Family Christmas Traditions

At Christmas time in our family we love the new traditions we have started with the grandchildren. One of them being attending the Teddy Bear Tea at the Royal Sonesta in New Orleans. This year Kali, Caroline, Alex and Eli were joined by cousin Kayla and they all enjoyed seeing Santa and Mrs. Claus and a host of other Holiday characters. The children all took photos with Santa and these also happen to be my favorites from the event. Krista and Claire took the children because Dave and I took Alexa and Erica to the Bahamas for a little winter break vacation.

Kali Marie, age 8 and Caroline, age 6 months.

 

Alex Scott and Elijah James, ages 4.5

I didn’t get a copy of Kayla’s photo with Santa but I have one that Krista took of her at the tea party that was adorable.

It sure put the children in the holiday spirit, we’re looking forward to their Christmas break from school! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Ice Skating in the Berry!

The Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce sponsored an Cajun Ice Skating rink in downtown New Iberia this past weekend, Krista and Zach took Kali and Ian there to give it a whirl. They really had fun and had plenty of space to try out a few moves on the ice!

Six Months Old!

Caroline was six months old this weekend, she’s getting so big, she cut two teeth in the past couple of weeks and is almost sitting alone and rolling every where when I put her on a big quilt on the floor for tummy time. Here’s a photo Krista shot of her with her Daddy in town this weekend.

Tabasco Santa

Kali, Caroline, Alex and Eli went to the Tabasco Country Store on Avery Island to see Santa last weekend. Krista got a cute shot of the four of them with Santa.

Its the most wonderful time of the year!

You’ve Been Elfed

I helped Kali, Caroline, Eli and Alex’s Elves Pokie and Francis Elf the grands today. I created a sign for the door that I attached to a little door hanger and he tucked their surprises inside a Christmas basket and cello wrapped it for delivery. I used Shabby Miss Jenn’s Santa’s Helper kit to create my door sign. Click on the image to see it in her store.

I hope they have as much fun finding them as I had helping Elf make them ;)

This is a close up of the sign I made using Fotofusion by Lumapix

Here’s a closer peek at the goodie bag.

Coffee and Scones

One of my very good friends came into town last week to help her father pass on to his heavenly home. I know she felt blessed to have been there with her family at that time. Her father, our dear friend Mr. Ed passed a few days before Thanksgiving and we put him to rest this past Saturday morning. Beverly and I have been friends since high school, she didn’t introduce Dave and me, we met in first grade years before, but she did encourage Dave to ask me out on a date one day in high school and our happily ever after grew from that encouragement and and for that I will be forever grateful. We didn’t get to visit until this morning, she came over for a little coffee and we had a very nice talk and caught up on a whole lot of years and family happenings. I sure love that girl, she’s a wonderful woman who is hard working, inspiring and I just love her gumption. Bev, please do come by and visit often, even if its just for a few minutes, and I do promise to look in on your Mama, encourage her to get in touch when ever she needs anything.

In preparation for our little visit, I made raspberry scones to have with our coffee. With just a little raspberry jam they were just delicious. The recipe is easy and bake up in a quick 12 minutes.

Here’s Ina Garten’s Strawberry Scone Recipe that I adapted and made with raspberry.

  Our princess was here during our visit and she was such a sweetie. She was enjoying watching the chickens on the patio and in the back yard while I cooked the scones this morning and I snapped a picture of her sweet smile.

Have a fabulous Wednesday from me and Linee!

Thanksgiving Week Vacation

When the children were out of school the week of Thanksgiving they all spent the day with me and I got to take a few photos of them together watching a little movie on the iPad while Caroline napped.

I got a few extra shots of Kali modeling a little outfit I got for her for colder weather. She really loves the poncho type shawl. I even got a couple of shots of Miss Linee before and during her nap.

She definitely is napping better since she cut those two little teeth, for that we are really grateful!

Boys and their Pup

The twins and Kali are spending the night at our house tonight and they really are enjoying having the Pup inside to sleep with them. He’s snuggled up between them as they watched a few minutes of Monsters Inc before bed. Its nice and toasty in the middle I’m sure!

Giving Thanks

Our family celebrated Thanksgiving with my side of the family for lunch at my sister’s house in Lafayette. We all cooked and the meal was delicious! Before we left for her house the twins came over with “Acorn” and “Peanut”, they get new names almost daily so I wouldn’t be able to identify these birds again if you paid me to do so! They love bringing chickens into the house to make us all laugh.

Elijah is on the left and Alex on the right.

The girls were there to join us for lunch and the twins came to visit after having lunch at with Claire’s family.

 

Caroline and Kali had matching pants that I made them and we had little turkeys applique’d on their shirts. The photo below is of Caroline with my Mom June and Dad Don.

  We definitely had a very blessed day and for that I am really Thankful!

Another First for Caroline

This week while the girls were with me and Krista was working Kali and I discovered Caroline’s first tooth! She’s been fairy happy and aside from not sleeping as well as she used to she cut it with little discomfort. Kali was thrilled to text Mama a photo of her the new tooth and she and I bought a little tooth finding gift for Caroline yesterday.

 

If you look real close you can see the little tooth peeking through her pink gums.

Happy Thanksgiving

Tomorrow we will spend the day with my family at my sister’s house and tonight I spent a little prep time getting our roast cooking and made quinoa dressing. I’ll make roasted butternut squash in the morning to bring as well. Alexa is preparing a veggie tray and Erica will make potato salad in the morning. It smells awfully yummy in here!

These beautiful roasts browned up lovely and the quinoa dressing was a first for me. I made it just as you would a rice dressing, replacing the rice with quinoa. Its such a healthy alternative to rice and filled with protein, a delicious substitute for dieters and diabetics alike.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving day celebrating with family and friends. Be safe on your travels.

Camellia Crossing 5K

Tonight Erica and Alexa participated in the Miles Perret 5K run at called Camellia Crossing. They were joined by the Derise girls, Kayla and Kelly. Kayla is one of Erica’s roommates in Baton Rouge and they sure do know how to have fun together.

Good job girls for a great cause!

Fall 2012

Monday was a fun one, I had time to gather some goodies for Boo-ing the grandchildren and got all of my errands done :) Always makes for a good day!

Here’s a few photos of the goodies and label I created for the Boo’d kiddos.

The boys and girls treats were very similar, Alex, Kali and Eli had fun drink cups with treats inside and Linee had a sweet baby book that I know she will enjoy, along with those I included a few window clingy pumpkins, a little ceramic pumpkin that has a night light inside, spider bubble gum and Halloween bowls to use for breakfast or snacks these next few weeks. I tucked the girls into a gift bag with flowers and the boys were placed on their front porch so they could see them when they got home. Everyone loved the  little surprise, I think Kali has figured out that I had something to do with it, but we’re not telling until Halloween. I just love holiday surprises and collecting special treats for the little ones.

I also have a few little holiday decorations here at home, I created a little collage to share some photos of them for your enjoyment.

I hope your Fall is going well, happy Fall from all of us!

Two Grand Portraits

A few Sundays ago we went to Davey and Claire’s house after mass to take photos of all the grandchildren. They happened to all be wearing light blue and white and none of it was planned, but I was definitely going to take advantage of it. I snapped a few of the sweetest photos of the boys together and the girls together. I have to do a bit of editing on the four of them but I wanted to share these now. I couldn’t have asked for more, I LOVE how they both came out!

Caroline Ann and Kali Marie

Elijah James and Alex Scott

Grandparent Day @ School

The twins had Grandparent day at school this past Friday, I attended Holy Mass with Caroline and Alexa and afterward we went to the school cafeteria where Alex and Eli performed two songs with their PreK class, they were adorable and the songs were too cute! Afterward we went to their classroom where they gave me a sweet gift that they made themselves, an apple with their photo in the middle with crepe paper decorations for the leaves and border. They were both so proud of their handiwork and we were so impressed with them! I will cherish them always!

Alex Scott, Me and Elijah James

Elijah and Alex’s sweet gift for Lolli and Pop.

Pretty in Pink

On Friday Caroline and I attended the Blessing of the Babies Mass at SES, she was adorable in pink and had nothing but smiles for me all morning. Hope you all have a very happy week filled with lots of love and smiles!

On another note, our chickens and the duck who lives in our pond also started laying. We picked three chicken eggs and two duck eggs this week so far and are trying to find where they are all laying. So far its scattered around!

I cooked a few for breakfast, quack quack is on the left and pock pock is on the right. ;)

The duck egg is much more orange than the chicken egg but they’re both very rich tasting and delicious! We are going to have to build a coop very soon for them so we can harvest the eggs every day rather than go hunting through the barn and pastures for them!

Caroline Ann: 17 Week Photo

We took a few weeks off of taking our “watch me grow” photos as Krista went back to work and we all adjusted to the new schedule and routines. This morning we tried to shoot one but she wasn’t in a fun mood, so we tried again after her afternoon nap and she was in a much happier mood! Here’s our baby girl at seventeen weeks!

SES Farmer’s Day and one sweet little Pumpkin!

Today is the Sugarcane Festival Farmer’s Day in our home town, we’re celebrating the farmer by dressing up in our Farmer’s Day t-shirts and wearing jeans, hats and bandanas. Eli, Kali and Alex went to school today ready to have a blast. Kali will be going on a field trip to the New Iberia Museum on Main Street and we all attended Holy Mass this morning, even Caroline was there with me. Linee playing with her baby doll this morning before going to Mass.

Miss Kali, just a little bit sassy and a whole lot of sweetness! Kali’s last year at St. Edward’s for Sugarcane Festival!

Having cousins at school with her is THE best! Elijah, Kali and Alex ready for Farmer’s Day at SES!

 

We are all looking forward to a great festival weekend, tomorrow morning is going to be so much fun, join us for the Children’s Parade on Main Street at 10 am. These three munchkins will be participating with their school!

Caroline: Almost 4 Months Old!

Caroline spent the Thursday and today with me while Mommy Krista worked. I was able to take a few photos of her between naps, she must be growing because that girl eats and sleeps a lot!

She’s found her feet and is grabbing her toys and putting them in her mouth. She loves her sweet baby doll and chewing on her hair! It really keeps her entertained for a while, which gives me a bit of time to edit these photos and post them to my blog and facebook!