Picking Our Christmas Tree 2011

.  This year we had absolutely no time to devote to driving to a Christmas Tree Farm and picking out the best tree. So, we did the next best thing and took an hour to go to the local nursery to pick a tree. We found a beautiful one that fit all our trimmings nicely

Adam pushed our decorating timeline this year.  He would not leave us alone until all the decorations were done.  The only thing we have left is half of the outside lights because of rain delays.  He is in charge of the Advent Calendars and is very interested in where our elf, Marley, is every morning.  He goes and apologizes to Marley when he hurts Caleb.  I guess he's covering all the bases for staying on the Nice List.  Caleb is singing Jingle Bells in his own way and loves to point out Christmas lights on people's houses at night.  They are both loving the Christmas movies that are playing right now, especially Rudolph and Mickey Mouse Christmas. 

Caleb Turns 2!!

Caleb is growing up so fast!!  Where did the last 2 years go???  He has blossomed into this talkative, funny, stubborn, and energy-filled little boy.   So, of course he deserved 2 parties!  We had a small celebration on the actual day and then another small one when his cousin, who turned 1 a few days later, go into town. 

Party #1

Thanks Aunt Torie!!  I have a turtle on my back!

My New Scooter!!  How does this work???

Thanks Aunt Teresa!

Party #2!! 

Hanging With Friends

It's a good thing our good friends here have twins 2 weeks older than Adam and they are all best friends too.  Makes for fun times.   Here they are having a popcorn and candy picnic.

Adam's Projects

Adam has been enjoying his preschool this year and I wanted to document some of the projects he's worked on.

Adam got to take home the class' Curious George and document what they did together that weekend...we watched LSU Football!!  #1

Every kid in the school had to decorate their paper turkey.  Adam chose to make him a Biker Turkey.  He was a hit with all the teachers!!

Camping Again

Found another great camping spot, Bogue Chitto State Park....with a great waterslide.  Our favorite thing to do is hang out together! 

Napping, yeah right

Over and over and over and over....

Happy Halloween 2011

We woke up and got ready for school Halloween morning, but had to celebrate with some scary pancakes. 

Ghosts and Pumpkins!!

That evening, we headed over to a friends house for hot dogs and treats before trick-or-treating with a huge group of friends.  The boys had a blast!   Caleb was very independent and did not want help carrying his bag even though it was dragging the ground.  Adam was always 3 houses ahead of us and we were very glad his costume was bright yellow so we could see him in the dark! 

The Incredible Hulk and Wolverine

Just some of the kids we treated with

"They Give You CANDY??!!"

Mmmmmmm

Adam organized his by how many he had of each kind

The next morning Chris found both of them on the counter picking at their candy buckets.  Don't have any idea how they both got up there.  

Preschool Halloween Party

Today was Adam's first class party, the Fall Fest.  I got to help out b/c Caleb went to stay with Mema and Pop for a few days.  It was so cute to see all the kids in their costumes. 

The pirate, Buzz Lightyear, and Wolverine

Treats!!

Starting off with a pumpkin story

Sorting bats and spiders by color

Ring Toss

Dancing!!

LSU Halloween BOO-zar

Every year, the Athletic Dept. at LSU puts on this event for kids and we'd never heard of it until this year.  Had to try it out. We went to get some student-athlete autographs and to trick-or-treat this week.   Adam took some friends to make it even more fun.  Turns out it was very crowded and long lines, but the kids had fun anyway.

Adam and his friend B posing with Mike The Tiger as Batman.  Crime fighters!!!

Sorry it's blurry.   Adam was racing a track and field girl. 

Balance Beaming with a gymnastics team member

Flirting a little.  Excuse B, he had to go to the bathroom all night but refused. 

Boys And Dirt

The last week or so, the boys have discovered the dirt corner of the backyard.  I don't know what all they're creating back there, but it captivates them for long periods of time.  Afterward they look like this...

That's when I literally use the hose before I let them in the house.  I love that they are doing so much more together and are becoming good friends.   It's a nice change of pace from the fighting they've been doing.

A Walk To Remember

We participated in the Baton Rouge Alzheimer's Association's "A Walk/Run to Remember."   Clarification:  The Walk portion.   We did the 1 mile fun walk and raised a little money to donate to this important and family changing disease.  I was going to do it by myself with the boys because Chris had  a prior engagement, but he and his mom were able to do it with us, thank goodness.  We weren't last, but  Adam did take two Port-A-Potty breaks and we stopped at all the water tables.  Caleb only wanted to walk on the yellow lines of the road or jump off all the curbs we passed.  It was interesting and we felt great doing it together. 

Pre-playing at the children's area



Starting Off

The boys did a great job walking a whole mile!! 

Pumpkin Picking

Adam's preschool puts out a pumpkin patch every year for the public to choose pumpkins.  They  also organize the pumpkin flats into rows and designate each row for a different charity.  A portion of your pumpkin cost is put toward the charity row your pumpkin was on.  Neat.  The boys and I had a great time choosing their two pumpkins.  We saw so many different varieties.  Adam only wanted a prize winning gigantic one that would cost $40.  We had to compromise.  Caleb spent the whole time trying to see what size pumpkin he could lift.

Adam's Choice

Caleb's pick doubles as new seat

Camping In the Swamp

We met my family for a weekend of camping and fun a few weeks ago.  Having babysitters gave Chris and I a little bit of time to do some of our neglected hobbies, mountain biking and kayaking.  We rode about 6 miles on the trails of Chicco State Park and only ran into 2 snakes, only one was poisonous.  Chris kicked the other one off the pier so we could ride on by.  I was earnestly making my way up the hill in the opposite direction.  I've run over snakes before on my bike and it's not something I like to push my luck with.  The next morning, we took the kayaks down through the swampy waters around the campground.  I have never experienced anything like this water.  I've been in some yucky water before, but this wasn't yucky, sort-of.  It was so thick with vegetation just under the surface that I freaked several times.  Normally, if you're paddling and you hit something underwater, it's a fish or something.  Here, your paddle hit something on every stroke. Also, the cypress trees were so close together that I started to get claustrophobic  weaving between them.  All I could do was imagine what was just under the surface of the green algae.  This was THE exercise in self-control and not losing it.  Chris had no problems of course.  I made it though and by the time we headed back I was a lot more comfortable and could actually enjoy the beauty and quiet of this water.

Checking things out 

We would have gotten lost in this swamp if we didn't track our route on the GPS we brought with us

Looking for gators from the pier

Beautiful but claustrophobic

Hundreds of wood ducks swimming and flying around us. 

Chris Turns 33

We had another fantastic, new to us dinner for Chris' 33 birthday.  We have a new book by a chef we like from TV,  Rick Bayless. He's an authentic Mexican inspired chef so I used all his recipes for the menu.   I started by making homemade margaritas.  It took a sink-load of limes! I made a pitcher full that was supposed to serve 12 people 6oz. drinks.  Chris and I drank more than half of the picture ourselves.  This recipe was amazing and is now our new favorite drink. 

I then made a Mango Guacamole with chips.  The main course was Grill-Braised Short Ribs with White Beans, Shiitake Mushrooms, and Beer.  This pot sat on the grill and slow smoked for a few hours.  It was delicious!!

First, grilling the short ribs over a hot fire

Simmering and smoking on the grill

The Ribs are served without the liquid on a bed of the beans, mushrooms, onions, and peppers.  Check out the margaritas in our wine glasses.  I didn't have martini glasses so we improvised. 

The Impossible Cake aka Choco-Flan.  Didn't come out pretty like the picture, but it ate good.

Opening presents.  The boys decorated their own wrapping paper.