One House, Two House, My House, Your House

The title of my post sounds like it should be a Dr. Seuss book. Wasn't there a book title about "red house, blue house?" Well I do feel like I've been playing a cat and mouse game with homes.

The LaPierre family is celebrating ONE YEAR (can you believe it's been that long?) in our awesome home in Bossier City. I absolutely love our home. I couldn't be happier with where we live, our neighborhood, our neighbors (best friends, included). Living there is everything I'd hoped it would be. Call me June Cleaver, but I wanted sidewalks and a street full of kids playing... neighbors who come outside and visit while the kids ride bikes in the street... block parties... a nearby top-notch elementary school... you get the picture.

The best part of our house... is that I'm back home. I missed Louisiana. There are some strange and crazy things about this state, but I love it. Where else can you get a daiquiri at a drive thru window?

Now, to the "two house" part of this post. We are SO CLOSE to closing on our house in Plano. The contract expires this Friday. According to our realtor, they are working fast and furious to get all the paperwork ready. I have temporary power of attorney for Chris because he is in Vegas all week, so there SHOULD be nothing stopping us. At that point, we will be the proud owners of ONE house!

Seriously, after nearly three years of living here - it's about time we got rid of that place. I say that with bitterness in my tone.. yes, yes I know it's the house that Chris and I made home for five years. I also know it's the house we brought our daughter home to. But truly - it's cost us so much time and money... so it's time for a clean break.

Here's hoping!!

Rodeo Day

Today is Rodeo Day for kindergardeners at Legacy Elementary! Yeeeee Haaaaaaw!

Greetings to our MAINE family!!

I received the sweetest e-mail from Chris' aunt, Aunt Lo, this weekend. She's also Chris' Godmother and loves him so much. Here is an excerpt:

Hi Jen, I've been wanting to touch base with you re your 'Blog'. What a treasure! What a gift and a blessing this historical blog will be for your kids when they are grown. I wish I could have done something like that for Joshua and Benjamin. But, Steve and I do know that they appreciate whatever we could and did do for them. As parents we will always be there for our children and future grandchildren. That is what makes all of our lives so rich and joyful. I wish we lived closer so we could visit your beautiful family, but I feel like we are getting to know Kennedy and Brady through your 'Gem' of a Blog! You and Chris are so very busy but from what I can see you try to maintain a balance with family, work, and fun. I particularly love seeing your sincere gratitude for all your many blessings! Each moment that we can all be aware and appreciate life and its many gifts, makes everyone's lives worth living.

Aunt Lo is such a sweet and gentle woman and we miss seeing her and all the LaPierre family members in Maine. We are hoping to get up there for Christmas, but the delayed closing on our house in Plano has put everything on hold. Our money has been extremely tight, but we are still trying.

Hang in there LaPierres!! We'll be there soon!!

OCD

I have a little OCD. You know, obsessive compulsive disorder? It would probably be a lot worse if I had more time to organize, straighten, clean, etc. I'm just so dang busy that I don't have much time to nurture my obsessive behavior. BUT, when I do have some free time - I let it run it's course!

For example, I do not like it when my family just throws things in the fridge. I like all the cokes out of the case, all the beer out of the 6- or 12-pack, all the jello or pudding out of the containers and neatly placed in the fridge in rows. So you say that's a little extreme, right? But when someone is in a hurry to pack Kennedy's lunch, it's super easy to grab a juice box without having to wrestle with the plastic packaging... or to grab a pudding cup without having to pull it out of the carton.

You say I'm crazy. I say I'm efficient.

Now, if I could just get my husband to jump on my bandwagon and organize his side of the closet.......

Kennedy a biter? Really?? Yes....

Hello, my name is Jennifer LaPierre.

I'm not an alcoholic.

I'm not a drug addict.

But I'm the mother of a biter.

Okay, so I'm making light of the situation because I am in SHOCK that Kennedy (yes, Kennedy... NOT Brady!) has bitten two kids in her class! Two weeks ago, she bit a little girl because she was "doing something I didn't like." Uh, really? People do things ALL the time that I don't like. Maybe I should try biting them?

Yesterday, she bit a little boy on the finger for no reason! She just reached for his hand, pulled it to her mouth.. and CHOMP. Seriously? First of all, that's gross. With all the germs on little boys hands, YUCK. Second of all, he didn't even deserve it! He was minding his own business when out of the blue, my reckless child takes a bite out of his hand.

So she knew she was going to be in trouble because last night! My mom picked her and Brady up from daycare because I have class on Monday nights. She asked to play outside and "Nina" answered "no" because she was in trouble for biting her classmate. At that point, let the sucking up begin!! She didn't eat her french fries because she told Nina she was saving them for me. Chick-fil-A french fries are her favorite! She eats them before she eats her chicken, so she was trying really hard! Then, rather than asking to stay up and wait on me to get home, she just went to bed. She was scared. She should be! I was hopping mad!

So in addition to a pop on the bottom this morning, she will have no TV and no playing outside all week. I've got to nip this in the bud now.


Now, let's just hope Brady doesn't start this!!

Sneak peek

A special delivery was made last night from the UPS man.... our Halloween costumes! Against Chris' will, I am coordinating the kids' costumes this year. Brady will get to the age (I'm sure VERY soon, where I won't be able to decide for him).

So I let Kennedy pick what she wanted to be... She chose Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Lucky for me, they had a toddler Tin Man! When we tried the costumes on last night, it was Brady's bed time... so he wasn't too happy. And he REFUSED to put on the oil can hat!

So, here is a Halloween sneak peek! We'll get trick or treat pictures later this month!

Learning to Read

Kindergarten suits Kennedy well. As her teacher tells me, "Kids this age are like sponges!" They take in everything and enjoy school (most of the time).

One night this week, Kennedy brought home a small book that Mrs. Ward had given her. Each of the kids received one... it was one of those learning-to-read small books with basic three-letter words in it.

We all crawled into her bed and she read the entire book to us! She sounded out the words, smiled from ear to ear, and definitely understood what she was reading because she answered the "reading comprehension" questions at the end.

I am so proud of her! She is learning fast! Before I know it, she'll be reading Judy Blume books ... oh wait, that was my generation.

I'm sure she will share the love of books that Chris and I have.