Mardi Gras Mambo, Day 53

Being originally from the awesome city of New Orleans, Mardi Gras is a celebration that is near and dear to my heart.  I grew up having a week off school for Mardi Gras, not spring break.  We had king cake Fridays in my class from January through Mardi Gras.  If you got the piece with the baby, your mom had to bring the class king cake for the next Friday.  I grew up going to all of the fun family parades (yes, there is such a thing as family friendly Mardi Gras) and even had the opportunity to be in a parade one year.  We were on a Sesame Street float with my cousin and uncle.  My cousin and I were Bert and Ernie and we were in charge of throwing the beads and goodies to everyone.  Fun times.

My girls have been to Mardi Gras once, but they were much younger and I am not sure they remember much of it.  I would love to take them again.  Every February my mom and my aunt work together to send us a little treat from New Orleans - a Randazzo king cake!  It's the real deal - no Walmart imitation - and people wait in lines at the bakery just to buy one.  My kids love fighting over the piece with the baby and the whole thing is usually gone in a day!

Seeing green, Day 50

Stores don't give you anytime between holidays anymore.  Out with Valentine's Day - in with St. Patrick's Day!

Running errands today with 4 kids in tow = LUCKY me!  

dreaming, Day 36

It's a Saturday in February and guess what I am scouring Pinterest researching for? This

and this














Some days you wish you could just fast forward to a Saturday in June!

The blink of an eye, Day 35

 I take a lot of pictures of my son sleeping.  I just love his eyelashes.  They are to die for and as a girl, I am a wee bit jealous.  I also have an 8 year old who loves to do cartwheels.  Nonstop.  Probably 100's a day. I'm always telling her, be careful, watch your feet.  And then one day little brother walked into the path of a cartwheel.  Her heel came down on his eye, pulled the eyelid down, cutting it and pulling out almost all of his upper eyelashes.  There is nothing like the sight of your child running to you holding his eye with blood on his face.  Eyeballs kind of gross me out.  Thankfully, the cut was minor.  But the lashes!  Oh my, my heart breaks every time I look at him.  I know, it's not a big deal.  They will grow back and all will be fine.  But I've been in love with those eyelashes since the doctor put him in my arms almost 4 years ago.  I can't help it if I miss them!  Anyone know what the growth cycle is for eyelashes?

Drink up, day 34

I am a drinker.  I always feel like I need a drink in the car with me, a drink on the table beside me, I like the feel of a cup in my hand.  Of course, not alcoholic drinks, but just about anything else, really.  A quick list of my favorites:
Coffee (including anything and everything from Starbucks)
Unsweet Tea (cold and hot)
Milk
Chocolate Milk
Diet Coke
Coke
Diet Dr. Pepper
Dr. Pepper
Root Beer
Sprite
Lemonade
Orange juice
Almond milk
Smoothies

Do you see what is not on that list?  Water.  Yuck and yuck.  I wish I was a water drinker, but I just feel like it's missing something.  Calories can add up really fast when you drink them and I try to stay away from too much caffeine, so I came up with another option.  A pomegranate spritzer.

I just love this drink and must have it stocked at all times now.  Crushed ice, sparkling water (any kind) and a splash or two of pure pomegranate juice.  Low calorie, no caffeine, tart, and good for me too!

Face your fears, day 33

Tonight at our Wednesday night church activities, the 5th graders had the opportunity to climb on our rock wall that is normally reserved for the older students.  MJ is extremely afraid of heights.  She has attempted this wall many times before, but her fear just takes over.  Tonight I was so proud to see her get back up and try again.  I saw the look in her eyes and knew she wanted to escape and be anywhere but in front of her friends facing that wall.  Everyone encouraged her and even though she only made it 1/3 of the way up, she still made her mom proud.  We all have fears, but I was glad to see that her fear did not immobilize her, cause her to sit on the couch up against the wall.  She is so brave and I wish I was more like her.  A lot of days, I think the times when our children teach US are my most favorite parenting moments.

One down, 11 to go, day 32

I made it through my first month of daily blogging!  I can't say it has been anything life changing, but I have been forced to stop during my day and think, "this is a fun moment, this is experiencing joy" and make a note of it for a post.  There are so many everyday moments that I want to remember, so I am so quite pleased to have accomplished the first month!  Now on to February - the month of love!  Here's a quick pick of my sweethearts from a local pizza joint on a quick night out.  Don't they have the sweetest smiles?