Stephen's new room

After our travels, we decided to make the switch. So Stephen is now in his big boy room complete with his sports theme crib set (from Lito and Lita), leaving the nursery awaiting baby sister's arrival.

My sister and her sister-in-law made this for Stephen. I will probably eventually hang it on the wall, but am waiting to make sure I like the furniture arrangement first. :)

Turkey for Thanksgiving?

Not in Cajun country! We went to visit Pawpaw and Manah's house for Thanksgiving. You know you are in Cajun country when you go to Super W on Thanksgiving morning and instead of Stove Top Stuffing and canned yams, there is a huge display of Douget's Roux mix and rice! So we enjoyed some yummy seafood gumbo, chicken and sausage gumbo, cajun meatballs, and of course plenty of pie!

 Raiding Manah's suprise bags after our arrival

Yay! Basketball!

Allia really enjoyed shooting hoops

A little help from cousin Jake

"Slam dunk"

Tree swing and climbing

 

Tugboat Island...wild ride in the tire swing

Little guy wore himself out at the park! Good thing we ate a picnic lunch because he was zonked!

And a very special treat...a trip to Larry's French Market for dinner. Allia and Mariana both had Alligator and Frog legs (although after a few tastes, Mariana willingly went back to chicken tenders). Just for the record, I tried a few bites too, but weird meats are really not my thing. ;) Austin, however, thoroughly enjoyed the buffet!

Gloria stuck with the chicken!

Um, am I supposed to eat that?

Bedtime story with Daddy

Feeding the ducks at a different park. There were even some ducklings!

And nothing like some good old family soccer!

Gloria as Goalie. She was so cute just standing there blocking the goal!

So much fun! They cried when it was time to go home!

Sisterly Love

We went to the library the other day, and Mariana left something inside. I told her to go back and get it (I was parked right in front) while I was buckling the other two in. Gloria pleaded desperately with me not to leave Mariana there. I told her, "I love Mariana. I wouldn't leave her at the library."
She responded, "I love her too! And I want to play with her when we get home!" So sweet. :)

Happy Baptism Day

to me. :) I made this cake yesterday, and Stephen kept climbing up and pointing saying, "Mmmm, Chochate cake."

Our world stops...

for the garbage truck. Really. And yesterday it was a welcome interruption. Stephen had been screaming and stomping around for about 20 minutes, and I was trying to figure out how to defang him while folding some laundry. Worked great! Thanks, garbage truck (aka "barbage truck")!

It is a special treat when they do the "crusher" which happened twice on our street this time!

Baby shower

We had a last minute baby shower yesterday afternoon for a friend who is due any day now. It was fun, children and all! My girls were SO excited to be invited to a baby shower. Mariana even dressed in her fancy new rosette dress she received from Pawpaw and Manah (her godparents) for her baptism day!

This had to be the fastest gift opening ever. One of the children asked if they could help, and of course Mrs. N graciously agreed. Before we knew it everyone had taken all the gifts out of the gift bags and piled them in her lap! Too funny!

Here she is going through everything after the onslaught!

What's your name?

We have been working on Stephen to answer that question. He was sooo close and even did it once (instead of just repeating "name" back to us). Then he watched the guardian angel video with the girls and decided to make a joke. Now when we ask him, he answers "nummy tummy" which is from the video. He received such laughter the first time he did this that now it is all he will say! Then he gives this coy little grin...

But we are making some progress. If you ask him, "Where is Stephen?" He will point to himself and say, "Sehnen."

Happy Baptism Day Mariana!

We made some cookie sandwiches (icing in the middle) and since we are having unseasonably warm weather, the girls talked Austin into setting up the big jumper. They are all having a lot of fun!

Stephen kept saying, "Boing, boing." So cute! We are so thankful for our sweet Mariana and the gift of her baptism. Her RE teacher said she was eagerly answering lots of questions in class this morning. Good girl!

Soccer finale

Allia had her end of season party last night to officially wrap up our soccer season. Here are the girls with their trophies and the team photo of Mariana I have been waiting for.

 

What are they doing?

Playing Angry Birds of course. Every year I loathe the switch to Standard Time. I am an outside kind of girl and always have been (ask my parents...I used to beg to eat dinner outside as a child!). I resent being forced indoors before 6pm. But I guess it does promote family togetherness. Sort of.

Lolo Lookalike

The boy likes hats and flashlights and when armed with both looks strikingly like his great grandfather!
 

Last Soccer Saturday!

I wish I could have seen both of their last games (I will have to hope somebody posts some photos on Mariana's team website), but we had one at 10:15 and one at 10:30. So I was at Allia's game. They played a great, tough game and came out on top 4-3. Allia played great defense as goalie and back defense, her two best positions. They actually lost to the same team last week, so the coach had them all playing their best positions today, and it worked! We will miss soccer but are looking forward to a more relaxed family schedule!!!

Playing Goalie

Allia and her buddy, Peyton