Great Expectations!

I know many of you have seen this on facebook already. But after a two month hiatus from blogging, I knew I would have to have something pretty spectacular to get me back to blogging. This is it!

Congratulations, Walter!

Class of 2014!

This photo cracks me up!

My Birthday Trip

Jamie took me to Hot Springs for an overnight birthday trip. It was a great time for us. We just don't get much mother/daughter time.

No Fun

I hate it when little ones are sick and there is nothing you can do to make them feel better.



This is exactly where we are with Kale. He's been running fever for several days now. After a visit to the doctor and a very much protested strep test, the doctor decided that what he had was just viral and would have to run it's course. yuck!

Swinging and Smiling

Enjoying our mild temps and good weather.

Round the Merry-Go-Round

The Boardwalk in Shreveport has a carousel for the kids.



Kale got to ride one for the first time. It is so much fun seeing someone experience something for the first time. He was excited to try this, but once he was seated on the horse, he was a little apprehensive. It quickly turned to joy though.



It wasn't long until he had the whole "wave when you come around" thing down. He would look for me and grin and wave. Then just as he rode out of sight, he would blow me a kiss. So sweet!





So much fun watching my boy enjoy himself.

Cupcake Love!

This boy loves cupcakes!

Jamie, Kale and I went to Shreveport to the Boardwalk on Saturday. One of our stops that day was at a gourmet cupcake shop. Jamie picked out a wedding cake cupcake and I chose peanut butter chocolate, of course! We thought we would let Kale share ours. Ha! He had other ideas.



Jamie let him have the first bite and all was good. But then she had the audacity to take a bite out of "his" cupcake.

Here he is telling on her and pointing to the giant bite she took out of "his" cupcake. LOL



Jamie basically let him have the rest and life was good again.

Down on the Boardwalk

Jamie, Kale and I took a trip to Shreveport today. One of the places we wanted to visit was the Boardwalk. It is a neat shopping area located right on the Red River. Kale loved looking at the riverboats.





It was a beautiful day to be out.

My New Hobby

Our family has a new hobby. I alluded to it earlier.



We are now a family of bicyclers.



Jamie and I bought cruisers. The boys and Tim have mountain bikes.



Not that we have any mountains to climb, literally speaking. I, personally, would rather cruise through life. LOL



But I do know this, I'm excited about my new hobby. This kind of exercise doesn't seem so much like exercise. I feel like I'm in training. In training for several trips in the future, where I will take my bikes along. I can't wait!

A Ride to the Lake

Samuel and I decided to take an evening ride to our city lake. It was a beautiful evening to be out.



The best thing about the evening was how we got there!



This is our newest hobby. We bought bicycles. Samuel, Jamie and I all have new bikes. I'm loving mine. It's vintage, like me. No gears. To apply the brakes you just press the pedals back. It's simple.

I have two trips planned next year that I want to take my bike. One is to New Orleans, the other to the beach! I cannot wait!!! But in the meantime, I have to put in lots of riding time so I can enjoy my bicycle trips.

Birds, birds, birds!

It rained on us most of our time in New Orleans. We decided during one of the heavier rains to visit the aquarium and wait out the rain. We had been here before, about 11 years ago. I think the boys were 4 and 6 years old when we came. Now they are 15 and 17 years old.

Kale loved it! The fish, the sharks, the penguins. But what we all loved most were the parakeets!





Especially Jamie, who loves birds! LOL



And after she screamed and freaked out some, Kale and I were not sure about these birdies ourselves!



But even with the misgivings about birds, this experience stands out as one of the best of our trip!!!

Top o' the World

We had a chance to view New Orleans from atop a 34 story sky-scraper! What an awesome experience!!!!

Kale at VBS

I'm claiming VBS this week as my excuse for lack of blogposts. But here are a few of my cutie enjoying his time at VBS.

Becoming a Mom

On Jamie's birthday, I want to revisit this past year a little. I have loved watching Jamie become a mom.

From the moment Kale was placed in her arms....



She was a natural.





I am so very proud of her!

Cleaning Out

Why is it that around New Year's one wants to clean out....to organize.....to start anew?

I've been working on going through my photos on my hard drive, organizing and transferring them to my external hard drive. Well, one thing lead to another and next thing you know, I was cleaning out my cell phone too. Before my phone became smart, I never had to do this. But now, it stores a whole lot more things in it's memory than I do!


Anyway, these are a few of the photos that I found on my SD card that never made it to my blog. Or maybe they did and I just forgot that I posted them. In any case, here they are in no particular order or preference.




I will leave you with one last one. My favorite, I think.



Why is it that his chins look so much cuter piled on his sweet chest than mine do?

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas 2011 or

...a visit to the man in red! Last week, Jamie and Jade took Kale to see Santa. Kale thought he was a pretty cool guy, as long as Santa didn't try to hold him.