Big Boy School

In the fall Peter will start preschool at the Catholic grade school right next door to campus. They had a uniform swap last week and Mike picked up some uniforms. Peter is so excited to go to "Big Boy" school.

To Blog or Not to Blog

I've taken a nice loooooong extended break from the blog.  Our move to New Orleans brought lots of changes but one thing that it did not bring was extra time. Over the last year or so blogging hasn't been a priority so I haven't made time for it.  I have seriously considered giving it all up entirely.  But I've realized what I miss most about it is that when I don't blog I don't get the chance to reflect much on what's going on with us because we're always rushing onto the next thing.  So I'm going to give it one more week and then we'll see what happens.

It's Friday.  I thought this picture of Olivia enjoying the swing was particularly appropriate.  Don't we all feel like this come Friday. 

And we have a bag full of jalapeños left over from Mike's last trip to the grocery store (he excels at purchasing things in bulk) and I can't wait to make these this weekend:)  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/07/jalapeno-quesadillas/

 

 

Goodnight Kisses

I'm not sure which I love more...getting kisses from these two or watching them give each other good night kisses.

Lunch Date

Weekends

Now that the Christmas Break is over and I'm back to traveling for work and Mike's ROTC students are back for classes and labs and training sessions and he's back in class for his last semester of grad school weekends together are a previous commodity around here!

I was in NYC last weekend and Mike is in Florida this weekend so I find myself reminiscing about our weekend walk/bike ride earlier this month. The kids and I repeated the experience today but it wasn't the same without him (and there certainly aren't any pictures because 2 kids and 1 bike kept my hands too full to take pictures).
These are from a couple of weekends ago.

I can neither confirm nor deny...

That this past week when Mike was out of town and severe thunderstorms and flash flooding were predicted I can neither confirm nor deny that Olivia, Peter and I played hooky from school/daycare/work. Perhaps we ran a couple of errands and spent the day cuddled up at home watching movies or perhaps we did not. Thank goodness for Krispy Kreme and my laptop that allows me to connect to Loyola's network and work from anywhere!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to an amazing partner and father and the best husband a girl could hope for! As I look at some of these photos I realize that we've grown up together and made a life together. Here's to growing old together! We love you! Here's to a great year!

Wake up Wivey

One of our nicknames for Olivia is Livey but Peter has trouble pronouncing the "L" so he pronounces it wiv-ey. Peter is our predictable-early to bed-early to rise child. He falls asleep between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m. like clockwork and he wakes up between 5:50 and 6:20 am. Every. Single. Morning.

Olivia has a much less structured sleep schedule (yet another symptom of Sanfilippo Syndrome). Last night she fell asleep around 10:30 and was still fast asleep at 7 am. Peter got to wake her up so we could get ready for school. He stole the covers, tickled the toes, gave her butterfly kisses, and when all else failed he pulled out a superhero mask and proceeded to shout things like "yoohoo", "to Infanity and beyond", and "cock-doodle-doo". Rise and shine sweet girl, no rest for the weary around here.

Let Carnival Begin

Laissez les bon temps rouler!
We are so excited that we are here in New Orleans to enjoy another Mardi Gras together as a family.    Happy Twelfth Night y'all (and if you're not as familiar on your Mardi Gras history and want a quick review of Twelfth Night and all things Mardi Gras click here and here).  We know we'll be enjoying the passing of the Phunny Phorty Phellows as we ring in the carnival season this Sunday.

“To encapsulate the notion of Mardi Gras as nothing more than a big drunk is to take the simple and stupid way out, and I, for one, am getting tired of staying stuck on simple and stupid.

Mardi Gras is not a parade. Mardi Gras is not girls flashing on French Quarter balconies. Mardi Gras is not an alcoholic binge.

Mardi Gras is bars and restaurants changing out all the CD's in their jukeboxes to Professor Longhair and the Neville Brothers, and it is annual front-porch crawfish boils hours before the parades so your stomach and attitude reach a state of grace, and it is returning to the same street corner, year after year, and standing next to the same people, year after year--people whose names you may or may not even know but you've watched their kids grow up in this public tableau and when they're not there, you wonder: Where are those guys this year?

It is dressing your dog in a stupid costume and cheering when the marching bands go crazy and clapping and saluting the military bands when they crisply snap to.

Now that part, more than ever.

It's mad piano professors converging on our city from all over the world and banging the 88's until dawn and laughing at the hairy-shouldered men in dresses too tight and stalking the Indians under Claiborne overpass and thrilling the years you find them and lamenting the years you don't and promising yourself you will next year.

It's wearing frightful color combination in public and rolling your eyes at the guy in your office who--like clockwork, year after year--denies that he got the baby in the king cake and now someone else has to pony up the ten bucks for the next one.

Mardi Gras is the love of life. It is the harmonic convergence of our food, our music, our creativity, our eccentricity, our neighborhoods, and our joy of living. All at once.”
― Chris Rose, 1 Dead in Attic

Camera Upload Suprise-Happy Birthday Olivia

I wanted to take advantage of some of the great coupons on Shutterfly so I gathered up all the flash drives we had laying around***busy working mom confession--I got so busy/lazy that I stopped uploading pictures from our real camera months ago, I would just buy new SD cards for the camera and fill them with pictures then buy a new SD card and continue the cycle, any pictures you've seen of us over the last 12+ months were taken with our iphones, I found 4 SD cards full of pictures to upload***.  This resulted in tons of fun camera upload suprises and I'm happy to share some of the highlights from Olivia's birthday....in July :)

This was the first time we've ever had a big birthday party for Olivia.  We rented a cabana at the splash park at Audubon Zoo.  We all had a blast and really enjoyed being able to celebrate her birthday with so many friends and family members!

 

 

I'm pretty sure that Olivia's favorite part was the cake!

 

 

 

 

Disney Days

One of the biggest perks about both Mike and I working on college campuses is the extended break between Christmas and New Years. We took full advantage of the extra shared vacation time and headed to Walt Disney World. Happiest Place on Earth.

She Stole The Show

Music is a big part of the curriculum at Olivia's school.  The music teacher put together an amazing music video featuring the talents and skills of all the students but it's a large file and I'm not sure how to share it here.

We may be a little biased but we think she stole the show.  About 10 seconds into the performance Olivia looked up, realized she had an audience and there was no turning back. 

Art on display

I love that the fridge is covered with artwork that the kids bring home from school. I hoard their precious projects. Seriously, there is a huge plastic under-the-bed storage box full of their projects under our bed. I can't bring myself to get rid of the stuff.

This beauty of a project came home with Olivia from school. I can't even begin to describe how much I love it! You can see how they are building on her existing skills to reach her new learning objectives. Olivia loves it too and I know she is proud to see her work on display!

Cheesy School Christmas Photo

The give-me-a-big-smile-then-you-can-go-back-to-playing-with-your-friends Cheesy school photo. I love it! And we are all really enjoying this Christmas season with Peter it's such a magical time of year. Seeing it through His eyes makes me love this time of year even more!

Monday on the Mend

Olivia's had a cold over the weekend so we laid pretty low. Despite daily power naps with Mommy she had such a nasty cough that she wasn't able to sleep well and didn't get much sleep. Olivia woke up giggling VERY early Monday morning but then this happened on the way to school...at least she arrived at school well rested. Glad she's on the mend!

It's not Really Christmas Until…

You're fully decorated Christmas tree falls over.

My Sweet Girl

Olivia is home sick from school today. I'm loving the extra cuddle time with her! I'n so happy that I'm able to work from home today so I can be here with Olivia. Love my sweet girl.

Yellow stripe

Peter is the very proud recipient of a yellow stripe karate belt. So proud of my little man!

Mistletoes

Love that I came home to find some of Olivia's newest artwork on display on our fridge. Love that we were blessed with an amazing Nanny that enjoys doing art projects with Olivia. Love those sweet Mistletoes!

Chicago

I travel about once a month for work. I enjoy it and for the most part I am able to schedule my trips when I know Mike will be home to watch the kids. If I had to pick my favorite of all the places in the US I've traveled to over the last year.....Chicago wins, hands down. It is clean, I love the public transportation, I feel safe, great shopping, love the river, love the lake, , tons to do. I should mention I've been to Chicago in July and mid-November so it wasn't exactly winter. I'm not sure if feel the same way come February.