Celebration in the Oaks

With only six months or so left in New Orleans, the rush is on to do everything we have thought of doing in the two and a half years that we've lived here. Thursday night some friends joined us to check out the amazing Christmas lights in City Park. We all had a wonderful time, but the kids were especially thrilled with everything!

We visited Storyland.

Played in Alice's house...
Listened to the Cajun Night Before Christmas...

Watched the trains wind through a miniature version of New Orleans...

Met Mr. Bingle (Hunter thought he was taking a bath)...

Climbed on a fire truck...

Hannah played with the pigs...

which meant Hunter had to play with the pigs...

Considered visiting Hansel and Gretel's house but opted out...

Took a tour of the space shuttle...

Stood in awe at the abundance of lights...

and called it a night!

Christmas Program 2008

The three and four year old classes held a Christmas program on Monday. Hunter stayed on stage for the first few songs. Then, he left to find me and Pete; he gave me a kiss and said he wanted to stay with us, but we were able to coax him back on stage without any tears! This was quite an accomplishment since the last two years he has left in tears. I guess he really is growing up:(

Hunter's class entering the sanctuary.

Taking it all in!

Jingle Bells

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Mary Had a Little Lamb

As you can tell from the video, all this performing wears on a boy! Anyone see any family resemblances here??? just curious:)

Let It SNOW!

The snow started falling about 8:20 this morning and lasted almost two hours! We had such a fun time watching it. Hunter LOVED playing in the snow. Hannah wasn't quite so excited about being wet and cold but she endured it for a few minutes. The dog wouldn't even step outside. Both kids want to play in the snow again tomorrow. Since snow in New Orleans is a very rare occurrence, I'm pretty sure we won't be playing in the snow tomorrow!

Hunter was fascinated with his footprints!

They had to check on their house.

Round two for Hannah. We had to change her clothes and start over. She really didn't care for the snow too much!

Hunter had a ball scraping the snow off his fort. He kept saying what a mess the snow had made.

Lots of Catching Up to Do...

With any luck the computer and I will spend some quality time together in the next few days. Until then, here are a few pics of the munchkins from today!

Big Girl

Hannah has been potty training intermittently over the last few months. She uses the potty when it suits her fancy and she avoids it when she's not in the mood - much like the rest of her life. Today, she decided she was wearing her big girl panties to school. Not wanting to squelch any intrinsic motivation, I jumped on board with her idea.

So, off to school she went in her big girl undies. She had a GREAT day - no accidents to report. Part of me is sad to acknowledge how big she really is; however, the financial benefit to no more diapers is a huge perk!

Hopefully, we'll have another great big girl day tomorrow!

Election Day

I didn't realize until last night how much I have actually been dreading Election Day. I'm not really sure why but I have, and here it is regardless! In a way it's kind of like going to the dentist, which has a whole new meaning for me as of late:). I received the following "predictions" as an email the other day and thought it appropriate and worth sharing.

Top Ten Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election:

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-annointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

Happy Voting!!

Trunk-or-Treat

We had a fun yet slightly dramatic Halloween evening at church. Prior to leaving, Hannah decided she didn't want to be a princess anymore; she wanted to be Abby Cadabby instead. She threw a Hannah-style tantrum but eventually agreed to wear the princess dress. She was perfectly content once dressed and out the door.

The kids loved visiting the different trunks and picking out special treats.
Mr. Bob's giant tiger was the ultimate delight for Hunter and Hannah. So much so that when we pulled into the parking lot on Sunday for church Hunter said, "Maybe Mr. Bob will have his tiger there!" I tried to explain that the tiger had gone home, but Hunter was insistent that just MAYBE Mr. Bob would have that tiger. Sadly enough, no tiger on Sunday morning:(

Hannah wanted to sample every piece of candy that went in her bag. Luckily, my kids don't really like candy so we were able to get rid of lots of things quickly! The kids are happiest with their pretzels and goldfish in the Halloween decorated bags!

One grumpy Mr. Incredible. Hunter wanted no part of the games inside. Even though he had already visited every car in the parking lot, he wanted to go back for more:) He pouted through the entire cake walk.

Hannah relishing in her stash!

You Have to Be Kidding Me

Every once in a while, I have one of those "you have to be kidding me" moments - today I had one amazing moment!

Today was a normal day, until noon. Hunter had speech therapy at 9:30, then when stopped by the mall to look for Hannah a few things. We ate lunch and headed home for naps before the kids' afternoon appointments with the dentist. Hannah fell asleep in the car; I carried her in, put her in bed, and prepared to put Hunter to bed. Hunter said he didn't feel well. He went to the bathroom, threw-up several times, and decided to lie down on the couch and rest.

While he was resting, I called the dentist to say we would not be able to make our appointment because Hunter apparently caught the stomach bug that's been circulating through the preschool. The woman on the phone told me that I would owe them $65 if I did not show up for the appointment this afternoon. Again, I tried to explain Hunter's current condition to which she said, "Well, we can give him a bucket."

Oh my goodness!!! Are you kidding me?

No, she was most certainly NOT kidding me. Either I was going to pay them $65 or we were going to the dentist. This goes against everything I believe but I don't exactly have an extra 65 bucks lying around either! I was so taken aback by her comment that I didn't have a clue how to respond. So, off we went to the dentist's office.

I must confess, I was hoping for a complete disaster because I just couldn't believe how absurd this trip seemed. Luckily, the dentist is less than five minutes from our house. Hunter was an amazing patient. He let them clean his teeth and do the flouride treatment; Hannah was equally wonderful! She let them check her teeth and clean them too. Hunter managed to wait until we returned home to continue his throwing-up.

He ended up falling asleep in his room shortly after we returned. You know if Hunter voluntarily takes a nap, something is wrong!

I have no clue why he is sleeping with a cooking spoon!

He seemed much better when he went to bed tonight. Hopefully, he'll sleep well and continue to feel better tomorrow.

Now, I am off to write the letter to the dentist that has been running through my head since mid-afternoon! Even though we don't have a long time left in New Orleans, we won't be returning to that office except to retrieve medical records:)

Sesame Street LIVE: Elmo Grows Up

The kids and I joined several MOPS friends and church friends for Sesame Street LIVE on Saturday. Last year, the kids loved the first half but were ready for the end. This year, they loved the entire show and could have stayed longer.

As we were walking out of the arena, Hannah was waving to all the characters and saying goodbye to each one, even though they were no longer in sight - bless her heart! She woke up Sunday morning and asked to go back to Sesame Street. Actually, she's asked every day since Saturday to go back. Hopefully wherever we are next year, we will be able to see Elmo and friends again!

Just waiting!

Concentrating!

Mesmerized by the magic of it all, Hannah tightly held her new Zoe! We almost have the entire collection.

Savannah shared her cotton candy with Hannah which led to us getting our own to share with Savannah. Thanks Savannah!

Don't forget about me!

Sneak Peek

We are SO excited about dressing up around here! The kids have been wearing their costumes since October 1st. We've even been to the doctor's office in our costumes.

Hunter's First Field Trip

Hunter's class took a walking field trip to the pumpkin patch at a church a few blocks away from his preschool. The director found a substitute for me so that I could go with Hunter.

We had a really fun morning with all of Hunter's classmates. They listened to stories, made a craft, surveyed the pumpkins, and ate a snack.

My favorite part of the morning was watching Hunter interact with his classmates. Even though I work at his school, I don't have the chance to really see him during the day. I learned a lot about Hunter just by watching him with his little friends.

The first book the teacher read was one that we had been reading at home. Hunter had to tell everyone that he had that book at home.

Peek-a-boo

Can you see me?

See my pumpkin! Each child took a pumpkin home from the their adventure. Hunter wanted desperately to take Hannah a pumpkin too, but there weren't any extras due to a freeze. Hannah did get a pumpkin to decorate in her own class though!

This is my favorite pumpkin!

Gotta Love a Good Fairy Tale

Update: After several attempts to move past the Goldilocks issue, I finally told Hunter just to scoot over and let Goldilocks sleep in the bed too. I don't know that he actually did that, but he has been sleeping through the night without incident since we had the conversation early last week. Whatever works!!

Hunter has been waking up randomly at night and coming in our room - not startled or frightened - just nonchalantly coming in and crawling in bed. He's not very chatty in the middle of the night, so I finally asked him yesterday morning why he keeps waking up at night.

Picture this:

Me: Hunter, what woke you up last night?

Hunter: Someone was sleeping in my bed.

Me: Who was sleeping in your bed?

Hunter: I don't know the name.

Me: (thinking this sounds like an oddly familiar line from a book) Hunter, what story have you been reading at school?

Hunter: The Three Bears

Me: Was Goldilocks sleeping in your bed?

Hunter: That's the name.

Now that we know who is sleeping in Hunter's bed, I just have to figure out how to get Hunter to stay there regardless.

While I was relating Hunter's story to the assistant in his class, she laughed and said, "That's funny! I was afraid you were going to say something about the monster in my room story that we've been reading." That comment explained a lot, but that's another blog! Til then...

Just Because

Rough Day

Last week, Hannah came home with a battle wound. The version of the story that I first heard was she fell down at school. Hannah's version, "---(insert name here) pushed me down." Upon hearing the news, Hunter exclaimed, "I don't like ---. " What a very protective big brother:)


At one point I thought her eye would turn black, but it seems to be healing just fine. Now if I can just teach Hannah that it isn't polite to tell people she doesn't like them - a phrase she picked up from her loving, big brother!

If only...

Yesterday I had to wake Hannah from her nap because we had an appointment. She was not happy to get up early - I can't blame her one little bit. If I were sleeping that peacefully, I wouldn't want anyone waking me up either!

Waiting...

The other day Hunter was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his best bud, Jacob. When I said he would be here any minute, Hunter pulled up his chair and waited. Thankfully, Jacob came within a few minutes of Hunter's waiting!

Summer Pics I Should Have Already Posted

At some point this summer, I had lots of things to blog. Then life got busier and busier. I try to update regularly, but life just gets crazy sometimes. Speaking of crazy, I have no idea how it is already Thursday night. This entire week has been a bit of a blur. I haven't picked up a camera in the last week, but I know I need to add pics - right Grandma?? So, here are some pics from the summer that I should have posted but never did - enjoy!

Outings with our favorite photographer, Laura (we miss you and hope to see you soon!)...

See Sissy!

The cutest ocean creatures you ever did see!

What a cool picture!

our favorite friend

Come on guys!

Inside the shark's mouth

OHHHHH!

See the bug, Hunter?

Careful Sissy!

Kiddie Jail?

Meet Hannah the Tiger

Who Knows!

So Strong!


Trouble!

No one will find me here!

The hills are alive...