How you know you are EXHAUSTED!

Joel was enjoying some pancakes while I was cleaning the kitchen. I didn't hear anything for a while so I went to check. He was TKO'd.

Amy

Thankfulness...is that spelled correctly, is it a word??

This year we had a nice Thanksgiving. It was small, non traditional, but very nice.

Friday I was shopping by 4:30 am and ended up getting a few really nice things for Christmas at decent prices. Joel and I also put up the outside decorations. It looks pretty neat.

The three little lights on the left side are presents. The seven foot Elmo is from last year. And there is a toy solider near the doorstep that is from Barry's Marmette's house. She gave it to us when we lived in Lafayette. The ULL Sign is a year round staple in the yard...courtesy of Ms Fay who .....shall we call it...... procured it for me from a McDonald's in Broussard. Great stuff!

This morning I decorated McAlisters. My Mom's friend Aunt Liz was in from Dallas and we visited with her and her children this morning. It was really fun.

And - the title for the post is Thankfulness (I mean that is the season right)
So we are thankful for:
- Health
- Jobs
- Good friends/Family
- Hearing from our friends
- God's grace
- Joel said he is thankful for the TV...imagine that.
& many more things

We hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I am going to go put on the Christmas music, haul in the boxes and put up the tree.

Amy

Santa!

Today Santa was at the Glenwood Medical Mall in West Monroe. We went this afternoon. Joel was so handsome!


Joel and Lillie all dressed up. They are two cute kids. Cassandra made a good point. Lillie is 2 years older than Joel. I wonder - is Lillie really short OR is Joel really tall?


Joel with Santa. We will get the professional version of this picture in a few weeks, I didn't get one with him looking at me. Hopefully Patty's is better.


Joel with the elves...such a lady's man.


On the way home...his craft from school this week was a headdress type thing. He loves it and is so proud of it.

Apple does not fall far from the tree

I was going thru some pictures Friday.... When I saw this one, I thought....wow I was really cute...and wow, that does look like Joel.

I thought I would share.

Joel's New Hair do

Joel got a haircut today...his first in a very long time. I love it long, but it was in his eyes...and it is hard to find anyone to leave length on a poor child's hair. I wish I could find a children's specialty hair place...but there is no such thing around here.
So - we went to a barber shop. It went well. The barber, Christi, changed the TV from sports center to cartoons....and he was comatose from that point and she could pretty much do his hair with no interruptions (whining fits, squirming).
The new do....


Mr. Mike (our neighbor that Joel adores) was riding his bike outside with a helmet light yesterday. Joel thought it was the neatest thing. Mr. Mike gave Joel a headlight today. He wore it while playing outside in a pile of leaves with Harley (another neighbor). Somehow a stick ends up being some sort of rocket all the time. They could have played in the leaves for hours.



Bed time






A cute video...

PROJECT RUNWAY!

Project Runway starts tonight. I am so ready!
I LOVE the show and can't wait to see the new designers.
Mom is going to come over to watch with me...I can't wait!

Happy Birthday Barry!

Barry turned 27 Monday. We had dinner at home with a cake. Mimi, Charlie, Janice and Jonathan joined us. We had a great time. Tuesday we went to Excalibur.


Before I could even get the pizza ordered the guys hit the jackpot on the Simpson's game. They won over 1300 tickets before the evening was over!


Waiting to ride the go carts.


Boys and their games....They were racing for real!



They wrecked.....and needed pit crew assistance to go again.

Victorious! With quite interesting hair.


Joel in the mini car


Joel and Daddy playing air hockey



The end of Joel and Barrys Air Hockey Game. Joel loved it!

Saturday, Nov 10th

We visited the mall...and Joel rode the train

Random Fun times

Last week we painted and played on the swing set. Here are a few pics.


Paint was everywhere!


































A sweet picture with Chloe'

Excalibur!!! Nov 3rd!

Barry had a great idea....lets go to Excalibur. It opened sometime last year, but we hadn't been yet. We were really missing out. We had a great time!



Joel driving a car for the first time.













Waiting to ride the big Carts.




























Riding the gas cart! Barry had a blast.













The cool rock wall. We didn't try it..but somebody needs to next time we go.

Fall Festival @ PCI (Nov 3rd)

Joel and I attended the Fall Festival at Lillie and Cassandra's church. It was 11/3.
Joel won 1st place in the Costume Contest for his age group.



What a sweet boy!













Joel and I

Pictures from October!

We would like to share a few pics from October. You might have seen a few on the old site...but you'll enjoy again. There are new pictures also.



Here are Joel and Annabeth playing "soccer" at Kiroli.
They are 3m apart and play together so well.











Joel, Barry and Uncle Charlie testing out the Halloween Costume.












ROAR!


















Chasing Mimi thru the Pumpkin Patch













Even the King of the Jungle needs his cat nap! (haha)














Lillie and Joel at the Fall Festival at FUMC Daycare+Preschool.












Joel and Daddy are fishing!


















Mom and Joel on the Hayride!













Kristin is getting married in January, so we hosted a bridal shower for her in October. She looked beautiful and I think everyone had a great time.
It was so nice to see family that we so rarely get to see.

Krissy with her cake!






Jen, Amy B, Kristin and me













Me, Aunt Karen, Amy B, Krissy, Mrs. Dana and Ms. Fay












Sunday we had brunch at the Court of Two Sisters. There was a Jazz band at the foot of our table. It was wonderful to be in the city. LSU had beat Auburn and the Saints were playing at home. They also won!

I love this picture of Kristin, Joel and I.







One of my favorite pictures of Joel.













Joel and his Gram













Joel was restless after a few hours, so I took him into the alleyway. These are some of the best pictures.












































I volunteer with the March of Dimes. Our Gourmet Gala was held on Oct 23rd. Mom Attended with me. We had a great time and raised $32k for the March of Dimes!










Joel looking cool in his sunglasses.













Uncle Dan came to visit and we went to Fox's...YUM!












Mimi, Charlie and Joel carved the pumpkin. More like Mimi did the dirty work, Charlie carved and Joel played with the scoop....but its all good :)










The finished product.













SCARY!













Barry and I decorated cupcakes. I made 6 doz. They were yum.












Of Course....Barry made some "Man cupcakes" so we had transformer, car and so on.....but for the first time he ever iced a cupcake, this is VERY impressive. Maybe he can go work with Duff!









Joel in his spooky Halloween gear.


















Barry and Charlie pose...crazy boys!


















The end of the October pictures...Joel Trick or Treating at Janice and Jonathan's.

We had a good month!