93!

On August 1st my step-grandma, Alberta, turned 93. You'd never know by looking at her that she was so many years young....no hearing aid, no cane, no walker, living independently. She has outlived two husbands and her only child. And she still talks a blue streak. My aunt and uncle had her come stay with them for a week and we all got together at their house to celebrate the occasion with a cookout. When we got there my aunt brought out three pillowcase dresses she had made for the little girls. Jordis loves hers!

We all brought food for dinner, so I decided to make the cake. I went to my neighbor Lisa's house for some special lessons on bakery-style buttercream. It was a long process to make and apply, but I was happy with the end result. It was an almond sour cream cake with almond buttercream and fondant accents.

Alberta loved the cake and we had a fun visit.

Parental Celebrations

So I'm a little behind with my posts for Mother's Day and Father's Day. Yes, I realize it's now mid-July, but I figured better late than not at all.

For a long time now I've been wanting to go to the paint-your-own pottery store to make a family birthday plate. I thought it would be a neat tradition for the birthday person at our house to get to use it on their special day. My mom's group went there for an outing but I knew I'd never have time to complete one, so I ended up making this plate....

I love it, but it doesn't fulfill the purpose I needed, so for Mother's Day my mom and I went to a different pottery store to each make something. We had lots of fun painting as we drank big fountain Coke's and ate Arby's. No one at my house likes Arby's so sometimes it's my special treat to eat when I'm with my mom. My mom made a plate to match her kitchen and I made my birthday plate. It took me 6 long hours, but I'm happy with the result. It takes a lot of coats to get that paint dark.

The kids made each of their grandmas a decoupaged vase and we went to Jason's parents for a cookout. Jason and the kids also made me breakfast in bed. I forgot to take pictures of all that. I remembered to take pictures of these though.....

For Father's Day the kids painted some canisters and we made all the grandpas some cinnamon-sugar popcorn.

We went to dinner for gyros with my step-dad and mom and then Jason's parents, his sister and boyfriend and my dad and step-mom came for a cookout. Jason treated himself to some private fishing time and the kids and I made him a few gifts.

Not sure where we're going to put the stepping stone, but I made sure it was LSU colors.

Don't look, Mom!

I've wanted a tattoo since about 1993, when I skipped class in college one day to accompany my dorm-mate to the tattoo parlor off of Vine St. in the university district of Cincinnati. However, I've always been averse to needles and blood, so I wrote it off as something I would never have the courage to do. It has become a joke actually. Just going into a tattoo shop with Jason over the years has made me sick to my stomach, and I've had to retreat to the outside world that doesn't smell like rubbing alcohol and has no whirring of tattoo guns.

In 2001 my friend Jen and I went to Jason's hometown for Mardi Gras and told our co-workers we were going to get tattoos while we were gone. It was just so darned unfortunate though that we showed up when they were closed.

Over the past year or so we started selling off the kids' baby items and outgrown clothing and I've been stashing the cash.

(I'm not telling you where because then I'll need to come up with a new location).

I've been telling Jason it's my Tattoo Fund, and then we laugh, because we both know that'll be the day. But we went on vacation, and I always said if I had the opportunity to get a tattoo from Randy's (the place pictured in the photo above) that I'd do it. I always thought I'd want my tattoo on my lower back, but I decided if I was going to go through the trauma I may as well put it where people will see it. And then, on the last available day we had, we were at the store and I said to Jason "today is the day," because I knew I wouldn't do it at home. It was now or never. I decided where I wanted to put it and Jason got his mom to babysit so he could take me to the shop as soon as it opened. I still wasn't sure what it was going to be when I got there, but it came to me in a moment of clarity so we drew it up and got to work before I changed my mind.

I knew it wasn't going to go well, but I wasn't quite expecting to be leaning over the trash can within the first few minutes. A nice break, cold rag, some Sprite and smelling salts got me to the point of continuing, and after awhile I was all good with the outline. At one point I had considered just leaving the outline, but I knew if I got up I'd be upset that I didn't get it filled in. I figured since I was used to it by this point that the rest would be a piece of cake.

WRONG!

The shading was much worse than the outline. Quite frankly, I would have rather had an epidural. I ended up taking a break long enough that my tattoo guy had time to eat dinner. But when all was said and done I LOVED it!

It's my tribute to being Cajun by marriage, but in Ohio State colors. The kids' names are on it, as well as 717 which is our anniversary and also Jason's unit number. I was so excited when we left, I couldn't wait to go to our family cookout and show it off. I was even feeling so much better that I pigged out, especially enjoying a venison/jalapeno appetizer and cousin Shannon's amazing brownies and bread pudding.

I called my mom to share the news, and let's just say she was not pleased. Yeah, we'll just stick with that. But I guess that's how mom's feel sometimes.

After tipping the tattoo guy extra for putting up with my "difficulty," we still had enough money left for Jason to go get a matching tattoo the next day. Instead of Ohio State colors though, he got his shaded yellow and purple in a tiger stripe pattern for LSU. For some reason my mom doesn't seem to be upset about his 4th tattoo. Where's the love?


Typically when we go out of town we try to get a Christmas ornament from the places we visit. But I was thinking we could start a new tradition of getting tattoos instead. We're going out of town this weekend.....ha, ha, I'm so funny.

Happy Independence Day!

Our July 4th activities kind of overlapped the whole week. The kids and I spent some time making stars for our friends at the nursing home using blue posterboard and red and silver glitter. Jordis liked passing them out to the residents and Xander gave his to Miss Connie, the activities director, who decorated the tables in the nursing home eating areas.

The next day we went back for story time that included a bike parade for the 4th.

We ate celebratory gluten-free/dairy-free waffles...

On the 3rd Jason was off so we contemplated going downtown for Red, White & Boom, but in the end decided against it. Instead we went and got dinner from our favorite Chinese restaurant and ate at home while letting the kids stay up to see the fireworks on TV. It ended up being a good idea because Xander fell asleep and Jordis got cranky. I noticed this guy standing outside the restaurant while we were waiting on Jason to get the food. I'm hoping he was an Elvis impersonator.

Jason picked up some overtime on the 4th but we were able to squeeze in a late lunch/early dinner cookout at my mom's to celebrate both the holiday and my step-dad's birthday. We had a little lunch...

...a little football...

...and helping Ba fill his bird feeder.

We can see the local fireworks from our deck so the kids and I got all ready to watch them when it started to rain. Then they started 20 minutes late, so the kids were kind of over it before things really started. I ended up watching them myself, cold and wet which is odd for July, then the kids dragged themselves out for the finale.

God Bless America!

Is it July already?

Last week went by really quickly. It started with a lovely evening at my aunt and uncle's house. They usually host a family cookout two times each summer and the kids love it because they get to play with their cousins and we let them eat junk. The weather was great and we stayed until dark.

And what color do popsicles make YOUR tongue?

We walked to our neighborhood pond one day to feed the ducks. The kids especially like it if there are duck babies. Xander also found some pinecones to bring home.

The rest of the week I forgot to take pictures. But we went on a play date with our moms group, where Jordis ran into another girl, then fell and hit her head on the concrete. Luckily no stitches but some lovely scrapes on her forehead and eyelid. We also went on a picnic dinner with my friend Catherine and her boys one night. With jackets on, mind you. It was definitely not warm enough to use the pool last week, and I loved it. We even found some time where Jason and his mom were both not working at the same time, so we went to visit his parents for a few hours. It was a busy week, the kids definitely wore me out.

Family Saturday

Jason's grandpa wanted a cookout since so many people were in town, so ask and you shall receive.

Jason's Uncle Ricky and Aunt Chris were kind enough to host. They've come to Ohio before and had dinner at our house, so I was excited that Xander remembered them and didn't mind going to their home.

Of course we had the obligatory group photos. This is Jason's dad sitting between his two sisters, Mona and Pris with his brothers Eddie and Ricky in the back. And PawPaw Latiolais.

This is PawPaw with his grandkids (there are some missing, I think 6, but I'm not positive).
Getting the great-grandkids to cooperate was a different story. I don't think this photo is missing anyone, but has an extra person. Xander kept taking off so Jason had to run by and drop him on his side so we could take the picture before he had time to get up.

We even had to take an in-law picture. This group of us was titled "those of us that had a choice," as in maybe we didn't choose wisely, ha-ha.

We played a game similar to corn hole and had a tournament.

Chatting in the backyard with my sister-in-law, Sarah. We saw each other almost every day for two weeks, but never really got to talk to each other much.

That night Monica recruited her brother and his girlfriend to watch our kids so we could go out. Her other brother manages a bar and had been out of town for the wedding so we decided to hang out there since he had to work. I also got to meet Jason's cousin Trish. I've talked to her online before but we'd never met in person. She's one of Monica's sisters. And even though we all know I'm really pale, in my defense Trish goes tanning. A lot.

This is my new friend Kahea. She's Monica's neighbor/friend and has the most polite kids I've ever met. Again, in my defense of paleness, she's Hawaiian. I just didn't stand a chance this particular night.

And in case you need to leave before you finish your drink, you can....take it with you???

Not sure if that's why they have cups by the door, but couldn't think of any other reason. Thought it was kind of weird so I had to take a picture. Seven of us went to breakfast at the end of the night, which was a fun way to end the night. There's nothing better than people-watching at 2 a.m.

What a week!

So we've had a pretty crazy schedule this past week, but loaded with lots of fun!

The zoo is open late on Wednesdays, so after Xander's OT last week he and I met up with Jordis and Jason at the zoo. Not long after we got there and Xander climbed some inflatables, Jordis decided she had to walk, of course. Xander took advantage of this opportunity to hitch a ride in the stroller and not 20 yards from her starting point Miss Thang strutted herself face first into the concrete at the entrance to the tunnel.

The tunnel at the zoo is a great place for echoes, so not only was she screaming at the top of her lungs, but it was amplified times one-hundred. So everyone's staring at us and probably thinking we made our poor baby walk while the big kid got pushed. At any rate, she's much more cooperative than Xander where ice is concerned, and 30 minutes later we were off to the picnic tables to eat the dinner Jason had packed for us. Then we rode the train. Jordis' forehead is finally back to its normal shape now, but it's still got a bruise. She bounced back like a trooper, though.





Friday of course was July 4th. We went to my mom and step-dad's to have a cookout and also celebrate my step-dad's birthday, which was on the 6th. We had lots of good food, the kids got plenty worn out, and I got a little nap. Jason's brother and his family were also in town and staying with us for the weekend, so after coming back from my mom's we attempted to keep the kids up to watch the Delaware fireworks, which can usually be seen from our backyard. Xander fell asleep before they even started and not just asleep, but he was practically in a coma. After trying to herd three kids outside and get them all situated, the fireworks started about 15 minutes late so the kids were completely over it before they ever saw anything. Xander was the only one who actually stayed outside.





The next day we went to the Independence Day parade that, for some reason, was held on July 5th. But at any rate, it was a good time and the kids enjoyed getting all the candy that they will hopefully forget about in the next few weeks. We let them have a sucker of two while they watched and Jordi.s got hers all over. She had an orange mustache, and it was on her temple, in her hair and somehow on the back of her shoulder. They also practiced a lot of waving and Jordis seems to have learned the pageant wave.


Jeremy, Dominic, Sarah and Autumn


Jordis was mad because she and Xander had to eat out of the same bag of snacks as opposed to each getting their OWN bags.


MMMMM......candy


Jordis pretends not to look but leaves a space for her eyes to peek out.

After dinner Jason's sister and her boyfriend came over and we had a nice time sitting outside, playing pool and playing poker. On Sunday, Jason's parents came to visit, then took the whole family out to a yummy dinner at Max & Erma's. We had our fill of tortilla soup and all four kids behaved, so I consider that a succesful dining experience.

On the way home we stopped at the splash pad for the kids to play. Dominic wasted no time and Xander did surprisingly well after running around the perimeter for awhile. Autumn enjoyed herself with some help from Sarah and Jordis stood on the edge looking pretty.


Autumn gets a little help from her mom


Looking pretty


Xan loves to jump in water


Dominic and Xander give it a joint effort

The week was full and lots of fun so this week we're cleaning and relaxing. We're had all the excitement we can handle for awhile.