Cedar Hill Farms

So I took the kids to the Farm for the Annual pumpkin pickin hay riding thingy we always do. They had a blast, I tried to & despite the way I felt it was a beautiful day. We did the usual. Pony Rides, feeding of the goats and cows, face painting hayriding....They had a great time. I went to the doctor that morning for cough sore throat thing like I had last year but refused to go to the Dr. until I got the walking pneumonia so I figured what the hey, better safe than sorry. He gave me the usual dope and I am feeling much better now.
That's pretty much it. Peter got the $boat$ motor in should be up and running by the end of the week...(in your dreams!)
Looking forward to seeing the tail lights of that money pit leaving this quaint little town.
Will let cha know how that goes. I am giving this little project a cuss factor of about 8.5

It's Fall YALL

Well finally seems

to be Fall here in Hernando. The weather has been beautiful. The kids are having a great time decorating stuff at Grancy's house. School started off to a shaky start with Nathan but finally seems to be getting the hang of "paying attention." His reading ability has improved due to the fact that I've been doing flashcards with him everynight for about an hour. I hope this is not an indication of things to come.! Jeez.

We took the kids to the Midsouth Fair last night. Sorry I fogot the camera. The kids had a blast riding all the rides. I think we got our money's worth (paid 40 bucks) for wristbands but the kids rode enough and we went under budget. HA! Allison got to get cotton candy but Nathan had a fit with the wrong person and left the fair without his. Needless to say it was heartbreaking. Poor baby. I hope he remembers the fun he had instead of the lack of sugar...

Miss you PaPa

Harnett Gerard Rabalais, Sr.

9-12-16

9-1-09

He made our lives so special. . I am thankful that he was here to spend time with his great grandchildren and that they got to know him and love him too. I miss him terribly and I wish he could have been here for more but I keep him alive in my heart and the memories of him flood me often.

Love you and miss you, Papa

Allison got her ears pierced

Well after a week of begging me I took Allison to get her ears pierced. I went this morning but there was only one person working and I wanted them to do both ears at once. She said that she'd have someone in at 1:30 Well we went back and the girl went to lunch so I said "what the heck... Do it anyway one at a time." Allison didn't seem to think it was a big deal. She was anxious to get it done I couldn't wait around much longer since Nathan would be home from school shortly. She didn't even cry. I told her it would hurt a little but she said that was ok.. She wants to be just like mommy.

Family reunion

We went to Pineville at the End of July for the Miller Family Reunion.
This is the conference room where we ate and played games. Dad and Ted were partners in a game about "how well do you know Louisiana" stuff. Dad insisted it was rigged... So he made himself sure to be seen! HA

This is the courtyard where the kids played while the grownups played "pitch" we had a great time and equally great food & company. We let the kids play in the pool and had some time to get reconnected with everyone. Looking forward to the next reunion in Kansas!

Mom & Dad were nice enough to locate a spare a/c for the upstairs bedrooms and it was SO cool upstairs. However I hear the bill is in and dad's not pleased. HA! Boy am I glad I wasn't there when that came.

Anniversary & School Stuff

Peter & I made it twelve years! HOO RAAH!
We celebrated this year with Grancy & Gramps & Adam. He took some time off work to spend with us this year. It was also Grancy and Gramps 47th Anniversary.
Nathan and Allison have been busy playing with Uncle Adam and have really enjoyed his company.

It's been fairly busy here. Nathan's started first Grade and his teacher believes in homework much to Nathan's disapproval. We basically do homework everyday for 1-1.5 hours then flashcards in the tub at night. At first it started off pretty bad but Nathan's getting the hang of it now and coming to the realization that he's got the next 16 years or so of this to come.
He's been riding the bus home from school and that's working out good for him. Also got his first weekly report from school made 100 and 97 on two tests and excellent behavior report. The only reason he got a 97 was for his poor writing skills (she takes off for sloppiness) We're working on that part. So I guess I've been losing sleep for nothing. I was so worried about him starting first grade I just thought that he'd struggle more than he has. He's got a nack for making me think he doesn't' know anything when he really does. He tries hard to act like he's not listening.

Tide Ride Pictures

Peter & Kids Trip on the Tide Ride

This is our trip on the Tide Ride with Gramps, Grancy, family and friends. The kids had a blast. They were great. Nathan went tubing, boating and got up the nerve to jump off of the dock into deep water. Allison had fun swinging and playing in the water. Peter had the usual fun boating, tubing, skiing, football, playing in water, visiting with family and drinking beer. A great time by all. We were sorry Mommy didn't enjoy it with us.

A few days to myself..........finally..!

Peter has taken the kids for a fun few days in Virginia on the annual "Tide Ride". I was happy to have some time here alone. Get some things done.. have a little me time.
I've discovered that it doesn't really take me too long to get my stuff done when I dont have so much help!! HA
It's day 3 and I've run out of things to do/clean paint...now dont have much else to do...hence the reason i am posting..I've watched movies.. painted walls...steamed cleaned my carpets...(you know things you can't possibly do when you have two kids!) I've gotten some scrapbook pages done and bought some metallic bronze paint to paint my office ceiling. I've stared at this bottle for three days now and I can't seem to get up the nerve to actually do it. First reason is b/c i know it's gonna kill my neck to look up there and secondly I wish I knew what it would look like beforehand! I am sure that when I do paint it will be the last time I do. Other than that, quiet here and I must admit nice for the most part. And no I dont feel bad about that either!

Fourth Festivities

We had a good time this Fourth. Saturday we went to Shelby Farms to watch the Memphis Annual Fireworks show. The kids had lots of fun catching crickets and played with other kids around before the show started. We temporarily adopted little "Xavier" for the evening. Dont know where the kid came from but he just hung with us the hole time.
Tuesday night we stayed home and wated the neighbors shoot off tons of fireworks and we had quite a show.

Girls Night out

Allison Laycee Brandi & I had a fun night on the town this Friday.We went downtown and ate dinner at the Bluefin Sushi restaurant and the girls were so excited to be able to have dinner while sitting on the pillows on the floor. We then walked to the Orpheum Theater and saw Barbie Live in Fairytopia. It was very cute and very very girly.. Which suits Allison and Laycee perfectly " The more Sparkly the better."

Kids have fun on the new playset

Well we finally got the kids a new playhut. Nathan promplty told us we cannot move again because he will miss his swingset very much. He's been begging Peter to build him another "castle" slide since we've been here. I guess he had a hard time leaving the other one at the old house. This one is really nice and has a covered sandbox that's nice and shaded underneath.
I've been busy with the yard trying to do everything at once. Have so many ideas that I get overwhelmed. We started a garden this year finally, went in with the nextdoor neighbors and just did a big one together. I am hoping we'll have a good turnout.
That's about all that's going on latley. We're hoping to get the boat out next week sometime. Just waiting for everyone to get over illnesses and the weather to cooperate.

Easter Follies

Been there, Done that, Check another one off the list

We went to Nashville this past weekend with Bill & Tracy and the Kids. We took a 6 hour Bunny train ride, go-carted, putt putted, petted some sting rays, swam in the pool, went to the mall, went to eat dinner at an aquarium restaurant and saw the Grand Ole Opry and Opryland hotel. All in a 24 hour period!
Hence the reason why I am just now getting these pics posted. Took me this long to recover, no not really...It was the Easter day that I've been recovering from... Waiting on the pics from LeAnn's camera to get that in. Should be interesting. Needless to say we had a few good laughs.. Here is a few things we did. We had a good time in Nashville and look forward to doing it again.

With Just a little encouragement

Well Nathan's now riding his bike two-wheeled. He wasn't too keen on the idea at first but Peter was!
Anyway he's having a great time

Nathan Birthday weekend Extended

We had a great time this weekend for Nathan's Birthday Bash. Unlce Fuzzy, Aunt Angie and Baby Hudson came from Missouri, Shama and Papa came from Louisiana, Aunt LeAnn Uncle Lory and Preston and All of Nathan's friends were there to celebrate the day. Our friends next door Drew, Keith and Amanda were unable to attend thanks to Mr, ROTOVIRUS! Hope he's feeling better soon! I made his cake this year and it turned out pretty good. Friday Night Papa and Shama brought us some Louisiana crawfish and Peter and papa cooked them up real good for us. They were Fantistic!
Peter finished off the weekend with a big "Pete Breakfast" in honor of LeAnn and Lory's 7th anniversary and we got to break in the brand new dining room furniture. It was nice to be able to sit everyone at one table.
Thank everyone for attending and making his day a Special one.

NATHAN FUN BOUNCE EXCURSION

We took the kids to the Fun Bounz place today for part 2 of Nathan' s Birthday festivities. Had to split up the activities so that Peter can be part of the fun. (He's working this week),. Nathan's looking forward to being 6. It is a very exciting thing. He is stoked about everyone coming and especially Aunt Angie and baby Hudson. Grampa & Shama are bringing crawfish for the grownups to eat Friday night. I am sure we'll have lots of fun then too!
Tomorrow I'll be spending the lunch hour at Nathan's school we'll be bringing cupcakes for everyone. Then later after gymnastics we'll be off to Chuck E Cheese for dinner and games..
Is it just me or does it seem like he gets alot of attention on his Birthday... ha!
I've decided to make his cake this year since Allison's last one was a "homemade". I had lots of help and encouragement on that one and it turned out pretty ok and I was sort of proud of myself for doing it. Seems weird though because I thought when I was a kid that being a grownup and buying store bought cakes was so much better. Turns out I was wrong. It is more special and heartfelt when you make it yourself.
We shall see how this one goes. Course Nathan doesnt' care about what It looks like long as it's got lots of icing!

Wish me luck!

Islands of Adventure