Mardi Gras 2009

Brady's first Mardi Gras and Kennedy's second was a lot of fun. We started with the 1st birthday party for Queen Audrey and King Hank and the mini-parade. Each family was asked to bring a kid-sized float for a contest and if you know me, then you know I take these challenges seriously.

We were the Krewe of LSU with my kids and the float decked out in purple and gold. Kennedy and Brady both wore LSU jerseys and the entire group paraded around Emily's street on the corner of Kings and Albany. (Thank you Laura Weego for letting us borrow your wagon!) People who were lined up to see the Krewe of Gemini parade that evening thoroughly enjoyed our little parade. And you'll be happy to know - we won THIRD place for our float! There were probably 10 floats there, so I felt pretty good for my ... uh, I mean our ... win.

Brady, sporting his cute little bottom teeth, wasn't sure what to make of all this parade business. He liked people watching, but mostly wanted to be held. I did, however, get a good arm workout out of the deal. Would you believe that he slept through the entire parade? We were all standing about 10 feet away from the floats and he just snoozed away wrapped up in a blanket. He was so tired from all the action.

We were able to get a quick family picture in. The kids are smiling and laughing at Eric who is making funny faces off to the side.

And just like last year, Kennedy managed to get more beads than she could carry. After just a few minutes of walking around with these beads on, she looked at me with the saddest most defeated face and said, "Mommy, could you please take these off?"

We were all so tired on Sunday that we didn't make it to the Krewe of Highland parade. The kids slept right through it. But it was just as well because I enjoyed a quiet afternoon with the kids. Happy Mardi Gras everyone!

Childhood memories of reading

There is a blog I follow called the One Minute Writer. Being someone with a Journalism degree, who writes a lot for a living, blogs, journals, etc.... I like to see what others are writing about. So I check this blog often. I don't always take "one minute" to write about the subject of the day, but today I saw a topic that got me thinking.

"Write about a childhood memory related to reading."

I love books. I don't get to read as much as I'd like to, but I absolutely LOVE the way books smell... they way they look on a bookshelf. I refuse to turn down the corners of the pages because I like to keep my books in pristine condition. I think Chris may love books more than I do. I think he averages two books a month. He reads very fast.

But I don't have a lot of childhood memories related to reading. I do remember being in high school reading "She's Come Undone" on my bed and crying through the last several chapters. I remember being forced to read literature and writing book reports. Right now, I'm on the third book of the Twilight series. But I don't remember being very young and reading with my parents. It may have happened, but I just have a terrible memory.

In our house, story time is very important. Kennedy loves books as much as Chris and I do. We read a story every night before bedtime. That's part of our routine. When Brady gets older, no doubt we'll ALL pile in the bed together and read stories before bed.

I hope it will be one of their favorite memories.

Mardi Gras Madness

This will be one of several posts over the next few days about Mardi Gras madness! Kennedy is celebrating at school today with a mini-parade; then at Queen Audrey and King Hank's birthday party tomorrow with a kids parade featuring decorated wagons and bikes; then that evening with the Krewe of Gemini parade that rolls through Shreveport; and then Sunday with the Krewe of Highland parade that is VERY kid friendly. We have never been to the Highland parade before and we will be riding in it to promote the St. Patrick's Day parade next month!

We Louisiana folks LOVE parades!

Here is Kennedy's mini-float for her school parade today. She is the Krewe of Princesses! have I mentioned that I LOVE arts and craft projects?

The idea behind their school "parade" is that each child was asked to decorate a box, fill it with goodies and they'll walk through the school throwing their prizes.

More to come throughout the weekend!

The way I dress

So apparently I dress like someone who is in her late 30s or early 40s. I was told this weekend, by a kind-hearted person who said it in the nicest way possible, that the jacket I was wearing made me look a lot older than I was. So since I'm 31, my question is - exactly what SHOULD I wear? At work, I need to wear jackets a lot because I'm around donors and I represent the campus. When I get home, I wear old t-shirts and shorts because with an 8-month old who spits up a lot, anything I wear will get dirty in about 5 minutes.

So what is a girl to do?

I'm am now officially super self conscious about everything in my closet.

8 months and 84 years

The past 8 months have flown by. I haven't always felt the time was flying, like when Chris and I were trying to get him to "latch" in the early weeks... or when "B" would cry for no reason... or when we got up for the fourth or fifth time in the middle of the night. But now, he's sitting up and eating baby food. He's grabbing toys and laughing at his "sissy" (as we call big sis Kennedy). He's ticklish and an overall happy baby.

When Kennedy was about this age, we sat her outside on the lawn with Roscoe, our resident elderly dog, and took this exact same picture. My sweet dog has been with me since 1997, which for those of you counting - is longer than I have been with Chris. He will be 84 years old this spring and you can tell he's slowing down. His arthritis makes it hard for him to get around. His hips are stiff. His ear infections are hard to keep clear. But Roscoe has been with me through some pretty tough times in my life and I consider him my first child! Yes, he has his quarks like refusing to go inside his dog house we built for him. But he's my 84-year-old baby, just like my 4-year-old baby girl and my 8-month-old baby boy.

Kennedy, the artist...

Kennedy has become quite the little artist. For 4 years old, I think she does a great job of writing her name, drawing pictures of our family and coloring in her coloring books. This weekend, she decided to draw her daddy and baby brother. We aren't sure what daddy is holding, but take note of the rather large belly button. And, of course, Brady would be the little pea pod shaped image next to daddy. He's wrapped in a blue blanket.

The family wouldn't be complete without Roscoe, our 12 year old dog (84 in dog years). It's a huge deal for her to think of him because she is terrified of him and clings to my leg every time he slowly walks near her. He would never be able to catch her, but being nose-to-nose with an animal that's your height is probably pretty scary.

Being a Phi Mu

Being a Phi Mu as an alumna is unbelievably different than being a Phi Mu as a collegiate. There are the obvious differences. In college, I was interested in the parties, collecting party shirts, fraternity guys, and staying out as late as possible. Now, as a member of an alumnae group, I am more involved in the philanthropy and the sisterhood of Phi Mu. I was the president of the alumnae chapter in Dallas and now, I am advisor of the collegiate chapter at LSUS. It's been an amazing experience for the past two years and I have truly come to love these girls as my little sisters. I enjoy giving them advice and going to Leadership Conference with the Executive Committee. Last year, we went to Houston (I was VERY pregnant) and this past weekend, we went to Memphis.

I may be ten years older than these ladies, but I really am just a 20-year-old at heart! I truly cherish these young women.