March 2008 Archives

Kyoko and I had a fabulous time in New Orleans over Easter weekend. Our accommodations were wonderful; first we stayed with Aunt Ginnie and her "girls", then one night at Elizabeth's house. Kyoko fell in love with all of the dogs and I thought for sure Kyoko would try to take one or all of them home with her. Dinner Friday night was at the yummy Phil's Grill; thanks everyone! Saturday we toured some of the Garden District, The 9th Ward and the French Quarter courtesy of our excellent tour guides; Scott, Elizabeth and Mary Catherine Soule. Katie met us for dinner at The House of Blues (tasty) and then we embarked on a walking Ghost Tour. It was very interesting and entertaining to hear the stories of some of the first families of New Orleans. Then we topped it off with beignets and cafè au lait at Cafè Du Monde. YUM! Easter Sunday was spent going to church with Aunt Ginnie; Dinner and Easter Egg Hunt at Elizabeth's house and then a visit to Rob and Patsy's beautiful home in Bush. It was great to finally see where all those wonderful pictures come from, not to mention how nice it was to see Rob and Patsy. Monday our tour guide was Katie. She picked us up in the morning and we headed out to see the Nottoway Plantation. It was a gorgeous day to spend out sightseeing. The plantation was amazing and though it needed a coat of paint it was in remarkable condition for a house built in 1859. We drove past Oak Alley Plantation and then just nosed around the Laura Plantation and took some photos. Monday night we were treated to a fun night at the jazz club, Snug Harbor. The food was great and so was the jazz performed by Charmaine Neville. It was interesting to see that side of New Orleans. It was fun to see were Katie and Janine work, and boy do they work hard! Tuesday was spent visiting with various cousins at Aunt Ginnie's house. All in all it was a fantastic vacation. Thanks to all of you in New Orleans!!!

Leisl

Joey and I drove to Atlanta last Thursday to spend the Easter holiday with the Claytons and to see Baby Barrett. He was just adorable and worth the 500 mile drive! Such a good baby. Samuel and Luke absolutely loved him. Luke loved giving him kisses, but he only wanted to kiss him on the mouth so I'm thankful he was healthy! Easter was wonderful. Sue put on quite a spread and we all ate like royalty. We dyed eggs on Saturday, and then Joey taught everybody how to "pacque" eggs. It's a Cajun tradition that he grew up with. Everyone participated and even Baby Barrett got in on the action and won the game!

Joey and the babies and I drove to Callaway Gardens on the way home. I think I'm going to disappoint Sue and Katie when I say that I think we missed something. They both went on and on about the beauty and the fun but we missed it. Maybe it was the 45 degree weather or maybe it was my constant worrying about the babies getting too cold in their little sweatshirts, or maybe it was the fact that not a single azalea was in bloom, but we failed to see the beauty. It was really kind of a bust for us. Maybe we didn't get on the right trails. I don't know. We finally decided to rent bikes and we each had a baby on the back. We put several layers of clothing on them and then wrapped them up in their blankets. Needless to say, stopping to browse was out of the question with all that nonsense going on. Mainly, it was just too cold for that kind of day. Glad the muggy 80s are coming back! We need to go back when the weather is a little better and more flowers are in bloom.

Easter Weekend 2008

When Angela and Christina were about four months old, they developed a cold/sore throat. When Sue came home from school, Daddy asked her to go with him to the doctor. After sitting in the waiting room awhile, he started to feel uncomfortable because it seemed like everyone there was glowering at him. Nobody would make eye contact with him, but he knew he was being stared at. It finally occurred to him that they must be thinking that he was the father of the babies and she was their mother. She was only fifteen years old, but she took care of them as if they were her own – as did all of their siblings. Everyone had a hand in raising them, taking care of them, treating them as the perfect beings that they were, and that is why, on their birthday today, we wish them Happy Birthday and Happy Birthday. You are still perfect people.

Happy Birthday, Angela, Christina, and David

Have a day

Angela, Joey, Samuel and Luke celebrated Easter with us this year. I always love to have family visit at holidays. Angela has visited at Easter before, as well as Thanksgiving. Samuel and Luke loved Baby Barrett and wanted to hold and kiss him at every opportunity. Barrett did not mind at all. We had Easter dinner at around 1:30 because David had to go to work and Brianne was anxious to leave for her spring break trip to Panama City. Scott was unable to join us because he had to work. Stephen's friend, Alan, and David's friend, Wade, ate dinner with us. After our Easter dinner, we played a Cajun game called "Egg Paqueing" Not sure if I spelled that correctly. Joey played it while growing up. Everyone stands in a circle and two people gently paque each other's egg. The one whose egg cracks is out. You continue around the circle paqueing eggs until you get out. You do both sides of the egg until you get a winner. The Baby Bear was the winner!

Easter in Lawrenceville

Barrett is two months old today. We all enjoyed a nice long Easter weekend. It was his second Sunday at Church and he slept through the entire mass...we let it slide for now. The Hunters came and visited, which was a lot of fun. I think my folks are going to make a post about that, so I'll let them share. Barrett will visit the doctor on Friday and we will update you on his progress.

Stephen & Barrett

Barrett Scott

Barrett Scott

Happy Birthday, Scott

Have a day

St Joseph's Day is still celebrated in and around New Orleans but probably not as much as it was when I was a kid. If you've never seen a St Joseph's Day Altar, there are pictures of them in the link. They are loaded with goodies although I never acquired the taste for the Italian cookies. St Joseph is all around New Orleans and Louisiana. There's a church on Tulane in New Orleans. I used to park in their lot for Saints games many years ago but I've never been inside. It's in an area where it must have sustained damage from Katrina but I haven't heard how much. There's a town of St Joseph. I've never been there. There's a St Joseph Abbey in St Benedict, LA. Never been to St Benedict, either. There's also a St Joe Brick Works in Pearl River that I used to pass every day. I assume St Joe is St Joseph but that may be incorrect.

Barrett visited his Gigi (Sue) at her school today in his St. Patrick's Day outfit. She just loved it. He was a good boy. I made sure he had his green on to keep him from getting pinched, so you can imagine my concern when Mr. Scott showed up at my house, to pick us up for the extravaganza, and he didn't have on any green. I offered to find him something and he replied, "I like the ladies to pinch me"...and they did, with a little provoking of course.

Barrett also made his debut at church this Sunday. He wore an adorable outfit that my mom bought him. It was a plaid button up shirt and navy corduroy overalls. I thought he looked precious and couldn't pass up the photo opportunity. He did really well considering the collar on his shirt kept rubbing his cheeks and making him think it was lunch time. We were nervous the whole time that he was going to let out a big cry since we where right by the microphone used by the choir. Luckily, he didn't and we made it to the end of mass with no big interruptions.

Barrett is smiling now and we cannot seem to get enough pictures of him doing it. He is also standing on his own! He is such a big boy.

With all the picture taking, it has come to my attention that Stephen cannot be left alone with the camera. He thinks it is perfectly fine to have Flick lick the baby in the face! I completely disagree! So, know that the pictures of Barrett and Flick together were taken during Stephen's "unsupervised" time. I do like to see the size difference though. It will be fun to watch him grow next to her. Oh, Flick will be one year old next week!

Kellie

Barrett & Flick

Lift a glass of green beer or a shot of Irish whiskey. Have some shepherd’s pie. Everyone is Irish today.

Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly,
A terrible beauty is born
William Butler Yeats, Easter 1916

On this day – March 12*

1948 Went to Lakers basketball game.
1949 Sallie and I walked home from school – 5 miles.
1950 Bought Revlon Pink Lightening lipstick.
1952 Date with Jimmy Brown (1 k).
1957 Started Robbie on fruits & vegs. Saw “Full of Life."
1958 Bought junior bed for Robbie. Took him to office.
1959 Mr. Ferrara ill. Saw Globe Const. Co. houses for $13,200 & $14,200. Very nice.
1960 Mixed ½ tblsp. Rice cereal with banana flakes for Janine. She was an angel all day.
1961 Took Sue to ear specialist. Another infection. $6.39 for medicine.
1985 Elizabeth had $3 and check stolen from purse. Cost $10 to stop payment.
1987 Power failure. Left work at noon.
1988 First grass cutting.
1989 Rummel prom for Christina. Went in limousine.
1990 Starting to catch a cold. Stayed home from work.

Disclaimer: The above historic events took place on various dates in March, not necessarily the 12th.