The Jessen's

A Visual Comparison

2012-01-27T05:07:00.000-08:00

There's a reason Daddy brings home the bacon - and it's not just because he's handsome. He's super talented. So I originally put together Palmer's, er, Palmair's invitation and sent along to Erik for him to add a logo. And there he went doing all that fancy stuff he does. He took it from juvenile to genuine. Yes, in real life it looks like a genuine boarding pass - probably because of the extra attention I took to add some perforation (ha ha, who am I kidding???) If you click it the pic, you can see it a bit bigger - looks like Palmer has some baggage!

At the Dogwash

2012-01-21T09:15:00.001-08:00

Cormie's has an indoor Dogwash next door to the car wash. $5 and one clean dog later, well worth the moolah!

A Chair? Where?

2012-01-20T05:30:00.001-08:00

Palmer: What's that?
Kaela: A Chair.
Palmer: Oh!

Yes, two years ago we brought home this beauty after my Grandparents passed away. It's been used as an armoire ever since (sadly). Yesterday, I finally tackled the monumental mess that is our bedroom. And Palmer thought I was sneaking furniture in our house.

Shawty had them Apple Bottom Jeans

2011-12-30T12:22:00.000-08:00

Boots with the fur
The whole club was lookin at ~~her~~ him....

Erik, jokingly, put my jeans on today. Sized 4 Ankle. At first he didn't think he was going to get them on, but he finally did. Much to my amusement and SHOCK!
(In our family, it's not all about who wears the pants - it's all about whose pants you're wearing!) (whose? correct grammar?)

It Was a Very Merry Christmas

2011-12-26T14:09:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!

Nothing Changes

2011-12-26T14:07:00.001-08:00

A Little Daily Wisdom

2011-12-19T06:10:00.001-08:00

I always have a mile long to do list. Because I'm a procrastinator, it's double long this time of year. I thought today's devotional from, Jesus Calling, 365 Devotions for Kids, by Sarah Young, was especially fitting:

Gingerbread Houses

2011-12-19T06:03:00.001-08:00

The cousin's got together last night for a little gingerbread house decorating (and candy gobbling!). I think everyone had a great time!

Visits with Santa from the Past

2011-12-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

2010

2009

2008

2007

~~Sadly, I can't find Gram's very first Santa photo from 2007~~. Thanks for finding it Mom!

Santa Picture 2011

2011-12-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

Finally! They were both happy and willing to sit with Santa this year! Santa asked Gram what he wanted him to bring him, Gram said, "that marble thing". When it was Palmer's turn, and Santa asked what he wanted, he loudly exclaimed, "CARS!!!!". It was a cute little moment. It's funny, because Gram is all "I want, I want, I want" and Palmer never asks for anything - so I was a little shocked to hear that he really does want something special.

8th Anniversary

2011-11-22T18:16:00.001-08:00

Nothing but the best for these Jessen's! Erik and I celebrated our 8th Wedding Anniversary at one of Lake Charles' finest establishments! And we brought our kids! Woot woot for another year! Erik said next year he'll get all fancy and bring me to Street Breads if I'm a good girl!

Turkeys

2011-11-18T05:47:00.001-08:00

A Favorite Clip from a Favorite Movie

2011-11-16T16:17:00.000-08:00

Behind Goonies, then Stand By Me, I think my next favorite movie is Junebug. I love this scene for the hymn itself, the fellowship(it looks like the hall could be at any rural church, I love that!), the indifference of the brother but especially the look of amazement the wife has for her husband. I'm pretty sure she didn't know he could sing before this. Sometimes we think we know our spouses, friends and family so well, but then we learn something new about them and fall in love all over again. If you haven't seen this movie, I suggest you do - but with a warning: If you are highly hormonal (pregnant?) maybe you should read the spoiler before you dive in)

Trick-or-Treat

2011-10-31T17:44:00.000-07:00

2004 - Way before we had anything better to do than to dress up our dogs and carve intricate designs in pumpkins! Ha!

2007

2008

2009

2010 - Hard to tell without all the accessories, they were pirates, dirty pirates

2011 - The cast of Nacho Libre

Jack-O-Lantern

2011-10-24T17:46:00.000-07:00

And a video too! Palmer was scared to put in his hand in the pumpkin, he said he was skeered:

Happy 4th Birthday, Gram!

2011-10-16T06:37:00.000-07:00

Today is Gram's 4th birthday! We celebrated yesterday with Firetruck/Fireman themed party at the park. Erik designed the invitations and they were so cute! We even got little brother in on the action.

Front of Invitation

Back of Invitation

Daddy and Gram iPad bonding before the party

Such a determined face. Cute pic that shows his shirt and pinata.

Kids in a row. Big kid, too! We love Nanny Taylor!

Who is that big kid? He looks so old!

I think he's trying to chop my head off!

Again, how is he old enough to be 4? He was just born last night!

Everyone liked the idea of having breakfast at the park. If I were to do it again, I would buy little boxes of cereal instead of big jars. Lesson learned.

A cute, little fire family!

Piñata fun!

2011-09-20T10:17:00.001-07:00

We're gearing up for a fourth birthday party around here. As soon as I saw this, Piñata tutorial , I knew I had to make one. And Ta-da, we have a number 4 shaped piñata! The boys love it, and are looking forward to busting it up!

To Everything There is a Season

2011-09-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

Earlier this summer I decided that I could no longer work evenings at my job (I should add that I've had this job for 8 years) that required me to work evenings. I loved my job very much and adored the people I worked with, but working until 7:30 every other night was not family friendly.

After I made my decision a wise friend shared this with me: You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him. St. Teresa of Avila

I gave my notice and then the next day I asked for great things. A little backwards. It was not an easy decision - but I knew choosing faith and family was the way to go.

This is what the past 6 weeks have looked like:

Week 1: Boys still in school full time, Erik not in school. Days spent with Erik showing me the ropes of his business and how to keep the books while the boys were at school. Erik and I would lunch together. I'd clean and have dinner ready by 5:00 pm. It was beyond fabulous!

Week 2 & 3: Boys on vacation from school. Two weeks with the wild ones. Erik began school. I was home alone with two WILD boys. I still cooked and cleaned to the best of my ability with the hooligans home. Seriously wondering what I got myself into.

A friend posted on facebook around this time: "To get somewhere, you must first decide not to stay where you are". This is what got me through the first couple of weeks. With this quote I defined my reasoning for resigning.

Week 4: Boys began school part time. I cried all day Monday. Really wondering what I got myself into. (For clarification I need to add some background here: I applied for a job earlier in the summer. It was a dream job and Erik was urging me to apply for it. Due to some red tape that at the time couldn't be cut, I was turned down. It was ok, the timing wasn't right. Although, disappointed, I moved along.) This week I was called for an interview for that same job - somehow the tape that couldn't be cut, was cut. A few days after getting the call for the interview, the daily devotion for that day was titled An Adventure with Me. Just an excerpt from that reading: When you give control of your life to Me, I open your eyes so that you can see Me at work in the world. Where others see "coincidences", you see My wonderful work - even miracles at times. And where others see only an everyday happening, you see Me. The only answer I have to this is "absolutely".

Week 5: Prepped for work by submitting paperwork, online training and a drug test. Boys are settling into a routine with school. Erik and I decide this week that we've eaten together more in the last month than we have in the last year. So far the big jump is turning into a sweet, sweet blessing.

Week 6: I began the new job! First things first - it's part time and temporary (full disclosure: it's an internship, but I figured I may never have this perfect timing ever again). But other than all that, it is fabulous. My coworkers are kind and multi faceted - I kinda forgot what getting to know other people was like. And the work itself I find enjoyable, almost perfect for me. So again, another sweet, unexpected blessing.

These last several weeks have been abound with miracles (one involves a tick the size of a quarter) and sweet, goodness spent soaking in these last few Indian Summer days with the ones I love most. So if you need me, I'm available - no more late nights.

Interview with Gram

2011-08-22T07:49:00.000-07:00

I found myself and Gram sitting in a car while brother napped and Dad ran errands. Like a good journalist, I had a notebook with me and thought it would be a good time to interview Gram. All of the answers are his and his alone. Recorded verbatim.

1. What's your name?
Gram Jessen

2. What's your favorite color?

A hot color - red. I like red.

3. How old are you?

3 years old

4. What's your daddy's name?

Ewik Jessen

5. What's your mommy's name?

Kay-wa Jessen

6. What is your favorite toy to play with?

Octo-battle (he does not own this toy)

7. Who's your best friend?

Jew-wian (Julian)

8. What is your favorite animal?

Tiger-cat

9. What is your favorite book?

A monster one

10. What makes you happy?

Octo-battle (again, a toy he does not own)

11. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Nacho Libre

12. What kind of birthday party do you want to have?

A volcano one

13. What do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?

Octo-battle

14. Do you have brothers and/or sisters?

I have a brother and a sister.

Oh, you do, huh? What are their names?

Palmer and Jew-wian

Julian is your cousin, not your sister.

Baby Byler is my sister.

Single Ladies

2011-08-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

I just did something detrimental. As in I just lost twenty minutes I'll never get back. But I laughed, so that's worth something, right? I clicked a link to watch a you tube video, "All The Wrinkled Ladies", and then watched "Pregnant Ladies" and "Cleaning Ladies" and also "Married Ladies". But I found a missing category - I already have the first line for "All The Catholic Ladies", are you ready : Up in the church. It's a beginning. Who's in?

Joe Dirt

2011-08-03T06:18:00.001-07:00

My Dad's building a secondary garage in his backyard, so he's importing dirt. The kids played on the dirt yesterday. After jumping off the hill, they discovered they could flip down. Watch Palmer carefully, he didn't get the gist of cutting a flip. Turn down your computer's volume too - the video begins with my brother yelling, and maybe there's a snort involved, too.

Happy Birthday, Juju!

2011-07-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

This week, our little curly-q cousin turned 4! And she celebrated the entire week. This is a conversation Erik listened to between Julian and Gram earlier in the week:

Julian: Gwam, it's my bert-day. Are you going to wish me a Happy Bert-day?

Gram: {Insert Beavis & Butthead laugh here} Huh. Huh. Happy Butt-day Julian!

A picture of the two from 2008:

I asked them both very nicely to stop growing right this minute. They both told me "No!". The nerve of those preschoolers!

Julian had her party at a local gym. It was so much fun. Even the quasi-adults got in on the fun. Literally in it.

Birthday girl got the first jump in - I wish I had a better picture. She looked so cute with her leotard and big bow. In fact, my cousin's little girl asked me later, "what is that fancy outfit she has on?". I told her it was a leotard and she told she wants one!

Even Jeep and Pi jumped in!

Addie and Palmer. She took care of him the entire party and saw to his every need and whim. We'll soon have to put her on payroll!

Just so I don't forget...

2011-07-12T16:14:00.000-07:00

Our Little Green Lantern (Recession version)

Gram was examining the contents from my recent shopping excursion. He was especially enamored with the toilet paper rolls. He was seriously studying the packaging when he asked, "Hey Mom? Is this stuff for dogs?". A little exasperated, I said, "Gram, why would you even ask that?". Then I turned to look at him - he was studying the dog on the Cottonelle package. I guess I could see where he's coming from - I guess he was stumped as to why dogs need toilet tissue.

This is a little firecracker. I'm not sure when he started living at this house. Anyway, our usual doctor is out on Fridays, so I made an appointment with a pediatrician we've never seen. He walked into the room and I'm pretty sure my mouth fell open. Doogie Howser, M.D. walked in. Just when I was feeling really great about my thirties, whoosh! I felt really old, really fast. Palmer took notice too of the young doctor. Maybe he smelled Teen Spirit? So the doctor puts the otoscope into his ear and little firecracker pipes up, "Be Careful!". Doogie said, "Well! This isn't my first Rodeo!". Y'all... he was young!

My apologies....

2011-07-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

...for not sharing this breaking news with you sooner! I asked Santa for this Biscoff stuff I saw on the Food Network - and he delivered. And it was ~~good~~, ~~amazing~~, life altering. The End. Thanks for stopping by. Just kidding - there's more! Santa (Erik) gave me two jars - well it's now July and I'm almost out. I've been savoring the last few ounces left in my last jar. Well, miracles happen people! Biscoff is now sold at Walmart. And because I'm nice, I'll make it easier for you to indulge - a coupon for a $1 off! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Mallary!

2011-07-10T05:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we celebrated my God-daughter's 10th birthday! Can you believe that? Mallary was the first baby I really got to love on and now she's practically all grown up! I remember fondly the day she was brought home from the hospital and her Mom and Dad(my Godfather) asked me to be her Godmother - I was so excited! My mom watched her during the day when she was a newborn and for several months. She was the sweetest, chubbiest baby ever! The picture below proves it - Me, Mallary and old Jackson Earle (RIP Jack!) (Jackson deserves his own post - one day!)

Although, her birthday isn't until later in the week, we celebrated with a bowling party! The boys loved it! They thought they were so big bowling right next to all the pretty, big girls!

Birthday Girl's Turn! (Do you see two little boys checking out the proper way to bowl?)

Gram's roll - is this excited or what?

Palmer's push!

They wore their crab shorts their Nana made - again so many compliments! Thanks Nana!

Gram's Honey Bee Tee - we got so many compliments on it. The boy loves crabs and he LOVES his shirt!

Donut Maker Makin'

2011-07-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

So I asked for this gadget for my birthday and my sweet Mama got it for me!

It is fabulous! However, the recipe booklet that came with it left a lot to be desired. In fact, I tried two of them and they were pretty awful. Lucky for me - I experimented with a cake mix I had in the pantry. The little machine cranked out donut lookin' and cupcake tastin' morsels of deliciousness! And fast too! So guess what I'm making for the Fourth of July party we're going to? Yup - funfetti donuts and icing!

Happy Fourth of July!

Palmer's Boo Boo

2011-06-23T11:59:00.001-07:00

Today marks Palmer's first emergency room visit not because of breathing issues! Yay! I feel as though we may be outgrowing those problems! Little Pooh Bear managed to cut his eye on a table at school! When I got to him he was very upset but calmed down once I held him. He was a super trooper! The ER doc fixed him up with some glue, I was debating whether or not I could stand to see him put stitches in, so I was glad to know that glue would work. Afterwards we had to go get him a prize - he wanted a plane. We're home now and he is totally conked out!

Before the glue

All glued up and eating a Popsicle!

Greek Tacos

2011-06-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. After downloading pictures from my camera (mostly from a fabulous wedding weekend) I found this picture of the Greek Tacos I made a few weeks ago. Sorry for the half eaten picture, but the deliciousness needed to be documented! I found this recipe here and couldn't wait to make it. Only one problem - my grocery store didn't have any pita bread! Crazy! So I bought these Sara Lee sandwich rounds, and just piled the toppings on and ate it like a taco! They were crazy delicious! I should add that I didn't use ground lamb, I used lean ground meat. Worked like a charm! Also, my friend gave me the most wonderful recipe for garlic dip (from Mazen's) turns out it's super easy to make!

Garlic Dip
Cube Potatoes (I used three and it was waaaaay to much, 1 would be enough for just a few people)
Boil Potatoes
Drain Potatoes
Add drained potatoes to blender, blend until smooth. Add water until mixture is consistency of pancake batter.
Add some mayo. I used about 1/2 a cup. Blend some more.
Add some garlic to taste. Blend more.

Resemblances

2011-06-12T07:47:00.000-07:00

We got to studying the boys' Spring pictures. We thought they looked a little familiar. The 2 year old version of Erik makes me laugh. I've never seen a resemblance between him and Palmer before I saw that picture.

Date Night/Drive Bys

2011-06-04T05:21:00.001-07:00

Have you seen this "mixed income" housing that's being built behind The Power Center? The two story is pretty much our dream home. We got down last night to look at one, but we didnt want to scare the worker we heard in the back, so we left. Or the hobo that was squatting there, as Erik suggested. Take a look:

Do you know around town which store has THE.BEST. window displays? Joseph's Electrical. This one was so good, we did two drive-bys!

The photo hardly does it justice. Way cool in person!

May.... Maybe?

2011-05-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

What month is it? Where did it go? We've been busy.....

Gram had an end of the year program. We weren't real sure if he would participate or not. He did. He's such a ham!

I went to New Orleans for a Bachelorette Party. This is most likely the last wedding I'll ever be a bridesmaid in. It makes me a little teary eyed - like an era is ending. A (young) era is ending - I'm beginning to feel the reality of being a thirty something really sinking in. Back to the bachelorette party - we had fun - this old mama could still hang with those spring chickens! I find it fascinating to meet my friend's friends. Does that make sense? Rachel is pretty lucky - her new friends are quite normal and adore her!

A little shout out to my mom and Erik - thanks for watching the boys so I could go and be a tiny bit irresponsible for a couple of nights!

I heart this so much!

2011-05-16T08:22:00.001-07:00

This spoke directly to me and my personal struggles with church and death glares.
Pro-Life Means Pro-Child

Bonnet Carre Spillway

2011-05-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

We were just at the Bonnet Carre Spillway in February for the Warrior Dash. We parked my car on what is now flooded with white water looking rapids! A little history - it was built in 1927 and only has been opened 9 times from then until now. I don't know if anyone knows for certain who this will affect or for how long - I'm hoping this is for the best and diverts the floodwater with little damage to people and homes.

In February:

This week:

And a video:

Kaela in the kitchen

2011-05-14T06:27:00.001-07:00

Last week, to celebrate the Kentucky Derby, we had friends over for Kentucky Hot Browns. Essentially just a gussied up turkey sandwich. I needed something easy to serve with it and decided on sweet potato fries. They were yummy! This is how I gussied them up:

I squirt some squeeze garlic into a bowl. Added some kosher salt and black pepper. Mashed the mash with the back of a spoon and then tossed in some fries to coat with the mixture. Bake per fries instructions.
Erik loved them and so did our friends. And the kids. Oh, and me too!

I saw this somewhere in blogland and made for my family this morning. Gram got a kick out of them!

Cinnamon Roll Hearts (kinda)

Quatrefoil-ed

2011-05-01T08:19:00.001-07:00

The past few days we've been in Baton Rouge. Part pleasure, part business. Friday morning, Erik had to go to a meeting and left the boys and me up to our own devices. I did NOT want to get into the car and do any driving, so we stayed close to the hotel. We walked less than a block away to find a gem waiting for us - Louisiana's Old State Capitol. Quatrefoil designs were to be found everywhere. We had lots of fun exploring for ourselves and the boys really enjoyed basking in the stained glass reflections the most!

No quatrefoil here, just base boards the size of small toddler!

Easter Weekend in Number (and pictures)

2011-04-27T09:53:00.000-07:00

4 Easter Egg Hunts
4 chocolate bunnies
1 case of pneumonia
2 sets of spoiling Grandparent's
2 generous Nanny's
6 pack of fingernail polish
LOTS of plastic eggs
1 Great Weekend

Julian painting Gram's toenails with her fingernail polish the Easter Bunny left her. See brother crying in the background? He wanted his painted too!

Gram's First Date...

2011-04-17T18:02:00.001-07:00

(with his Mama). I hear all sorts of Yo Mama jokes in my head typing that. So- he's been asking to go on a date with me and today happened to be his friends first ballet recital. I thought this would be a great opportunity for us to spend some quality time. So we first went by the store to get Reese a candy flower bouquet (and maybe a sweet treat to hang over his head to be a good date for the afternoon). For the first thirty minutes he behaved rather poorly and I told him for future reference, that first impressions are important and he shouldn't blow the date in the first half hour. Next, we hit up Starbucks for a drink and cake pops. Where he struck a Junior Healy pose. We then set off for the Rosa Hart Theater. On the ride there he shared with me "dates are boring". We arrived at the Civic Center where a fair was happening on the front lawn. Great! Except, were not going. We enjoyed the recital and Reese absolutely stole the show. Gram learned a few dance moves. For dinner, he requested a fancy restaurant and crabs. Umm, Seafood Palace? On the way to dinner, my date informed me he was sad, without any further explanation. I can't say that's never hapened. Instead of Seafood Palace, we went to a (an?) Hibachi Grill. I was hit on by a man with a son of is own, who joined us for dinner. Obviously, against my better judgement. Besides being a little shorter and moodier than I usually prefer, I'd say it was a great date! Enjoy our date pictures:

See the Junior Healy resemblance?

Phone dump

2011-04-12T05:53:00.001-07:00

Photos from the weekend... How it began and how it ended. (all pictures taken with my new favorite photography app, instagram)

Going to see a man about a bunny

2011-04-08T07:23:00.001-07:00

If this doesn't crack you up...

We're on our way to take some spring pictures!

School Pictures

2011-03-30T15:33:00.001-07:00

2011-03-22T09:14:00.001-07:00

We just had this junk back in October. It's baaaaaaack and mommy has a touch of it too. Yuck! Germs suck!

Good news: I finished a real bow tie for the boys for wedding season this spring. Bad news: I'll leave it to your imagination.

This one really ties. And the most patient bow tie'in practin' stand-in!

These don't really tie. Love the fabric for Easter.

Also, 2 quick bits:

1. On top of the stomach bug, I had a pretty sore throat. I don't do well with sore throats. They make me want to crawl into a ball and cry. Maybe I did just that yesterday. So I went to the trusty internet and typed in 'Sore throat remedies". And Wa-lah! My knight in shining cayenne armor appeared to me. Mix 1 tsp cayenne pepper with warm water and gargle every couple of hours. Not even 12 hours later, the soreness is gone!

2. I love cupcakes. I wanted to make some funfetti cupcakes for the boys, but didn't want to make 2 dozen. So I dumped the contents of the cake mix and measured the total amount, divided in half and then divided all the other ingredients in half as well. I wasn't too precise so imagine my surprised when they turned out. The good news is, I saved the other half so more funfetti cupcakes are on our horizon!

Proof!

2011-03-08T05:11:00.001-08:00

We did it!

2011-03-05T16:09:00.000-08:00

My brothers and I ran the Warrior Dash 2011 and survived to tell about it! It was a 3.18 mile race with 13 obstacles. Or so the website says. It was actually more like 10. We ran in the third wave, and the course was pretty much muddy mush by then. Running in mud is hard. Running a fun mud run has always been something I've wanted to do - so I was super excited to complete it (and not come in last!) and more so to share the day with my brothers.

Like I said, we luckily chose to run an early wave - this bode well for many reasons - 1. The course gets worse and worse the more people trample on it and makes it more difficult to run in. 2. The rest of the day was cancelled due to inclement weather and tornado warnings. Mike's friend was actually running when the tornado sirens started going off. We made the wise decision to leave early when the weather started looking bad and it was a good choice! Now getting out of the parking was another story. Many people were stuck in the mud and unable to move. Probably hundreds by now. No exaggerating. After we got into our car and headed away we passed the main even to see hundreds of people lined up waiting to catch busses to the parking lot. Lots of babies and kids. So the day worked in our favor but not for others, we were lucky!

Grandmother's Bucket List

2011-02-27T05:35:00.000-08:00

If we're friends on facebook you may have already read this.

I'm at the gas station filling up, with one unhappy kid and one happy kid in the backseat. So, what do I do? I start making faces at them, and hiding and popping up. Please tell me you all do this too? The man using the other pump said, "ma'am, you must have your grandchildren back there". I pulled a Willow Smith and whipped my hair around (head included) to look at this man. I just said "no sir, those are my kids". He didn't blink and try to back pedal or anything. We just kept talking like he never insulted me. But here's the thing: I don't feel insulted. I know there's no way I look 60. So it's just kinda a story to tell. Shocked, but not insulted because it's so absurd. Now last month, I was mistaken for my mother at my grandfather's funeral, but this poor lady was really on the way to the blindness. And I guess if I can accept it, I do look similar to my mom 30 years ago. I guess I should keep these two stories separate from now on and not tell them together.... it may lead the listener to judge me and start inspecting those laugh lines a little harder!

In other news, I'm doing this next weekend. I'm so excited. And nervous. More nervous. After Gram was born, I started playing soccer and running. (you know for those four months before I found out I was pregnant! ha!). I asked Erik if he would like to do a fun mud run with me in Arkansas for our anniversary. His response? Crickets. So I got pregnant soon after that proposal and kind of forgot it. I never started a real bucket list, but if I would have, I definitely would have added a mud fun run to the list. Back in November my brothers asked if we would like to run the warrior dash with them. Again, crickets from Erik. I knew if I ever wanted to do this I would have to do it without him so I enthusiastically said yes, knowing I had plenty of time to start training. Yea, well training kinda went out the window over the winter. It was just too cold. I'm still gonna go and try to run as much as I can, obviously I'm not in it to win it, and know I'll be the last person to cross the finish line in our wave. I'm also looking forward to spending some time with my brother's without spouses, kicking it like 1985. So wish us luck - we'll all need it!

Mardi Gras 2011

2011-02-20T12:54:00.000-08:00

Last night we attended our Krewe's Ball. It was fiesta themed and our good friends represented mexican drinks since they were on court. We cheered and shook our maracas and blew our air horns when they took their turn around the ballroom. Maraca shakin' wasn't the only thing being shook - we dance our little bootys off! It was so much fun and we were so excited to be there and celebrate with them!

I had this clip on feather that I added to my dress. Sadly, after a little too much booty shaking it fell off. No really, I'm quite upset about it.

Duchess {something-or-other}, representing Sangria! That's her mom's hand. And her better half? He eluded my camera. (Must get a new one, most of these turned out rather poor :(

Duke and Duchess {insert correct name here}, representing the Mojito. Erin's under those feathers somewhere.

Since it was Mexican theme, we sported some 'stache.

Rachel has many more photos, hopefully she emails them soon!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Palmer!

2011-02-20T12:37:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Palmer turned two and we celebrated with a turtle themed party! He had such a good time eating cookies, unwrapping presents and playing with his cousins and friends. We had 3 three year olds very close to the cake and I reminded them not to blow out his candles, then Gram put his hand over his friends mouth and again told her not to do it. Ms. Brenda caught it on video - it's too cute. Palmer was so proud of himself for blowing out his candles!

Sharp, sharp

2011-02-15T09:36:00.001-08:00

Gram requested "sharp, sharp" hair this morning. I was happy to oblige. (see his little bear in the photo? Over the weekend he has started taking care of his four brothers, all bears of varying degrees, he brings them here and there and loves on them - it's pretty cute and only slightly crowded when we all have to get in bed!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T10:28:00.001-08:00

I was up very early Saturday morning, because I went to bed early on Friday night and didn't take care of some last minute birthday preparations. After I finished getting ready for Palmer's 2nd birthday party, I surfed the 'net while the rest of the house slumbered. I came across these via Craft Monkey, and knew I had to make them! I started designing mine at 5:00 a.m. and couldn't wait to get to the craft store to get some sticky backed felt! Sunday couldn't come fast enough!

They turned out really cute! (of course this is a photo of the photo cards). Also, Gram took a mustache picture with his Joe (owner of the original 'stache) and it's so cute, I can't wait to get a copy!

Perspective

2011-02-04T07:31:00.001-08:00

18 months ago we sat in a hospital room watching, wondering about our son who stopped eating/drinking/urinating and was in obvious pain. He was only six months old. After three days in the hospital his hunger strike ended and he became better. We were discharged later with no diagnosis. Much like this past week, my heart broke for parents who were receiving devastating diagnoses. About that same time I read about Kate McRae. A beautiful, blonde haired, blue eyed cherub that was diagnosed with brain cancer a couple months before. For eighteen months this little girl has endured and fought a good fight. This week, a MRI revealed new spots. The doctors believe it is cancer again. Please, lift Kate and her family - Mom, Dad, sister and brother up in your prayers.

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha, I mean, Palmer, Palmer, Palmer,

2011-02-03T15:53:00.000-08:00

Sunday evening after bath I was dressing Palmer and put him down so I could pull up his jammies. He said, "ow, ow, ow". I thought nothing of it really. Actually, I thought his feet were cold, put socks on him, put him in bed and laid down next to him until he fell asleep. I didn't think anything of it the next morning when I didn't hear his usual pitter patter coming down the hall. This sound was more of a skin slapping tile floor. I peaked out the door and didn't think it too strange the boy who's approaching two crawling down the hallway. I just scooped him up and carried him back to my bed to visit for a few minutes before we had to get up for the day. Erik gave Palmer a piggy back ride to the living room, where he ate his breakfast and then I dressed him later. I brought the boys toothbrushes to the living room (loaded with training tootpaste so they wouldn't need to spit). Once I was dressed and ready (long after Erik left for the day) I said, "c'mon guys, lets go to school!". Gram came running to the door but I noticed that Palmer was crawling. Again. It took me about two seconds to put together that he started this last night and "oh, my Gosh, what a horrible mother I am to have not noticed this sooner!!!" , runs through my head. I put him on his feet and again I hear, "ow, ow, ow". Oh My - what is going on? I try to coax him - not happening. It's not that he is refusing to walk, he just can not walk. Gram is already out the door and if I would have let him, Palmer would have happily crawled out to the car. I get them back inside and I lose. I'm so terrified. I call Erik. He doesn't answer. I call Erik again. No answer. I email. I text. I tried calling the department secretary - no answer. I've lost it now. I call my mom - she was around the corner and starts heading over. I call my boss to notify her that something is going on and I'm not sure when I'll be in. I call the doctor's office and speak to a nurse. She agrees that he needs to be seen and get's me a 3:00 p.m. appointment. Yea, right - like I'll last that long. While I'm waiting for my mom, I carefully remove his pants and socks and examine him. I don't see any bruises, cuts, glass shards, his legs are movable and he doesn't seem to be in pain when I move them. My mom gets here and calls the doctors office back and tells them we are coming to wait until we get seen this morning. We see the doctor and all he can tell us is that he doesn't know what's going on, but if he's still not walking by Wednesday to come back. Big help right?

Monday night he is crawling some and walking some. His walk has a noticeable limp. Tuesday morning he is walking all the time, again with a limp. He goes to school. I pick him up, they tell me after his nap, he woke up whiny/crying and started crawling again. But after a while started walking again. It's now Thursday and he hasn't crawled since Tuesday, so that makes me feel better. My Aunt said her son did the same thing right around the same age. He got some kind of virus that settled in his joints. Another girl told me the same thing at the same age happened to someone she knew. So I guess that's all it was. Maybe growing pains? Maybe he pulled a muscle? I don't know - I do know he gave my imagination a deep workout. In thinking about all the serious, scary stuff it could have been - I thought that at that same time someone, somewhere was getting the REAL diagnosis that their son had something seriously scary. That made me really sad. I sent up a prayer for those parents.

This is the happy boy - what a joy!

Cute as a Button!

2011-01-29T08:11:00.000-08:00

I love, love, LOVE the site, One Pretty Thing. Rachel is always featuring the cutest DIY/crafty projects that are floating around the internet. The other day, she featured this cute project from Mique, from 30 Handnade Days. I thought it was a really cute idea, but I had no idea if the boy's preschool teachers had pierced ears or not, so instead I made the buttons into magnets. Everyone can use a magnet right? Especially a really cute one? I attached the magnets to the cards with an awesome invention! Zots! The only way I can explain it, is they are comparable to the sticky stuff in mailings and magazine subscribtions. They are high tack, so they hold the heavy-ish magnet to the card, but they peel off easily. Mystifying stuff!

Twinkies

2011-01-26T18:28:00.001-08:00

I scheduled an oil change during my lunch break today. Erik was kind enough to pick me up and bring me to eat lunch. We took our casual dining lunch up a few notches and ate at Wendy's. We sat near some of Erik's students. After we got our food I sat down to eat, but first took off my coat. It was at that time, I realized to my embarrassment that we were wearing the same shirt. I bet his students thought we were nuts. Some crazy married couple we are! In my defense, Erik dressed and put on a coat when I was in the other room. I never even looked at his ensemble (good thing I didn't have to file a missing persons report). For your viewing pleasure...

School Totes

2011-01-24T08:03:00.001-08:00

After seeing this cute tutorial over at made (Click here), I ran out to get some tote bags. My little boys needed these!

Palmer's turned out great, but Gram's fabric was very stretchy and puckered at the end. C'est la vie, right?

We've been taking it very easy and relaxing a lot lately! I've been working on Palmer's second birthday party, which is right around the corner, and on valentine gifts for our favorite preschool teachers! I can't wait to post about it. Also, I have a giveaway on my other blog, Click here to enter.

Best part about waking up....

2011-01-02T06:10:00.001-08:00

...is their footsteps coming down the hall. They get in bed with us and we all cuddle for a few more minutes before starting our day. It's definitely the highlight of my day. Everyone's happy and a little dreamy for just a few more minutes. I wish I could bottle it up to use throughout the day.

Lord, help me!

2011-01-01T15:12:00.000-08:00

Gram just pulled a chair up to the stove.

I asked, "Can I help you get something."

Gram: "No thank you. You can stay right there. You can keep working. I can do it."

He just secured what he was searching for. Only his 11th donut in four days.

Now monkey-see is trying to get one too. Those boys. So funny.

.......................................................................................................

Now would also be a good time to remind myself in thirty years of his little accent. I can't put my finger on it. Country maybe? He loves to go see the red crustaceans at the grocery store. You know, the one with claws. He says - cruh-a-yab. Yes. Three syllables when just one would suffice. Also: huh-yuh-elp for help. The other one is bath. Gram pronounces buh-a-fuh.

Happy New Years...

2011-01-01T06:27:00.000-08:00

Now enjoy some videos. If you want. I'm not saying you must. All these are from New Year's Eve. The first is Palmer jumping bouncing for joy. The other two are of them and fireworks. They both loved watching them and helping Dad light them.

2010 - Month by Month

2010-12-31T07:56:00.000-08:00

January - We dumped daycare!

February - Palmer turned 1

March - We camped out for 24 hours to be the first on the waiting list at the new daycare. Congratulated Erin and Jared on their new baby girl.

April - I can't find one interesting fact for this month. It must have just been work, work, work and play, play, play.

May - We found a new pediatrician. We also started our new daycare. We love both and couldn't be happier. We wonder what hole have we been in for 2.5 years.

June - I celebrated the big 3-0.

July - We took a little trip to Houston to visit the Aquarium and Museum of Natural History with the Manuel's.

August - Blessed with Erik's new job and benefits!

September - reminisced about the 5 year anniversary of Hurricane Rita.

October - Our new insurance went into effect. So ecstatic to kiss goodbye monthly premiums and deductibles!

November - Palmer had ear tubes put in and adenoids taken out. He began this funny little thing later that weekend, which we later recognized as running. It was and still is the cutest little wobble.

December - Celebrated the too brief, but full life of Tanner.

(this is a picture of the card, not too great - oops!)

I was picking up a pizza and as I left the guy accidentally said, "Have a New Year". I wish you all to have a New Year, too! Hopefully a Happy and Blessed one!

Christmas in a tub

2010-12-25T17:23:00.000-08:00

Someone enjoys visiting when utilizing the facilities. If you catch my drift. So I was visiting with one little boy and in came another. He decided it more fun to play in the dry bathtub. When G was all done he climbed in to play too. It looked like so much fun, well, I jumped in too! And then we called for Daddy (who was very busy setting up the World's largest Geo Trax community) to come find us! We had a very Merry and Blessed Christmas and hope you did too!

School Christmas Party

2010-12-22T05:49:00.000-08:00

Gram had a Christmas party at school last week! His class played games, ate Happy Meals, decorated cookies and played more games. I've never been to a school party before, for the fact that I would have to leave him and go back to work. Sure enough, when one little boy's daddy left, the little boy cried and cried. It broke my heart. As this party was on a Friday, Gram and I left after the party. Palmer was a sick boy all week with respiratory problems, but tried to go to school on Friday for his party. He was sent home when he had a yucky diaper. Poor boy. One thing about this new daycare we've been looking forward to is taking a vacation week - and we are using one now! It is so wonderful!

Rice, Rice, Baby!

2010-12-21T06:25:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd let the boys do some explorative play and buy myself some time to complete a few projects. (We are going to a Christmas party and playing a chinese steal game - the catch is the gift has to be handmade - how totally awesome and right up our alley!) Ok, back to the rice... so I set up the boys playing while Erik was in the studio. They were happily playing, when I ran out to the studio for something. Erik came in to the house and this is what he found to his surprise. (He didn't know I set them up to play). Also, don't think I'm just wasting rice.... this is the rice I used to dry out my iPhone after I washed it. I'm not sure it would be safe to eat.

Christmas Photos 2010

2010-12-14T11:36:00.000-08:00

My fabulous friend, Shonda, snapped our photos this year. You can look at more of her work and contact her via her facebook page, Shonda Manuel Photography. These are just a few of the out-takes.

All of these photos were taken in or around Central School. That place is so beautiful. I think I'd like to live there.

A Mom's Rhapsody

2010-12-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

A little shout out to all the moms out there - especially all of you stay at home moms - I have no idea how you do it!

Boys!

2010-12-05T05:42:00.001-08:00

From the hall bathroom I hear, "Mom! Mom! Come see me!"

Bullets

2010-11-28T19:53:00.001-08:00

•I suffer from "annoying mom voice". It is totally cringe worthy to watch the video from our afternoon.

•it is not recommended to move three times in five years and to put up your tree only once. Something important may go missing.

•Gram's face in the above picture is priceless. I'm so glad Erik captured it.

•a vintage dress form pole and zip ties makes a suitable fake Christmas tree stand.

•Palmer enjoys licking the ornaments.

•Palmer enjoys breaking ornaments, too. He experienced his first time out today. (He handled it like a man)

•this entire process of putting up a tree took up the entire morning and afternoon.

•it was totally worth it!

Friends, you all have been so good about lifting up prayers when we were in need. I ask for you to pray for my cousin's son, Tanner. Eight year old Tanner was involved in an accident resulting in a severe head injury Friday evening. He is icu in a coma. The first 36 hours are crucial for brain swelling. Please pray for Tanner and his family. I wish I could articulate what I want to say better, but I can't. My heart breaks for this family and they are consumed with my thoughts.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T06:04:00.001-08:00

I thought it to be important to start the day wearing the right pants. Drawstrings were the right choice!

Bellies full and naps on our mind

Of course, Palmer fell asleep after lunch and slept till 3:30. Gram didn't fall asleep until 3:20.

After naps, we went to G and Joe's and played with our cousins. Boy, were we wild little hooligans! G and Joe gave us some Christmas goodies to get us into the Christmas spirit. A little people Nativity (I haven't decided if they get to play with it) and some jammies and sweaters and most importantly - Elf on the Shelf - I wonder where he hid himself when he came back from the North Pole this morning.

Enjoy the video of Palmer enjoying his food. He closes his eyes after each bite to savor every morsel of Paul Jessen deliciousness.

Get a tissue ready...

2010-11-25T14:01:00.000-08:00

...this story will surely do you in.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/A-Yuletide-Gift-of-Kindness.html?c=y&page=1

Cheap and Easy gift for kids

2010-11-24T06:33:00.000-08:00

I've made a printable! (Hopefully it works!) If you need a quick and cheap gift for little kids (daycare friends) visit my other blog to get to the printable!

Reindeer Food Labels

Hi Santa

2010-11-18T18:15:00.000-08:00

For reference, last year's picture with Santa.

And, this year's photo. As you can tell, Gram was very excited to visit with Santa and Palmer, well, uh, not so much. The lady was trying so hard to get him to smile and I was all, "no, this is great, this is exactly what we want". Ha!

We're Thankful for... Kids saying the darndest things

2010-11-12T18:29:00.003-08:00

Last year at work, to celebrate Thanksgiving and all that we are thankful for, I had students decorate turkey feathers with what they are thankful for. This year I had them write what they are thankful for on leaves. I cut some vinyl for the big window and hung our pretty leaves for all of our passerby's to enjoy and give them something to chew on(figuratively as their chicken salad sandwich would be something more literal to chew on) while they eat next door.

This little project didn't take much explanation. Most kids "got it" and were thankful for things such as, Mom, Family, Friends, Grandparents. One teenager was thankful for her phone. But this one kid had me in stitches. I almost had to go lock myself in the bathroom to keep from laughing in front of him. He was thankful for LOL Cats on the computer.

He totally has a point. It is funny and we can all be thankful for having a good laugh, right? Funny thing is, I went to get a picture from the website and it's a kitty sitting at a table talking about crayons. Or crayinz, whatever. Aww.... how appropriate!

Need a laugh? Go visit LOL cats on the computer!

From Indonesia with love...

2010-11-07T19:28:00.001-08:00

Our custom built beds arrived this week! I finally got my tail into gear and cleaned out my junk room to turn into the boys shared room. (only because I was worried Erik was about to stop speaking to me) I asked Gram if he was excited about sharing a bedroom with his brother and he said no. This is Palmer's first night in a big boy bed! We should take bets on who will get out first. After this picture was taken we added a rail to Palmer's bed (only after asking which bed Gram wanted), don't you know they fell asleep in the others bed and we had to switch both? So much for planning. Nighty night my sweet boys!

In and Out Surgery

2010-11-05T09:16:00.001-07:00

Early this morning little Pooh Bear (as his classmates call him) had ear tubes put in and his adenoids taken out. Dr. W said he did great! He was a real trooper!

Before:

After:

We are home now resting. He has to take it easy for a few days - that should be tough for this bulldozer. A small town bonus? An old friend from high school was his wonderful recovery nurse!

Bad blogging at it's best

2010-11-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

My journaling skills were totally lacking this past weekend! We did so much fun stuff and I barely took any photographs! Aw man! I'll try harder next time.

Friday night we went out to celebrate Erik's birthday with his buddies. We had a super delightful time and came back to our house to eat ice cream cake (Erik's only request). It was yummy - it had a pretzel crust bottom, layers of chocolate cake and caramel ice cream - topped with whipped cream and caramel sauce - yum!

Saturday we woke up early to visit the Arts Fest. There weren't too many crafts for the real young ins but we still had fun. These two photos were snapped when we were leaving! So cute!

After the Arts Fest we went to Erik's parents house where his Dad prepared him a birthday feast. Man! It was so good!

Sunday was Halloween and after all of our anticipation - somehow the day slipped by without too many pictures being taken! What happened? We did enjoy hotdogs and hayrides and trick or treating with our cousins! We had so much fun!

I can't even remember why he was pouting!

Halloweens Revisited

2010-10-29T06:28:00.000-07:00

2008

2009

Today, Yesterday and the day before yesterday and Last Week.

2010-10-28T21:15:00.000-07:00

At least I think that's when it happened...

Today: We went to the McNeese Homecoming parade. We met our friends The Manuel's and my brothers family, The Falcon's. We ate some pizza. We danced. We ate lots of candy. We had fun!

After we got home, we gave the boys baths and let them run around and play. I was catching up on Glee (silly TIVO told me it had it scheduled, but don't you know, it didn't! Hello, Hulu!) About halfway in, the house became really quiet. About the same time Erik noticed how quiet it was as well. We met in the hallway wondering what happened. This is what happened. I guess we'll leave them sleeping together?

Yesterday: This weekend I snapped this picture of G and emailed it to Erik. His face was dirty, but after some photoshopping, it was all clean! He emailed it to me yesterday. It makes me so happy. Such a great capture of a busy three year old!

Last Week: Every day on the way to school, I ask "who's gonna have a good day". They both raise their hands and say in unison, "meeeeeeee!". It's pretty precious. I caught that moment last week!

Rouge et Blanc

2010-10-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Erik and I had a wonderful day out without the kiddos! Gram was a little upset when I told him I was going on a date with daddy. He wanted to come too! Erik and I have been attending from the beginning, but somehow we missed one (I was pregnant I think) and that year you had to be there to sign up for the next years ticket. So we missed another year but it looks like we are back on the bandwagon. It seems to get better and better every year. I wish I would have been dexterous enough to snap pics of the food and wine!

Bully

2010-10-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

I made a shirt for someone. I can't wait to see it on him tomorrow! We are headed to the ENT tomorrow to see if he needs tubes. I don't want to put to much stock into this, but I think this could be an answer to a lot of concerns. We shall see. At least he'll look dapper at his appointment!

Do your kids have nicknames?

Here's Mr. Bull in the shirt. (Also, he's getting tubes and adenoids removed)

Ahoy, Me Hearties!

2010-10-17T06:41:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Gram's 3rd (!!!) birthday with a pirate party! We had pirate food and played pirate games. After each game the kiddos collected loot to put in their loot bags! It was a fun time!

Arrgh! The pirate family!

Birthday Boy

Erik made the cake! He did such a great job!

Thar he blows!

Pirate food included: Peg Legs and Hardtack (sausages and crackers), Walk the apple planks, skeleton bones (chocolate molded bones on pretzels) and of course some Grog(punch) and Bilge Water!

My sweet Godchild and I

The birthday boys, 83 & 3!

Erik has better photos on his camera, I'll post more once I get them!

A reflection of my day

2010-10-15T18:43:00.001-07:00

Edited to add: I started writing this Thursday evening and din't finish until Friday. I hope that makes this easier to read.

t's 5:51 p.m. My day began 13 hours ago. I'm sitting outside, hair and teeth have yet to see a brush, unshowered, barefoot, braless, still wearing the pajamas I went to bed in.

Today was a first for me. First day I've called in to work because both boys were sick. Usually, just one is sick and my mom watches that one. So as usual, I called my mom and asked if she could watch Gram today because he was throwing up. Sure was her response. But then when Palmer got sick too, I couldn't imagine burdening her with two sick kiddos.

Were now inside, washing away the sick and the day (now it's 6:30, where does the time go?)

The reflection of my day was put aside because I fell asleep on the couch about 8:00 , I was pooped.

So back to the reflecting...

Erik says I exxagerate. This statement is no way embellished:
I used the most water yesterday , in one single day, than I ever have. Water conservationists now have a wanted poster of me. Baths in the morn and evening, dishwasher and several loads of laundry is where our water went!

I rarely cook. Maybe twice a week. Don't ask what we eat. I cooked (by cook I mean used the stove) three times yesterday and washed the dishes afterwards. A feat for me.

I usually work by myself in the mornings so it was strange at lunch yesterday when I was trying to eat and kids were climbing on me. "weird", I thought. "no one tries to sit on my lap at my other job".

(I stopped typing at about 8:30 this morning because I got busy, and have just now gotten a second to finish - only 12 hours later)

Here's tge Friday update: gram was not well this morning so we kept him again. Palmer had a solid b.m., so we sent him, only to pick him up one hour later. A bug has bitten the littles, hopefully it will be gone soon. I'm also hoping Gram's better for his party tomorrow. What's with stomach virus' as birthday gifts?

Help me, Rhonda!

2010-10-12T07:40:00.001-07:00

Gram turns 3 this week. It's all I think about it. It's only Tuesday and I've already told him his birth story three times! I've squeezed and kissed those little cheeks and told him, no matter what, he'll always be my little baby. And oh my goodness! He amazes me everyday with a new grasp on vocabulary or new concept. Yesterday I told him his party was on Saturday and he asked me what a Saturday was. I told him it was the name of a day of the week. Then I taught him a song about it. During the day I mentioned this to Erik and when he picked up Gram they reviewed the new song. Gram told Erik, "I hate Monday". "it's a sassy sauce word".

He's grown so fast! From this to that!

I'm gonna go cry now...

Whoa! Deja vu!

2010-10-07T11:07:00.001-07:00

I am the first person to say something has been done before. Especially among craft and recipe blogs, where little tiffs often happen because someone "stole" someone else's idea. Not that this idea was all that clever, but I'm proud to say that I thought of it myself (cuz you know I 'steal' lots of ideas too!)

See this post:
http://thejessens.blogspot.com/2009/10/friday.html

And the final result:

So you can imagine my shock/delight when I saw this magazine cover in the checkout line at Michael's!:

Edited to add: Aw, it was a nice thought of mine to think someone was reading this silly blog (now, now Kaela). But I've done some digging around the internet and this idea was featured in the same magazine over two years ago! Silly me! But like my sister in law said, Great minds...

Quiet Game

2010-10-02T12:05:00.001-07:00

Gram was whining because he didn't get a candy at the hardware store. We asked him to play the quiet game. He thought about it and answered, "how bout the crying game?".

Fuuny kid.

The Chuck's new bright spot

2010-09-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

Last night, we headed downtown to the city's dedication of the renovated lakefront. They've done some major cosmetic work and added an enormous boat dock. The brick and iron work is really fantastic. We had a wonderful evening with our friends and family enjoying the breeze and seeing the sights!

Five years ago,

2010-09-18T07:36:00.000-07:00

this month (I think I would be incapable of writing about it closer to the actual event), after having our hearts break over Hurricane Katrina, we had our own little Hurricane to deal with. I've lived in SWLA my entire life (minus a year or two spent in Texas). My family had never evacuated for a Hurricane. By the grace of God, we evacuated for this one. Only because of the destruction that happened in New Orleans. Evacuating for a Hurricane was unheard of before then.

We went to stay at my great Aunt and Uncle's "camp" (as in it was nicer than my "home"), in Minden, La, situated on the beautiful Lake Bistineau. I believe we were a group of 14 people and five dogs!

We were able to keep up with the news, which up to the last minute had reported to Hurricane hitting elsewhere. Within the next day or two, Erik and I went to a hotel to pick up a wi fi signal, we were startled to see the first few pictures of our hometown that were rolling in. We wondered what happened to our house. We visited an evacuee center and had badges made(I have them around here somewhere, I must go find them, they are hilarious) and applied for FEMA (btw, we are the only people that I know of that did not receive this money) We could "shop"(for free!) for clothes, food, laundry detergent, whatever supplies we needed. This is a picture of my mom's loot:

The Hurricane hit on a Saturday and we went back to Lake Charles on Wednesday or Thursday. We took back roads into town and couldn't imagine what we would see. Trees were down and covering the roads from about Kinder on. From the front of our house it looked to be ok. A Cedar tree was completely uprooted in the front yard and we could also see the turbines on the roof were blown away. When we walked in the house, it had a distinct smell, I will never forget. The ceiling tiles were dripping wet and parts of the ceiling had already fallen. This is what I saw when I walked out our back door:

Our beloved, fruitful Pecan Tree was uprooted and fell on our house!

A view from the roof, looking down

The tree was so massive, a crane had to remove it!

This is a picture of our bathroom:

We made the decision to start taking out the wet stuff right away instead of waiting to speak to an insurance person. Later, our insurance adjuster, who estimated that over 40% of our house was damaged, said we made the right decision.

This is how we lived until April (???) when we finally got a new roof and could reinsulate and put a new ceiling in our house. It was a very cold winter!

Until electricity came back on, we visited with friends and family, worked in the house and when it became too hot, we camped on our carport and ate MRI's. Pictures of Erik camping and of Finch. ( Finch was covered with mosquito bites and they were really bad, so we put a t shirt on him to try to keep them off his belly)

All in all, our damages were insignificant and oh so minor compared to what other's lost. From my brother and sister in laws house that was flooded, to a dear friends family home that was completely washed away.

It's hard to imagine that just two weeks before our lives were changed so dramatically we had an amazing weekend with amazing friends:

If you would have asked me when that picture was taken, where I saw myself in five years, I could never have predicted what God had in store for us. It was unimaginable, unthinkable. Five years seems like such a short period of time. So small. So much has happened to us in five years: we've remodeled a house that we never planned, we've sold two house and bought two houses, we've had two kids, Erik became the only owner of his business and as of lately, been blessed with an incredible job and incredible benefits. I would have never predicted ANY of those things. God is good and his ways are magnificent!

Just another day in paradise

2010-09-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

At 10:53 a.m., Wednesday morning, the phone at work rang. I ran into my office to answer it. Gram's nanny was on the phone (she's also the assistant director at day care). Unfortunately, we have more bad conversations than good ones. She told me Gram threw up in the lunch room and then again out in the hall. "I'm on my way", I told her. I hopped into my car, and was about to call my mom to see if she could watch him so I could go back to work, when I noticed a missed call from a number I did not know. I check voicemail. It's Gram's teacher saying that he fell off some playground equipment and hit his head, but he's ok. I start piecing things together (or jumping to conclusions - whatever you want to call it) and call Gram's nanny back. I ask if she thinks he's throwing up because of the fall - no, she thought he may have choked on some food. I get to daycare and find Gram sitting in a chair in the hall - telling jokes. He's fine. Very happy, very talkative. Very fine.

We get into the car and I decide to call Children's Clinic (from now on will be referred to as CC) just to see if there is something I need to watch out far - I was thinking along the lines of pupils. The nurse says he's probably fine, but to watch out for his balance and if he starts acting loopy. I didn't hit 'end call' good when Gram begins to tell me that he's turning into a unicorn (a girl one), is on a roller coaster and is flying in an airplane with G and Joe. I begin to laugh. Then I begin to cry! Of course he waits till after I hang up to start acting crazy! And the junk he's saying is just so funny. Sometimes, when I don't have the right words, I laugh. At this point I'm already at my mom's house, so she get's in the car with us and I call CC again. I tell them that he's started talking loopy. They put me on hold while they consult a doctor. I don't know what to do, so I just start driving towards the CC. I'm almost there when they get back on the line and tell us to go the ER. We ask which hospital to go to, and they tell us the one closest to them.

So we get there. I'm totally dumb, I can't even figure out how to sign in. I manage to do that simple task and it's not long before the triage nurse calls his name. He takes his vitals, tells me that we've done the right thing by bringing him in. Then we have to go back out to waiting room to sit some more. Finally, admitting lady calls his name and we get that done and we wait a bit more. Finally, the ER is ready for us so off we go. We pass a long corridor lined with many, many, many rooms. We don't get a tiny room, instead we are sent to a big holding room in the back that has four beds. We are the first assigned to this room. A nurse visits us, she takes notes. (I have deleted a paragraph right here telling about the other patients that came into this 'holding' room. It was a long paragraph, and may have become too personal. However, I need to tell you about one of them.) Doctor comes in, assesses Gram. Doc says he's fine, no need for a CT scan today. Something about too much radiation isn't good. Great. He leaves to get discharge paperwork. Doc comes back, supervisor Doctor wants a CT scan. We wait some more. Finally, they take Gram for CT scan. Unfortunately, theres zero privacy and we hear a Psych ward eval. on another patient in the room. Gram's not in the room at this point - thank you. She's starting to get a little fired up. She's crying. She's homeless. Wants a cig. They tell her no. Offer her gum and patch. Nurse steps out and lady makes a run for it! They catch her and bring her back. Gram returns. He said he stuck his head in a donut. Erik said he did a super job. We settle in for another wait. Gram was sitting on my mom's lap and says he wants me. He crawls up on my lap and is about to fall asleep when Erik decides it would be a good time to leave the room. Gram started crying. He follows Erik. They wait at the nurse station (I know Erik, so I imagine he did this to put a rush on the staff to get the results, not because he was afraid of Gram being harmed by the other patient, which I was starting to get worried). It's clear! Yay! The doc writes the discharge.

Whoo Hoo.

I bring Gram and my mom back to her house. I pick up a hamburger before heading back to work. And make it back just in time for class to begin. Just another Wednesday lunch around these parts...

Erik: The Man, The Myth, The Artist

2010-09-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Erik had a gallery opening at the beautiful Henning Cultural Center in Sulphur. The exhibit is titled, From The Drawing Board. The exhibit explores how an artist takes an idea from concept to final image. I've never been to an exhibit quite like it and really enjoyed seeing different artists' approach to a project and the many stages one image may go through. There were five artists invited to show, and each had a desk set-up where they were creating art - a sort of live installation if you will. I'm so proud of Erik, such a talented guy...

See if you can spot the Jessen's blog masthead among the art.

The beautiful Henning Cultural Center, not my image, taken from their website.

Baby's got a new shirt

2010-09-03T12:19:00.001-07:00

Shower Cleaning Made Easy

2010-09-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

I love magic eraser. It works amazingly well. What a little wonder it is. Yesterday I ran to the store to pick up a new magic eraser to clean the boys' less than 1 week old sneakers that were disgustingly dirty. I'm beyond happy, (ecstatic maybe?) that I picked up a new magic eraser. A shower cleaning one. Too good to be true, right? No way, no way, no way! This baby really cleaned! We have extremely hard water - our shower when we first moved in was scrubbed by Erik with CLR and brute, man strength. He made it glisten, well, after hours worth of scrubbing. Well today I made it gleam too, and only in about 5 minutes. I also tested it out on the sinks - it's so stinkin' fabulous!

Adventure Time

2010-08-30T12:06:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we were headed to a birthday party. First we had to make a stop at Target to pick up something for the birthday boy. I left my phone in the car and when I returned to it 15 minutes later I had 5 missed calls between my mom and dad. "Oh Lord, who died?", I thought. So I promptly return their phone call and my mom asks if we'd like to go to Eunice to listen to some music. I said me and the boys would love to, but Erik would not. So she got to working on her end and we headed to our birthday party. After the birthday party I called to see how the planning was going. " Ok, we are renting a 15 passenger van and now we are going to spend the night, are you still in?" she asked? Yes, and we then made plans to meet up later that afternoon to leave. Before I could finish packing our bags she called yet again, "bring your swimsuits". Sure mom, just stop calling me!!! About 3:00 this huge ass van arrived in our driveway to whisk us away to only God knows where.

Ever agree to something without knowing what you are getting into? Yes, I do this all the time. This is a picture taken about the time I'm thinking , "Lord, Please help me!"

We headed to The Liberty Theater in Eunice, La for some good ol cajun music. This is us unloading from the van and headed towards the theater:

We're all smiles, so it must not be so bad!

The performance didn't begin until 6:00, and we arrived early for good seats, but the kids wore out pretty quickly so we left about 7:00. Not a minute before these two could wear out the dance floor:

Afterwards, we walked to the fountain to make some wishes. Well, someone didn't really explain the whole "throw in a penny and make a wish" thing to Gram. After he threw in his penny he had a major meltdown and wanted to know "where his toys were"! Poor kid!

We loaded back into the "bus" and headed for dinner. We finally decided on Fezzo's in Scott and arrived about 8:00. We were told it was a five minute wait, which turned into an hour. The food was delicious but the service was poor. Back to the bus we went and drove to Lafayette to rest our weary heads until tomorrow.

Earlier in the evening me, my brother and sil, were making plans to go out in Lafayette but once we got to the hotel, we were just too tired. So we put on our jammies and played with our cousins for a little bit.

Sunday morning, we went swimming in the indoor pool and then took our time getting dressed before breakfast. We played a little bit more in bed. We ate breakfast and then headed out for the rest of our big adventure.

Off we went to Bass Pro Shop in Denham Springs. What a sight. The kids had a really good time and were quite amused with the two ponds -one outside and one inside, plus the huge fish tank inside.

We then made one last stop at a beef jerky outlet store (ever try bloody mary beef jerky? I suggest you do) before getting back on the road.

For lunch we stopped at the one place that has not eluded me this entire summer - it seems as though I plan all of our trips around this place - Dairy Queen! Steak baskets and blizzards were enjoyed by all. With our bellies full we headed home.

All in all, it was a fun, spontaneous adventure, and we're already in the works planning another jaunt to New Orleans for my mom's big birthday in January! (Next time the party poopers, Erik and Steven, have to join us!!!) Also on the list for next time? A few sedatives for my dad and to-go daiquiris for everyone else (but the driver!)

First Day of School

2010-08-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

My lil sweetheart started his first day of school yesterday. He's growing up so fast. I'm so proud of him. We've talked about this day coming for the last five years, so we were very excited when we finally got the call that it was going to happen this year!

Yes, he totally had to pose for a first day pic!

Ha ha! I bet you thought I was talking about one of the kids! Nope, Erik this time! For the past five years (on and off, Thank You Hurricane Rita) he's been an adjunct instructor at Sowela. This year, after a full time instructor retired, Sowela began the hiring the process. And we are so lucky (and incredibly blessed) with Erik being the new hire! Yay for Erik! He said his first day went well and looks forward to this school year!

Never in a million years...

2010-08-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

would I find this fun. Alas, something has changed in me and I am finding this whole venture to be willy-nilly thrilling. What am I talking about? Decorating? If you know me and my house, you are probably laughing out loud. LOL'ing. I'm so not a decorator - I have no talent or interest in that arena. But this little project has been just what the interior decorator doctor ordered. And, I'm finding exactly what I'm looking for. I can't wait for this project to really start moving, this is what we have so far.

To begin, our house has two master bedrooms with attached bathrooms. We(mom & dad) have the larger one and the other one is on the other side of the house. Right now, the boys use that bathroom as theirs (to keep the hall bathroom clean and tidy (ha ha ha)). And that back master bedroom is my junk craft room. We've decided to move the boys together into the master bedroom. One of their rooms will become a playroom and the other my craft room (no junk allowed!). So they need matching beds. After intense search, we've decided on this style from pottery barn:

Erik sent the amazing furniture expert Rebekah at 505 a picture and paint choice (dark gray with distress). And she did what she does best and now our beds are in the process of being built and painted somewhere in Indonesia:

This is them, pretty amazing right? So I'm starting to think about bedding and decorating choices. I saw this bedding at Target and I really liked it, but Erik and I agree that it is too feminine for our strapping lads:

My mom and I were shopping in Lafayette and stopped by Pippin McGee, there I found this fabric swatch and made a mental note:

Serena and Lily in goldenrod and slate. It's beautiful! Just what I wanted. A little too pricey though. When I got home this evening and googled this fabric swatch, I was brought directly to this bedding, coincidentally enough is named Graham:

Things couldn't have gotten more "That's exactly what I want without knowing exactly what I want" when I saw this next collection:

This collection is named George. It is exactly perfect for two growing boys. Down to the newspaper pirate hats (which I totally planned to incorporate into Gram's birthday party even before I saw this picture. Great minds..., right?)

So I don't know what I'm going to do. Obviously we aren't dropping that kind of dough on two sets of boys bedding. At best, I'll find another fabric choice that looks similar but cheaper, at worst, I'll buy several yards and have a few pillows and add store bought bedspreads.

Also, I saw this and totally knew I want to add some kind of installation in this style:

from: projectnursery.com

Finally, this is what I'll be saying goodbye to:

I'll probably cry a little creek when we take apart the bed and changing table that have been up for three years (you know we totally put it together the day we bought it which was months before Gram made his appearance).

If you have any advice or suggestions for the boys new digs I'd love to hear it!

Summer Fun

2010-08-12T05:02:00.000-07:00

Here's some photos from my phone that tell what we've been up to this summer:

We've been....

Celebrating Long Time Coming Engagements

Sharing

Perfecting Sleeping Positions

Cutting more teeth

Inventing new ways to use dump trucks (#2,356 - snack holder)

Adding storage

(don't ask how those rogue toys didn't find themselves into their new home)

Painting for Sweet lil babes named Byler

and eating lots of ice cream!

I quit you laundry!

2010-08-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

My Aunt has noticed a severe lacking in my blog posts, so to improve I'll complain about my First world problems. I will take any suggestions...

I'm not a quitter. In fact, tell me I can't and I'll show you I can. But this battle, well, I've had enough. It started with this cute shirt:

Evidence Photo #1 (and only)

See that cute little soccer shirt? It was love at first sight in Wallyworld that magical day. I bought two. Boys wore once, I washed shirts, no problems. Boys wore twice, something red spilled on both! (When I find the perp who gave them something red they will be punished!). So I sprayed with the one thing my laundry room could never function without - Oxyclean! I washed and the spot did not come out! Shocker of all shockers (Oxyclean NEVER fails, NEVER!). I cried. I soaked in an overnight solution of oxyclean granules. The green part of shirt bled through to back of shirt. Next I oxyclean gelled it (really? Three forms of oxyclean? Can one become any more co-dependant? What an enabler that damn oxyclean is. It says, "sure kids, have chocolate pudding and formula and red dye #40 with your good clothes on". ) It is washing now, my hopes are high for this go around. Alas, if this doesn't do it, I'm going to cut those cute soccer balls off, save them for a craft and toss the shirts!)

You know you are hard up for blog material when you post about stains. Geez. ...Only in a first world country.

Really things have been exciting around here. I just can't formulate the words yet. Nor is it a subject that has pictures to go along with, so it makes for rather dull blog fodder (and stains don't?). But we are on the up and up and I said this over a month ago(in reference to our new pediatrician and daycare), but with this newest of new things, I feel like at any minute, they (police? FBI? IRS? Aliens?) are gonna bust through our door and say "the gigs up, come with us, this kinda living was never meant for you".

weekend wrap up

2010-07-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

Friday began at the Aquarium, we

looked at some fish,

we rode the ferris wheel (someone wanted to do it all by himself)

I love this picture so much, two profiles

and then Daddy did some work

Gram wore his monkey

Sadly, Monkey made it into a family picture, but not Gram

we played some fair games

Friday evening we ate at Benihana

(both boys ate their weight in food!)

Then the mommies snuck away to get into trouble and the daddies had their drawing night, while the kiddies got comfy and watched a movie

We wrapped up the weekend by getting tired of this

and this

So Daddy did this

And Ta-Da! We ended up with this

and this

THE END!

One Year

2010-07-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

For a second year in a row, we visited the Houston Aquarium. I think we'll have to make this an annual summer trip. The boys really enjoyed it this time! Isn't this picture comparison funny? I think so. We went with the Manuel's and I felt like we brought along a personal photographer. I can't wait to see her pictures. More pictures to come...

Painting With a Toddler

2010-07-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

photo credit: Katie from explanation required

Once I saw this tutorial over at explanation required, I knew it would be perfect for my craft night friends and other friends with toddlers. I excitedly sent out a call for artists! I was thrilled when all the mom's replied back saying they were in! (I've professed my love for my vinyl cutter before, and I will again here, it made it a snap to make several sets of stickers to apply to the canvas! I LOVE it!)

Here are several (I couldn't just pick a few) pictures from our fun afternoon. I think the kids (and adults) enjoyed painting a bunch!

Gram getting started

Just beginning the messy masterpiece

little artists

working diligently

Reese and Shonda

Gram's painting before we peeled of the vinyl stickers

Evangeline and Avery with their moms

Reese's finished artwork

Gram's masterpiece

Go visit Katie at explanation required and checkout her tutorial and other good stuff!

Coincidence? Definitely not!

2010-07-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've re-typed this several times. The point is - there's no nice way to write up about infertility and sub-fertility. At some point in our TTC journey, word got out that we were seeing a specialist and this whole "let's have a baby" idea, might actually be a bit harder than we imagined. My very good friend's mom, a devout Catholic, gave me a book of Novena's and a St. Gerard card to pray. St. Gerard is the patron saint of pregnant women, mother's, falsely accused and child birth. I prayed to Saint Gerard faithfully, before conception and through birth. Gerard was even a suggestion for a name - I really liked Gerard Benedict for a boy. And then I totally forgot about him. Until my same friend started having her own TTC issues, then I started praying to him again.

I was digging around in the medicine cabinet looking for Swimmer's Ear and down comes St. Gerard's prayer card. "Nice", I thought. "I do need to pray for my friend more deliberately, thanks for the reminder". So I opened the card and lo and behold when is St. Gerard's feast day? None other than my firstborn's birthday. The baby we prayed so hard for was born on the feast day of the one and only Saint I prayed to for him! And how I never realized this for almost three years???

Thanks be to God and St. Gerard for favors granted!

For Motherhood

O good Saint Gerard, powerful intercessor before God and Wonderworker of our day, I call upon thee and seek thy aid. Thou who on earth didst always fulfill God’s designs, help me to do the holy Will of God. Beseech the Master of Life, from Whom all paternity proceedeth, to render me fruitful in offspring, that I may raise up children to God in this life and heirs to the Kingdom of His Glory in the world to come. Amen.

Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye.....highchairs!

2010-07-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

Paging Doctor Poop

2010-07-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

We've been in the trenches battling potty training these last few weeks. Well, that's really a lie. More potty learning than training. Pretty much all gram led. Mom and Dad occasionally bribe with candy. So we've been talking a lot about bodily fluids. We've bought a pirate potty book and have been singing pirate potty songs. My favorite pirate potty song goes something like this: Fee-diddle-dee, I'm gonna make a pee pee. Gram has lots of questions about where his tee tee and poo poo go after it's flushed. His concern for the pipes is great. He has a promising future as a waste engineer of some sort.

All this talking and pee peeing and poo pooing (Oh, sorry? I've used this word too many times so far? Indeed I have. It's a mommy blog, get over it!) So it should come as no surprise to us, that the first two jokes he thought all by himself were poop-centric.
Joke numero uno: background info you need to know: Eriks makes a gun noise that sounds like: pew, pew, pew. Gram tries his best to mimic. So last night were spending quality time in the water closet and he's pretending a toy hammer is a gun (sidenote: I'm convinced boys will turn anything into a gun) while doing his bizness. He says, "pew, pew ,pew". He stops. He thinks. Then says, "how about poop, poop, poop". He cracked up laughing. In turn, made me laugh too.

After school when we were loading into the car I told Gram that Palmer had to visit the doctor today to get shots. He then informed me he was a doctor. Hmm.. news to me. So during dinner we were talking about what kind of doctor. Here comes joke #2:

Me: are you a foot doctor or baby doctor?

Gram: baby doctor

Me: are you a baby doctor or heart doctor?

Gram: baby doctor

Me: do you deliver babies or help babies?

Gram: I poop on babies!

This one really put him in stitches. He makes the cutest little face when he's laughing hard!

I should add, that first the last 2 nights, he has woken completely dry and has worn underwear for three days in a row. He even went to school with underwear and zero accidents! But.. but.. he didn't potty at school all day long - thank goodness it wasn't a long day for him. Then we got home and he did a dirty in his undies then again in his diaper. Who knows where we stand now at potty learning!

Oh, I almost forgot... the kids' old doctor never told me percentages. Whatever. So at Palmer's well baby visit today his doctor told me his stats - 95% in height and weight! What? What? What? Who is this kid and who does he belong to?

My guys....talkin bout my guys

2010-07-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

A pretty accurate representation of these three at any given time.

Wonderful, Wonderful Weekend

2010-06-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a blast! We stayed busy all weekend long and it was great. I don't know I could do that every weekend, though. Friday night I met up with some friends from high school for a girl's night out - and it was so much fun. It deserves it's own special post.

Saturday morning Gram played his first soccer game! He played on a 3-4 year old team, although he has yet to turn 3. They were short a few kids and let him "play". He has a very small attention span, so next time we'll have to time our arrival better. It was really fun even if he wasn't into it. There was a little girl who the olympics should snatch up this minute. She couldn't have been older than 4 and she was amazing. All the little kiddos were a hoot to watch!

All decked out in his gear!

kick practice

worn out

He lost his motivation pretty quickly, so there may have been a few bribes involved. Maybe a visit to the park and a ring pop?

Palmer enjoying Gram's rewarded park time

Erik's parents left today for a cruise to Alaska. We knew we wanted to wake up early and wish them a Bon Voyage at the airport. I figured since we would all be up so early we needed somewhere to go afterwards. I planned a "super secret surprise adventure" and kept calling it that all week trying to get all the boys, Erik included, excited for the trip. We almost missed the airport visit because our alarm clock didn't go off. Luckily, I just happened to wake and we made it just in time! We saw Nana and Paw Paw off on their big adventure and then we headed out on ours. No one but me knew where we were headed. And I wasn't even that sure. I only got turned around once!

Our destination? Artesian Springs in Newton, Tx. It is a natural spring with a white sand beach. Perfect for our little boys who may not endure a long car ride to Gulf Shores or Destin. Also perfect for a very small budget. My parents brought us when my brothers and I were kids. It's only an hour and a half away. The boys had so much playing in the sand and water. They were passed out cold before we got off the gravel road onto the highway on our way home. Oh, and we just happened to visit Dairy Queen too! Lately, all of my travels seem to be planned around this stop (aw, darn!).

That's a 100 foot slide Erik and I both went down. It was fun, fun, fun! I only regretted it about halfway down when I let out a little mouse squeak of yell!