All Weekend Long

NOLA's 2013 Jazz Fest kicked off Friday and what was going to be a peaceful, kid free visit to the Fest on Saturday afternoon for Christian turned into a family affair. Luz had been begging to go all day - dreaming about mango freezes and strawberry lemonade, but James was initially content to spend a quiet afternoon at home with me.  At the last minute he worried that he would be missing out and changed his mind, so we all headed out there for a beautiful afternoon.  There are many NOLA favorites in my life, but sunset at Jazz Fest is very close to the top of that list and I got to experience a beautiful one on Saturday evening.  After spending the entire day outside - starting with a 7:30 a.m. run/bike/dog walk outing, followed by a few hours at the park for James' t-ball practice, and ending with JF - the kids crashed the second their heads hit their pillows.

Today was another long and fun-filled day.  We headed to the Northshore to pick strawberries with some friends.  The strawberry fields were covered in mud thanks to a  torrential downpour, but the kids were not deterred.  We ate our weight in strawberries as we picked and came home with 12 pints. I am curious to see how long it will last us.  The kids loved picking strawberries and playing on all of the toys in one of the most bizarre playgrounds I have ever seen. There were castaway swing sets and merry-go-rounds that have been outlawed for years - the land of the misfit play sets.  There were see-saws and a zip line and a gigantic dome-like, in-ground trampoline that is a total liability.  Of course the kids loved every minute of it...and I have to say, I enjoyed it too.

Luz, enjoying her ice cream snowball:

Staring at the clouds, listening to Andrew Bird:

Picking strawberries:

My girl, so grown up:

In the fields:

Strawberry mouth:

James, zip-lining:

Having fun, despite the potential liability:

I'm Still Here, Really

I apologize for the relaxed approach to blogging I have been exhibiting lately.  Facebook and Instagram are so easy and, well, instant, that I end up sharing everything over the course of the day instead of an in an end-of-the-day post.  I am going to try to keep up with the blogging, at least for a little while longer, so that I can maintain a journal of the adventures of Luz and James.  That said, if you are in need of more consistent updates, follow me on Instagram and Facebook and occasionally on Twitter.

The last few weeks have been filled with school and work and fabulous weddings and soccer and softball and school fairs and bike riding and long afternoon walks with Noah.  Work has been busy for me and even busier for Christian as the end of the year approaches.  It is hard to believe, but we are already mapping out the summer, filling empty days with camps and classes and trips to Atlanta to visit Nana and Papa.  When I was a kid, at least when I was a little kid, I went to camp but I know that I had more than a handful of unstructured summer vacation days.  It just isn't the same these days.

These days Luz is obsessed with an old Razor scooter I bought on a lark for $5 at a garage sale.  Christian refurbished it as much as possible and she rides it all the time - to and from school, all around the neighborhood - I wish her approach to the two-wheeler was as enthusiastic.  She finished out the soccer season with 2 victories and 2 goals - which meant lots of smiles and a BIG feeling of accomplishment.  It was a great season for her, mentally and physically.

James is obsessed with his bike and will probably be tooling around on a two-wheeler long before Luz. He rides it every afternoon and all weekend long.  I love seeing something like that catch his attention as much as Star Wars and playing the Ipad.  He and Luz are both looking forward to Jazz Fest, the start of the Carrolton softball season, and summer vacation.

Happy Easter

I still have trouble adjusting to the idea that Easter is just a weekend these days and that Holy Thursday and Good Friday are special, particularly for Catholics, but business as usual for most of the rest of the country.  I suppose it was the 14 years I spent in Catholic school, enjoying a Spring Break that aligned perfectly with Easter that has set me up for disappointment each year when Holy Week rolls around.  So, while Christian and the kids were lounging around in pjs, watching cartoons and enjoying some incredibly beautiful weather, I was working.  But, I enjoyed a peaceful Saturday and Sunday in the country, visiting with family, eating crawfish, and relaxing.  The only stressful moment came when I realized that the Paas egg dye stained...what, you say...seriously, James' hands are still green hued.

The kiddos, with sweet baby Walker, getting ready to hunt for eggs:

Lucy and James enjoyed a few rides on the newest addition, Buster:

Mardi Gras 2013 Photographs

I did not take many pictures during Mardi Gras this year.  I forgot the camera a couple of times, found the flash particularly problematic ruling out using it at night parades, and just flat out declined to lug it around on some of our multi-hour excursions to the parade route.  So, I have a few pics, but not many, from this year.  Fortunately, my cousin, Laurie, did a much better job of documenting the weekend and sent a few pictures to me today. She sent this one in particular that I love.

I do not have the type of kids that can fall asleep anywhere.   I always wished for it to happen when they were younger.  I'd state slack-jawed as I watched other kids face-plant into pasta bowls, but it just was not in my kids' DNA.  But then on this night there were a series of parades at the end of many long days and late nights and lots of sugar and bribes (because one little boy would rather do just about anything than watch a parade), and he finally decided sleep was a good idea. Lucky for James, his sweet Papa did not even budge and kept the beads away from his head.  Don't worry, after smiling and feeling my heart fill up with love and laughing for a float or two I took him down and brought him home and put him to bed.  I will not ever forget that night though.

Our Weekend

It was 75 degrees and sunny all weekend long.  We spent as much time as possible outside, soaking up the sun.  Hours and hours of cool fresh air and blue skies, filled with sports and long walks and chasing tennis balls (Noah and James) and watching sun sets and swinging and reading and napping in warm sun rays (James and Noah) and playing make-believe.

Dorothy taking Superman on a ride around the world or Oz or Camp Street:

Miss These Guys?

We are still here...busy with the usual stuff of 4 and 7 year olds...but enjoying (almost) every minute of it.  The last few weeks have been particularly crazy as we had two out of town weddings and still had not completely recovered from the Mini Mardi Gras - Super Bowl - Mardi Gras trifecta.  It has all been wonderful, but slightly exhausting and, even though we were in town this weekend, it was filled with (finally) cleaning and organizing and unpacking and grocery shopping and soccer and play dates and Girl Scout Cookie sales and all of that sort of stuff.

Now we are gearing up for Catherine's wedding and Easter and crawfish season and Jazz Fest and I really need to start mapping out the summer, because I know I am going to wake up sometime soon and it is going to be June and it will be too late to scramble for camps at that point.

So, yeah, it has been and I guess it will continue to be the usual 'life just racing on by' over here in NOLA.  But I am trying to remember that a leisurely 30 minute walk to the park with the kiddos to watch Noah chase a tennis ball can slow things down at least a little, and, even if it means pushing bedtime back an extra half-hour, it is totally worth it.

Lu and James, Lawrence Square 6 pm (enjoying that extra hour of sunshine)

Hi There

It has been busy, very busy around here in NOLA.  I promise I will tell you all about the exciting things we have been up to around here but it is Sunday night, already passed my bedtime, and I have the yeoman's task of motivating the kids after a week of Mardi Gras vacation on my own tomorrow morning since Christian is in Atlanta for  a bachelor party weekend ( I know, yes, he is 39).  And it is no ordinary morning, I have meetings starting at 8 a.m., which means we have to be out of the house even earlier than usual.  Wish me luck.

I leave you with a beautiful, feathery, beaded wonder donned by a Mardi Gras Indian on Fat Tuesday...probably my favorite sight of the day other than the kiddos' smiling faces and frantic waves for trinkets:

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!

Thanksgiving 2012 Photos Part II

Seeing as we are just a little over a week away from Christmas, I figured it would be a good time to finally post some of the photographs from our wonderful Thanksgiving weekend in Thibodaux.  We spent five peaceful days with family doing all of the awesome things we cannot do in the city - disconnect from everything electronic (well, sort of, Nana and mom-mom had a few Bejeweled tournaments going on and we cannot live without music and using the Iphone occasionally), taking long walks, lounging around in the sunshine, picking (and eating) citrus, riding around in the golf cart, tasting the 2012 crop of cane, and making memories.  The best part of the time we spent was watching the next generation of the family do all of the things that I remember doing as a kid.

Kiddos, playing on the other side of the ditch (fortunately it was dry and snake free):

Picking mama some grapefruit:

Kiddos, playing in the newly-renovated doll house:

Ready for a Thanksgiving feast:

Frying the turkeys:

Suppertime:

 We are only missing one in this picture - baby Walker was sleeping at the time:

Here he is, on Lucy's lap:

Hayride time:

With Nana and Papa-T:

N O A H

He is big and black and super-fast and full of love and now he is part of the Vaicius family:

We adopted him and were told he was "about 3", but Christian took one look at him and decided he was closer to 13.  The vet split the difference and landed on 6 or 7.  The age is actually a good thing, he is chilled out enough that he does not bark at everything and understands that on the weekends he needs to sleep late.  He is crate trained, great with kids, and does just fine on a 3 or 4 mile run before dawn.   Someone took the time to train him in his youth because he is incredibly obedient.  He loves to fetch and play and mostly just wants to be wherever I am, which warms my heart.