liked her crown of thorns idea a lot and attempted to make it with the kids this week. First the kids had to get on their "chef clothes," and then we made some salt dough, and rolled it out into ropes.


Then I was supposed to braid it and place it in a circle on a cookie sheet. That proved to be more difficult than expected and resulted in lots of re-rolling and re-braiding. But after figuring out the best way I finally got it on there. Then I had to put in the toothpicks. We baked it, then brushed it with a mixture of Worcestershire sauce and water and baked it a bit longer so it was a little more brown.

The idea is that the "thorns" represent sins. Each day the kids get an opportunity to get caught being good and they'll be allowed to remove a thorn. By the time we reach the eve of Easter the crown will be empty and they can paint it and decorate it for Easter day, transforming it from a crown of thorns to a crown fit for a king. I'm not sure if they understand it, but they've been getting awfully helpful around here.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Wow, Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras two days apart. It's like April when Easter and the kids' bithdays tend to be at the same time. In fact, this year all three fall within a nine-day period. But back to Mardi Gras.....

The house was sufficiently decorated (for a Yankee girl, anyway).

I cooked Cajun food for dinner Monday and Tuesday.

Let's throw in an obligatory snow day photo. Becoming commonplace anymore. This was day four in a row of both kids home together ALL.DAY.LONG.

On said snow day the kids made the filling for our King Cakes.

Time now to rest.

S-N-O-W

Okay, really? More snow?

Back on February 5th I was excited about our first big snow of the year. I was outside taking videos to send to our family and friends in Louisiana. That was the last time I've seen any grass.

But we had fun. We had movies and books and snacks. We made hot chocolate and chocolate chip snow cream.

Jordis loves the snow. She's helped me shovel and would play out there all day if you let her.

It was the weekend and the kids were due to be home and it was nice to stay in and do nothing.

Then a few days later......it snowed some more. There was already 14 inches on the ground and it was piled so high that we were running out of places to put it when we shoveled.

On the second day in a row of no school my friend down the street invited my kids down to play with her kids. It took me an hour to get them ready and down there. I think they played outside for 30 minutes. They were getting creative, too, using sleds to go down the slide on the swing set.

The other day, Jason called me from work to tell me about a refurbished snow blower he saw at the mechanic's where they have their cruisers serviced. He told me how much it costs new versus what this man wanted for his. I said, "Watch, we'll spend the money for it and it won't snow the rest of the year" and he said "Great!" So much for irony, as we got another 7-9 inches of snow today. You'll notice there's no picture. It's because I'm over it. Tired of snow suits, gloves and boots in front of my fire place. Tired of the dog shaking wet snow all over my carpet, tired of snow days and missing bible study two weeks in a row.

The snowblower works great though.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We've been very busy here celebrating Valentine's Day. We made cards....

....and read books. I loved the book on the left, it was darling.

I'm one of the party planners for Xander's class so Jordis and I attended his kindergarten party at school, too.

Poor Jordis felt so left out, even though she got to make the craft and have snack. You can tell by her face in all the pictures that she was longing for a bag of Valentine cards to open like Xander and the rest of his friends.

Here's Xander with his friends Madison and Brayden.

Today the kids got to open a few presents and they had movie night with Dad while I got to do some shopping by myself.

This is what Jason and I got for Valentine's Day. I never realized how poorly our other vacuum was working until we tried this one out today.

Next up: Mardi Gras! I've got lots of work to do in the next two days.

We dat!

Can you believe the Saints won the Super Bowl? We're so excited! Should have known when Jordis posed for pictures that it would have turned out this way.....both things have been said to only occur when hell freezes over.

Homesick

Is it possible to be homesick for a place you've never lived? I say yes, because when I'm there I feel like I'm at home. As you all know, I.LOVE.THIS.PLACE.......

We weren't going to take any trips this year, but Jason's grandpa passed away last month so we took an impromptu jaunt to Louisiana. Round and round we went about whether Jason should go alone or we should go as a family, and it was decided we'd go together. The gas and the mileage was going to be the same either way. We hated to take Xander out of school but had we not done it last year we wouldn't have seen PawPaw before he died, so I'm still glad that we did it. I take every opportunity I can get to go to Louisiana so that we can embrace this part of our family we rarely get to see and so the kids can learn about the other half of where they come from.
Since we had the time we decided to spend a day in Jason's hometown because we'd hate to go all that way and not see half the family only two hours away. The kids liked playing with their cousins and great-grand-mawmaw.


We also went to dinner with friends and took the kids to the park. It was in the 70's every day we were there! I was clearly standing out, wearing tank tops every morning while the locals had on long sleeves.


Jason's aunt and uncle also built their broom factory in the months since our last visit. It was neat to watch them make brooms and mops and chat with customers.

In Lafayette we stayed with Jason's cousin, Monica, and her family. We also stayed with them last May when we were down. They're fabulous hosts and always make us feel right at home and our kids love playing with their kids (when they're not all fighting or tattling).

How can you not love this sweet little girl?

On the nights we weren't at PawPaw's service we had homemade Cajun food....

....spent some time outside, did some shopping and watched the Saints beat the Vikings so they could go on to the Super Bowl.



It was so nice to be "home."