Our Little Girls

2011 Year in Review

2011-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-30T20:45:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-29T20:45:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-29T20:20:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-12-25T11:57:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Celebration in the Oaks

2011-12-20T08:34:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-18T18:23:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-09T17:12:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-07T19:43:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-01T18:19:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-30T17:27:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-29T17:12:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-28T17:49:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-11-22T20:05:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-11-09T07:59:00.000-08:00

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)

2011-11-08T06:54:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-07T07:54:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-11-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

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

2011-11-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

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!

Brush your teeth!

2011-10-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

Around here we are all about the dental hygiene. While I would have to say that floss is Stella's favorite dental care item, Cille is a big tooth washing fan. Every morning she drags the stool over to the counter, climbs on top of it, and starts gesturing and grunting for her toothbrush and toothpaste until I comply. She does a great job...

This literally keeps her entertained for about 15 minutes every morning...

Look at those pearly whites! Did I ever mention that Cille cut all 4 of her molars at once a couple of months back? Now she is working on all four eye teeth. You can see the points of them ready to erupt any day now!

Dr. Parker will be so proud when we visit him again!

The Pumpkin Patch (Part 2)

2011-10-27T06:08:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Emily was happy to let me take a picture of her and Cohen, but he was a little too busy with his craft to be bothered with photos...

I love this picture! They are such sweet friends... (when they're not busy aggravating each other!)

Tristyn was not so pumped about the strange lady with the camera who insisted on a family photo...

She and Stella had similar attitudes on the mandatory "friends since birth"shot...

At this point in the day they were both overdue for a nap and just D-O-N-E!

See what I mean?

Talia, Cohen, and Sarah, however, were just getting ready for some yummy cookie cake...

Make a wish!

Mawmaw brought some milk-free cupcakes for Cille...

Which she rather enjoyed...

Stella rested for a few minutes and perked back up in time for some see-saw action...

And what's a trip to the pumpkin patch without bouncing on the big orange blob?

Mr. John was a little wild on the blob but Talia loved it...

Yum, Cheetos!

Cille finally had all the fun she could handle and passed out on my chest...

If I had not been so afraid I'd lose my balance and fall off the bench I would have napped with her...

The red stuff on her hand is paint pen!

Daddy took a few sips out of the children's Benedryl bottle to combat his severe animal fur allergies and this was the result...

Do you think she liked the sandwich?

I'm not sure what this game was, but it looks super fun!

Stella also tried her hand at a little photography while we were at the patch...

Not bad for a 3-year-old, huh?

Cille tried to disguise herself with Pawpaw's camo hat...

Stella eventually got the camera back...

Was she taking a picture of the nature trail or her sister?

I finally wrestled the camera back from her. Look how much my little pumpkins have grown! 2011...

2010...(Cille was still too small to stand back then!)

High fives for growing girls!

The other kids had to wait while Pawpaw and Daddy had a contest...

Daddy should know by now that you don't mess with the champ. If Pawpaw can't beat you, he'll just cheat and win anyway...

Cille wanted to play, too...

Family photo time!

Everyone was pretty exhausted after our day at the pumpkin patch...

But we're looking forward to going back next year!

The Pumpkin Patch (Part 1)

2011-10-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

It's time again for our annual visit to the pumpkin patch! Hooray! This was our third year to visit Miss Heather's Pumpkin Patch near Hammond. To see pics from the last two trips, click here and here. Cille started the day out with a few cuddles from Mrs. Emily...

...whose handsome young man was hanging out nearby...

Cille and Stella rocked their new pumpkin shirts from Lilly Pie Creations at the patch. Thanks, Mrs. Katie! You are the coolest neighbor ever! Don't they look great?

The elusive dream of all parents: taking a picture in which both children are sporting the perfect smile AND looking at the camera. The search continues...

Cille said the pumpkin was THIS BIG!

Muscles McGee...

She got in a little weightlifting at the patch...

Cille was more interested in pushing pumpkins off the wagon than in looking at the camera...

The same thing happened on the other end of the wagon...

Stella's smile is lovely in these pics, however...

They are looking at the pumpkin Cille just launched...

My little milkmaid...

Daddy and Pebbles...no, wait, that's Cille...

The Guillory girls were there with their family and guess whose birthday it was?

Like the Arkansas hillbillies that she is descended from, Cille loves hogs...

Checking out the piggy's nose...

Mrs. Kelly helped Cille pet the bunny since Mommy is allergic to anything with fur...

I love Cille's little overbite. It's so cute that I almost don't mind the orthodontic bills looming on the horizon. Did I mention she gets it from me? Mine was not so cute...

Cille is a favorite babydoll for all the big kids. She frequently gets carried around by Emma, Sadie, Victoria, Ethan...pretty much whatever big kid is around at the time. Good thing she doesn't mind...

In this picture Mr. John is teaching the kids how to provoke a turkey attack. One day that man's gonna end up on When Animals Attack or at least draw back a nub...

The sweet 3 year old birthday girl!

Cille was eager to explore the pumpkin patch and didn't care if anyone wanted to accompany her or not...

Stella got her hand painted...

My little pumpkin...

Sadie and her daddy...

My big pumpkin...

Since it was Talia and Sarah's birthday, we had a little party at the patch complete with fun crafts. Here are the girls decorating their pumpkins...

Stella chose a giant spider web to go on hers...

She also applied LOTS of glue...

Did I mention that our Mississippi friends the Oswalts met us at the patch? It was our first time to meet Miss Avery Kate and she is such a sweetheart!

Tristyn and Cille were craft time buddies...

Sometimes when you're really concentrating you have to stick out your tongue...

Cille likes glue, too...

Isn't this a cute picture of the moms? Emily was the only one who was actually ready for this pic, but they all look great...

T-bird was putting lots of thought into her artwork...

Cille loves to color. The paint pen was making Mommy a little nervous, but I think we escaped without any stains...

Stella showed off her finished product for Mr. John and Mrs. Kelly...

She even helped Cille finish up...

Our friends the Courvilles were visiting the patch, too, and I interrupted their picnic to snap a family photo...(Yes, I am that friend.)

Stay tuned for more fun from the patch!

Biloxi Beach

2011-10-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. -Romans 8:28, NIV

The night that Lacie's twins were born, we were barreling down a dark stretch of interstate toward LaPlace on our way home when we noticed several cars pulled over on both sides of the road. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Damon glimpsed a large black object in his lane. He had no time to react, but braced for impact and was able to hold the car steady as he hit whatever it was and blew out the front driver's side tire. We then realized all those people on the side of the road had hit the same thing. The tire and rim looked like this when it was over...

So, that little death-defying stunt put us in the market for a rim and a new tire for a ten year old Mercedes SUV. Damon was able to find one in a junkyard for $400 less than what the dealership wanted for a new one. The only catch was that the junkyard happened to be in Biloxi, Mississippi. ROAD TRIP! Since it was my fall break from school, we all got to go, and since the weather was warm, we packed our swimsuits and hit the beach for some fun in the sun. See how the above verse applies to the situation? God took a severe bump in the road and turned it into vacation fun for our family. Just one more way that He's awesome.

And now, the beach pictures. Cille absolutely loved the beach this time...

Stella had a little bit of fun, too...

My little Charlie's Angel...

Splashing Daddy was one of her favorite things to do...

Actually, she really enjoyed splashing of any kind...

A wipeout did not faze her...

Especially since Dad was there to help out...

Cille was kind enough to explain her special recipe for sand soup to me...

Check out the scene behind my little sand chef...

The water was really warm, as demonstrated by Stella in this picture...

My happy girl...

Mommy under attack...

After several attempts at a group shot, we resigned ourselves to the fact that this was the best we were gonna get...

Our beach trip happened just in the nick of time. The next day a massive cold front blew through and dropped the temperatures to the 50's. We can't wait to hit the waves again next spring!

"We're going camping now, we're on our way..."

2011-10-24T06:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's a Kids' Praise reference. That's how I roll. The weekend of our fall break we had a camping trip planned to Bogue Chitto State Park. We've visited the park before and loved it, so we were pumped to go back. Tripp's unexpected arrival surprised us all and delayed our trip a little bit, but thanks to some awesome friends who arrived ahead of us (Thanks, Mr. Billy!) we were able to make it to our cabin before Friday night was over. Saturday morning we met up with some friends at the playground there in the park. It had been way too long since we had gotten to hang with the Sharbono girls; so long, in fact, that the last time we were all together was before Callie and Cille were born! They didn't let that stop them from becoming friends instantly...

How cute are they?

Sweet babies!

The Guillory girls were our camping buddies for the weekend. Sadie and Emma are such great little mommies...

We also got to meet the token boy of the group, Andrew of the Poole Party fame! Yay for boys!

And yay for big cousins! I was surprised to see that Jonas is a MAN! The last time I saw him he was knee-high to a grasshopper... (That's a little Haynesville gem for you. Enjoy.)

Cille got to know the twins. I think it made her a little glad she only has one big sister to boss her around...

Stella comforted Talia when she got a little upset. What a good friend!

So, what happens when you try to take a group photo of 10 kids age 8 and under? This...

And this...

Poor Callie. She was not into the group photo thing...

My bunny Jen and one of her bunnies...

Back at the cabin, Talia and Cille got snuggly...

The big girls really enjoyed the bunk beds...

Stella insisted on a top bunk...

That afternoon we went on a canoeing adventure/picnic and let the girls play at the splash park. Grandma Tonie and Grandpa Crane even stopped by for a visit on their way to meet Tripp. That night the Zeringues joined us for hot dogs and s'mores. We won't talk about which man had to actually start the fire. It was great to spend time relaxing with friends and family. The next morning we went for a hike on the gorge trail. It was Cille's first time in the pack and she was a little apprehensive at first...

But soon she learned to love it!

Talia and her walking stick...

Walking sticks are all the rage when you're hiking...

Sadie enjoying a scenic view...

We eventually had 4 walking sticks...

How sweet is this?

Besties!

I love these girls!

How much fun are they having?

"Huh? You talking to me?"

Yes, YOU!

Guillory girls! (Poor daddy had to work. (Maybe next time, John.)

My happy baby...

Family photo. When you take her picture now, Stella has to yell "Cheerleaders!" and do this with her arms...

Daddy and his two favorite hiking buddies...

"Cheerleaders!"

We had a great time and can't wait to hit the woods again!

Welcome, Tripp!

2011-10-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

After our late night Wednesday night, we were a little surprised to hear from Aunt Sarah Friday afternoon. She was in the hospital, and Tripp would be joining us that night! Since we knew that these things take time, we brought an air mattress and had a little camp out in the waiting room at Touro...

The proud papa waiting for his little man...

And here he is! Mohamed Paul "Tripp" Abudalghussa...

They let Zak and I in a few minutes after Tripp arrived to take pictures. It was an amazing experience for me, since when they were cleaning my girls up I was really too far away to see what was going on. This was the closest I have ever been to a baby that new and he was just beautiful...

I love baby toes!

Tripp did not love my flash. He will learn to, because it is not going away...

Daddy checking out his big boy...

Stella was so excited to see Tripp! In this picture she was saying, "Come on, Mommy! Let's go see the baby!"

Sweet feet...

This picture is my favorite...

From a couple...

...to a family!

Zak carried the little bundle of joy over to Mommy for inspection...

And it was love at first sight!

Sweet boy...

Looks like Tripp's daddy might be a little more comfortable with him in a year or so...

Tripp's first picture with his cousins!

And his aunt Scarlett!

He was checking his daddy out...

Just perfect...

Tripp even had his first FaceTime call before he was an hour old! Uncle Damon was just dying to show him off to Mawmaw and Pawpaw...

We love you, Tripp, and can't wait to make many happy memories with you!

Welcome, Reid and Tucker!

2011-10-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

We have been waiting for a long time for our new cousins to come out and play with us, and last Wednesday afternoon we got a call telling us to hurry up and get to Baton Rouge because 2 of the boys were on their way! When we got there, Lacie's in-laws were waiting to greet us...

Cille had fun playing with Mawmaw and Aunt Judy. Stella was more interested in other things...

It was blue day. Mawmaw Shirley missed the memo...

Sheila was understandably a little tense...

If you think this is a crowd, you should have seen the other half of the waiting room. It was filled with visitors for the Kemp boys!

Stella had lots to share with Uncle Chad and Aunt 'Laina...

Cille told Mawmaw where her lips were...

And tried to make off with Alaina's purse. Hey, what can I say? The kid has good taste...

The camera and I were bringing up the rear as everyone rushed out to meet Lacie and Ryan...

The crew waiting for them to come down the hall...

I love this picture of Ryan taking pictures of us taking pictures of him...

He was laughing because we all thought he was going to pass out. He did not...

Showing off the boy's footprints...

I don't think these pictures really need any captions...

One big, happy, PROUD family...

Since Reid and Tucker arrived a little ahead of schedule, we weren't able to see them or take pictures that night. Stay tuned for lots of photos of those sweet boys!

Purple Week

2011-10-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

Another week, another color. This time is was Mommy's favorite: PURPLE!

Stella is dressing as Petite Rouge for Halloween, but I think she might have been pretending she was Claude in this picture...

Would you let this cutie down your chimney? I would, by the hairs of my chinny-chin-chin...

Don't you love this tree?

She wore her special Alaska shirt from Mawmaw and Pawpaw on Friday...

She didn't look too impressed by the spread at this tea party...

Blue Week

2011-10-18T19:08:00.000-07:00

Blue week started off with a lesson about one of Stella's favorite things: PETS!

Workers from a nearby pet shop brought over part of their menagerie to share with the kids...

Hamster? Gerbil? Guinea pig? Who really knows the difference?

Though this is actually a picture of Stella's friend Jacques, who she has gone to Mrs. Paula's with since she was born, I noticed a very familiar medic alert bracelet sneaking its way into the frame to pet the birdie...

After seeing all these pictures, I am really starting to wonder why I get a one word response when I ask her what she did at school...

The turtle club...

I am not even sure what this animal is. Damon said it was a rabbit, but I'm gonna go with pygmy marmoset. Maybe I've just been watching too much Diego...

Yup. Definitely a pygmy marmoset...

Stella got to show off pictures of her dogs, Nick and Chloe, eating ice cream and kissing Mawmaw...

Stella and I were doing some baking one day recently and she told me she wanted to make some for her friends as school. She then named the young man in the crown by name. Later I found this picture of them holding hands. She has mentioned him a few times since then. Even though he is a cutie, I am not thrilled by this. Needless to say, we will NOT be baking for this kid anytime before Stella turns 16...

Blue Play-doh...

Showing off her Awana vest as her "something blue"...

Flying the bluebird of happiness...

Green Week

2011-10-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

Green week started off with Stella wearing purple...

That's because it was cheerleader day at her school! The St. Charles Catholic cheerleaders came over to teach the kids a little school spirit. Stella was super-excited to get in on the act. In fact, she now says, "Cheerleaders!" every time we take her picture. Apparently, these girls made quite the impression...

Group photo op time!

The next day, Stella helped her teachers stir up a batch of green eggs and ham...

She also crafted a snazzy green frog...

Showing off the finished product...

She wore her green pants and rolled around the playground...

I'm not really sure what was going on here...

She really excels at painting. I think it must be her favorite...

She chose to bring Talia's green shoe to school for her "something green" show and tell...

My little flower is blossoming a little more each day...

A Visit from Toby

2011-10-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

We recently had a special guest at our house: Toby the bear from Stella's class at St. Timothy's. Stella was supposed to take Toby home at the end of her "I Am Special" week, but since she got a very special stomach virus and stayed home most of the week, we got him on Monday night. Luckily we were heading to a make-up gymnastics class, so we had plenty of fun things to show Toby. He and Cille helped Stella shuck her shoes and socks and get ready for class...

One last pose together before class started...

Cille was kind enough to babysit Toby while Stella was busy...

Toby was very impressed by Stella's flips. He was not very impressed by her mom's photography skills, since this is the best shot I got of her flip in progress...

Pretending to be a helicopter...

After gymnastics, it was time for Toby to make some new friends. He met Mawmaw and Pawpaw through FaceTime...

After all that fun Toby was pretty tired, so he and Stella snuggled up for the night in her big girl bed...

The next morning they dressed alike for the trip back to school...

Our Busy Bee

2011-10-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from "Yellow Week" at Stella's school. On Monday it was her turn to show off her "I Am Special" board...

She also played with some yellow Play-doh...

Look at her hand. I am sure she was in deep explanation about something. Her partner looks like the male half of an old married couple: tuning her out and wishing she'd just be quiet...

Her bee outfit from Mrs. Eileen was perfect since they made bees in class that day!

Unfortunately, Stella got a stomach virus from Cille and got to spend the rest of the week at home, but she really enjoyed her first day of "Yellow Week."

Sarah's Maternity Photo Shoot

2011-09-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, I got to do one of my favorite things: pretend to be a professional photographer and take pictures of my sister! I have been playing this game since Sarah was about seven years old, and over the years she has been a sometimes willing and sometimes reluctant subject. Since Tripp will be arriving in a few weeks, I talked her into letting me take some maternity shots, you know, to record this experience for my sweet nephew. The girls and I loaded up and headed to City Park in search of beautiful backdrops for our photos. This first one is my favorite artistically...

We spent about an hour and a half taking pictures and ended up with almost 400 images. This blog post includes 14 of those, three of which feature Stella and Cille, so that should tell you that I am not quitting my day job over this. I narrowed the choices down to my 74 "favorites" and Sarah weeded them down to this smaller group of photos. (I sneaked a couple of my favorites in, too! Don't tell her!)

Sarah is 35 weeks pregnant in these pictures. She is due October 27th...

We love Tripp already!

This one was one of my favorites because she looks so happy!

This one is the one that Sarah chose from this series...

I antiqued this one a little. I just love iPhoto...

Sarah was not supportive of my love for this picture, but here it is anyway, because doggone it, I think it's cool!

The train came by while we were taking pictures and I thought it would be neat to capture it in the background since Sarah is expecting a baby of the boy variety. While the train was going by and I was snapping away, a butterfly came and landed on Sarah's shoulder! We were all amazed! I snapped this shot just after he flew away...

But he came back and I caught him on her knee this time! What a neat and special touch to our photo shoot! God is showing His special love for this little one already! (On a side note, if you look closely enough at this photo you can also make out a mosquito on Sarah's leg. Hey, we were in New Orleans!)

Did I mention that I had two wonderful assistants helping me take these shots? Stella and Cille were positively THE most well-behaved children during the photo shoot. I was very proud of my girls. Stella listened and followed directions. When it was her turn to step in front of the lens, she was all smiles...

She and Aunt Sarah even took a break to look at some fish in the pond...

Cille was nearby snacking on some yummy Teddy Grahams in her stroller...

So, what do you think of my mad photography skills? My mother-in-law's camera and I are available anytime, and we work cheap! ;-)

Sick Day

2011-09-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

Cille recently brought home the gift that keeps on giving, a virus, and the result was all three of us staying home on Monday to recover. Here's how Cille and Daddy spent their sick day...

Cade's Birthday Party

2011-09-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! Cade had his annual birthday bash at It's My Party in Baton Rouge this year and they really know how to throw a shindig, that's for sure. Cille was eager to try out the inflatables, even though it looks like she's plotting something in this picture...

"Mawmaw, I said 'No more pictures!' "she said with exasperation.

The scab between her eyes is compliments of a nasty tumble into a metal garbage can at home...

Hula hoops: fun for all ages...

See what I mean?

When it was time for cake and ice cream, Stella shared hers with Mawmaw and Mawmaw's blouse...

Cade was really excited about his gifts. I love how he likes them so much that he seems annoyed when his mom makes him open another one. It shows the gift givers he genuinely appreciates each one...

I think Cille was trying to charm someone out of a bite of ice cream in this picture...

Stella and Uncle Benny shared a quick cuddle...

We had a great time at the party and can't wait for next year! Happy birthday, Cade! We love you!

To see how our little girls grew since Cade's last party, click here and prepare to be amazed.

Our Celebrity Babysitter

2011-09-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite babysitters is in this picture...

No, not Zac Efron; he said he was busy filming a movie or something. We're talking about Maggie!

A couple of weeks ago Zac was in town to shoot a movie at our hospital (incidentally, they did the filming in the OB ward where I had the girls!) and he was lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet a sweet person that we love, Maggie. Which means we are all now one degree away from Zac Efron! Who needs Kevin Bacon? Way to go, Maggie!

School Days

2011-09-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

One of the most fantastic things about Stella's new school is their website, where they frequently post pictures of the kids at school. Here's Stella swinging around on her first day...

Cooling off with a frozen treat...

Exploring nursery rhymes with her friends...

Co-piloting a bee...

Sliding...

Taking an order...

Painting...

And building!

Stella's First Day at St. Timothy's

2011-09-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

We had homework before the first day of school! Stella's teachers sent us home from open house with a "Feel Better Bear" to decorate. When Wednesday morning came, this is what the back of Stella's bear looked like...

Now that Stella had some pictures from home to help her if she got lonely, she was ready to go to school!

So was Cille, who was slightly envious of Stella's lunch box...

Stella chose her own outfit for the first day of school. I gave her a choice of three shirts with her name on them and she chose her crown shirt from Mrs. Katie at Lilly Pie Creations. I thought wearing shirts with her name on them might make the first week a little easier on her teachers...

Posing together...

With princess hands...

Getting out of the truck at school...

She looks too grown up and it makes me sad...

She pretty much waltzed into the before care room without so much as a backward glance and went right to playing. I was glad that she was so excited about school, but a little upset that she didn't seem to need her mommy at all!

The family portraits from open house were on display in the hall. We have some awesome friends on this board...

Damon hung around at school long enough to catch Molly Jane arriving for her first day of school as a four-year-old...

Preschool Open House

2011-09-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

August 28th was open house at Stella's new school, St. Timothy's Episcopal Preschool. Pawpaw had come for a visit that day, so we took him with us to open house and forced him to join our family photo. There was also a Saints game that day...

Stella was very excited to meet her teachers and see her seat in her new classroom. She was so pumped that when they asked her to pose for a picture, she posed with princess hands...

We're looking forward to a great year of learning and fun at St. Timothy's!

Goin' Fishin' - for real this time!

2011-09-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

After seeing how much Stella enjoyed "fishing" during TS Lee, we contacted our resident fishing expert, Uncle Ryan, to arrange for Stella to actually catch a real fish. Uncle Ryan went with Daddy and helped to carefully select all the right things for Stella to have a special experience catching her first fish.

The entire experience exceeded all of our expectations and Stella wound up catching 4 fish over the course of the 20 minute outing! Unfortunately, we weren't able to capture many of her exploits on video, but trust us, there was never a dull moment. Stella was very curious about the crickets and could easily have just played with them if the fish weren't biting.

A big thanks to Uncle Ryan for being so patient and showing Stella such a great time. I'm sure his boys will be doing this as soon as they can hold their heads up.

Goin' Fishin'

2011-09-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip to Cabela's, Stella noticed a princess fishing rod and a pink tackle box. She immediately made it her mission in life to acquire those two items so that she could go fishing. Her plan was to catch a fish with the rod and put the fish inside the tackle box. The day that she got her gear, the weather turned wet, so when the rain finally slacked off to a merely annoying mist, she struck out for the pond with her rod...

For her first expedition we didn't think bait or a hook were really necessary...

She wants to audition for Team Ziplock, so she can put stuff in the freezer with Uncle Ryan...

A Rainy Day at LCM

2011-09-13T15:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the torrential downpour that accompanied TS Lee, we spent the weekend finding indoor activities to keep our girls entertained. The Louisiana Children's Museum offered a roof over our heads and plenty of fun for everyone...

Cille loved the legos...

She shared some with Grandma, too...

Does this porch look familiar? It's from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood!

My two Cajuns, making music together...

Stella was paddling her pirogue down the bayou when Claude swam by...

She fed this chicken some gumbo out of her pot. For the chicken's sake, I hope it was seafood gumbo...

She noticed Claude lurking about on a log and threatened to punch him in the nose!

I told you LCM was fun for the whole family. Daddy loved the Lincoln Logs...

Stella finally made it to Grandmere's cabin and cooked up some Cajun delights...

"Up on the porch of Grandmere's old house..." (you must LOVE Petite Rouge to get most of these references.)

Later we visited the restaurant...

Stella was a wonderful waitress...

"Your drink, Ma'am..."

The delicious sandwich that Stella made for me...

Cuddle Monkeys

2011-09-11T16:05:00.000-07:00

A few days ago Damon asked me to bring the camera to the living room and this is what I saw when I got there...

Cille made herself right at home on big sister's lap...

And snuggled down for some cuddle time...

Eventually, she got really comfy...

I love my two little cuddle monkeys!

Silly Girls

2011-09-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Lee, let's just say that the girls had a little bit of extra energy to burn during and after Tripp's celebration dinner. At some point we moved the party to our bedroom, where hijinks ensued. First, Cille decided to dress herself, and did this by putting her Rapunzel shirt on...her legs...

She's very fashion forward...

Stella could not be outdone, and responded to Cille's daring new look with one of her own...Snow White underwear on the head...

I hear it's all the rage in Paris...

Grandpa's Girls

2011-09-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

When Grandpa Crane visited us this past weekend I got some great snapshots of him and Cille playing together...

How sweet is this? Two of my favorite people snuggling...

Cille has changed a little bit since the last time I took her picture cuddling with Grandpa...

And big sister...

Grandpa has changed a little bit since the first time he cuddled with me...

But I guess I've changed a lot since he took this picture of me...

One thing that will never change is that we are three girls who love our grandpa!

Spa Day at the Hair Palace

2011-09-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we visited the Children's Hair Palace so Stella could get a little trim. Cille still hasn't had her first haircut, but that didn't stop her from having a great time at the salon...

This is Stella's beautiful blonde hair before the haircut. Just like Rapunzel, huh?

Stella chose to pilot the airplane this time...

When's my turn?

Checking her reflection...

Stella was very serious during her trim...

Meanwhile, Cille was driving like her daddy in the taxi...

Deep thoughts...

This girl was just thinking about having fun...

Is this picture out of focus? Why, no! Look in the mirror! I should go professional...

Post-trim...

She doesn't look too excited about the blow dryer...

But the results were absolutely beautiful!