Happy Birthday Sweet Avah Fatih!

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl! I am so glad that you have changed
and are becoming so animated and not to mention independent.
Mommy and Daddy love you so much and you were
a wonderful gift and blessing to our family!

Have you thought about it?

Have you recently thought about what you will do when your parent's get older and are no longer able to care for themselves? Have you wondered what it would be like when they are gone? Have you ever really thought about all of the hours they have truly cared for you when you were younger? Well I have. I do not want to be boastful but felt it necessary that I share this story with you. Two weeks ago my girlfriend and I bought our little ones to the zoo. It took 45 mins to get there so everyone including me needed to get to the bathroom. As I was walking to the bathroom and very old lady maybe in her late 80's was getting out of her wheel chair. I graciously let her go ahead of Christian and I. We were finished by the time she made it half way across the restroom. Christian and I stood there watching her and then she made the comment "Why do you think it was necessary to put the handicapped stalls on the far end of the restroom?" Her voice crackled while she was talking and it truly broke my heart. As I stood there I thought to myself ask her if she needs help, just ask. So I asked her "Mam would you like for me to wait for you and to get your wheel chair for you when you are done?" She was completely shocked as tears filled her eyes she said "Yes". I walked out to ask the two men(reason why no one could help her) if I could bring the wheel chair inside and wait for her while she went to the restroom. She was more than grateful and it was a great lesson for Christian who absolutely adores Older people. As I wheeled her out the older man had tears coming from his eyes. . . The reason I am sharing this is because that was the day I vowed to take care of my mom and Colin's parent's when they can no longer take care of themselves. Don't we owe it to our parent's? They have done so much for us we should only do the same.

D.C. Cupcakes!

Me, Heather and Mariah
Moira S.

Avah Faith!

Beautiful flowers!

Morgan! Wish my kids had those eyes!

My Girlfriends and I went down to try out D.C. Cupcakes. Was it worth the drive? OH YES! They are really good cupcakes. I really like the coconut ones! I was so glad that I could buy some extra ones for our home group to share with Ann Kuhns for her birthday!

Great Wolf Lodge!

K and C!

Daddy riding the waves!

Her favorite part of the park!

Only a small section of the park.

Christian

Avah

I don't know where the time went but I totally forgot to post about our trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA. We went with our friends Kurt and Zara and we all had a wonderful time. Avah was a little timid at first and Christian could care less. C road every ride that he could get on. The adults took turns and got to ride the Howling Tornado. I didn't think that I would Howl but yes I sure did. Colin was facing backwards going down the slide so all he could see was my face and he said seeing my face was hysterical. But that was only because I could see what was coming and he couldn't. We had a wonderful time and would like to go back next year.

National Zoo! 2011

Soon they will be big enough to push their sister's around!

Avah and Moira! They have a love hate relationship. I was greatful that today
was filled with love!

Sweet friends!

Monkeying around!

Avah in her new favorite shirt!

Moira found a new snack!

Today was a beautiful Tuesday trip to the National Zoo with Moira, Carter and Mariah. It's a little hectic when we try to take 4 kids to the zoo. Two double stollers(we managed one this time), Umbrella stroller, snacks, water, 4 car seats and the list goes on. For some reason today I was ready. I think it is because we spent all of last week at home with sick kids. The day was beautiful and almost all of the animals were out. We drove through Rock Creek part which was fun to as well. Now I have a new route to take to the zoo thanks to Mariah and her handy smart phone :-) We also got to see the new lion cubs. The kids are still to young to really appreciate the exhibits. We would walk up to one and within two minutes one of the kids was saying "what's next!" I am wondering what is next? What big trip will we take to the city next?!!??

March Girls Birthday Party!

Seriously! Who told me no?

Ready to party!

Yummy strawberries!

I am so picky I can see where I missed putting that topper
on that one cupcake! lol

Licking her lips! She was ready for her cupcakes.

Avah had her birthday party in VA today and from the looks of it, it looks like she had a wonderful time. I wasn't able to attend the party because Christian has been sick with croup and strep. The theme for the party this year was supposed to be Strawberry shortcake but ended up just being strawberry's. Teri was so sweet and offered to bring Avah to the party for me while I took C to the doctor. I am so glad that she had such a wonderful time! This was the last joint party for the March babies which in a ways makes me sad. I think about the friendships I have made with all of these women and the friendships that the girls have made together and it melts my heart. Thank you all for coming out to celebrate!!

Farewell Louisiana.

Good ole Louisiana Craw fish!

Love their house sign! How cute!

Colin's parent's house! So beautiful!

Enjoying a snow cone!

She ate the whole thing!

Outside barefooted just like any little boy should be!Enjoying being outside!

Leaving Louisiana was so hard this year. Colin's mom really went out of her way this time. She bought a ton of groceries when I had arrived and had milk and chocolate for the kids. She gave up her room for an entire week so that our family would be comfortable. It turned out to be a really awesome set up. The kids loved playing out on the porch in the morning and I enjoyed sitting in the sun watching them. Louisiana has such a slower pace of life that I could get used to. It was hard for me to leave their beautiful home and their awesome back yard. The kids enjoyed climbing the rocks and tress and playing around their pond. It brought home fond memories of when I was kid and was able to roam around in the fields and play until I literally couldn't play anymore. It was a little heart breaking to come home to VA and realize that the kids cannot have that here. I hope and pray that we can give our kids a back yard to play in one day and that the kids will learn all about the wonderful state of Louisiana.

Thursday & Friday!

Ana and Christian

He was some Giraffe

Crazy bird.

Gunga and her babies :-)

Off the the Acadiana zoo with Colin, Jenn, Ana and Gunga. Thrusday was a beautiful day to take the kids out to the zoo in Louisiana. This zoo is nothing like the zoo in D.C. It is much smaller and doesn't have any huge hills to climb. Since the weather was so nice while we were out all of the animals were out and about as well. The tiger was moping around his cage, the leopard was out prancing around and the monkey's were really entertaining. I think that the kids had a wonderful day. Friday Jenn and I went to have pedi's and mani's and the kids stayed home with paw paw and Gunga who took them for a long morning walk. Colin and his friends had planned a camping trip for all of the guys back at home and left town for a couple of days. It was so special to have the kids spend so much time with their grandparent's. They loved every minute of it.

Bitter Sweet Wednesday!

Yummy Fried Shrimp compliments of Aunt Judy's Cooking!

He requested that Aunt Judy fry him some shrimp! So she fried away!

Wednesday was a bitter sweet day. Wednesday we took the kids to Abbeville to visit my Great Great Aunt and my dad's mom and Dad. My aunt loves to cook and the kids love her because she is very energetic even at an older age. My and aunt and I have a lot in common. We both love to sew and we both love to cook. Every time I go home she shares a family recipe with me and this time it was her jarred beets! Yummy! She always out does herself and cooked an amazing lunch for all of us fried catfish, fried shrimp, shrimp etoufee, beets, chow chow and some awesome fig cake. I always wonder if my grandmother(my mother's mom) would have been just like her sister. I love my Aunt as if she were my grandmother and I value her love and her cooking so much. I wish that we could see her more often then once a year. After my aunts house we went to visit my dad's parent's. That was a really hard visit since I had not been to their house since my dad had passed away. My grandmother has aged so much and my paw paw Rudy has as well but is still in good spirits. It was nice that my grandmother got to finally meet Avah. It was truly a hard reality that my dad is really gone though. It is so easy to get caught up in the fast past life of Northern VA and to forget that you have lost someone so special to your heart. I also found out that my Aunt is very sick as well and has cancer. Overall it was a sad visit but it made me feel much better that I went to see them and that they got to spend time with the kids.

Monday & Tuesday!

My sister and the kiddos!

Me, My sister and Avah

For some reason Avah didn't want to be held by my sister but loves to
talk to her vis skype!

Monday night we took the kids out to the Queen's parade with my sister! It was interesting going to the night parade. There were a lot of different people there and let's just say it wasn't as easy for the kids to catch beads. Tuesday we enjoyed Mardi Gras with our friends under a tiny tent due to all of the rain! We still made most of the day and it was great seeing all of the kids play together. We also ate a TON of food!!

Sunday.

Happy Birthday Avah!

Avah and Ana!

My great great Aunt! So sweet!

It's a southern tradition to have boudin served for your birthday! lol

Sweet Avah will be turning 2 on March 31st. 2 really? I felt like I just planned the huge March baby blow out last year. We decided to share her 2nd birthday this year with our family and friends back in Louisiana. It was great to see all of my high school friends and spend time with our family. Avah was a little overwhelmed because of the time difference we had to wake her up from her nap. Once she woke up she seemed to enjoy herself. Thanks to everyone who came out!

Saturday.

Avah caught a snake!

Christian caught some beads!

Every parade starts out with an escort from the local police department.

Avah and Daddy at the parade.

Crazy guy on stilts!

Avah enjoyed the parade

Just one of the many bands.

Mardi Gras 2011 down in Louisiana. I had to spilt the trip up into days because my camera is full of pictures. The first day we got there we took the kids out to the Childrens parade which was a must do since the kids had so much fun last time. The kids had a wonderful time catching beads and stuffed toys. The weather wasn't that great but we made the most out of the situation. That night Colin's dad cooked an amazing crawfish pasta dish. We all had a great time on Saturday and the kids were completely wiped out.