a few things....

MaMa is doing well - they moved her to the rehabilitation facility (I just can't call it "rehab" for my grandmother) - not sure how long she'll have to stay there. But we'll get to see her this weekend!

Check this out - my poor uncle had a tree crunch his house during Gustav and his insurance company (Allstate) won't pay. I mean, his house is totally unliveable, and they don't want make it right. Here's a clip of him being interviewed by the local news in BR.
http://www.nbc33tv.com/news/local/36475544.html
He's a great guy, and it totally sucks that something like that happened to him.

Jon's on his way back from South Dakota - sounds like he had fun, but I don't believe it's been an easy trip home. Winter weather will do that.

The girls' last day of school was today. They had great times at their "holiday" parties, and are looking forward to going to LA for a few days. We are leaving in the morning (I hope at least before noon....we still have to pack!). Hopefully I'll finish my gift wrapping tonight. I'm a little tired from those "holiday" parties at school today.

I'll post pics when we get back from Christmasing in BR. In the meantime, hope yours is Merry!

prayer request

My sweet, precious little grandmother (my mom's mom - Dorothy) fell and broke her hip. They did a hip replacement on Saturday, and she's in the hospital for the rest of the week, I think, and then she'll go to a rehab facility. Please keep her in your prayers.

Christmas card picture fun

You wouldn't believe what goes into getting one pretty picture of the crazies to send out for the yearly Christmas card pic...it's lots of fun, for me especially! Here's a little taste of what I get to deal with....

Holiday Dance

The girls had their Christmas dance at ballet this week. They were beautiful!

Snow Envy

We were very excited about our snow, until we received pictures from Stacey and Kriste of the snow in Baton Rouge....now we are just jealous.

SNEAUX!!!!!

We actually had snow here in Texas. It was so exciting - the girls were out late in their pjs and bare feet on the trampoline, which was the only place it really stuck. They had so much fun, and it really made it feel like Christmas time.

Many more Nutcracker pics

My friend Tricia took a ton of pictures during The Nutcracker performance - almost second by second of me and Megan on stage! check out the link, and click "play slideshow", sit back and enjoy! haha http://photos.walmart.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=41062812/a=5786203_12306882/t_=5786203
Megan is also an angel, and there are pics of her during that part of the show as well. (which I am so thankful for because I didn't get one picture of her in that costume!)

Thanks Tricia - you are the BEST!!!!!

The Nutcracker 2008

So, The Nutcracker ballet was this weekend. Megan and I had so much fun - I was much more nervous than Megan, she's been on the stage so much, it's not a big deal to her. We had three performances, and I think we did better as each one went by. Megan danced so much, she busted thru her shoes! She was a party girl (in the Military family) in the party scene, and I was the mother of the Spanish family in the party scene. It wore me out, I'm both a little glad it's over, but also a little sad it's over...I do love The Nutcracker (and we all know the real reason - men in tights!!!). So, Megan's eager for April to get here so she can audition for next year's ballet, and Cassidy will be able to audition in April as well.

a new addition

You know, my life just isn't crazy enough, so guess what? We got another dog! His name is Dan, and he is the sweetest thing. He's 2 years old, and we think is a boxer/rhodesian ridgeback mix. He has the best temperment, and the girls are just in heaven - they LOVE him! Jon thinks he's pretty cool too. He and Maksim are getting on just fine, although he really wants to play rough, and Maks is having none of it. The funniest thing ever is me walking the two of them together. Good times.

He thinks he's a little lap dog, he does love to lounge on the sofa (so he fits in perfectly with me and Maks!). But he does not like to have his picture taken - the flash was freaking him out. Poor dog - he didn't know he was going to have to live with a scrapbooker!

cute cousins

The girls got to spend the night with their Arkansas cousins, and I do believe the 4 of them had the best. time. ever. They hadn't been face to face in 2 years, but you would never have known it. They were like peas and carrots. When Aunt Chicken brought the girls back to BR, we introduced Annie and Molly to Roman's! Annie did like the chicken swarma, and I was glad she tried it, with the rice (Megan got her's with fries). Molly and Cassidy rocked their cheese pizzas. And all of this really depressed me because we just don't get to see them enough. Hopefully, we'll be able to squeeze in a trip to Arkansas this summer... (but, will they let us across the state line with us bleeding purple and gold all over the place? hmmm.... Geaux Tigers!)

Thankful...

We spent a week in Louisiana for Thanksgiving. A few days at my parents' house - my dad got my mom a nickel slot machine for their anniversary, and the girls were loving it (Jon and I put a nickel or two in it as well!). But fear not federal investigators, no winnings were kept, it was all strictly for fun. A few days with Kriste and Randy - we love bringing some of our special kind of crazy to mix in with their crazy. It makes for lots of laughs and lots of fun. I was able to spend a day running the roads with Stacey - it was nice just to hang out with her. We spent Thanksgiving Day with Jon's mom's family - we got to see Chicken and the girls!! And oh my gosh, the food was so good. I'm still full from all the stuff I ate. (and of course, from all the Lebanese food I stuffed myself with while in BR) We got in Saturday, and I can't wait till we go back for Christmas! That's the only thing I don't love about Texas - our family is way over there.

Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day. I have such strong feelings about this holiday, that I really didn't appreciate until I was an adult. I don't think you truly start to really understand until then what the men and women who serve our country, during war and peace, do...what it takes to keep us free. So - thanks to everyone who has served, but especially....my PaPa who was in the army during WWII, my daddy who was in the Navy during Vietnam, my brother-in-law Josh who is a Marine serving in Iraq, my brother-in-law Jason who is in the Navy on his way back from the Persian Gulf, my friend Jesse who has been in the Army since high school, and my friend Larry who was in the Navy, a SeaBee during Desert Storm. I am so, so proud of them. And to any of you or your family that has served - it's appreciated more than you know. Saying "thank you" just doesn't seem enough.

party girls

We had Megan and Brittnee dress up in their Nutcracker costumes so Natalie and I could do an ad for the program, so here's a little sneak peek at how pretty they are.

bonfire

Here are some pics from the Octoberfest Bonfire a few weeks ago at Cindy's parents' house. We LOVE going out to Mr. Whitey's place - it's so peaceful and relaxing, and you know my husband, being the pyromaniac he is, is all about burning stuff... I would get terrible "bonfire hangover" the next day after bonfires...the smoke would get to me I guess, so I decided to try out a dust mask. It worked wonders, even though it makes me look like a crazy person. The kids thought it was a pretty interesting thing to do, so they tried it out as well. I think I can make anything look fun, I guess! haha Karen (Jason's girlfriend) spent the weekend with us, so I was glad she got to have some bonfire fun as well. She went to mass with us the next morning - Cassidy is in the choir, and they were singing that morning. Chloe, her cute little puppy, spent the night as well, she and Maks had a big time together.

Happy Halloween!

We went trick or treating with our friends from Otter Pond after a fun filled block party. Sheparding 20 kids in the dark on the trails is something everyone should have to do at least once. Make sure your flashlight's batteries are working (mine wasn't). The girls looked just darling, and loved their costumes. Cassidy was the darling-est little devil, and Megan was a very cool witchy-witch. At one of the houses, a wookie jumped out at Cassidy and Mela and scared them to pieces. So I made them pose for a pic with him...I think he felt bad because they went screaming, and he took off his mask and made them come back. After getting more candy than any of us can consume and not go into complete sugar-shock, we went back to the cul-de-sac for a little apple bobbing. Megan rocks at this, and Cassidy tried really hard and finally got one of those slippery suckers. A very fun evening. The only thing that would have made it better was if Jon would have been there, but he's having fun at the deer camp. Hope you got all treats and no tricks!

Pumpkin Math

Who says Halloween can't be educational too? Not us. 2nd graders get to do some pumpkin math, which involves estimating some things about the pumpkins and then getting the facts on it. Our pumpkin had over 400 pumpkin seeds in it, and weighed 11.8 lbs. The kids got to scrape all the goo out...some kids didn't love this as much as others did.

Character Parade

Friday was the last day of Red Ribbon Week, and it's the day of the Character Parade. The kids dress up like characters in books. Cassidy was Bubbles from the Powerpuff Girls. Megan was a witch, and she had a Katie Kazoo book called Witch Switch or something like that. It's a fun day - even the staff dresses up. Sometimes parents do too. Much to all of my friends' disappointment, I didn't embarass my children this year and dress up. There's always next year though...

At lunch, I got to be room mom and deliver halloween treats to both of the girls's classes. So here are some pics with their friends.