Halloween Fun

Yesterday, Caleb and I made Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes w/Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing for Heather. Heather has been working really hard in her French class and her teacher sent home a wonderful note. To make sure that I had the time to spend with Caleb so he could really help, I sent Zachary with Grandma to school where he got to play in the pumpkin patch. I think both boys had fun.The cupcakes
Zachary in the pumpkin patch

That afternoon, our friends Kamie, James & Emma came over and we decorated Halloween graveyards and coffins. Emma and Caleb are probably a little too young to enjoy it this year, but I think they will like it more next year. They both decorated graveyards and they did come out really cute.

Emma and her graveyard

James

Caleb's Graveyard, notice the blood and bones on the side

Caleb

The star of our project was Heather. She did an awesome job! She decorated a coffin and she spent a lot of time on it and it came out so well!

The beginning stages of her coffin

The finished coffin!

After our friends left, Zachary felt that he had been left out of the mess making fun, so he went into the bathroom and made his own mess for me to clean!

Our Trip to Louisiana

Traveling with 2 small children is going to be difficult; they have to be strapped in for safety and little kids love to wiggle. This is not a good combination for a pleasant drive. We pulled out of our driveway at 10:30 AM and pulled into my grandma's driveway at 7 PM. The GPS in our van says that this drive should take 5 1/2 hours. Though, to be fair, we did hit traffic and construction in Baton Rouge and that added an extra hour and 15 minutes. So, what should have taken 6 hours and 45 minutes ended up being an 8 1/2 hour drive. The additional hour and 45 minutes was due to the fact that Zachary hates being in the car and to expresses his displeasure by shrieking. Loudly. I'm not talking about crying or yelling -- this was a high pierced shriek. We stopped frequently to let him stretch his legs and run around, though we had difficulty finding McDonalds with playgrounds on the drive. I thought most McDonalds had playgrounds, but apparently not on the drive between Houston and Mandeville. We did stop at a dirty Burger King in Crowley where we had to wipe down the table, throw away a lot of trash and where they were out of several things on the menu. But, at least they had a playground. We also stopped at The Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, LA where the boys got to see Tony the tiger. The boys liked it, but Paul and I just felt sorry for the tiger. If you are interested in reading more about the tiger, they have a website http://www.tigertruckstop.com/

OK, it was a LONG drive, but we survived! I was thrilled to see my Grandma, whom I haven't seen since August 2008. She is a true southern belle, she goes out of her way to ensure everyone's comfort and convenience and even in her 80's, she still wears beautiful clothes and full make-up every day. The woman puts me to shame, on my Grandma's worst day she looks classier than me. She is the queen of hospitality, she finds out what all your favorite foods are before you visit, turns down your sheets before you go to bed, makes sure there are magazines for you to look at in your room -- she is so good I'm surprised there aren't mints on our pillows! She is amazing! She has mastered the art of southern small talk, if you feel like chatting she is happy to listen but she can carry the conversation all on her own too. She makes everyone who visits her home feel welcome, everyone is part of the family when they are there. If she spent all day preparing a huge meal and later found out you didn't like it, she would joyfully get up and make you something else. She wants you to eat and she wants you to be happy. She gracefully dealt with Zachary's attempts to destroy her home and even commented on how inquisitive and adorable he was while he was trying to pull her grandfather clock in pieces, trying to pull the pumpkin out of her fall display, jumping on her couch, climbing on her table, banging her decorative butter churn, etc. So many people would be annoyed at Zachary's antics and it would have been an awkward situation while I tried to keep Zachary from ruining her things, but she turned a potentially bad situation into a happy one. She just loved on little Zachary and found the positive side to his destructive tendencies! She bought the boys toys and even went back to the store to buy a second of one particularly popular toy so the boys wouldn't argue over it. What a lady!

My beautiful Grandma with the boys

Zachary trying to pull the pumpkins out of the fall arrangement and Caleb running across the room while my Grandma just chats about how adorable they are.

The boys standing right on top of my grandmother's tv. Zachary kept trying to hit her tv because he could reach it and thought it was fun.

Paul with the boys. Zachary was being held against his will, he had too much stuff to break to sit still for a picture!

We took the boys into New Orleans on Saturday and we went to the Audobon Aquarium and Central Grocery. The boys LOVED the Aquarium! When you first walk in there is a fountain that goes from the floor to the ceiling with what looks like silver fish scales. The boys thought that was really neat.
After the fountain, you walk through a tunnel where the fish swim right over your head! The boys were impressed with that. There was even a diver in there cleaning the tank and feeding the fish.

We also got to see a man feed the penguins, which was pretty cool. Aren't they cute?

There was also a kids area where we let Zachary out of the stroller and he and Caleb had a lot of fun running around.

We all got to see sharks in another huge aquarium.
The Aquarium is right on the Mississippi Rive and there were steam boats. Of course we had to get a picture!
We ate lunch at Central Grocery, the original mufalleta store! It was pretty good, but the sandwiches are already made and they have only have one kind. Don't ask for anything different. We also got some pralines at a candy store on Decatur Street which were very good.
Then we drove back to my Grandma's house where the boys had a ball playing in her massive backyard. She bought them some balls to play with and they enjoyed chasing them for a long time. Zachary decided he needed to move all the dirt from one of her pots to the leaves of her palm plant. He also decided he needed some dirt his hair. He got a bath as soon as we went inside.
Overall, we had a nice trip. I am so happy I got to see my grandma and that she enjoyed seeing the boys. Thankfully, our car trip home went much faster. We left at 8 AM and got home at 3 PM. There wasn't as much traffic and Zachary was getting a little more used to the car, so we only made 3 stops on the way back.

The Texans Game

Paul was given 4 tickets to the Texans game today and a parking pass It was Heather, Caleb and my first NFL game and Paul's first Texan game. I know just about nothing about football and spent most of the first quarter trying to figure out who had the ball. Of course, I was also looking at the cute baby girl in front of us whose hair stuck up and was wearing the cutest little pink outfit! We got there very early and had plenty of time to take pictures before everyone arrived.

The first half of the game was pretty interesting. Caleb and I got up several times and walked around, we cheered when everyone else cheered and he and I enjoyed looking around. However, right before halftime a man in the row in front of us, a few chairs down, had a medical emergency. Apparently he was not able to breathe. Someone told us that they gave him a shot with an epi-pen and a Benadryl shot so I assume he had some type of allergies, but those didn't help, so I don't know. One lady ran to get help and came back with no one. About half-way through half time, a police officer showed up and a manager of the stadium and they seemed to do nothing as well. A few minutes into the third quarter, some paramedics showed up and after a few minutes of talking, decided to carry him out. They didn't bring a stretcher and they carried the poor man head first down the stairs with various medics grabbing an arm or a leg. For someone who looked to be dying, it was a very dehumanizing way to carry him. His shirt was falling up since they carried him head first, his stomach was showing. It made me want to cry. Apparently they were working on him in front of the restaurants and several people came in saying they didn't think the man was going to make it. I have no idea what happened to the poor man, but I hope he is alive. I think Reliant responded horribly slowly and innappropriately to this medical emergency.

With the horrifying event above and the fact that the Texans played horribly and were losing, we left after the 3rd quarter.

Here are some pictures from before the game started

Heather and Caleb outside the stadium

Paul, Heather & Caleb before the game

Paul taking photos with his phone

Caleb's foam finger. He loved swinging this thing around and a few times I think he bumped people with it.

When the cheerleaders came out, Caleb asked for the binoculars! Crazy little boy

OCTOBER 2

It is hard for me to believe that I have a 4 year old little boy! I remember how anxious I was to meet him and how happy I was he came before 40 weeks because I could hardly stand all the waiting. As excited as I was, nothing could have prepared me for the intensity of the emotions that I experienced when I first held him. He was perfect!

Four years later, my little guy woke up at Grammy & Poppy's house on his birthday and they took to him to McDonalds. Then we picked him up and took him to Dewbery Farm for a morning of outdoor fun!

The fort at Dewberry Farm

This was a rope ladder on the fort that went up to the second story. I was a little nervous for Caleb to climb it, but he went all the way to the top and climbed over on to the landing on the second story! There were sandbags underneath it, but, luckily, he didn't need them.

We all started the corn maze together, but Caleb and Daddy quickly got tired of our slow pace and decided to run through instead. Grandma, Mr. Doug, Zachary and myself let Zachary take the lead. Not surprisingly, it took us at least twice as long as Caleb & Paul.

There were several of these "pillows" (what they called them at the farm) that seemed like a cross between a trampoline and a bouncy house. There were not any motors like you would have for a bouncy house, so I'm not sure how it worked. The boys had a wonderful time playing on them.

Caleb could not wait to shoot the big gun! It shot water bottles at these metal cut-outs and Caleb thought it was wonderful. He wasn't quite strong enough to do it alone, so Daddy helped.

A metal pony the boys sat on. They did offer pony rides, but they were $5 per child. We were perfectly happy for the boys to sit on the pretend pony!

This was Caleb's favorite thing he did all day -- he called it "the swing I held on to". It was like a zip line for kids. He did this over and over and over again. He is so light that a few times got stuck in the center and Paul had to give him a push to get him going again.

Caleb did not really like the rope swing, but it was pretty crowded over there.

Grandma pushing Zachary on the pipe swings.

When we left Dewberry Farm, we were all hungry and wanted to eat at Royer's Round Top Cafe. Paul had heard that they have great food and amazing pies. So, we drove out there and the restaurant was closed for antique week! :( We were not happy. We walked around trying to find somewhere to eat and finally had some pizza at a little pub with a nice outdoor seating area where a man was playing the saxophone. The pizza was only OK, but we were starving! Both boys really enjoyed eating outside and the live music.

Royer's Cafe was selling slices of their pies in front of their restaurant, so after we walked around for a little while, we did at least get to have a slice of pie. The chocolate chip pie was really good, but I suspect it would have been better if it hadn't been sitting out in the sun all day. I think the boys really enjoyed the day, we spent most of it outside and they are always happier outside!