Happy Thanksgiving!

Kailey and I tuned in this morning to the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. I always loved getting up and watching when I was little. This morning I was thinking back to when I was little, and remembering how I always hated the marching bands. They were like the vegetables of the parade. I have since repented and like to watch all of the parade, but when I was little I dreaded the bands.

Today we went to Amilyn's house for lunch with the Bonnette's and later headed out to Ferriday for Dinner with my family. Click HERE to see my favorite part of the day!

If you have already clicked on the link, read on . . .

You've just been Rickroll'd, but don't feel bad because so was everyone else that watched the Macy's Parade Today. To be Rickroll'd Macy's-Style click here.

Thanksgiving pictures and more details to come . . .

Roasted Chicken

I found a recipe on allrecipes.com for roasted chicken that I really like. I didn't expect anything spectacular since the recipe is really simple, but I was surprised.

Juicy Roasted Chicken
INGREDIENTS

• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, giblets removed
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon onion powder, or to taste
• 1/2 cup margarine, divided
• 1 stalk celery, leaves removed

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place chicken in a roasting pan, and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Sprinkle inside and out with onion powder. Place 3 tablespoons margarine in the chicken cavity. Arrange dollops of the remaining margarine around the chicken's exterior. Cut the celery into 3 or 4 pieces, and place in the chicken cavity.
3. Bake uncovered 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove from heat, and baste with melted margarine and drippings. Cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest about 30 minutes before serving.

Submitted by: robinrockingbird

I'm back and i've got pictures

I took a little break from my continuous posting because we actually had no functioning computers in the house for a few days. No, I'm not lying, my house actually had no computer, 27 computer programming books, but no computer. So much for NaBloPoMo; the desktop is terminally ill, and the laptop charger got left in Vicksburg for a few days (long story). We had the charger back Sunday night, no excuse, and yesterday, I acquired corneal abrasion #5 courtesy of Eli (I was just holding him in my lap, and he flung his little arm around, which scraped a fingernail across my eyeball). I know, you are thinking, how in the world is that possible that in the period of 2 1/2 yrs. a person could have 5 corneal abrasions. Well, Jamie's theory is that I have something wrong with my blinking reflex, maybe so. Whatever it is, I'm tired of it. Imagine having a burning paper cut on your eye, and of course your eyes blink all of the time irritating and restarting the burning each time. Sorry, I had to get that off of my chest, I have been bottling up my anger toward my eye ball and had to get it out. My eye is feeling better now, still blurred, but not stinging and watering like crazy.

I promised some pictures a while back, so here are a few.

This was Eli's first time down the slide the other day.

Eli's first time on the clown car; its missing all of it's face pieces, the clown car that is : ( He was really concentratingEli is always happy when he is outside. When I open the door to let Rickey out, and he doesn't get to go outside he gets pretty angry.

Car seats are a cool fun toy when they are not in the car.Friday, after Joel got off of work, we sped to Lake Charles to the Barbe High football game. We had been planning to go to a game all season to see Mavanie march, but hadn't made to one yet. We made just in time to see her march. It was fun despite the bitterly cold wind.Kailey had a good time painting at Memaw and Granddad's house.
At the mall in Lake CharlesSunday evening Jamie, the babies, and I went out to Baker to hang out with Becca (college roommate) who was in town for Thanksgiving. It was great to hang out with her and her family, and meet her super cute baby girl Marianna! This is the only picture that I got that had all 5 babies in it. It was so good to see Becca after almost 4 years!

And no, my camera is not from 1995 with floppy disk memory and half a mega pixel. These are from my phone so the quality is horrible. It is just so much easier to take pictures with my phone rather than toting around our big camera that take beautiful pictures.

He wasn't kidding about the walking and TWILIGHT

So, Eli was not kidding about the walking. In a previous post, I mentioned that Eli had taken a few steps, and I figured that it would be a while before he was really getting around. Well, nobody Eli that it takes a while to get used to walking. He has not been holding on or anything, just letting go and walking. The most that I have seen him take with out grabbing on to the next thing is 4 steps. I have really been surprised at how quickly he has taken off.

Sorry I have been going on a bit of a picture drought, I really need to get pictures off of the camera and my phone and post a few. Keep an eye out, there coming soon.


Also, we have a friend that has some connections in the theater business and I was able to go an see Twilight tonight at their employee screening. I was super excited. I really loved the books, so I was extra excited to see the movie. Frankly, the movie could have been terrible and I still would have loved it, because I love the story so much. Usually I am really picky about movies and sometimes overly critical of the acting, directing, writing, etc., but for Twilight I put aside the microscope and just tried to enjoy it. When I watched the previews, I was a little worried, because there were a few parts that looked a little hokey (couldn't think of just the right adjective, so that one will have to do), but I was glad to find that the previews didn't do those scenes justice. I plan to watch it again, at least once more in the theater with Joel and when it comes out on dvd, who knows, the sky is the limit :)

One last thing, I got the last wires for my braces put in today! Hallelujah! I will have to wear these for 6 weeks. I thought that I would get to go back in 4 weeks and possibly get them off before Christmas, but he wanted me to go 6 weeks this time : ( Wow, I just realized how close we are to Christmas. I had better get started on my Christmas shopping list, Christmas cards (I am going to try and get some sent out this year, did it the year before but not last year), and plan and prepare for Kailey's birthday. This time of year gets really busy quick, so I better get to work!

Ryan sitting and Eli's first step

Today, we had Ryan, a nursery buddy, over. His mom is in the hospital with a new baby girl! Luckily Ryan is a good kid, so we had a pretty smooth day.

This morning, Eli, in pursuit of a roll of toilet paper, let go of Kailey's step stool and took one tiny baby step to the toilet as he attempted to reach a roll of toilet paper. It will be a while still before he is actually walking around, but he has had his first step!!

P.S. This is my 100th post! Yippee Hooray!

Ok, I am running low on content, so I found a thought provoking question that I was having a hard time answering.

If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be? (mine are in no particular order, and just based on entertainment value)

1. Steve Carrell - I saw him on Leno the other night and he was hilarious!
2. Mo Willems - I love his books and I think that he would be fun to interview.
3. Lorne Michaels maybe or maybe Andy Samburg, my fave snl cast member of the moment (since it's my blog, it is legal to have a maybe in a top 3 list).

I might give this some more thought and come back to it.

Rony, Ponda, and Tiko

It's late, so I'm gonna keep this short. My mom and dad came, and at one point when we were outside playing, my dad told me that his name was Ponda, and that Kailey was Rony, and Allison was Tiko. I couldn't help but laugh. Any body else need a crazy, I mean really cool name, let me know, we will hook you up.

A surprise visit, and pawpaw is coming!

This morning Jamie called and let me know that Courtney, Jared, and the babies were passing through, on their way to Florida to visit her family. I was so super excited. For more details and pictures, you can take a look by clicking here. It was so good to see them, and meet Jack for the first time. I can't wait to go visit them in Texas.

Tomorrow my dad is coming to visit. He works offshore, and will be passing through on his way home. He called earlier in the week to let us know that he would stop by on his way in. My mom is going to drive up to visit, too. We are really excited to get to hang out with them tomorrow.

Another thing, Kailey figured out that her jeans have pockets and she can put her hands in them, today. Also, Eli started clapping today. He has gotten better at it just since this morning. I love it!

Kailey's names

What is in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet. - William Shakespeare

Kailey lately (the last couple of months), tells me everyday a new name by which she should be called. Most days, it changes a few time throughout the day. Tonight she was to be called Rony (pronounced like Tony). They are always completely made up. Some of the most common repeat ones are Loana (loan with uh at the end, I'm not even going to try to do proper pronunciations, it would take me hours with the character key to find the right characters and symbols), Shanta, and Amalise. These are the only ones that resemble normal names so I can remember them; the others are so abstract that they don't stick in my brain. I'm kind of sad about that because some that I've forgotten were real doozies. I guess I should start writing them down.

The way that it usually goes is:

K: Mom, I'm Rony.

H: Ok

A little later...

H: Kailey get off of the coffee table.

K: NNNNOOOOO, I'M RONY!!!

H: Oh, I'm sorry, Rony, get off of the table please.

Sometimes I get a name too. Sometimes it is assigned by Kailey and sometimes, if I'm lucky I get to choose :) I usually choose Loana or Shanta, I remember those easiest.

Veteran's Day & Unsolved Mysteries

Happy Veteran's Day. Aren't you grateful to live in this country and enjoy the freedoms of this country? I know that I am. I am afraid that I take it for granted. I am grateful that my life has not really been touched by war, despite the possibilities in my lifetime. My grandfather served in the military, he served in the Korean War; and I have an uncle that served for about 20 years in the military.

The other day, I came across a show that I hadn't seen in a while, Unsolved Mysteries. I used to watch this show with papaw. It used to scare me then, and it scared me this time, too. I don't know if you have picked up on this or not, but Jamie and I both have this problem, we are scaredy cats and we watch shows that scare us despite that. Jamie had a post about watching the show "A Haunting," if you need a refresher, you can read it here. So I had the same problem with the Haunting show, and the other day I got sucked in by Unsolved Mysteries. That night, I had bad dreams about crazy ghosts and glowing luminol (stuff that they spray on surfaces to detect blood) on the walls. I have got to stay away from these shows even though I like them so much. I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment.

The Conclusion of the slush puppy store guy and a good day

First order of business: the slush puppy store. So as I mentioned when I first walked over to the slush puppy machine, the store owner started talking to me, he said, "Slush puppy are very good, I never have any complaints (with a very thick Asian maybe Vietnamese accent)" The way that he pronounced slush puppy, I knew immediately that this was the store that Paul Hollis (a friend from LSU) used to go to every morning before school/work and get an eggroll and slush puppy for breakfast. Paul used to tell us about how as soon as he walked through the door of the store, the owner would say, "eggroll and slush puppy" to Paul because he knew what he was going get. Paul would say the line with an asian accent, and apparently he had the accent down pretty good, because as soon as I heard the guy pronounce slush puppy, I knew that this was Paul's store where he got slush puppies. I almost laughed out loud when the guy started talking to me, as I realized who he was.

Sorry Clare and Jamie, it wasn't Kevin Bacon (see comments under the previous post). When we were in high school there was a guy working at the Chevron that I mentioned in the previous post that looked just like Kevin Bacon, so we just referred to him as Kevin Bacon. And Clare, yes I do remember the field trip when we made our own slush puppies and we added way too much syrup. I also thought more syrup = more sweetness and flavor...wrong! A word of warning to anyone that comes upon a self serve slush puppy machine, do not add more than the recommended amount of syrup.

Second order of business: a good day. I don't know if the planet's aligned, or if entered an alternate universe this afternoon, but I received excellent customer service all day!! I went to Sonic today for lunch, they had the food out quicker than I thought possible, the car hop was super nice, I asked for more ketchup, she went right in and brought it right out, they got my order right, and the girl later came by with the condiment tray and checked to see if we needed anything else. I was shocked. I headed to Wal-Mart next to do a little grocery shopping (I had started going to Winn Dixie lately because of shorter lines, better variety, nicer employees, but happened to be on the other side of town, so decided to press my luck with Wal-Mart). Everything went fine with the shopping, then when I went to check out, there was NO LINE (unheard of at our Wal-Mart particulary mid day) and the cashier was super nice. Asked how we were doing and chatted, not annoying chatting just nice small talk, as he rang up the groceries. He even put the bags in my cart (this is a rarity at our Wal-Mart) as I put my debit card info in. Next stop, produce stand, everyone was super friendly there, too. I don't know what in the world was going on in Denham Springs today, but it was like a nice spell was cast on the town. I was even feeling kind of friendly and helped an older lady pick out some apples. Kailey was feeling so good, while I checked out, she was dancing in the aisles singing, "shake your booty, shake your booty..."


P.S. I was devestated this morning when I remembered that I didn't post anything yesterday. I don't know what happened. I just forgot.

Slush Puppies

I found slush puppies today! Growing up, Jamie and I used to get Slush Puppies at Murray's, a gas station in Vidalia. Then when Murray's closed, there was a Chevron Station that had them. Eventually the Chevron closed and I have rarely found a slush puppy since. Well, today I found one!! Joel and I took the babies to the park and on our way, we passed a gas station that had a slush puppy sign outside. I figured that it was probably an old sign and they probably didn't sell them anymore. I was beginning to think that Slush Puppies no longer existed because it had been so long since I had found one. So Joel and I stopped at the station on our way home, and lo and behold a Slush Puppy machine! I got a watermelon one of course, Joel a grape, and Kailey a strawberry. They were excellent! Also, I recognized the guy who owns the store almost immediately, but I have never met him. Its late, so I don't have time to go into the story right now. Just out of curiosity, Jamie or Erika, do you know how I know the convenient store owner? I'll put the story up next time.

I don't have any deep thoughts or fun baby stories, but I have to post something because of NaBloPoMo, so here is a photo of Kailey when she was Eli's age and a recent pic of Eli, to compare. I expended all of my creativity in a "facelift" for Jamie's blog, so I'm not promising anything great in this post, but I do recommend that you take a look at Jamie's new beautiful background!

I think that they have the same nose and mouth.

For my birthday, Joel gave me Little Big Planet. It is a super fun game. If you get the chance, give it a try. It is really cute; I like cute games. Actually those are the only kind that I play. I don't play any games with shooting. I'm not coordinated enough for those, and don't care for the violence. If you recall the last game that I posted about was Beautiful Katamari another cute game.

Eli: Obsessed, curls, and a lonely tooth

Eli has recently become obsessed with toilet paper. Every time that he gets a chance he speed crawls to the bathroom and goes straight to the toilet paper holder. Much to his dismay, I have removed the rolls from the holders and put them on the back of the toilets. Tonight as I was getting ready to bathe the babies, he came into the bathroom, opened the cabinet doors below the sink, crawled in and got to the extra rolls. He was in heaven.
Eli finally got a tooth. He has one lonely little tooth on the bottom. (it's kind of hard to see, but if you look closely, it is there).


Also, I noticed the other night after I got him out of the tub, when his hair is still a little damp it is curly in the back, kind of like Allison's. It will be interesting to see what it does as it grows.

Shoot, hate, stupid, kill

Those are a few of the words that I am having to edit out of my vocabulary lately. Kailey has recently taken on a more colorful vocabulary. Lately she has started saying things like "I hate _______, " or "_______ is stupid." So I have been telling her not to say those words and giving her a nicer alternative to express her feelings. Well, the other day I said one of the "bad" words, I think it was stupid, and she gasped and said "mom, you are not supposed to say stupid!" So now I am having to be very careful what I say. I'm not trying to be super strict about the words, its just that sometimes she says them very dramatically and sometimes superfluously just for attention.

Sorry Turkey, you just aren't as good as candy

This morning, I was in the bathroom getting ready for the day. Kailey came bouncing in, and here is the conversation that followed:

K: "Mommy, I want to have Halloween next week!" (getting more and more excited as she speaks, starting to bounce again, as she realizes that she might be on to something, and that it could work).

H: "Sorry KK, Halloween only happens once a year."

K: Look of disappointment

H: "Do you know what is coming up in a few weeks?"

K: "No" (with a hint of anticipation and hope)

H: "Thanksgiving! We will get together with our family and have dinner. We will have a big turkey and lots of other good food."

K: wrinkles nose like something smells bad, turns dramatically and walks away.

Go Vote!

Don't forget to vote today. I always like to do a little search before I go to vote, and check to see what is going to be on the ballot (there are always little things that I didn't know would be there, propositions, other offices than the ones you see over and over and over on tv). Happy voting!

To get in the voting mood, you might take a look at this little clip. (this digital short starts out kind of slow. I was skeptical at first, but give it a minute, it is hilarious).

Holiday Card Giveaway

I saw this on a friend's blog. This girl has some cute holiday cards, and I would love to win. You should check it out too. For a chance to win all you have to do is leave a comment.

The other Holly Bonnette

One day I recieved an email that had a reservation for a rental car, and I had not reserved a car...I immediately assumed the worse, identity theft, stolen credit card... I decided to be rational and try to get to the bottom of it. So I started by calling the rental car company and cancelling the the reservation. I tried to get some info out of the car rental people but wasn't very sucessful. Then the idea came to Joel that there might be another Holly Bonnette. So he googled my name and came up with a myspace for another Holly Bonnette in Texas, who was about my age and married to a guy named Anthony Bonnette. Luckily her profile was public so we sent her message asking if she had recently reserved a rental car. We put my email address and our phone number. Later that day we got a call from Holly. I apologized to her about the cancellation and we talked for a while about ourselves and our lives. It was very interesting. It turns out that her email address is very similar to mine so the rental car company had just entered it wrong. Since then I have gotten emails from her coworkers and have forwarded them on. We have communicated through email a few times since then.

Fourth picture tag

I got tagged a long time ago. So instead of some pointless rambling to fill my NaBloPoMo requirement, I'll post this the fourth picture in the fourth folder on my computer:I took this picture of Kailey in her new carseat. She had just turned 1!

Halloween

Eli turned 9 months old today! He started standing up on his on last Sunday. Here are some halloween pictures:

We went trick or treating with the Deschamps. From L to R: Kalli

I had almost forgotten, but to today is the first day of NaBloPoMo. (I read it on Jeni's blog). I am going to give it a try again this year. I have blog commitment issues; I periodically neglect my blog. Maybe this will help me develop healthier blogging habits :)

Pumpkin patch and birthdays!

So I haven't posted in a while. Here's what has occupied a good chunk of my "blogging time" (after the babies go to bed):
After the costume that Kailey wanted sold out I decided to make her a costume. It wasn't as hard as I thought that it would be, but it took more time than I thought that it would. (pictures of the finished product will be in the next post). After I finished the costume, Joel gave me Little Big Planet for my birthday and I have been playing that during blog time this week.

I don't have any trunk or treat pictures because I left my camera at home :( There is a picture of Kailey in Robin's post.

Some things that I missed:
Last Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch near Hammond. I didn't get any pictures , but there was also a petting zoo (too busy petting to take pictures I guess) with a cow, pony, goats, rabbits, chickens, and a turkey. We all had a really good time.

We even got to milk a fake cow!


Kailey tried to roll down the hill, but couldn't quite get it despite Joel's best efforts to help. She rolled in a circle rather than down, but had fun anyway.

Happy Birthday Joel!! (his b-day was the 26th). In honor of Joel's birthday, here are a few things that you might not know about him:
sometimes when we are sitting on the couch together he pinches with his toes. he loves scifi and martial arts movies, he becomes obsessed with things (guns, computer stuff, etc.) and researches the heck out them on the internet, he loves to make spreadsheets like no one i have ever met (except his dad).

Happy Birthday Joe!! (his b-day was the 27th). Bet you didn't know that Joe likes beets :)

Happy Birthday Jamie! (hers was the 29th). Did you know that Jamie's loves animals and wanted to be a vet for a little while when she was in elementary school. (Clare you don't count, because she knew Jamie at the time).

My mom came on our birthday to visit and she stayed to babysit while we (me, Joel, Jamie, and Joe) went out to eat. Ms. Shelia, Joe's mom, came and helped babysit, too. We went to one of our favorite hibachi grills in Baton Rouge. It was so nice to go out and eat without the kiddos. So peaceful. Jamie and I saw an old friend, Charlie, that we graduated with.

I'll be posting a few trick or treating pictures in the next couple of days.

I got tagged a while back, so here it is:

I am: neglecting housework right now (yes!!!)
I think: i have the best most beautiful babies in the world
I know: my family will be together forever
I want: a kitchenaid mixer, a red one to be exact
I have: braces
I dislike: mayonnaise
I miss: some parts of teaching, sleeping in
I fear: losing a loved one
I feel: most of the time,happy; sometimes impatient with Kailey; sometimes disappointed in myself because of my shortcomings
I hear: dancing with the stars, the babies playing, Kailey singing a made-up song to her mickey mouse
I smell: Rickey's breath, because she is sitting next to me grooming herself, throw-up!
I crave: sweets, I never had a sweet tooth until after I had Kailey, and last night nachos from Izzos.
I cry: easily when something is touching, and easily when I'm hormonal/pregnant
I usually: leave the dishes for the next morning rather than wash/load in the washer after dinner :( I have a goal to change this, I just haven't done it yet.
I search: craigslist for an upright freezer for the garage. Jamie and Joe have one, I'm pretty jealous
I wonder: what is going to happen with the economy, what my family will be like in 10, 15, 20 years
I regret: not taking more studio art classes at LSU, I loved Dr. Malveto's drawing class (Jeni, Aaron, Clare, Daniel: I see him at Wal-Mart sometimes with his mom)
I wish: that i could twitch my nose like Samantha and have my house magically cleaned (I would do lots of other fun stuff with the nose twitch, but that would be the first thing).
I love: every piece of Joel, Kailey, and Eli
I care: about being a good person
I always: take my vitamins in the same exact order every night before bed (I have a pack of 8 prenatals)
I worry: about few things, I am not a worrier at all. Even if there are things that I should be worried about, I kind of ignore it, good sometimes, really bad other times.
I am not: athletic
I remember: how exciting starting college was, and how much fun I had with all of my roommates; I LOVE YOU GIRLS!!
I believe: in Christ (incidentally that is one of my favorite hymns, I hum it to my babies sometimes)
I sing: to Eli when I change his diaper to keep him from flipping over, crawling away, a peeing on the carpet. I also sing to entertain Kailey and Eli; I like to sing despite my lack of skill and talent.
I don't always: put my babies to bed on time like i used to.
I argue: sometimes with Joel, but not a lot, and we play nice
I write: neatly most of the time
I win: at Scramboni sometimes (a game on my iPhone with scrambled words, i compete with people online. I knew that college education would come in handy one day).
I lose: my keys, my shoes, baby shoes...lots of stuff (i try to be organized, but don't do very well)
I listen: to music while i do house work, the Killers are on right now, because I should be doing housework
I don't understand: advanced physics, mechanics...
I can usually be found: with a baby on my hip, following around a spunky little girl with pigtails
I need: to Ferberize Eli
I forget: a lot, i'm pretty absentminded
I am happy: watching star trek with Joel after the babies go to bed. For the record: I have despised star trek for most of my life. It wasn't until a few months ago that I really gave it a chance and start watching Voyager with Joel. I actually grew to like this series. We borrowed the entire series (7 seasons) from Joe. We finished the last episode Saturday night and I've been kind of sad about it since.

I tag Keri, and anyone else that reads that hasn't done this one yet and would like to.

milk (formula anyway) is still a four letter word in this house and a long legged lizzard

I laughed so hard that I cried twice today:

1. I have been trying futilely to get Eli to drink formula. I have tried bottles, sippy cups, powder, liquid, warmed, cold...to no avail. Today I tried again cool liquid formula in a sippy cup. Here is what happened:

I guess it would be like trying to make us drink powdered or evaporated milk when we are used to drinking fresh milk. Can't blame him I guess. It is just so funny to me how everytime he gives either a look of disgust or heartbreak from betrayal.

2. Kailey has a lizzard that was I gave her once as a reward for using the potty when she was potty training. Evidently she really likes this lizard and when it lost its leg she was pretty sad. So the other day I tried to reattach the leg with tape when I couldn't find the super glue. Joel thought that it was funny so he modified it while Kailey was napping:

Kailey was pretty mad about this modification to her beloved lizzard.

Isn't that what parenting is all about, laughing at your child's disgust?

My three babies

This is Rickey's favorite spot to lay (I try to remember to put the boppy up, mostly for this reason). When Eli was a new baby, it would especially make my blood boil. Now I don't get so angry, after all Eli often grabs a handful of Rickey and leans in to bite.

Serious sippy cup drinking

Eli turned eight months old a few days ago, he is drinking from the sippy cup like a pro, crawling everywhere, and standing up and walking along the furniture a little. Today he went from the couch to the coffee table.

Kailey is all of a sudden camera shy.

Kailey sings

Our Kailey is a happy singing girl, and sometimes I have to struggle not to laugh at some of her versions of the classics.

Yesterday after church Kailey was singing: "a sun beep, a sun beep" (if your not Mormon or a convert that didn't experience primary, click here: "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam")

She also sings, "Old McDonald had a farm.....Eli-Eli-O"

Rock-a-bye baby goes like this, "Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top, when the wind blows in the great rock..." (I have no idea where this on came from).