Harvest Days

We headed over to the LSU Rural Life Museum on Saturday morning to check out all of the fall fun planned for their annual "Harvest Days." They had all sorts of living history demonstrations (including a Civil War re-enactment of Baton Rouge), old-fashioned games and hands-on activities (candle-making, crackling cooking, etc.) depicting rural life in Louisiana during the nineteenth-century at harvest time. The tour included views of an old church, sick house, school room, slave quarters, blacksmith shop, kitchen, and sugar mill as well as a portrayal of the daily lives of soldiers during that time.

It was all very cool and interesting, but since it felt like it was 120 degrees outside we quickly headed over to the pumpkin patch area. Lucy cozied right on up to the scarecrows and mini pumpkins for some photo ops (check out slide show below) and then we all went on a hayride. Lucy's not walking quite well enough for a trip through the "corn maize", but... maybe next year!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Peek a boo!

Lucy was running around our bedroom playing while we got dressed this morning and quickly discovered that playing "where's Lucy?" is hilarious! First she hid herself in the bottom of Andrew's closet and then she crawled underneath the vanity sink and pulled the door closed to hide herself. This is the only cabinet door in the entire house that is not safety-proofed (we ran out of latches), and she knows it! She laughed and laughed every time she busted back through the door to "surprise" me while I was blow drying my hair. :) Stinker...

P.S. Like our big girl pajamas?

Walk on the wild side

We've had a bit of a crazy week between work (I traveled and Andrew struggled with his band) and other commitments, and it's been raining here pretty much non-stop for as long as I can remember = a fair amount of stress and cabin fever for us all. And even though it was still overcast and ridiculously humid today, we vowed to get outside and do something. Seriously, we haven't even been able to take walks with the stroller or cut the grass in forever. So... we headed across town to the Baton Rouge Zoo.

This was Lucy's first trip to the zoo and I think it was a big success! She's getting old enough now to recognize some animals and even knows a few of their sounds (woof! quack!), and she is definitely not shy about wanting to get close to them. She spent most of the day curling up her little fingers and babbling at them to come over -- this is how she calls Evie. :) Lucy pet the goats, stole some of my ice cream, and even walked around a bit while holding onto our hands -- big girl stuff. We all had a great time and are looking forward to hitting the "big zoo" in New Orleans once the weather gets cooler this fall. Enjoy the pics!

Feliz cumpleanos a Andrew

We got to celebrate Andrew's birthday at Superior while Andrew's family was in town last weekend (and catch the LSU game on TV at the same time!).

This may be the only picture of the two of us together (sans baby) in 2009.

What happens when the foreign guy at Marble Slab tries his hand at cake decorating? "HAPP BIRTH dAy ANdREW"! On the other hand, ice cream birthday cake? YUM! Several party goers (who shall remain anonymous) went back for seconds... and thirds.

We like to recycle in the Powers household. Good thinking, Aunt Katie!

The birthday boy finally got that boat he's been asking for. :)

Many thanks to the super generous Amy for not only offering to babysit so that we could go out for a real adult sushi dinner to properly celebrate on Andrew's birthday, but also for always bringing Lucy the most thoughtful surprises. You're a wonderful friend and we truly appreciate you!

Friday night lights

Andrew kicked off his first Friday night football game as band director for the Tara High School last weekend out in Baker, LA (about a 40 minute drive from our house) in the pouring rain. The last time I went to a high school football game was about 7 or 8 years ago when I was teaching, so it was fun to be in the midst of all that teenage excitement again.

Charlie & Katie joined me for the trek out there and we all really enjoyed our time getting to see Mr. Powers and the performance band in action, especially their rendition of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" (side note: the opposing team's halftime show was entirely devoted to a MJ tribute -- I suppose this will be a recurring theme throughout the fall). Andrew has only been working with these kids for about a month now which it makes it extremely tough to launch a full-fledged public performance, but... his hard work and dedication to this new job is paying off and I am so proud of him! Teaching high school is one of the toughest gigs out there and he's really doing a wonderful job of finding the balance between mentor and disciplinarian with these students. I think he's in a position to make a real difference in their lives this year.

Go Trojans!

P.S. The game itself was pretty pitiful -- it was raining so hard that no one could catch the ball and there were penalty flags on almost every play. At least we shouldn't have to worry about Andrew being gone on the weekends during playoff season!

Flashback Friday

Mom with me and Michelle, c. 1981

I cannot believe I've posting this, but I just can't stop looking at this funny picture. Michelle hung out at my uncle's house in Ft. Worth recently and he scanned all sorts of old Toro family photographs for her onto a CD, which she promptly shared with me. Several things to note in this photo:

1. Look how young my mother looks!
2. I had straight hair! And bangs!
3. Who the hell thought this couch was a good idea!?!
4. Doesn't Lucy look so much like Michelle in this picture?

Not that I have time AT ALL to be sifting through old pictures, but I love the idea of sharing them online since we now have the technical advances to do so. Stayed tuned for future installments...

Kiss, kiss

From the file of "why I wanted to have kids":

After we finished our morning snuggle I put Lucy in the pack n play with some of her favorite toys while I finished getting ready for work. As I cut the blow dryer off, I could hear the distinct sound of lip smacking coming from the other room. I quietly snuck my head through the door and saw Lucy cuddling and kissing her Gloworm with such delight and tenderness that my heart morphed into liquid goo. As soon as one of the worm's lullabies would end, she'd press its belly and wait for the face to light up and then she'd start kissing it again. Sweet, sweet girl.

Driving under the influence

... of diluted apple juice! Andrew and I are constantly shaking our heads these days and saying things like, "She's getting to be such a big girl" and "Where did our baby go?". In addition to being able to get on and off of her scooter car by herself (and making it actually go forward), using the sippy cup without the handles, and climbing up the stairs to the slide at the park, Lucy took her first steps this weekend!

She is so very proud of herself and displays the biggest smile when she gets brave enough to let go of our hands and take a step or two on her own. She still prefers to crawl and "cruise" the furniture right now, but her balance and confidence is growing daily. I predict we'll have a full-time walker on our hands any day now. It's such a joy to see her becoming more independent, even though I fear that the days of "I do it" are just around the corner. :)

It's geaux time!

Lucy's child development center is having "football Fridays" this fall -- every Friday before a game the kids are invited to wear their LSU or Southern finest. There were a whole of lot of CUTE little pre-schoolers running around with their cheerleader outfits and pigtails when I dropped her off this morning. We're experimenting with the uni-pigtail right look now (a la Pebbles from the Flintstones). What do you think?

I think it was maybe a slight bit too early this morning for her to get into the full swing of things, but... you gotta start the first weekend of football season off with a bang. Tailgating this fall should be a blast since Lucy's a bit older this year and loves being outside whenever possible. Football, food, and friends -- what more can you ask for? :) GEAUX TIGERS!!!