Our Little Girls

2011 Year in Review

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 07:59:00 +0000

Whew! I can't believe that another year has gone by already! We were having so much fun in 2011 that we hardly noticed those calendar pages flipping by. We started off the year camping out with Mawmaw and Pawpaw. Stella was our camp cook...

And Cille was just along for the ride...

In February we spread the love with homemade Valentines...

In March all our wishes came true at Walt Disneyworld!

We also celebrated Stella's 3rd birthday with a princess extravaganza in our backyard...

In April we hit the beach...

And it was so much fun that we decided to do it again in May...

In June Cille celebrated the big 1...

We all tried to stay cool in that South Louisiana heat...

In July we took in the sites of New York City...

In August we got behind our team...

In September we had a blast at the zoo...

...and completely wore ourselves out...

In October we got 3 new cousins...

in 2 days!

We also made time to visit the Pumpkin Patch...

And dress up for Trick-or-Treating...

In November we trotted with the turkeys...

Some of them were a little strange...

In December we celebrated the birth of our savior!

We made some wonderful memories in 2011. Every year with these sweet girls just gets better and better!

Christmas Day

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 04:45:00 +0000

When we arrived at Mawmaw Shirley's there were even more baby boy cousins...

Cille had to check out these new kids...

Reid's first Christmas wore him out...

Cheese with Aunt Lacie...

These girls like their daddy a little bit...

Cille and Aunt Lacie were telling each other "Shhh" so they wouldn't disturb the babies...

Daddy got to hold Tucker for the first time...

Until Cille noticed...

And moved in closer...

And pushed that boy out of her seat...

I got a turn later!

Cille tried to explain to Aunt Alaina how to operate a LeapPad...

Chad and Alaina had very appropriate gifts for the boys...

Two pretty girls...

Cille was excited about opening more presents...

Check out that robe!

Cille was even kind enough to let Mawmaw taste her thumb...

The girls loved all their gifts, but sometimes Cille was more interested in Stella's gift and Stella was more interested in Cille's...

That's when we traded...

The spectators enjoyed all the hubbub...

Dr. Cille, reporting for duty...

We had a marvelous Christmas with our family and are so thankful for our greatest gift- our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Christmas Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 04:45:00 +0000

On Christmas Eve night we had our traditional meal of turkey gumbo and potato salad, along with birthday cake and pie for baby Jesus. We followed that up with our grandparent slumber party and this was the scene in our living room on Christmas morning...

If the tree decorations look a little sparse, it is because we really bit off more than we could chew with that huge tree. Our tree stand was not big enough to hold it up, and we actually used guide wires to support it for most of the month until Kirk was cool enough to modify one of their stands for us to use. We didn't get around to decorating the tree until the night before Christmas, so we just slapped some lights and candy canes on it and called it good.

When we finally woke up following our late night, Stella sprinted into the living room, ready for action...

Cille wasn't far behind...

...but headed straight for Grandma Tonie instead of the presents...
Grandma was kind enough to point out the loot...

Here's Stella opening her myrrh gift: a pink sleeping bag...

Aunt Sarah really liked Tripp's new outfit but Cille didn't have time to appreciate it...

When the sleeping bags were finally opened...

...it was time to try them out...

Tripp took his first Christmas in stride, enjoying just watching those crazy girls open things...

Cille was excited about her frankincense gift from Mawmaw and Pawpaw...

Stella loved her RV and boat from Grandpa Crane...

She liked it so much she wanted to pose with it...

Tripp's first Christmas!

Feel the excitement...

Yay! An outfit like Cille's!

Tripp found his new toys very interesting...

Cille loved her new baby, and especially liked the hair net...

Mawmaw and Grandma Tonie were happy to show off their homemade gifts from Stella and Cille...

When I told Stella we would be using a "glue gun" to attach the jewels to the frames, she was afraid that I was going to shoot her...

Tripp has a new favorite shirt...

Mawmaw and Pawpaw and Grandma Tonie especially liked their photo books from the girls...

Sarah enjoyed opening all of Tripp's gifts for him. I think next year might be a bit of a letdown for her if he insists on opening his own presents...

Stella was really excited about her new "iPad" from Mawmaw and Pawpaw...(which is really a LeapPad!)

The best part of Cille's baby? Removable shoes and socks, just like Cille!

Hey, what could this be?

A new car! Just like The Price is Right!

Looks cozy...

Speaking of cozy, all that excitement wore Tripp out!

A Christmas angel...

Cille thinks that the car can hold two passengers...

Stella disagrees...

Cille finally got around to trying out the slide...

Wheeee!

Check out our new can-can girl!

More Christmas fun followed. Stay tuned!

Apple Fangirls

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 04:20:00 +0000

At our house, we have totally sold out to the dark side. Years ago Damon started his career as a strictly PC guy, but after I got a Mac Mobile Laptop Lab in my classroom and a free iPod touch, we liked them so much that we jumped on the bandwagon and went full-Mac right down to our Apple TV. A couple of days ago I snapped this shot of the girls having fun on their "iPhones."

Following this picture, Stella told me, "I have the BEST PHONE EVER!"

The Family Christmas Party

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 04:55:00 +0000

One of the big events we look forward to all year long is our annual family Christmas party with the Cline bunch. We revived this tradition the first year that we had our house, so it has been going strong for 7 years now! Aunt Ruby graciously volunteered to host the soiree this year, and we all really enjoyed being in her lovely home. From the way the kids were eyeballing the pool, I think that most of them were wishing our summer gathering could be at Aunt Ruby's house as well. Speaking of kids, here are three of our favorites: Madison, Benjamin, and Grace...

Stella was eager to get a peek at Reid...

What a good looking couple! Wish we got to see more of these pretty faces...

Shannon's guest regaled Damon with tales of his son's exploits as a professional competitive eater. I think Damon has a new life goal now and it involves Nathan's hot dogs...

Cille found this green pillow and claimed it as her own...

Looks comfy...

Every year Jeremy reads the Christmas story for the family. The level of difficulty goes up each year, but this time he proved that he is a man who can multi-task. When Cille wondered over and stuck her nose in the Bible, Jeremy just scooped her up and kept reading...

Benjamin was chagrined by my gift of batteries. Turns out I had accidentally left the toy that the batteries went in at my in-law's house. Oops! Thankfully Pawpaw went back and got it for me. Cille was just fascinated by everything Benjamin did...

She even ended up opening a couple of his presents for him...(Sorry, Benjamin!)

The latest addition to our family: Mrs. Potato Head! Mr. Potato Head doesn't have to be lonely anymore!

Stella was thrilled with her magic reindeer food...

Another good looking couple...(They are the ones responsible for those pretty girl cousins Damon has!)

Cille had a tendency to be underfoot during the party and she pouted a little after she got tripped over...

But all she needed was some snuggling from Madison to turn that frown upside down...

Shoes! Cille's favorite!

She didn't want to waste any time trying them on!

Chad, Alaina, Reid, and possibly the most appropriate bib ever for this bunch...

I love how this picture makes Cille look so gentle and interested in her baby cousin. She was actually just trying to steal his noonie...

Our two newest family members had people lining up to love on them...

As you can see, Stella had a great time playing with Anna...

Cille was in hog heaven with all the attention the big kids gave her...

All the excitement had the twins "Tucker"-ed out...

Cille loved cuddling with Kelly...

...even though she refused to look at the camera for me...

As the evening wore on, even Stella got a little sleepy...

But Uncle Chad helped her perk up...

Madison found the way to Cille's heart...through an iPhone!

Benjamin was trying to take Cille's picture but instead of posing all she would do was yell for him to give her back the iPod...

Our whole family had a wonderful time hanging out and celebrating the birth of our Savior. Can't wait to see you all at the crawfish boil!

Stella's Christmas Program and Party

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Last Friday Stella had her Christmas program at school. Things looked promising as the program began...

But quickly went south when the kids playing Mary and Joseph entered the room. To choose the actress from Stella's class who would play Mary, the teacher drew a name out of a hat. Stella did not agree with the casting decision, to say the least. About a week before the program, she began telling her daddy and me that we needed to tell her teachers that she needed to be Mary because she was a good actress. We tried to explain to her that everyone needs a chance to be the star, but apparently we had not gotten this point across by program day because she dissolved into tears at the sight of Mary and ended up sitting in her teacher's lap and sobbing for that entire portion of the program...

She did bounce back at the end and sang the Santa songs beautifully, but since she never went back to her seat it was hard to get a good picture of her. After some birthday cake for Jesus in her classroom she was all smiles...

I think she was telling Damon how upset she was over the Mary thing in this one...

She got to decorate a Christmas tree (ice cream cone) with yummy treats...

Her BF Molly sat next to her...

I love this one. It pretty much sums up Stella's personality at this stage of life...

This is Stella's friend Jacques decorating his tree. I think he did a fantastic job, don't you?

Merry Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 19:57:00 +0000

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Celebration in the Oaks

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:34:00 +0000

It just doesn't feel like Christmas until our family does the annual Celebration in the Oaks Race at City Park. Unfortunately, this year Cille was under doctor's orders not to attend the race. She was recovering from an ear infection and having tubes put in and her adenoids taken out on Monday, so the doctor thought hanging out in the cold weather was probably not in her best interest. Geeze. Then Friday night while Tripp and Aunt Sarah were having their weekly sleepover and Daddy was taking the first shift, I received an early Christmas present from one of my students: a stomach virus! Whoo-hoo! That, and the fact that we couldn't find a sitter, pretty much sealed the deal that I would be the one to stay home with poor Cille.

But, I digress. Back to the race. It would not be a true Celebration in the Oaks if the Pourciaus were not A) late, and B) in possession of an exhausted child. As you can see from this picture of Stella, we accomplished B, and most of our friends can testify that we also checked A off the list again this year...

Since it was going to be a bit nippy, I made sure to send plenty of warm clothing for my Stell-Bell...

I am sorry that your eyes are closed, Damon, but I love this picture of our sweet monkey...

That girl loves her daddy!

Again, Damon, I apologize but this kid is precious!

Part of our tradition is the group riding of the carousel...

Skyler was really excited that he would actually get to see the lights this year...

Our carousel action pics all turned out a little blurry, but you get the point. Our buddy Cohen and his family were there...

Along with our friend Mattie Ann and her family...

Stella helped entertain Skyler by playing patty cake with him...

From the look on his face I think he was enjoying it...

Aren't they sweet?

Later Stella and Mattie Ann got fresh with the three little piggies in Story Land...

Pawpaw helped them explore the belly of the whale...

Not sure what they're looking at, but it must have been amazing...

Two little pink princesses ready for the ball...

She's king of the world!

Lyons decided the pirate ship was a cool place to pose with the ladies...

Looking for mermaids...

Squashing the life out of Snow White...

After Story Land, it was time for some rides...

Pawpaw won the first race, but Stella demanded a rematch...

Practicing driving on the wrong side in preparation for our next trip to the UK...

It's more fun on the right!

I don't know about you, but to me it looks like Daddy was making Stella do all the work...

Finally, as the finale of this post and your reward for looking through all my pictures and perhaps chuckling at one or two of my dorky jokes, our annual Celebration in the Oaks Santa-less Group Photo. If you check our old Celebration in the Oaks blogs, here, here and here, you will see that our group grows a little every year. The first year we had 10 people, including Stella as the only child. The next year the photo mysteriously didn't make it to the blog, so I have no idea. Then last year we had 17 people in the photo, including 3 kids, and one stowaway (Skyler-so there were technically 18 people in the photo.) This year we had a whopping 20 people in the photo, including 6 kids, and one stowaway Rane-drop (technically bringing us to 21!). Plus, just check out this photo...everyone looks great! Romaguera Photography really outdid themselves on this one, even if my buddy Ralph was not the one behind the camera this year. I do have a couple of complaints about this photo, which I will voice now, but which were in no way under the control of the photographer. First of all, Matt? Where ya at, dude? And your sister too! We expect you both to wait for the group photo before heading to dinner next year. Also, Jamie...don't be a skipper! Katie's dad was also present but ducked out on the group photo, so I will let Katie deal with that one. And there are also two special representatives of the Roussel-Zeringue clan that I was expecting to see in the photo and missed. Mrs. Paula...I know you are an occasional reader, so tell Skyler's Pawpaw to get ready for his close-up next year!

Hopefully we will be able to add myself and Cille to the photo, plus all our missing folks, and that sweet Baby Raney will make his/her outdoor debut in next year's photo. I have to go now so I can text Ralph and tell him to get a bigger backdrop...

Nutcracker Tea

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 02:23:00 +0000

Missy, finder of all cool things, discovered a Nutcracker Tea in Hammond on December 4th (Yes, I am that behind in my blogging. It's been a busy month!) and invited us to come along. I was very excited about Stella and I having a girls' outing, and this event turned out to be the perfect mother-daughter date. Here I am with my cutie right after we arrived...

We went straight to the tea after our trip to the Christmas tree farm, so Stella had been rough and rowdy all morning and was ready for some nice quiet coloring. The other girls were not nearly so intent on their coloring sheets...

Two of the cutest, sweetest preschoolers ever....I love these girls!

We found a pecan on the ground at the tree farm and I used it to explain to Stella what a nutcracker is used for. She had the great idea to bring the pecan along to the tea to try it out. We put the pecan in the mouth of the nutcracker decorating our table, but I thought the organizers of the tea might frown on me cracking nuts on the centerpiece, so we just let him hold it while we ate...

The beautiful centerpiece on our table. Fancy schmancy, huh?

Group pictures of 3 and 4-year-olds are always a challenge...

Stella was in the mood to pose, though, so that helped...

I'm not really sure that Molly intended her hands to be a "pose," but Haydynn and Stella thought it looked cool and decided to try it out...

Eventually Stella had enough pictures and went back to her artwork, drawing much interest from her buds...

This was the centerpiece on a different table. Each table was themed after a character in the ballet...

Some of the characters circulated before the performance to meet and greet their guests...

I loved her costume. She was obviously the Sugar Plum Fairy...

The Nutcracker himself was a little creepy, but the girls agreed to take a group shot with him. I don't think any of them were eager to be alone with that giant mask...

Molly was getting a little worn out by this time...

Katherine is totally ready for her close-up, and Stella is working her bashful look...

The whole cast. They did a great job...

After the tea was over, everyone was invited to dance with the characters. I think this may have been Stella's favorite part...

These little dancers were precious. They had personality to spare!

Me and my sweet girl...

Another interesting pose from Stella...

The centerpiece from another table...

We were in too much of a rush when we arrived to pose with the giant nutcracker, but we got him on the way out!

We also took advantage of the fact that not too many other people were around to crack our pecan!

Thanks for inviting us, Missy! We're definitely adding this to the calendar for next year!

Cutting Our Christmas Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 01:12:00 +0000

Last Sunday morning it was back to the tree farm to cut down our tree and bring it home. This time Mawmaw and Pawpaw joined us...

The owners at Yawn Station were really excited to see us. Apparently, Stella is some of the best advertising they have ever had. They told us that customers tell them all the time that they found the farm after watching Stella's video on YouTube. Isn't that a hoot?

Stella has become quite the hopscotch pro at St. Timothy's and she was eager to show off her skills...

A new addition to the tree farm this year...horse drawn wagon rides!

The girls really enjoyed the playground, as always...

I love that mischievous glint in her eye...she must get that from Daddy...

Train time!

Family picture before Daddy cuts the tree down...

Stella supervised the operation...

Eventually she was unsatisfied with Daddy's work and had to get involved. If you want something done right, you know...

Feeding the peacock was a little anti-climatic. Apparently, he's pretty well-fed already and therefore wasn't nearly as ravenous as the girls had hoped he would be...

Cille apparently did not inherit my fear of horses...

Ready for their wagon ride!

There were even puppies on the wagon...

And they're off!

Bundled up and ready to go home...

For the third year in a row our family had a great time at Yawn Station Christmas Tree Farm. If you are looking for a fun and festive family outing to help you get into the holiday spirit, I highly recommend visiting the friendly folks at Yawn Station.

They Come in Packs

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 03:10:00 +0000

Having Sarah and Tripp over to spend the night sounds easy, right? According to Damon's theory of child supervision, you have three adults and three children, so everything should be cool. Man to man coverage. The only problem with that theory is the fact that the children have a herd mentality, and they like to choose one special adult and gang up on them. Last Saturday it was my turn...

I love this swarm of babies!

Christmas Card Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 03:43:00 +0000

It's that time of year again...time for me to stress out over Christmas cards. For some reason, I get nervous about everything from the picture to the date we mail them out. I decided to kill two birds with the one proverbial stone this year and combine our Thanksgiving vacation with a family photo shoot with a photographer. My hope was that we would take a half hour out of our vacation, snap that perfect Christmas card picture of the girls, get a bonus family portrait, and be back to having fun within the hour. As all of you who have children already know, this was a ridiculous goal. First of all, a half hour? Puh-lease. Getting our entire family dressed and ready for the photos took at least 2 hours, and I'm being conservative on that estimate. Then the challenge of getting a three year old and a one year old to cooperate for a thirty minute photo shoot presented itself, and we failed. Miserably. Cille did not want to be anywhere near Stella, or do anything that we wanted her to do, basically. So, at the end of the day our favorite picture ended up being this one...

Now, a picture of Cille offering Stella a noonie is cute, but not exactly what I had in mind for our Christmas cards this year, so it was back to the drawing board for the cards. Oh, and now we're in a time crunch!!! And my stress level rose...

We decided to try a do-over this past Saturday afternoon in New Orleans with me as the photographer. Daddy, Mawmaw, and Pawpaw came along to child wrangle. The fact that I stayed up all night with Tripp on Friday night did not help my patience, either. We tried out two locations. The first was Notre Dame Seminary, which has some nice buildings and a beautiful nativity scene. Cars kept stopping and asking us if we were about to do a performance. We told them maybe next time. Here's what we ended up with...

I didn't achieve that perfect shot at the seminary, so we moved on to City Park for another try. Look! A gondola!

Stella chose this pose...

All that smiling can really wear a girl out...

This shot pretty much sums up Cille's attitude for the entire session...

Pouty mouth...

Eventually, we felt like we had done all we could and just let the girls play...

Daddy showed Cille the ducks...

Cille showed us some grass...

Stella slipped into something a little more comfortable and went tree climbing...

So which photo did we actually use for the Christmas cards? You'll have to wait and see!

Cille and Grandpa Crane

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 02:19:00 +0000

This is pretty much Cille's favorite thing to do right now: play peek-a-boo and scream at the top of her lungs..

Every once in a while she has to stop the screaming and take a breath...

She is also crazy about Grandpa Crane. When she saw him for the first time on this trip she literally ran to him. She also likes to crawl all over him when he's trying to sit on the couch...

But for some reason I don't think he minds that much...

Our 10th Annual Turkey Trot

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:27:00 +0000

For the past ten years our family has started off Thanksgiving Day at the Stoner boat launch in Shreveport for the annual Sportspectrum Turkey Trot. Last year Daddy and Grandpa were watching the Saints play in Dallas, so Stella and I represented the family at the race and Cille stayed with Grandma Tonie. This year we all got to go. Cille was pretty excited to be included...

That's a heavy load you've got there, Daddy...

Early morning races are really a challenge for some people...

But being tired didn't dampen her enthusiasm...

Waiting for race time...

Family meeting to discuss strategy...

I am not a fan of this picture of Cille because the camera caught her sweet little jowls mid-jog and it is not a flattering look, but this was the best picture we had of the start of the race...

Heading into the woods along the scenic Red River...

Here they come!

And there they go!

Checking out the competition...

The home stretch...

She's almost there...

Hooray! Stella likes to point out that she is the only person in our family who won a medal because she ran the fastest...

Showing off her hardware...

And her princess hands. Her idea, I swear...

Cille spotted a few strange birds nearby and had to check them out...

She was very curious about this lady's turkey hat...

And also a little mistrustful..

"Let's go home! I'm ready to eat some turkey!"

Picking Our Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 01:12:00 +0000

Due to some scheduling conflicts, we decided to go about choosing our Christmas tree a little differently this year. Yawn Station opened on November 19th for their regular season. We decided to go that day and choose our tree. We will go back soon to actually cut it down. Stella found some fantastic gravel in the parking lot that she was really excited to show off...

Conspiring against me by refusing to look at the camera simultaneously...

More of that...

Thanks to another tree farm patron, we managed to get a family picture on the train...

My sweet baby...

Hollerin', as usual...

Cille and Daddy. Daddy was a big fan of the fact that he wore shorts and a t-shirt to choose our CHRISTMAS TREE...

The girls showed me that the trees were THIS BIG!!!

Searching for the perfect specimen...

We found it!

Daddy and the girls in front of our tree...

That stick is not part of the tree. Stella just has a fascination with sticks. City girl...

Mommy and the girls in front of the tree...

Daddy took time to explain to Stella why we even have a Christmas tree in the first place. Foreshadowing can be a difficult concept for a three year old, but I think he did a pretty good job...

Back on the train...

Cille chose her own seat...

Stella uses her mouth to make noises when she drives...

Cille just squeals a lot. Remind me to make her wait to get her license...

Queen of the mountain!

Our little billy goat in action...

Monkey see, monkey do!

I may be partial, but isn't this kid gorgeous?

More tree pictures as soon as we go back and cut it down!

Spelling School

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:49:00 +0000

Stella is learning lots at St. Timothy's and she is really becoming curious about letters, sounds, and words. Enter Mawmaw's Spelling School. When Mawmaw came over one day to watch Cille while Mrs. Paula was out of town, Stella talked her into being the teacher in a pretend school...

Stella appeared in the performance as herself, and Daddy was given the coveted role of "Brody"...

And what did Cille do while everyone else was playing spelling school? She tried out Tripp's chair to see if it was too hard, too soft, or just right...

Well, Howdy, Pilgrim!

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 04:05:00 +0000

Last Wednesday Stella's class at St. Timothy's had their Thanksgiving program and feast. I accidentally forgot to tell Daddy when the event was until it was too late, which resulted in Mawmaw and I attending the program together. When we got there, we saw what Stella was most thankful for displayed on the wall...

When it was time for the program to begin, the Indians (4 year old class) entered first. Here are Stella's friends Julia, Lauren, and Molly marching to their places...
Then came Stella, my sweet little pilgrim girl...

When we were talking about the program, Stella and I agreed that it was going to be JUST LIKE GLEE CLUB!

I think Stella was under the impression that the audience was there solely for her...

Yes, that's her favorite friend, Brody, on her left...

Mommy and Stella...

The fabulous Millet family, minus their two bigger wild Indians...

Stella was eager to show off her Thanksgiving crafts to Mawmaw...

While we were there, a bulletin board was on display outside Stella's classroom with letters from grandparents. A few weeks ago the kids sent their grandparents hugs in the mail and asked for them to write back. Stella sent hugs to her grandparents. They all sent letters back and they were on display on the board for everyone to enjoy...

Trick or Treating Down the Bayou (Part 3)

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:59:00 +0000

After lots of pictures, we finally got our pirogue rolling down the bayou...

Claude called our friends from across the neighborhood to see where we could meet them...

Who knew that Claude had a pink cell phone? That gator is full of surprises...

Cille tried to sample her loot early...

Missy was kind enough to take a couple more group shots for us...

Stella had had enough pictures and was ready for candy!

Best buddies!

Is that Rapunzel? No, that beautiful long hair belongs to our friend Katelyn...

Cille was very eager to run to the front door on her own to get candy. Sometimes she lost interest before it was her turn to get any, but she had a blast exploring new places...

One of the things Cille wanted to investigate was this Mickey pumpkin inflatable in a yard...

"No, Pawpaw! I want to walk!"

Katelyn dressed as Rapunzel and her daddy was Flynn Rider. He stole her crown...(only the daddy of girls could have this much confidence wearing a plastic crown!)

Cille eventually found her favorite person...

They were both kitties!

And so was Molly!

This is how Hot Sauce spent most of the night: chasing Cille...

Grand-mere had to keep Claude in his place...

He was very intimidated...

Eventually TeJean started to get a little worn out...

On our way back home we met Amari. She was in my class at school a few years ago and she was dressed as Red Riding Hood also, so she and Stella took a picture together...

They were both a little tired at this point so they cuddled in the pirogue on the way home...

We had one final stop to make: our own house to trick or treat with Grandma Tonie...

After we were inside it was time to check out the loot. What this means in our house is that Mommy and Daddy rifle through your candy and take out everything that contains peanuts or could contain peanuts. Poor Stella has to ask before she eats anything...

We had a great time with our family and friends on Halloween. Now we just have to come up with costume ideas for next year...

Trick or Treating Down the Bayou (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:54:00 +0000

There were so many pictures from Halloween that they wouldn't all fit in one post, so welcome to day two of our three day Halloween blitz...

Duckie kisses!

Stella thought that was really funny...

I forgot to mention yesterday that TeJean is supposed to be an orange striped cat. Since only black cat costumes were available, we had to take a little artistic license with that one...

Meet another character in our group: Hot Sauce!

TeJean, leave my bill alone!

Reading is FUNdamental...

Brace yourself...you are about to meet the villain of the book...Claude the Alligator! Cille was terrified when she first saw Claude...

Then her terror turned to confusion...

Last year the wagon was a pumpkin carriage for Cinderella. This year it was a pirogue for Petite Rouge and TeJean...

There's that scary Claude!

The cover of the book gives a pretty good image of Claude and the pirogue...

This is how Claude looks in the book after he meets Hot Sauce...

Claude's tail was hand-crafted by Mrs. Emily, who also created our pumpkin carriage last year. Isn't she great?

Cille finally got over her fear of Claude and just started screaming at him...

She also wanted to touch his sharp teeth...

I told Stella to pretend to be afraid. That kid is destined for an Academy Award...

Grandma Tonie was on hand to pass out candy while we tramped around the neighborhood. She wore a hot sauce inspired red shirt...

In tomorrow's post we'll actually get to the trick or treating!

Trick or Treating Down the Bayou

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:54:00 +0000

This year for Halloween we decided to dress as the characters from one of our favorite books ever: Petite Rouge by Mike Artell. If you are not familiar with this book, click the link and get a copy NOW! It is absolutely one of the most precious books ever! Here is a picture of Petite Rouge from the book...

And here is our Petite Rouge!

The duck noses were a little uncomfortable, so for most of the night Rouge refused to wear hers...

Rouge's trusty sidekick in the book is her cat TeJean. Here's our sweet little TeJean...

TeJean was a little jealous of her big sister's duck nose, so she had to try it out for a while...

Yes, these three pictures look the same, but there are small differences and I couldn't choose just one, so enjoy...

She's just so stinkin' cute!

As she does, Cille tried to wander off alone in the middle of our photos...

In the book, Petite Rouge is traveling through the swamp to carry goodies to her sick Grand-mere. Here's a picture of Grand-mere from the book...

And here's our version of Grand-mere...

Rouge's mama is the one that sends her on the errand in the first place. Here's a picture of mama from the book...

And here's our version of Mama cuddling TeJean...(photo by Rouge herself!)

For our trip down the bayou, Daddy and Pawpaw turned the wagon into a pirogue. Rouge took these pictures while they were working...

Note to self: clean out the garage...

TeJean was eager to help!

Wait! Who's that? A character from another wonderful book stopped by to take a picture with us! It's Thing 1 from Dr. Seuss! (who is actually our cute neighbor Lilly in disguise!)

Lilly was thinking I should get my money back for that nose job...

Hair shot...

There's lots more fun to come! In tomorrow's post you'll meet that mean old gator Claude!

Pumpkin Carving

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 23:20:00 +0000

Sunday afternoon the Guillory girls and the Pourciau girls did a little pumpkin carving while Daddy and Mr. John watched the Saints game. Before we started carving, we read The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs. It's a really neat children's book that uses a farmer carving a jack-o-lantern to illustrate how Jesus cleanses our hearts from sin. If it's not part of your library, you should definitely find a copy before next Halloween!

At first, Stella couldn't wait for her turn to clean out the yucky stuff inside the pumpkin...

But after she stuck her hand in there she thought it was too gross and let the bigger girls take over...

We had grandiose plans to carve a Rapunzel pumpkin with a template we printed from the internet, but ended up settling for a copycat of the jack-o-lantern from the book we read...

After Stella lost interest, Mr. John entertained her, Cille, and Talia on the swing...

She came back eventually...

Cille had to come investigate what was going on...

I forgot to take pictures of the finished product until a few days after Halloween, so our pumpkin was a little dried out by then...

"God once said, 'Let the light shine out of the darkness!' And this is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts." -2 Corinthians 4:6

Tripp or Treat!

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:08:00 +0000

Tripp and Aunt Sarah came back for another sleepover on Saturday night. Grandma Tonie really enjoyed seeing her little man again and they had a fun night together...

Isn't he precious?

You will notice that Tripp is secure enough in his masculinity to use one of Cille's pink blankets and not be a bit embarrassed...

Sunday after church I talked his mommy into letting me take some Halloween pictures of Tripp in his costume! He was super excited! See?

Tripp and Mommy!

Sarah says he doesn't like my flash but does this look like the face of a boy who doesn't like his Aunt Scarlett to take his picture? I think not!

I LOVE baby toes!

Sweet sugar from Mommy's little candy corn!

Tripp was a very good boy for his photo shoot. He dressed as a little monster, but he is really a little angel!

Halloween Party

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 03:00:00 +0000

Since Halloween fell on a Monday this year, Missy had the great idea to do a pre-Halloween costume party for our kiddos to give them another opportunity to dress up and rot their teeth out. The party was so much fun that I think we may have to make it a new tradition! We took a cute kitty cat and a bouncing kangaroo to the party...

The fire department was on hand in case of emergency...

Silly girls!

Is Cille trying out the cheerleader pose? That's supposed to be Stella's move!

This was Stella's first Halloween costume and is still one of my favorites...

I drew on her whiskers with washable Crayola marker...

Cille needed to check Nathan out...

Guess she still wasn't so sure about this guy...

My little pumpkin...

"You have HOW MUCH candy inside?!"

Wait, who is that handsome man in uniform? (And where's the "Wide Load" banner that should be on his backside?)

Why, that handsome devil looks an awful lot like Mr. John...

I have got to get the name of his dentist...

Missy made mummy pizzas...

Mrs. Patty made these beautiful and delicious cupcakes...

Soon it was game time! Our game won the noisiest award...

Cille got a little too warm and shucked her costume. Victoria is the best babysitter and watched over Cille all night!

Mattie Ann was Jasmine, Lyons was Aladdin, and Evans was Abu the monkey! (Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the three of them together!)

The caped crusader...

Pop-Eye? A cat? Mr. Eddie had two great ideas and just couldn't decide!

Katelyn bowled a 300!

We had a great time celebrating with our friends and look forward to doing it all again soon!

Red Week

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 03:00:00 +0000

When it was red week at school, we didn't really have any red clothes, but Stella chose a new outfit to wear and most of her pictures from that week were taken in that outfit. Here she is, ringing the rosie with some friends...

Group hug!

I love this kid...

She made a red ladybug...

And chose to bring her Snow White wand for red show and tell. Her teacher let her use it to magically get all the kids in her class to be quiet, which she was really excited about. I think I need to borrow that wand...

Tripp's First Sleepover

noreply@blogger.com (Scarlett Pourciau) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 03:08:00 +0000

We had a couple of very special visitors last Saturday night...Tripp and Aunt Sarah came over for Tripp's very first sleepover! It was so much fun! Uncle Damon couldn't wait to cuddle his #1 nephew...

The girls couldn't let Tripp keep all those cuddles to himself...they had to join in!

Isn't he precious?

All this staying up late can really wear a fellow out...

The next morning Cille flexed her older cousin muscle and pushed the little guy around, literally...

He didn't seem to mind...

Although Tripp LOVED cuddling with Uncle Damon and Aunt Scarlett, I am pretty sure this is still his favorite spot...

Mommy was all smiles after a full night's rest... (well, almost full)

Stella got to hold her new cousin for the very first time...

She was really excited but knew that she had to be very gentle with Tripp...

Checking him out...

They have got to be two of the cutest kids ever!

The baby hog wasn't far away...

Cille wanted a turn but Daddy told her she was too little...

Our sweet little man...

Come back soon, Tripp!