A trip down memory lane

So since Mark's mom has moved to Tallulah, our Thanksgiving trip took us much closer to Coach Carroll's ole' "stomping grounds" so-to-speak, and since his children had never seen where he grew up, we got to venture through some of the finer spots of north Louisiana. (I don't mean to be so sassy, well... actually I do, but I'm just teasing b/c I grew up in an actual city and he grew up in the middle of no where; that being said, it is actually quite beautiful - if you like the no Walmart or mall in sight kind of upbringing!)

Here we are driving through Newellton, where Mark first lived:




This is the 'famous' football field where he played little league baseball and 9th grade football:



Go Bears!:



This is Mark's first house in Newellton:




... and this is my personal favorite. This is the bank where Mark was born! What did you say? He was born in a bank? No, it evidently was a hospital at one time, and he likes to say he was born by the 2nd teller (tee-hee). Even more ironic is the fact that his sister now works at this bank!

Now we are driving through St. Joseph Louisiana and the home of Lake Bruin (... and Coach Carroll's infamous high school years) These are some of the newer and fancier houses that are on the lake now. They are quite gorgeous and big! Maybe one day the Carroll's can have a small retirement home there. (once my need for shopping has subsided - and there's always QVC!)

Downtown St. Joseph (kinda reminds me of New York City!):

Mark's first home in St. Joseph:

Mark's 2nd home in St. Joseph - right across the street from his high school:

Ah, yes, and finally, the high school that produced the now world famous Coach Carroll - Tensas Academy. Geaux Chiefs!

It was actually quite fun to drive through Mark's neck of the woods (literally), and I think the girls got a kick out of it. Maybe over Christmas I'll take him to Olympia stadium and the parking lot of Mr. Gatti's on Essen to show him my old 'stomping ground'! Later!

Visiting Vicksburg for Thanksgiving

So we ventured to a new destination for Thanksgiving this year b/c Mark's mom has moved to a new retirement home (more like a nursing home). She lives in a very nice place in Tallulah, but since there are essentially no places to stay in Tallulah, we stayed across the river in Vicksburg (which means we can literally go over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house.... How many of you can say that?).

Here we are outside Grandma's new place:





Here we are visiting with Grandma and Mark's sister Denise. Emma loves Aunt Denise!




A must have for any hotel we stay in for Thanksgiving is an indoor pool so the girls can swim, and they would do it for hours if we let them. Mama almost never gets in b/c even if they say it is "heated", its never warm enough for me. Good think Mark will get in, or if I take them, they can pretty much handle themselves if I am nearby.

I managed to get the rare family photo on Thanksgiving morning before we went to eat. Usually I am always behind the camera. (which is fine by me):

The next day we went to play around Vicksburg b/c we had never been there (as a family). It got really cold that day and it actually rained on us. They have a downtown area kinda like Denham but bigger and we did some shopping, including getting Emma the "Elf on a Shelf" which she has been asking for. Hopefully that will improve their behavior (at least until Christmas!). Here are the girls downtown:

They have a Coke museum downtown, which we walked through (in about 2 minutes), but we at least got a yummy bottled coke at the end.




There was also a doll museum (also about a 5 minute tour) we walked through. It had some neat barbies and a few of the girls' American Dolls. Then we ate a good meal at Rusty's on the River and that was fun too. We head out tomorrow back to reality and 3 glorious weeks of school. We are certainly on the downhill slide this semester.

One more thing from the trip, which I didn't get any pictures of. Katie and I did midnight shopping Thanksgiving night. Right around the corner from our hotel was an Outlet mall that opened at 11 pm that night, and I was going to go by myself and look around, but Katie was still up and convinced me to let her come with me - so I did, and was glad to not go by myself. Kinda felt guilty for taking my almost 10 year old out that late, but then I saw the other bad parents doing the same thing and didn't feel so guilty. We got a few deals with the best being 50% off at Children's Place - the entire store! I made a killing there for Emma! It was kind of a girl bonding thing!

Hope your Thanksgiving was great! Gobble - gobble!

Super Reader!

So check out this super reader. I am so amazed at how quickly they pick up reading in Kindergarten. We found these great books at our library that use word "families" (as they call them in elementary land) to help kids learn to read. She loves reading them at night. Go Emma!

Birthdays and Christmas lights

So, probably most of you who are reading this blog know that my girls have the same birthday. Yes, Katie got a little sister (whether she wanted it or not) for her fourth birthday - totally unplanned. And even though I managed to give birth TWICE during baseball camp, Mark has yet to see fit to change when he holds his camp. So, what's my point....



The point is that we have a great deal of difficulty finding a good time to have the girl's family birthday party, so that Daddy can actually be there. The weekend of their birthday (as stated earlier) is Mark's camp, the weekend after, we are in New Orleans for the high school football finals (woo-hoo, our one and only annual weekend without kids - thank you Nannie Kim) and the weekend before, we are in North Louisiana visiting with Mark's family. So it ends up, we have to have the festivities almost 2 weeks before their actual birthday - which was this past weekend.


Basically what ends up happening, is that the celebration last for 2 weeks, and then, did I mention, Christmas is 22 days after their birthday! (My poor kids are so neglected this time of year)


Anyway, I digress... so that morning, we actually went ahead and gave them their "big" presents from Mom and Dad (so I could stop hearing Katie ask about it). I don't have a picture, but Katie got the iTouch she has been wanting - and now I can get my phone back.



And, Emma got her first bike. I don't know why she never had one before, but here is Mark putting it together Sunday morning ( It think this was only a 'one beer' job):

And Emma proudly rode all day Sunday and Monday - even when it was dark outside!

Now, here is our birthday cake. The girls helped to make it, and I thought it came out pretty cute! Sorry for the sideways pic, but I should have rotated it before I downloaded it:

We opened presents after the cake, and here are the girls playing their "Paper Jamz" guitar and drums. They are actually pretty cool. Mark and I enjoyed playing with them too:

Katie and Emma both got Little Mismatched socks:

Getting ready to sing Happy Birthday with Juju, Paw paw, Nannie Kim and Mr. Richard:

Getting ready to blow out the candles with Paw paw, who's birthday was actually the next day:

And also since we are busy the next few weekends, I asked (aka 'made') Mark put up the Christmas lights this year b/c we have been slacking in that the past few years. (See above schedule for the next few weeks) We may be the first house in the neighborhood with Christmas lights already up, but by damn, we will have them this year:

... and this is what Jovi thought of the whole thing:

I'll try and get some decoration photos later!

How many more days?

So as most of you can tell from the countdown at the top of our blog, the Carroll's are going on their first cruise this summer... and not just any cruise, but THE DISNEY CRUISE... and not just any Disney cruise, but the brand new ship called The Dream that hasn't even sailed yet. So I have been keeping up with the ship's progress through one of my many disney sites. Here is the latest picture as it sails out from its little home in Germany:





I can just see the Carrolls now, dancing away at the pirate party when we set sail, or flying down the "Aqua Duck" water slide that you see along both sides of the ship. It actually goes out over the water. Emma is dying to go on it, but she has to grow like 4 more inches before she is tall enough! Anyone know where you can get some platform flip flops?

Bon voyage, yall!

Too bad Nick!

So can the Carroll's "par-tay" or what? Here we are "tailgating" before the LSU -Alabama game. To quote Mrs. Julie, Woo-hoo!!



What did you say, that doesn't look like the campus of LSU? Where are the 'stately oaks and broad magnolias'? Well, maybe they're around the corner from that yuppie looking brick building, or maybe we're just sitting in the truck in the parking lot of the Dancer's Workshop (aka, Baton Rouge ballet) after Katie's nutcracker practice. That's right, Mark didn't even work saturday b/c they wouldn't get films for the playoffs until Sunday, and we still couldn't really tailgate b/c of nutcracker practice! Anyway, we enjoyed our Happy Meals and cokes under the 'broad' pine trees of Blubonnet Lane!

Emma hangs out in the back of the truck:


This was the first game in a long time where we actually made it in before the game started and saw the ENTIRE game. Katie spent the night at a friend's house the night before, and I honestly didn't think the girls would make it through the game. Of course, as most of you know it was a "nail-bitter" until the end, and thankfully we all made it through.

The nice lady sitting behind us offered to take a picture of the girls and I, and it came out great:



... and here is our handsome Daddy - time for a new hat, Mark:




... and as you know, we beat the nasty ole' tide, so here is everyone on the field afterwards:

Here's the giant jumbotron behind us. I was trying to get the score for posterity's sake and didnt get it.

You can kinds see the score here, but the picture (on the jumbo tron) is not great. Anyway, all that matters is that we won! Geaux Tigers!

Halloween 2010

In continuing our busy weekend, trick or treat was Sunday night. We went conservative on our costumes this year (b/c honestly, Katie picks the new version of the same exact costume - "black, scary, vampire girl" thing - every year!). So this year was a combination of $5 walmart accessories stuff and old dance costumes, which we all know Missy has paid a small house note in the past 7 years!

Here, Emma is a fairy and Katie (once again) scary, vampire girl thingie:



Vampire girl:


Tinker-emma:




... and as noted in the last blog, Emma jumped on the trampoline all day, including that afternoon in her costume!

"I love my new toy!":