Visitors From Another Town

Shelia and Dylan arrived Thursday afternoon for a visit. We took the kids outside to play. They really liked playing out in the yard and the weather was nice. Not too warm and not too cold. Dylan is running now. He thought chasing Kaia and Tanek was a great game. Hunger finally brought us inside and I made supper.
Vinson rented some movies for us adults to watch. After sending Tanek to his grandmothers for a sleep over and putting the little ones to bed we started our first movie - Band Camp. Definitely not any band camp I've ever been to. Next we watched The Island. It was enjoyable. The action scenes were a bit much. I mean, come on, the police car was just cut in two after being hit by a big Wells Fargo type truck and they get out with only minor scratches! We finally got to bed about midnight.
This morning Kaia woke me up with the sun. Everyone was pretty sluggish and we were all yawning for most of the day. I took Shelia to my favorite thrift store here in Bunkie. You just cannot beat the prices. Of course Tanek and Kaia had to bring along some money to get something for themselves. Hey, wasn't Christmas less than a week away. Oh well, Tanek got some Lincoln Logs and Kaia found a puzzle. We tried going to the video store that's closing in town to look for some good movie deals but of course they weren't going to open for another hour so we headed back home.
They left about 4:30 pm to go visit some other friends. I'm really glad they made the trip out here. I enjoyed the company. We don't get to see Shelia often but hopefully we will see her and Dylan again soon.

Getting Creative

I've been putting my creative side to work these last few days. I have several Cafe Press shops and just opened a new one: It's An Alien Thing!. I guess you can pretty much figure out what will be on the t-shirts. Right now I am concentrating on Mardi Gras themes since that holiday is just around the corner. I may also need to think about Valentines themes. Anyway you can check out my shop: http://www.cafepress.com/alienthing
Onto other things. I talked to my friend Shelia yesterday. She and her son are coming over Thursday to visit us overnight. Guess that means I need to kick the house cleaning up a notch. We haven't seen them since right after Hurricane Rita. She lives near Lake Charles and has finally gotten back to her home and job. The schools she worked in were pretty messed up so they've had to consolidate schools.
We have now hit the middle of the week and the rest of it looks busy but fun.

Merry Christmas!

We had a very Merry Christmas today. Kaia was up bright and early ready to open gifts. Tanek hopped out of bed faster than I've ever seen. I guess the thought of opening presents has that effect on kids.
After a very lengthy session of opening gifts we started the fun part of getting the toys out of the boxes. Why are toy manufacturers so cruel? They definitely keep the plastic tie and tape companies in business. Of course an adult is patiently trying to dislodge the toy from the box all the while trying not to shout expletives or break said toy in half. In front of the "patient" adult a child is hopping up and down saying "hurry and open it". After about an hour the toy is finally free from the box and you realize it needs batteries. Now this toy isn't going to need your standard screwdriver to open the battery compartment. It needs a tiny little screwdriver that you can't find. So, now you spend more time looking for the screwdriver and the child is either :
1. Crying
2. Opening boxes with tiny little pieces and losing them
or
3. Taking toys from the other child (now that ones crying)
Sometimes its all three or a variation of two.
By lunch time everyone was busy playing with their new gifts and all was well with the world. Christmas is fun but I must say it is also exhausting. Before we went to bed last night my daughter wanted to know when Santa was going to visit again. Luckily for her parents it will be another year before we see Saint Nick. My pocketbook can't handle it before then. :)

Family Time

Today was a very nice day. We went to Lafayette to see the new addition to the family. Cole Steven Esthay was born yesterday at 8:30 AM weighing 8 lbs. Mom and baby are doing great. Dad and sister were very happy. I love seeing new babies they are so tiny you just can't help but love them. Now my daughter is asking when she can have a baby sister. Hmmm... We'll have to think about that one.
After the visit we went to Acadian Village to see Christmas lights. We were able to get in free (the casino was giving free passes to employees). It was cold but we still enjoyed ourselves. We walked around and looked at the lighted displays, the kids rode a kiddy train and then we had some Frito pies and drinks while we watched a talent show. Tanek and Kaia had a lot of fun. Vins and I enjoyed spending the evening with them and not having to rush anywhere.
All in all a great day!

Oh Baby!

Today we await the arrival of our new nephew. My brother said they had to be at the hospital for 6AM. We don't know when they will actually start the c-section. Unfortunately we will be tied up all day so we will have to wait until tomorrow to go visit them. That might be for the better since his mom will probably be a little more lucid.
On other matters Christmas is almost here. There is so much to do I need another week or two. Since thats not going to happen I guess I will need to get into high gear. The kids are really excited. They got to see Santa last night courtesy of Paragon Casino. They had gifts for each of the employees children and games to play and snacks to eat. Vins had to head off to work before they talked to Santa. We waited in line for over an hour. Vins took them to play while I stood in line but when he left for work they had to wait in line with me.
My mother in law brought over the gifts she has for the kids. They are all wrapped and Kaia keeps saying I wonder what the presents are. I think they will be very happy when they open them Christmas morning.

Happy Holidays!

Well I'm not really sure how the holidays snuck up on me this year, but they did. Christmas is 8 days away and I really don't feel ready for it. Vinson still hasn't set up his Christmas village and the storage containers are taking up a lot of room in my school room. I am not done with my shopping. I still need to buy a gift or two and stocking stuffers. There are lots of things that are waiting to be wrapped.
On a happier note I got my Christmas cards all mailed out. So far only one has been returned with a bad address. Man its hard to keep up with people.
I am hoping that I can finish up my shopping tomorrow (I will save 4% due to the tax free weekend). Why can't everyday be tax free day? Why didn't they have tax free weekend three weeks ago when I bought the bulk of my Christmas gifts? Oh well...