HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Just wanted to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year! Tonight we are going to my parents house. We go there every year and have a little party and shoot fireworks. It's okay and the kids have fun. I really wish that one year Eddie and I could go out and celebrate together. Oh well, maybe when the kids are older.
It kinda sucks because stupid LSU is playing some bowl so Eddie and his brother are going to watch it at a bar. Of course I can't go b/c I have to stay with the kids. And it's not like I have the kind of parents that will watch my kids for a little while. They suck. So Eddie probably won't be getting to my parents til around 11.
Oh, and I my computer got a virus last night so I'm typing in safe mode right now. It's blurring and killing my eyes! All I did was go to a site where you get comments to post on Myspace and BAM! Next thing ya know my computer is doing all sorts of wacky shit. It also erases all restore points, tried that. Thank goodness my hubby is a wiz at computers. He'll probably wipe it clean this weekend and I'll just start anew =)
Ok, well, I have to go make some cupcakes for tonight. Be safe tonight.
And here's to a HAPPY, PROSPEROUS, NEW YEAR! And don't forget to eat your black eyed peas, cabbage and cornbread tomorrow to be happy, healthy, wealthy and wise in 2009!

Christmas 2008

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. We had a good one. We all woke up around 9 a.m. Christmas morning. The kids went after their Santa gifts and stocking first. Santa got the 3 boys Nintendo DS's. Bren got Black, Chase got Blue, and Logan got Crimson. They each found DS games in their stockings along with other things and candy. We ate a quick breakfast then onto opening the other gifts. We got Chase a Losi mini RC Hemi truck. It's cute and fast and easy for him to control, he loves it! We got Logan a Razor Malibu Scooter, an Indiana Jones whip and hat (he's been dying for that!) and a Cars (the movie) car set. He was happy. And we got Brenden an LG VU cell phone and case. He's been asking for quite a while and ALL his friends have one, and he is a teen now so I figured we should go for it. He was very happy. We also got them a few other little things.
I gave my hubby a Ralph Lauren 1/2 zip pullover, RL long sleeve shirt and the kids gave him some pajama pants. From the kids I got a Hello Kitty scrabooking kit and from my hubby I got a really cool wooden Advent calendar with little doors that open for each day and $100 to go shopping for some clothes!

After opening gifts the kids played with their stuff while I cleaned up and got everyone ready. I baked 2 potato casserole's a one sweet potato casserole and we were off to my parents house for 1. There we had Christmas lunch then opened presents with them. Bren got some money (that's what he wanted) Chase got a big Nerf gun that shoots a million bullets like and oozie! And they hurt too! And he got a board game. Logan got a smaller Nerf gun and a fishing game. Eddie and I got money. After we had dessert and left a little after 4 to go home to rest for a bit until we had to be at his parents house. I picked up some more and tried to rest a bit then had to bake 2 more potato casserole's! We went to his parents house for 6:30. We ate Christmas dinner then opened presents there. Bren got more money (again, what he asked for!), Chase and Logan got Air Hawk anti gravity cars, they really do drive on the walls! Eddie got a drill & a Crown Royal gift set and I got a $50 gift card. We had dessert, again! And left there around 10. I was SO tired by the time we got home! Of course the kids wanted to play with all their stuff. Eddie is usually off between Christmas and New Year but couldn't get that this year so he had to work the next day and went to bed, sucks. I stayed up with the kids til about 2 that morning!
We had a great Christmas with lots of good food and family =)
Hope you did too!
My kids can't wait til next Christmas! Only 362 more days til Christmas, LOL!
Here are some pics- More to come...

A very sick little boy needs your prayers.

Go to www.carepages.com to sign up (it only takes a sec) and search ColemanScott. He just turned 5 about 2 weeks ago and has been battling cancer since he was 2 1/2. He, his twin brother and Mom and Dad were supposed to be going to visit family Christmas eve when Coleman took a turn for the worse. And last I heard he was airlifted to a hospital Christmas day. So very sad. I'm not sure what's going on right now but I do know that he needs some good thoughts, prayers or whatever to make things better!
If you'd like, you can also check out my son's carepage by searching BubbleBoyChase.
Thanks,
K

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Comments Online Mall

Merry Christmas Eve =)

Tonight we had the kids "adopted" gradparents over for dinner. I fixed ham, potato casserole, sweet potato casserole, fresh green beans and rolls. It was yummy! And for dessert I fixed a tray with my sugar cookies, Cinnamon-Sugar Pecans and White Trash. They loved it.
After we finished watching Christmas in Wonderland then we opened our presents from each other. The boys each got Game Stop gift cards and Logan & Chase got games for their Leapsters. And she had a stocking filled with tons of goodies for them to pick out. They gave us a new set of dishes (that I picked out!) and then surprised us with another set! Being they are only 4 settings and we have 5 people so this way we all have plates and such and can even have company over with the extras! We gave them a really pretty suncatcher thingy (that she had actually wanted to buy one night when we were out but I told her not to and to put it on her Christmas list) and the boys gave them a picture of them in a frame. They really loved that =)
After that we let them open one small present under the tree. They all picked the ones from each other (which they had no idea what they were, LOL!) But they had seen them and really wanted to open those. They were funny gifts so I'm glad they did choose those. They were these reindeer that you fill with mini jellybeans and then to get them out the reindeer poops them out! They are so funny and they all loved them!
They left around 9:30 since we all have big days tomorrow! Now my boys are watching The Grinch, the one with Jim Carrey. And will hopefully be in bed by midnight so Santa can visit ;)
We have a big day tomorrow! I doubt we'll make it home before midnight so I'll post about it on Friday while I'm relaxing!
Merry Christmas to all! And to all a good night!

Gingerbread Houses!

Well, they are really graham cracker houses, LOL! We started this tradition last year. We go to our neighbor's house 2 houses down, we make gingerbread houses and eat dinner and the kids play.
Brenden and his friend Richard were making gingerbread mansions but they both fell down =(
I helped Logan and Chase. Logan's roof fell in but I picked it up and put some crackers down for reinforcement! They both came out great. Except when we got home I had set them both on the counter but while we were'nt looking the stupid dog tried to eat Chase's and knocked it on the floor ruining it. I did get some pics before though!

When we got home I had to run to the store real quick, Bren, Chase & Richard came with me and Logan (3) stayed home with Eddie. Well, Eddie was in the back of the house cleaning the bathroom and I guess Logan couldn't find him so he walked back down to the neighbor's house telling them that we had all left him home alone!! So I get home and Dana is walking down the street with Logan and says "ya'll really did leave". I'm like no, not all of us, Eddie is home, why? So she tells me how Logan came down telling her we had all left him! I felt like a bad mom for a second! I went in the house to find Eddie who's still in the back and ask him if he knew where Logan was. He says he thought he went to the store with me! Great, just great!

After all this I made 5, yes 5 potato casserole's! I need 1 for Christmas eve, and 4 for Christmas Day...2 for my parent's and 2 for Eddie's parents get togethers. I want to do as little as possible tomorrow and Christmas so I make those ahead that way all I have to do is make the topping real quick and bake it.

Tomorrow night the kids adopted grandparents are coming over for Christmas Eve dinne with us. I have most of the house cleaned but still need to do the floors. I'm hoping to have a semi-relaxed day tomorrow. Christmas day will be busy, busy, busy! But fun nonetheless =)

I am done with all my shopping and all my wrapping so I'm ready for some Christmas fun!
Night!


Here are some pics from tonight:

Cinnamon-Sugar Pecans

This one is sooo easy and sooo good! They sell these at the mall in a tiny bag for 6 bucks! So I found this recipe on Vicarious Foodie and made a whole pound for 6 bucks!

1 bag pecans
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon powder
2 zip top freezer bags

In one zip bag put egg white and 1 tablespoon water. Close and shake. Then add whole bag of pecans and coat. In the other zip bag put one cup sugar and 2 tbls. cinnamon. Pour coated pecans into sugar bag, zip tightly and shake until all pecans are coated with sugar. Pour out onto well greased baking pan and bake for 1 hour at 250* Stir pecans every 20 minutes in between.
When done let cool. They are great warm but even better when completely cooled!
Enjoy =)

Christmas White Trash

Ok, I'm not really sure if that's the name or not! But I made some tonight.
Here's the recipe, I kinda made it up as I went!
4 hanfuls pretzel sticks
8 handfuls of peanut butter captain crunch
whole medium bag of Christmas M&M's
(and you can add whatever else you want too...nuts, raisins,any kind of cereal, chex mix, whatever you want!)
1 pack of Almond Bark
Half bag of powdered sugar

Put all dry ingredients in a big bowl. Melt Almond Bark as stated on package. Pour melted Almond Bark on dry ingredients and mix till coated. Then pour onto baking pan covered with wax paper, sprinkle powdered sugar all over and let dry. When dry, break apart into smaller pieces and voila! You've got some yummy eats =)

Christmas Parties!

I had 3 Christmas parties this week! The first one was Wednesday night at a neighbor's house on another street. It was a white elephant party, I'd never been to one of those before. Another friend of mine was invited, thank goodness b/c it's always nice to have someone you really know with you. We walked over around 7 and were one of the first there. We each had to bring an appetizer so I brought my cookies that I make and some cinnamon-sugar pecans and my friend brought her yummy spinach and artichoke dip. There were sooo many yummy dishes there and of course I had to try everything, LOL! We ate, played some Christmas games and then did the gift exchange. That was a little awkward though. It was only a $5 limit which isn't easy! I brought an Amaryllis flower bulb and pit kit, it was $5 exactly. But the gift I picked was a pack of napkins! WTF is up with that? Not cloth napkins, freaking paper napkins! I know they did not cost more then $2.50, no way, no how! And the lady who brought them had picked a great gift that I really wanted (it was one of those things you hang on the table to hang your purse) but I didn't want to be a bitch and steal it from her. Although that is the name of the game, right?
Oh well. My friend got the 2nd suckiest gift...a tiny calculator, the kind you get for free as a reward when your kid sells school fundraiser stuff.
Besides that it was a nice party.

The next night, Thursday night was our Christmas caroling party with the neighbors on our street. I made meatballs in the crockpot, Christmas sugar cookies and cinnamon sugar pecans.
We had some good food there too. Then we all went caroling around the neighborhood. A pretty good bit of people opened their doors compared to years past. This was our 4th year doing this.

Friday night we went to my husbands company Christmas party. My parents came over to watch the kids, that was a first! The party was at the owner's house, it was nice. Catered food and an open bar! We had good time but had to leave by midnight so I could let my parents go. I know that seems like late enough but it's never late enough for my husband!

HOT!

Just one week ago it was 33 degrees and snowing in the daytime! Today, it is 80 degrees! What is up with that?

More Snow Pics

Well, we had way more than a 1/2 inch! By the time it was all over we had 4 inches! I think that is a record for Louisiana! We played in it all day. Well, the my 2 older boys did...me & the little one knew when we'd had enough! They must have changed clothes 3 times and dryed their shoes a million times! But they had a blast building snowmen, riding in it and having snowball fights =)

By the end of the day it was almost gone =( Especially my yard since the kids wouldn't stay out of it!

SNOW PICS 2

SNOW IN LOUISIANA PICTURES

Here are some pics from the early morning hours.

IT'S SNOWING! IT'S REALLY SNOWING IN LOUISIANA!

OMG! It's snowing! Like really snowing big fluffy, beautiful snowflakes! We've been out playing in it since 5:30 this morning! Crazy I know! It was still dark and just awesome. I called and text everyone to tell them. The neighbors came out and we turned our Christmas lights on. It's just beautiful!
Of course none of us really own a winter coat, LOL! I walked out at first with a short sleeve shirt and bare feet! I wanted to get some pics just in case b/c who knew it was going to keep on this long! I went in and found the heaviest jacket I could and put a hoodie underneath with pajama pants, thick socks and my tennis shoes. It's 7 a.m. now and my hands are frozen! They hurt!
Oh, and my hair is soaked too! Gonna go dry off and warm up and then go back out and enjoy it =)

Hot, Cold, Wind, Rain, Sleet, Snow!

That's Louisiana weather for ya! Well...not the sleet and snow part. Buuuuttttt...it is a possibility that early this morning we could have sleet and snow with maybe a half inch accumulation! Whoo hoo! I know, I know, if any Northerners are reading this they are probably laughing so hard at me, LOL! But this is exciting for us! Even if we don't get any accumulation and I just get to see a snowflake or two I'd be happy =) We haven't seen any snow in a verrrrryyyyy long time. I mean, I was born and lived in Kansas for 5 yrs plus I visited every Christmas up until I was 18 and been to Colorado many times so I've seen and played in snow. But my kids haven't. We had a little back in 2002 I think it was, so they don't really remember and Logan wasn't born til 05 so he's never seen it. It would just be so cool!
Our weather is always weird in December. Just yesterday it was almost 80 degrees and very windy. Today it was 55, windy & raining and is 39 now. And of course my roof is still not fixed and all of the tarps have blown away. It rained ALL day today, that is so not good.
Right now it is sprinkling lightly and they say to expect the sleet and/or snow sometime after 3 a.m. and into the morning. Guess we'll see!

Dec. 7th Already?

Time is getting away from me again. I hate it when that happens! So much for sticking to my Christmas plan this year. Last week Chase was sick so we didn't get to do some of the things I wanted to do. He seems to be feeling much better now, thank goodness =)
Tomorrow we'll do school and some Christmas coloring sheets. I made some more sugar cookies this weekend so we'll ice and decorate those tomorrow evening.
Hope everyone had a good weekend.

December 2nd

Well, first thing this morning I had to call the doctor to make an appointment. Chase just isn't getting better and is having to many asthma attacks. And even with the breathing treatments (Xopenex) I can't get it under control.
After making the appt. we went back to sleep til about 10 b/c we had been up since 4 a.m. We got up and got ready and my Mom came by to visit for a bit. Then I was on the phone with my insurance guy for about an hour trying to get some better health ins. My roofer was supposed to be here at 1 and never showed up or answered my calls, great, just great. I don't know what's up with that. By the time I was done with everything I needed to do it was almost time to take Chase to the doctor! We didn't get any school work done today or any Christmas activities :/
We got to the doc and of course had to wait. We brought the doc some of the Christmas cookies we made and a thank you card for being such a great doctor. He really is the best. He gave us some samples of the meds we needed, thank goodness and all I had to buy was his antibiotic. So it wasn't too bad and didn't break the bank! He's got what he gets every year...Mycoplasma Pneumonia. He used to have to be admitted to the hospital when he was younger but know we are able to care for him at home with Zithromax, Orapred, Xopenex and Pulmicort. He should be feeling better by tomorrow.
I also got a chance to talk to his doc about a study they are doing at the NIH (National Institutes of Health). The case manager has asked if we'd like to do a blood test to check for the STAT 3 gene mutation to see if Chase has Hyper IgE/Job's syndrome. She said she'd send me some dates and the info to our doctor so they can do the blood work and ship it off overnight. Best part about that is that the NIH pays for all of it! She said it would take about 2 to 3 months to get the results back and if his test comes back positive for the STAT 3 mutation he'll be accepted into the study in late March/ early April. Maybe then we'll be able to find some answers as to why his IgE (allergy response in the body) is so unbelievably high, and why his asthma and eczema are so bad. Chase won't be happy about having blood drawn but he'll get through it.
Ok, I have to get some sleep! Be back tomorrow night with hopefully my Christmas plan written out!
~Goodnight

December 1st- The Christmas Plan

Well, it's officially December now! My kids are super excited about Christmas and are counting down the days. Friday all of the neighbors were out putting up their decorations. Saturday it rained most of the day but we were back out Sunday putting stuff up. Our street is so bright and cheery and even more so now that the neighbor across the street is getting his stuff up. He's the one that has the lights programmed to the beat of the music. So when you turn on our street you tune your radio to the channel he has listed and you can hear the music and watch the light right there in your car.
You can see a short clip from last year here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tnk6_lXRIe8
This video doesn't do it justice but you get the idea.
Anyway, I put up most of my decorations by Sunday evening. I am waiting to put up the rest until I see my roofer Tuesday. I don't want to put lights up on the house and have to take them back down.
Ok, so last year my friend Becky had talked about doing a Christmas plan. It's where you plan an activity for each day leading up to Christmas. I did one and it was really fun. I haven't written it up yet, but will probably go by the one we did last year. So today I had the 2 girls I watch and our activity today was coloring gingerbread men. We also made Christmas cookies and decorated them tonight.
I'm not sure what our activity will be tomorrow. My middle son that has asthma has been sick and is getting worse. I try to do everything we can to make him better before going to the doctor for meds so we'll see.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I hope everyone had a full day with family & friends. We went to my parents today. It was our first Thanksgiving with us all together in a few years. My parents just moved back from New Jersey. I am thankful to have them here again =)

I know I haven't posted in a while. Things here have been crazy busy! But the Chritmas season is upon us now which means I'll be posting almost everyday with Christmas activities that we do in the days leading up to Christmas day =)

Happy Thanksgiving!

~K

Happy Birthday to my Hubby!

Today is my hubby's 38th birthday! Of course dum dum didn't even think to take off work. I ended up cleaning the house all day b/c I had invited his parents over for cake and ice cream tonight. Then the kids and I went and got the plates and the cake and found a present for them to give to him. He's so picky so we weren't sure what to get but then I remembered this past weekend he'd been looking in the cabinets for a glass shot glass, all we had was plastic. So we got him a set of 4 shot glasses. I got him a card and put $50 bucks in it. After he got off work I took him (and the kids) to eat at his favorite Mexican restaurant. We got home about 7:30 and his parents came over shortly after.
Happy Birthday Honey =)

When it rains, it pours...literally.

Well, it rained today. And it's raining in my house. I've called the roofer so many times and left messages to no avail. Still waiting for him to call me back.
Then Tuesday night, I was outside and noticed water gushing down my driveway. I head up the driveway and notice it pouring out of a pipe on side my house. I know sometimes if the AC pan overflows it will leak out but this was steaming, scolding hot water! So I run back in the house and go up in the attic. The pipe that comes off the water heater is burning hot. The water heater thermostat trip button won't trip so it's overheating and instead of exploding it has a safety valve that releases the hot water. Great, just great. I'm trying to save up for my roof and now this. So now, about every few hours it releases the very hot water into my driveway. I'm sure that can't be good for my electric bill or water bill. Today when a neighbor drove by and asked why I had steaming water coming out the side of my house, I was kind of embarrased! So I went in the attic and pulled the breaker plug. I also got the model numbers off the water heater and gave them to my husband. He went to Sears service center at lunch and thinks he got the right part. I guess we'll see tonight when he comes home and tries to fix it.

Still need a roof =( Anyone want to donate?

I'm still dealing with the roof issue. A friend of mine down the street has a friend who owns his own roofing company. He gave me his estimate for labor only. It's $2,400. Not bad. But I have to get my own materials. So I've been getting estimates. I found 2 places that were really nice, the others either only sell to contractor's or were no help at all. So the 2 that did give me quotes came out only a few dollars difference. One is $3610.37 with free delivery and the other is $3615.62 with a $25 delivery charge. I'm going to go with the first one with free delivery. So $3610.37 + $2400= $6010.37 and my insurance check was for $4781.77. So I'm $1,228.60 short! Under normal circumstances we'd be able to come up with that money from my husband's work check, buuuut....being he lost over $3000.00 on his last check due to the hurricane we're pretty strapped. And then with Christmas coming up, well, it's just not good. Other family members can do without, but we've got 3 boys to buy for. This just sucks.

Being we are going to have to wait to get our roof I keep calling the roofer to at least come out and put the tarps on to hold us over. He keeps saying he's going to come but never does! All of our tarps have ripped and blown off. Thank goodness it has not rained here in a long time. But, our forecast says we have rain coming this Thursday and Friday! Yikes! If it's not covered before then it's going to get pretty wet in the attic and ruin my ceilings more. My roof looks like a strainer, LOL! Ok, well that's not really funny.
Going to go call the roofer guy again and try to get him out here!

Election Day

Did you vote? I did. And I'm sitting here with my fingers crossed that the candidate I chose wins!

November and Daylight Saving Time

I can't believe it's already November! I find that once Halloween hits Thanksgiving comes so fast and then next thing ya know it's Christmas. When I was younger it seemed like Christmas took forever to get here and now I feel like time just fly's by. Scary!
After trick or treating Friday night on our way to eat pizza we passed by a plant nursery and I was shocked to see they were all decorated for Christmas with the lights on and all! Then on our way home we stopped by Walmart and the Christmas music was already playing! Goodness!
And now this stupid daylight saving time switch...I hate that. I hate when it gets dark so early in the evening! Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it.
So today I guess I'll take down my Halloween decorations and start getting my Christmas decorations ready to put out!

Happy Halloween!

We had a really good Halloween! The boys dressed up...Bren wore a black cloak with his Jason mask, Chase was Ironman and Logan was a Ninja. I got the kids ready early because we had to run to Target and then to the costume store b/c I forgot to get Chase's Ironman gloves! Then we had to go by and visit with the "adopted" grandparents so they could see their costumes and give them their treat bags. They are so sweet. It sucks that my Mom went back to New Jersey last Saturday to help my Dad pack up the house since they are moving back in 2 weeks. I wished she couldve stayed for Halloween so she could see the kids. And of course Eddie's parents didn't even call or give half a shit about what the kids were even dressing as for Halloween. Oh well.
Then we went back home and I put a bucket of candy out for any trick or treaters that might come by and waited for Eddie to get home so we could leave. Each year we trick or treat in our own neighborhood and we have a block party on our street with food and drink and we all get together. But over the years our neighborhood has become a ghost town. Once you step off our street it's just baron. So we'd always try to go find a house with a light on then come back to our street and eat, drink and watch the kids play in the street.
Last year we had promised Chase's old Kindergaten teacher we'd come by her neighborhood and visit and let her see their costumes. When we got to her neighborhood it was booming! Kids everywhere, almost every house was decorated and porch lights on almost every house! It was awesome! So we decided this year to just skip our neighborhood all together and go to hers. We called her earlier in the week and she invited us over before I could even ask if she minded.
Here we have certain hours we can trick or treat, between 6 and 8 p.m. So we got there at 6:15, parked and visited with Mrs. Debbie for a little bit. She had made special treat bags for the kids, she's so sweet. Then we headed down her street to almost every house. The kids loved it. The people were so nice and complemented the kids on the costumes and of course I made sure that my boys said thank you after leaving each house =)
There was one house in particular that I will not forget! We walked up and they had a display on a table filled with cookies from "Cookies By Design" or "Cookie Bouquet" in some areas. http://www.cookiesbydesign.com/
I LOVE these cookies! I have known the owner for many, many years only because we had a store right down the road and I would stop by all the time to get me a cookie! A few years ago he closed that store and moved to a more central location so I don't get by there as much (not that I really need it anyway, LOL!) Anyway, he wasn't there it was his parents handing them out so the kids walked up to get one and she told my husband and I to come pick one out too! I was so happy!
After walking her street, which was very long we walked a half of another street and then turned around b/c the kids were getting tired of walking and Chase had to pee! We went back to Mrs. Debbie's and told her goodbye. We decided to go eat pizza since none of us had eaten yet. But along the way we stopped by our neighborhood just to see how it was and it was completely empty. Not one kid in sight, sad. And we drove by our street and there were only like 4 people out there. I guess most of us with kids left this year. So we went and ate pizza and were home by 9 and no one was outside at all, boring! I'm so glad we made the right choice to go to our friend's neighborhood.
Here are some pics-

Our Trip to Austin & San Marcos Texas

On October 3rd we went to Austin, TX for Eddie's cousin Ricky's wedding. We were supposed to leave at 8 a.m. but somehow missed the alarm clock and didn't wake up til then, Ooops! We ended up leaving at 9 a.m. We made pretty good time and got to our hotel in Austin around 4:30. We stayed at the Embassy Suites-Austin Central. It was okay looking on the outside, but beautiful on the inside. It had 10 floors and a huge atrium area in the middle with fountains and large rocks. Our room was a 2 room suite with a sitting room and 1 bedroom.

The wedding was at 7 so I went ahead and started getting ready. At 6 we went down looking for his brothers but instead ran into his cousin Jeremy and his wife and kids. We hadn't seen him in over 3 years. It was really good to see him. He is like a comedian, keeps us laughing all the time! He lived with us for a few months like 13 yrs. ago and that was fun times! He and his family were leaving on the hotel shuttle to the wedding and asked if we were leaving yet. We told him we were looking for his brother's and would catch the next shuttle. But a few minutes later he came back to tell us there were 5 spots left on the shuttle so we should go now. We did and got to the wedding early, but that was okay because before the wedding they were having a cocktail hour. So when we got there not many people were there and we got to eat the yummy foods they had situated throughout the mansion!
It was definitely a different wedding. Beautiful, just different then we've ever been to. The theme was 1920's. It was held in an old mansion. They did a cocktail hour before and everyone ate, drank and mingled. Then the wedding was held on the stairs, which was pretty but very hard for everyone to see since it was in the foyer area. After the wedding we were led to the Ballroom for dinner and dancing. At the end all of the guests lined the front walk of the mansion and lit sparklers to hold up as they exited to the limo. It was pretty neat.
We missed the first shuttle back so instead rode with Eddie's brother, wife and parents. Everyone in the wedding party including the bride and groom were going out after so Eddie and his brother went. Of course I couldn't go b/c I had to stay back with the kids. Now I know why Eddie's parents rushed back to their room and quickly shut the door barely saying goodnight! I guess they thought I might ask them to watch the kids...yeah right, like I'd start now. No thanks!
Instead the kids and I went down to my sister in law Chantelle's room and hung with her til about 1 a.m. Eddie didn't get back until sometime around 3 a.m. We didn't get much sleep because we had to meet everyone for breakfast in the atrium at 9. We got there about 9:30, it was an awesome breakfast. Probably the best I've had at any hotel throughout the Country! Omelets made to order, pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, hashbrowns, pastries, juices...anything you can imagine, for free! The best kind, LOL!
We ate and then talked with family members and then hit the road by 11. We drove to San Marcos about 45 minutes west of Austin. Cute little college town. We went to Wonder World Cave. It's a dry cave unlike the ones I've been to in Colorado, it was actually formed by an earthquake and is called the Balcones Fault Line. To read more about the park and cave tour click the link: http://www.wonderworldpark.com/html/index.html
It was pretty cool and the kids liked it. After the cave tour they take you back up in an elevator 190 feet up to an observation tower so that you can look down on the fault line. After that they take you to the anti-gravity house. That was pretty neat! I can't really explain it so read about it in the link above. After that we took a train ride across the street and through a waterfall into a petting zoo. We got to pet and feed deer. The kids like that too.
After we were done there we headed back on the country roads to I-10, but along the way saw something falling from the sky. After driving a little further we realized it was a parachute and a person! We had come up to the San Marcos Skydive base. My Dad had told me about it, but I wasn't sure where it was. He had jumped here when he was in the Army 40 yrs. ago. The airborne guys had teased he and a few other Army guys so much that my Dad and some other guys went and jumped just to prove they could do it! So we stopped and took pictures of the kids. While taking their pictures 2 girls were driving out and stopped to take pics. I asked if they'd like me to take their pic together, so I did and found out that they were the ones who had just jumped! I told them they were brave but crazy!
After that we headed home and made it back to Baton Rouge a little after 10.
Here are some pics from our trip-