Luminaries

Our neighborhood has the wonderful tradition of setting out luminaries for the community to enjoy. We had a great time tonight walking around our neighborhood admiring the lights. We love Baton Rouge.

Father and son outing

Tonight, Reuben and I had our father and son outing.  We went to Baskin Robbins and brought some games to play while we ate our ice cream.  Here you can see Reuben intensely concentrating on the game and not thinking at all about his egg nog ice cream in a chocolate cone.

In other words, we had a great time and are already discussing ideas for our next excursion.

Mommy-daughter date

Daniel and I have been feeling the need to spend more one-on-one time with our kids and have decided to start a monthly "date night." We marked it on the calendar. 

Mom and Lucy were first. Thursday evening, after the rush of homework, Reuben's basketball practice and cub-scouts, Lucy and I relaxed. We sang Christmas carols and talked over a plate of beignets while sipping hot chocolate. I think we can say with surety that "date night" is a tradition we're going to keep!

Dad and Reuben will have their first outing next week. Needless to say, both of them are very excited. 

Happy Halloween!

Kitchen updates

As you may remember, over the last year we have been performing little upgrades here and there on our house. i.e. painted the front porch and door, removed the metal security bars, and switched out the old interior doors, etc... Our most recent project was the kitchen backsplash (I used the camera on my phone so it looks yellow, when in fact we did not change the color). Our oven recently died and a new one has been ordered (with an unknown delivery date), so more change to come. We love how simple DIY upgrades can make such a big difference.

New Car

We refurbished Ruthy's car with a little spray paint and love. It is her favorite toy now.

Fall Sports

We are enjoying Fall, including the sports we are engaged in. Lucy is taking ballet, Reuben soccer. Here are a few pictures.

After watching Reuben's first game, Ruth became our biggest soccer fan. She kicks balls around the house all day long. Truly fun to watch and play with her.

Here are a few more pictures. Needless to say, we love Louisiana!

Ruthy's 1st Birthday!

We had so much fun celebrating Ruthy's 1st birthday last Friday, September 12. The last year with her has been a gift to our family.

As an update, she is very independent now and walks everywhere she goes, sometimes runs. She loves to kick balls around the house (actual dribbling). She is a real people person and waves, talks, sings and dances for everyone she meets. We love her!

The day started out with a Happy Birthday necklace and a big breakfast of potatoes, sausage, eggs and beans. Yum, yum.

While Daddy, Lucy and Reuben were at work/school, Ruth and mommy played at the park and hung out at home. (I pushed her around in that red car for a long, long time.)

Lucy and Reuben had a great idea to serve Ruthy a special birthday dinner of octopus and fish on a coral reef (hot dog, goldfish and mac 'n cheese). She loved it.

At last it was time for cake and ice cream.

 Lucy and Reuben decorated their own cup cakes.

I think she liked it. She kept signing for more.

The rest of the evening was spent opening her many presents. Lucy and Reuben practiced patience to let her open them mostly on her own. She loved each and every one and wanted to play with each before moving onto the next. She received no less than 12 books, 3 lovely cards and a ball. Happy Birthday, sweet Ruthy!

11 months old

Today is Ruthy's 11 month birthday! She makes everyone she meets feel like a million bucks. We love her so much.

Two videos

Over the last year we have thrown together a few videos we want to share. The first is called "Chasing Flowers." It was made for an Activity Day event to teach the kids how to make movies. The second is a slideshow of Ruthy playing with her cousin Victoria on the beach.

Chasing Flowers

Ruth on Beach

A few more pictures from our trip to Florida, Georgia and South Carolina this summer. My parent's new house was gorgeous! Thank you to everyone for a fabulous trip.