The Adventures of Kiki and Miss Belle

During church last Sunday (1/25/09), I got a text from Dad that said "Can you pick up Adee for Mom?" My first thought was - Oh no! I hope something's not wrong! But then, I called Emilee and said I was on my way home from church and I could come pick up Adee and she told me that Adee had just wanted to come over and play with Tia (my mom) and Kiki (me). So, even though I was looking and feeling like I was on death's doorstep, I hopped over the Em's house and picked up my little look-a-like.

As soon as I got there, she was ready to go. Her outfit was perfect - a skirt and t-shirt that didn't match with a pink hoodie with rainbows all over it and jeans. The jeans were apparently an addition required by Mom since it was cold. I wish I had a camera! Too cute! Em told me she wanted to come play at my house. Who doesn't feel special when someone wants to come play with you? It doesn't matter if you're 5 or 25, it's nice to feel wanted and cool enough to hang out with!

So, we drove the mile and a half to my house. The whole way she would ask what song was playing on the radio and what the name of the street was. We didn't really go that far or make too many turns, so the answers were often - "Still the same as the last time you asked."

We got to my house and she asked - "Where's Tia?" Ah man - she didn't want to just play with me! Oh well! But, since Mom was busy trying to get stuff together for her calling, Adee got to be my little shadow. We picked out nail polish and painted her fingernails and toenails. She insisted on "rainbow" but I was able to convince her that we could have rainbow toes, but not fingers. She always likes to play with Kiki because that means she gets her fingernails painted AND she gets to watch a movie on my iPod (it's the only way I can keep her still enough to paint and then let it dry!).

After painting, we decided to have dinner. I went all out and scrambled up some eggs. She was loving that! She also got to enjoy some Chex Mix and cheese and apples with caramel dip! Balanced meal, right? I think I'm her favorite because I let her eat salty snacks as part of dinner. Heck - I like salty snacks as part of my dinner, so why deny her the joy too?

After dinner, we got ready for bed. She didn't want to sleep in one of the boys' t-shirts, so I went on a search for pajamas. I found a pair of size 8 SpongeBob pj pants in the bottom of Gavin's dresser (um....Gavin wears an 18.....pack rat!). She was tickled that she could wear them. They were a little long, but she was happy not to sleep in her jeans. We CLIMBED into my bed - it's almost taller than Adee - and snuggled up under the covers - about 3 blankets! We read 3 stories and then turned out the lights. She was worried that she might have a bad dream, so I told her to make sure that she woke me up if she got scared. Not 5 minutes later, she was telling me she had a bad dream (lie - she didn't even fall asleep!). I gave her a big hug and we closed our eyes and tried to sleep. It took her a while to fall asleep, but once she did, she was out for the night. I had to get up early to take Dad to work and go to work myself, so at 6 am, I sent her to climb in bed with Tia and our sleepover fun ended. Tia got to get her dressed for school and have breakfast with her.

I had a blast! I love that little girl. She was the one who gave me the title of "Mama Kiki" almost 4 years ago when I went to stay with her and her big brother while her little brother was born. Since she called all girls "Mama" and added their name, I would be "Mama Kaycee," but Kaycee is a difficult name for a 2 year old to say. When she said my name, Logan said it sounded like Kiki, so he started referring to me as Mama Kiki and the name stuck. It has since been shortened to just Kiki (although Brigham added a Tiki to it randomly today - Kiki Tiki).

Adee has quite the personality and spunk - and she has deep, dark chocolate brown eyes like me!

I love Miss Belle!

Change?

Yes, it seems to be the buzzword...but the only thing so far that I can see that has changed is the disappearance of that little voice inside people's heads saying - "Maybe I shouldn't wear this out in public..."

For Kati B- your favorite hat of the Rock Star Event that was the Inauguration.

(Aretha Franklin performs "My Country 'tis of Thee" at the Inauguration - really you think that looks good? You might have 21 Grammy's and multiple hits, but I think you belong in the "Chain of Fools" with their ridiculous hats of Inauguration 2009!)

And for me - Supreme Court Justices and their attempts to be cool...well actually...stay warm

(That's John Paul Stevens in the classy fur number and Antonin Scalia in the super-sized yarmulke. Thank you Chief Justice Roberts and Clarence Thomas for braving the cold and going hatless so as not to further embarass the High Court)

And for all you Tigers fans out there....

(Bush-41 rockin the furry hunter hat.. reminiscent of Gavin's hat on Christmas Eve...)

Also, another change - the time of the rambling, rhyming, and borderline-racist prayers. I just couldn't resist posting the last portion of the text of the benediction from the Inauguration, given by Rev. Lowery.

"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when BLACK will not be asked to get in back, when BROWN can stick around ---- when YELLOW will be mellow ---- when the RED man can get ahead, man ---- and when WHITE will embrace what is right.
Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.
AUDIENCE: Amen!
REV. LOWERY: Say amen --
AUDIENCE: Amen!
REV. LOWERY: -- and amen.
AUDIENCE: Amen!"

Really? I didn't know that I had shunned right all of my life. Gee thanks Rev. Lowery for pointing that out to me!

I could choose to be offended, but instead, I'm choosing to laugh. That was hilarious!

Christmas traditions

So I finally took the time to load the pictures from Christmas time. I realized in looking through all of them that my family has some pretty fun Christmas traditions that I thought I might share...



First, we go to this really cool thing down in Waxahachie with our friends the Burgesses (or as I like to call them the Burgers!). It's called Bethlehem Revisited. They set up a city block in the style of what Bethlehem might have been like at the time of Savior's birth. There are shops and homes, people selling chickens, tax collectors, and even Roman centurions (The boys like to taunt the centurions so they will get thrown in jail). Mary & Joseph come through the town every half hour or so and look for a place to stay. They go to a stable in the back corner and then shepherds come looking for the Baby Jesus, as well as wisemen (with real camels!). I always enjoy our time there. This year though, it was warmer than usual, so there were more people there. I tend to be bothered by crowds, so it wasn't quite as fun until...Seth stole a centurion's spear! There was a resting place for the centurions and Seth stole the spear that was just resting against the fence. Then he went for the gold and grabbed a shield!!! It was greatness. We snapped a photo for Logan since he was the one who started the centurion taunting tradition. Erik then tried to join the picture and steal his own, but a centurion caught him. Boo! It was pretty funny when he got fussed at.

On Christmas Eve, we always build a fire to roast marshmallows and have s'mores and hot chocolate. The firewood is the Christmas tree from the previous year that has been drying in the backyard (Mom doesn't like this part of the tradition. She thinks it's very PWT of us). We all cuddle up with blankets and our treats around the fire and Dad reads The Cajun Night Before Christmas (De Chirren been nezzle Good snug on de flo' An' Mama pass de pepper T'ru de crack on de do'). Then Dad reads Luke 2 and we watch the Nativity (Luke 2) set to Amy Grant's "Breath of Heaven," followed by Joy to the World. Then we all kneel for family prayer and head to bed. The kids all pile into one bedroom and the parents are off to wrap.

On Christmas morning, the kids stay in the room until it's a decent time to get up. This year we didn't start opening presents until 9am! Usually, it's around 7:30, but I played games with the boys to let Mom and Dad sleep a little longer. Then, we can't go in the living room until everyone goes together. We empty our stockings first and then open our Santa presents. Santa always leaves us 3 presents - just like the 3 presents that the wisemen brought to Jesus. This year my 3 presents were - The Office DVD game, a pretty green sweater, and a jewelry box (that's a giant picture frame too). While opening presents, we have breakfast (monkey bread) in the oven. Inevitably, it is forgotten and ends up a little crispy, but still delicious!

This year we added a new tradition - talking to the missionary. We were able to talk to Logan for about 90 minutes or so (I only know the amount of time because international calling is expensive and I just got my cell phone bill!). We each had about 10 minutes to talk to him and then we put him on speakerphone and listened while he opened his Christmas package (thanks Darlene for helping send it!). He was so cute to tell us about everything he opened (see the pics). The most exciting gifts for him were his Saints tie and tuna fish.

I wanted to start my own tradition this year and decided that I would make everyone homemade gifts. I really enjoyed it. I made hats for Gavin and Burke, slippers for Chance, and a framed Nativity for Mom (I bought an old calendar and cut out the picture and framed it). Dad got a machine that will make homemade ice cream...that was the best I could come up with! I was excited for "Christmas with the Cousins" (that's Christmas with Mimi, Emilee's fam, and Loree's fam). I made gifts for everyone that I thought were awesome. I made a new pattern for a girl's hat that I made for Emilee, Adee (& her Samantha doll), and Darbee (Loree and Posee's are almost done). I made a scarf for Mimi. I made slippers for Mack and Brooks and a hat for Brig (which was too small). It wasn't a complete success, but I really enjoyed making everything and the things that fit looked really cute on everyone.

This isn't a tradition, but I have to mention it. Em and her kids gave me an awesome new wallet for Christmas. It's like an old cigarette case. It's red with white polka dots and I love it! Inside, there was an Ikea gift card too. How fun! It was a great present.

I hope y'all had fun with family and friends this Christmas. I'm glad that we have these traditions that help us to stay close as a family and remember the Savior. I am planning to continue these and add some more I'm sure.

I needed something to spice up my life...

So I got bangs!

On Tuesday, I was driving home from work and caught a glance at myself in the rearview and thought - I haven't done anything crazy with my hair in a long time. Maybe I'll get some bangs. Lo and behold, one of the girls from my branch posted in her facebook status that we should call if we wanted our hair did. So, I did and this is the result....



I have gotten tons of compliments on the bangs, but Mom is still adjusting. I definitely like the bangs! Dad says I look completely different and it's such a small thing. I'm excited because now I figure people will stop with the "you and your mom look like twins." We really don't, so this should help! Not that I'm offended to look like Mom, just that I like to be me!

A little bit of Random

Some pics from my cell phone that just couldn't be kept to my self...

Enjoy!



Also, I have finally posted all of the pics from the New Orleans Thanksgiving Adventure...Check them out here and remember to turn on the captions by clicking on the little thought bubble in the bottom left corner of the slideshow

New Orleans trip (Part 1)

Oh girl....let me tell you what....

That trip was crazy! Lots of driving and lots of food!

We drove down Wednesday a little later than planned since we had to drop Mom's van at the dealership. While there, I visited with a girl from the Branch I hadn't seen at church in a while. It was fun. I miss her. The trip commenced at 1:30pm and we were off. The first stop - Natchitoches French Market Express for a potty and some meat pies and crawfish pies. Yum!

Then we hit a gas station in Breaux Bridge and I got a Hubig's Chocolate pie and a Barq's Red Creme Soda. Rejoice! These are such easy things, so I can't understand why Dallas is missing out! We got to Aunt Rite's around 9pm and started working. We got stuff together for Thanksgiving and started planning some reception items.




Yesterday was insane! We got in the car around 9:30 to head out. We stopped for food and realized that we left purses and wallets at Aunt Rite's so back I went. Then, we had to fill the Grape Jelly New Orleans-style Buffet. What is that you ask? Well, it's my car filled with all sorts of deliciousness from our favorite New Orleans places - we had shrimp po-boys, Bud's Broiler, Hubig's pies, Cafe du Monde, crawfish balls, and of course some Barq's Red Creme Soda! Holler! I love me some food. It was a good thing the buffet was well stocked because we didn't get home until 11pm. Yes, you're scratching your head going 9:30 - 11 that's over 13 hours...what happened?

TxDoT! That's what happened! They have a personal vendetta against me since the whole TxTag business (which still is NOT fixed by the way). Outside of Tyler, the traffic slowed to a halt and then down to one lane for construction. Really folks - one lane on perhaps one of the busiest travel days of the year? HELLO??!?! They weren't even constructing or anything. The lane was completely drivable - they just were storing some orange barrels (a theory once proposed by one Natalie Summers entitled "Orange Barrel Storage" has really come to be fact in my life). So we spent over an hour going less than 10mph and went a total of 7.8 miles in 1 hour. Fun! I was extremely bummed because it was Gavin's birthday and we had a party all planned with a "Sons of Provo" viewing that was cancelled. TxDoT - you shall know my wrath!

More to come....a Thanksgiving Feast, Shrimp Po-boys, Taco Tico and of course the whole reason we went - Megan and Justin's wedding!!

So I'm coming around on the whole photoshop thing...

Recently when looking at a couple of different pictures I thought - I really just like the original better. Then, I went all crazy and started messing with some photoshop express business and had some fun. I started with some pictures I took of Jill, Michael's little sister who happens to be one of the Drum Majors of the Hebron Marching Band. Now keep it straight - all of these pictures haven't been altered, but some have. Can you tell which ones have? And how? That's the trick! Have fun!

I love fried almost as much as I love free....

And that's why I had to go to the Texas State Fair!!!! What an adventure in fried foods and fun! There's fried everything - including Pralines, Corny Dogs, Funnel Cakes, Grilled Cheese, S'mores, Oreos, Snickers, Banana Split, Chololate-Covered Strawberry Waffle Balls, Pineapple Ice Cream, Espresso, Chocolate Truffle, Bacon (Chicken Fried to be exact!) and Jelly Belly Beans! And that's not even a complete list, just what I could remember!!! MaryAnn had to have a fried s'more. Michael had funnel cake. I enjoyed the greatness of Fried Pralines with Bluebell Ice Cream and Chocolate syrup on top. Oh the joy of fried! We also went for the traditional turkey leg (which Michael and Emilee shared) and I had some sausage - y'all know how much I love smoked sausage!

Of course there was more to the fair than the food - a car show, a light show, a blonde ditz show (Jessica Simpson performed - "I gotta pee y'all!"), and pig racing. We rode the Texas Star - the giant Ferris Wheel - and just had a grand time with a C4 Krewe - MaryAnn, Emilee, Alicia, Ben, Robert, Angelar, Chris, Suzanne, Michael, and myself.

Enjoy the pics....