My modus operandi is to start, well, from the beginning and catch us all up. It was lovely having Paul home with Ada, Jack, and me so much in the last month, and we certainly tried to take advantage! New cafés, Story Land, N.O. Museum of Art; I'm getting ahead of myself. Here come the photos, and I'll just intersperse a few stories where they fit.
Merry Christmas to us! Except ... enormous. Now to change lots-o-things so that they fit.
Christmas in the Oaks! It's so, so lovely to go after Christmas Day, during the 12 days of Christmas.
New Year's Eve movie treat, chocolate (Jack's face), and bubbly.
NOMA, which they enjoyed!
New neighborhood café for lunch
House Blessing on the Feast of the Epiphany
20+C+M+B+18
Christus Mansionem Benedicat / Caspar Melchior Balthazar
20+C+M+B+18
Christus Mansionem Benedicat / Caspar Melchior Balthazar
...and then came down all the Christmas décor.
Story Land!
Followed by beignets at Morning Call, of course; while in City Park...
SNOW in New Orleans. Actual snow, leading to what seemed like the apocalypse on roads and in stores, but was in actuality a three-ish day stretch of inescapable chill, running taps through the night to avoid the plague of burst pipes, and no school! 5yrs experience in MN made me feel a bit silly for taking pictures, but I did it for the kids in case it all melted before they woke, ha; and after all, it doesn't happen here very often! It hadn't all melted, and we enjoyed our time, despite the cold, with extra baking, soup, and icy walks, where Paul promptly slipped, fell, and busted a lip.
Jack liked the soup.
"Down in New Orleans where the blues was born, it takes a cool cat to blow a horn. On LaSalle & Rampart Streets, the combo's there with the mambo beat ... the Mardi Gras Mambo!"
Yeah, yeah, we ready!
Yeah, yeah, we ready!
Neighborhood Confetti Kids Parade! The only parade we're on the route for 😉 followed by a king cake party at Confetti Playground
General shenanigans
Dylan and I enjoyed our first LPO event of the new year - Fantastic! Frightening still. So good.
And then, of course, we celebrated birthdays. Our firstborn is now 6 years old, and our daughter is a whopping 4. Unbelievable. They are so awesome and bring such joy and love, and it was a pleasure celebrating them this year. Papa prepared pancake batter the night before so we could have a special breakfast despite its being a school-day. Then, Paul was "snack buddy", so he got to bring in a king cake to share with his class; and Ada had storytime/playground Thursday with a king cake party, too! That night, we had dinner at a new-ish taco place nearby, and everyone had a good day. The next day was Australia Day, but other than Tshirts and hanging the flag, we didn't mark that in any special way this year. Then, Saturday brought on the parties! As Paul is in school, we invited a few neighborhood friends but also his class to his party. Consequently, it was the first year we've had separate parties for our double birthday! But they wanted to do the same things, ha; so, our first party at midday had about 4 friends over to watch Frozen and eat mac-n-cheese, and our second party that evening had a few more than that 😳 to watch Moana and have pizza. They both wanted a white cake with a hole in it, but Ada requested chocolate icing while Paul requested white. It was a fun-filled, exhausting-in-a-good-way day! Big high-fives to Nana, Pappy, and Tante Ginny for all their help.
Asutralia Day heat wave outside play with a new bday digger from Down Under!
mostly 4yos watching Frozen
mostly 6yos "watching Moana"
Best Tante! And the littlest even says "Tata" now💕
That's all for photos this month. I do, however, have 2 tidbits of news!
1. I started a Well Read Mom chapter here in New Orleans, and I'm excited for its growth, to get back to reading, myself, and for relationships within the group.
2. I joined the New Orleans Volunteer Orchestra! I play French Horn ... remember? No? Yeah, I almost didn't either. Rehearsals are weekly for about 6wks before a concert, and there are several of those sessions throughout the year. It brings unexpected joy, and I'm glad to be doing it.
