How Was Your Weekend?

Everywhere else in the world it was just a regular-old weekend, but here in NOLA it was the start of Mardi Gras 2013 and it was 75 degrees and the skies were blue.  So, for a handful of hours, I celebrated with friends and family, remembered why I hassle with all of the cons, and reveled in the awesomeness of the place where I live.   Sun up until sun down and beyond, on the Napoleon Avenue neutral ground, you could see a little something like this...and it made me smile:

Carnival Time

The beautiful picture below is Rex's 2013 Proclamation.  The Title, All Things Great and Small.  The artist, Shelley Hesse.  I love it and it certainly puts me in the Mardi Gras spirit.

If you enjoy this sort of thing and find yourself in the NOLA area, I highly recommend a brief stop at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts to check out the Mardi Gras exhibits where you will be treated to some lovely MG themed artwork, including a few incredible "Proclamations" from years ago.

And, in case you were curious, here is my all-time favorite, courtesy of Auseklis Ozols:

My favorite part - the kiddos in the ladders - of course - it pains me to think that I only have a year or two more of ladder usage at parades.  I think Lucy has totally moved into the painter/step ladder phase  this year.

Jamesy, Haircut...For Real

We finally (and at long last) got a bona fide haircut for James.  We had been dancing around this for the better part of a year, trimming back bangs, taking up the sides here and there, but James had never had a real haircut until last week.  Right around the start of Christmas break, one of James' buddies commented about his hair and how he has to cut it for school.  This was not the first reference to the school's haircut policy (yeah, there is one, and it says that hair needs to be short), but it was the first time we finally realized that it was a good idea.  So, gone is the sweet, baby boy hair and now when I look at him I just see this 4 year old kid, someone ready to tackle me and race me around the house and dodge my kisses....just like that...

Well, not exactly 'just like that'...it took a ton of patience and love and skill (and courage)...all thanks to the amazingly talented Aunt Susan:

F O U R

Remember this little fella?

Jamesy, first kiss, 1.9.09

Yeah, me too, like it was yesterday.  He turns 4 tomorrow and the whole thing is totally bittersweet for me...a gigantic mix of sorry and glad together.  I just wish there was some way to slow it down a tad, you know?  Alas, there's not much else to do but celebrate, so Happy Birthday James, and thanks for being the best baby boy ever.  Love, Mama

My Christmas Wish List

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany aka The Feast of the Three Kings.  But in NOLA, today is Twelfth Night, the start of the Carnival Season.  What that means around here is that parades are starting soon and we get to eat king cake, lots of it.  The timing (rather unfortunately) coincides with a sugar detox on my part.  I had a tough time waiving away the multiple offers of king cake today, especially the super-sugary Randazzo's  one that was calling my name.  So, when I was not busy waiving off king cake I was clearing out the Christmas clutter.  Or, I was supposed to be, but instead I spent hours playing with one of my favorite Christmas presents ever:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and cannot believe that I waited this long to finally get one!!

Here are the other awesome items that were on my wish list and are now making me smile:

 Birchbox, the gift that keeps on giving (well, for a year at least).

A mandolin!  I know, too many episodes of Top Chef, but these things look awesome and seem like they make for perfectly sliced veggies.

I finally indulged and got a pair of fancy jeans.  I have been wanting a pair of nice jeans for years, since I first learned about 7 For All Mankind, but I never bought a pair, opting instead for the more reasonably priced Gap options.  I wear jeans to work much more frequently than I used to when I worked in a law firm so I have been on the lookout for the perfect pair for the past year.  I saw these beautiful Imogene + Willie jeans and fell in love.  They are much, much more than a pair of jeans.  See for yourself, www.imogeneandwillie.com.

A beautiful and stylish Neverfull all for me and doing a good job of keeping me feeling lovely in my last few months of my last year in my 30's!

The best present of all though was the uninterrupted time with the kiddos.  I love every minute of it, the challenging and exhausting and the bliss.  I need more of that time because their childhood is racing by.  Can you believe that James turns 4 on Wednesday?  4!!

Here they are at the top of Kennesaw Mountain after a hike:

And yeah, James got a haircut, we all did, but his was the most noticeable one of all.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

It is hard to believe that my last blog post was weeks ago and that I was only just filling you in on our fabulous Thanksgiving vacation, and now it is 2013.  I always imagined that I would have more free time as the kiddos got older but it just has not worked out that way. I do not want to miss out on a minute of this awesomeness because it is flying by, so just bear with me when life gets in the way and the posts are sporadic.

We had a wonderful Christmas/NYE vacation despite the fact that Christian was sidelined with a terrible cold for the better part of the break.  We visited with family in NOLA and ATL, got incredibly spoiled by Santa and our family, and enjoyed some much-needed time away from the daily grind.  More on all of that and pictures to follow soon, but until then - Happy 2013 to all of you!