More of Egidio's Visit

One thing Egidio was fully immersed in, during his visit, was American Football.  We didn't break him in slowly either.  We poured it on real thick from the moment he arrived.  Cory is the announcer for Lakeshore High School, so after he picked Egidio from the airport, we had to head to the stadium, right away.  I think he enjoyed seeing all the surrounding elements of football.  I did my best to explain a few rules, but probably left him as clueless as ever. 

The next day, we had some friends come over to watch the Arkansas game.  As soon as that was over, we packed up and headed to someone else's house to watch the LSU game.  By this time, I know he is thinking that Americans care a little too much about football.

So what do we do? We teach him how to play football himself, or at least how to throw a football :)

 Not bad form for his first time, right?

My kids fell in love with Egidio pretty quickly.  Landry is always a little shy at first, but once she got to know him, she was hooked.

Here is Eli at breakfast, one morning.  He was digging the blueberry coffee cake

 Here is Landry building a house for Egidio's "Birthday".

 And here is Eli resting on Egidio after a full day

Egidio also cooked some AMAZING Costa Rican food while he was here.  He even taught me how to make tortillas.  Sadly, the pictures I took of us making them have been lost somehow.  :( 

The week went way too fast and we just didn't have enough time to do everything we wanted, but it was so special to visit with our brother in Christ!  Thank you, Egidio, for taking time to come see us.  We love you and are thankful for you!

Trip to the Big Easy

This is Egidio.

It was an honor and privilege to have him as a guest in our home last week.  We met Egidio while we were on our mission trip to Costa Rica.  He was our bus driver.  We got to know him really well on our trip, and were so excited when he decided to come to the United States for a visit.  Egidio is a Godly man, with an amazing testimony, and we made some wonderful memories while he was here.  

Since we live just across Lake Pontchartrain, a New Orleans trip is always necessary when guests come to visit.  We decided to take the street cars as an extra treat for the kids and Egidio. You couldn't wipe the smile off of Landry's face the entire time :)

We got off at Canal Street and made our way to the beloved French Quarter

Here is Egidio looking all touristy

We enjoyed a lunch at Bubba Gump's.....

 .....visited the gorgeous St. Louis Cathedral...

...Did a 2 second photo-shoot with my little beauty...

 ....and then chowed down on Beignets from Cafe Du Monde, an essential element of every trip New Orleans!

 Maybe Cory got a little too carried away? LOL

The kiddos were quite impressed by the musicians

And the ride back was almost as much as fun as the ride there...

 ...just ask Eli. LOL

And just to brag on my kids a little, (because I am their mommy and I can) they were perfect angels the whole day.  I was so proud of them!

In The Words of Audrey Hepburn....

......HAPPY girls are the PRETTIEST!

I think she might have been onto something ;)

Welcome to the World, Maris!

Congratulations to Proud parents, Jesse and Laura Pounders, and proud sisters, Tatumn and Finley, on this precious bundle of joy!  Maris Camille was born this morning at 6:57 a.m.  Jesse and Laura have only been in our lives a short time, but they already mean so much to us!  We are thankful for the newest member of their family!!  

Now, let's rewind a couple of weeks to the surprise shower we threw for Laura and sweet baby Maris.  My sweetheart of a friend, Amy, came up with the great idea of throwing Laura a surprise diaper shower.  Laura is brand new to our area, and she thought it would be a great way to make her feel welcome here.  We all loved the idea and jumped right to it. After all, the baby was due any day.  Libby volunteered to host the shower.  Lucky for us, girl's got some MAD party planning skills!  We disguised the get-together as a crafting day to help Libby prepare for her daughter's birthday party.  Seeing the surprise on her face when she walked in was priceless!

Here are the beautiful decorations:

 Libby had the great idea of having us write a note to the baby in a children's book.  We also wrote notes for the big sisters in book for them.

SURPRISE!!

We had lots of fun, food, and fellowship

Laura got some last minute practice in with Baby Brennan

Amy stole some snuggles too

Laura got a nice supply of diapers and some adorable baby clothes.  No one could resist ;)

Today, we are thanking God for this precious little miracle!

Happy Birthday Cory (Two Weeks and Four Days Late)

So, I've been a bit busy.  Such is life for a stay-at-home mommy of two little ones, trying to run a photography business on the side, and currently has a guest from out of the country staying at her house.  But, I love it.  I am totally blessed and thankful for my crazy little life!  I have quite a few blogs to write, and I'll catch up.....eventually.  As you can see, I am two weeks and four days behind right now.

Cory's birthday was, September 16.  We were so excited to learn that Cory's parents would be joining us for the special day :)  Of course the grandbabies stole all the attention, Ha Ha, but it did allow time for us to go hang out with friends, alone.  Thanks Nana and Poppy!

So, here is how we celebrated.....

We made breakfast and homemade cards to make him feel all special.  The kiddos worked together to give daddy some art for his office.  Landry painted the frame, while Eli's finger paint masterpiece spells out, We Love Daddy.

Then he got his present from me.....Fruity Mentos and Juicy Fruit (a couple of his faves), photos of the kids for his office, and a date nights to last all year.  You see, the duties of the home sometimes get all my focus and I need to be more intentional about dating my husband.  Even though we are not able to go out every week, there are plenty of stay-in ideas.  I planned four date nights a month for us to enjoy.  They start next week and I am SO excited!  

Of course Landry had to make him his favorite cake, red velvet. (Thanks Libby and Amy for picking up the cake :)

 And she had to blow out the candles

That night we enjoyed time eating pizza with friends.

Happy 31st Birthday, Babe!!  We Love You!!

Sidewalk Paint and Ice Cream

Sorry, I couldn't think of a more clever name for this blog post.  Straight to the point, I suppose.  We recently had a wonderful playdate involving those two wonderful things.

We have a very informal mom's group (really, we're all just friends) that tries to get together at least once a week for a playdate.  Last week, we got together to have ice cream with all the toppings!  Also, I found this recipe for sidewalk paint.  Pretty cool, huh?  And really simple. So, since it was a nice day, I brought all the ingredients and let our kiddos try it out. (Notice I also repurposed my yogurt cups :) They had a really good time and their art turned out so nice.  Here are a few pictures from the playdate.  I'm thankful for my sweet friends and for their children who are sweet friends to my children!

We are total nerds, and were impressed when this spilled paint looked a lot like the United States.  Of course I had to snap a picture :)