Happy (And Sad) Mardi Gras!

Today my husband and I celebrated Mardi Gras (I think that we're the only ones in Arizona that do so) by eating leftover chicken and sausage gumbo and by listening to Dr. John and Professor Longhair on YouTube.  The gumbo was stinkin good, but in our hearts we really wish that we were eating a fresh, hot muffaletta from Po Boy Express, with maybe some bengets for dessert.  I've been thinking of Mardi Gras a lot this past weekend, not just with wistful fondness of parades gone by or memories of good food and good times, but with extreme sadness that I'm missing that culture right now and that my college and former town got creamed on Sunday by a wicked tornado.  Hattiesburg, USM, and it's vibrant family was devastated here and there by this horrible event, and my best friend's house got squished (again) by the wrath of trees.  We survived Katrina in Hattiesburg a year or so before moving to Arizona, and this brings back sad and really good memories.  I won't even dwell on the sad ones right now, but I will think of the good ones.  How much our community gathered together (especially our neighborhood) to help each other out, laugh together, and cry.  How the buzz of chainsaws and the smell of barbecue grills wafted through the air for over a week.  How hard my babies from Thames hugged me when school finally resumed.  How resilient and strong Mississippians are in the face of tragedy.  Sometimes I wonder how we could have left a town that still calls to me, usually in the night when my face is wet with tears, or when I'm looking at pictures that my Thames children drew for me.  My husband and I are different than we were ten years ago.  Every place that we have lived since then has left it's mark on us, good or bad.  Somehow Hattiesburg has become part of my fingerprints, or DNA.  I'll never forget how I felt when I stepped onto campus the first time as a very young freshman.  Those live oaks were spreading their green leafy branches out in a huge hug just for me.  When Jack and I bought a house on 13th Avenue, we had three huge oaks in our backyard (the biggest I named "the general") that had survived Camille and goodness knows what other storms, and then Katrina.  They shed their large branches all over the yard, got a good shaking, but stayed put.  Maybe Jack and I should have done the same.  I want my roots to grow somewhere, anywhere where they feel at home and loved, where I will look at them years from now and be astonished at their strength and breadth.  I pray every night, "Heavenly Father, help us find our place, and then help us stay put".

CURSE Jack Frost!

I have something to admit.  I really don't think that my body is capable of experiencing much colder temperatures then it has lately.  I think that I lifetime of living in the Southern region of the country has affected my body's ability to warm itself up.  We're talking negative 9 degrees F this morning, with a high of 19.  Ummmmm, yuck!  Some of you reading this might be scoffing, "Well, in ALASKA it gets negative a bigillion" or something.  I don't care!  There is a reason that I'm not living in Alaska, or Siberia right now.  Luckily we don't have to pay utilities, so last night as I was doing lesson plans at night, the heater was on and I kept feeling a draft from the windows and under the door.  I kept inching the thermostat higher and higher.  When Jack woke up this morning, he said that it was set to 85 degrees.  When I was younger and stupid, I once made the statement that I preferred being cold to being hot, because you can always put on more clothes, wheras you can't take your skin off.  Wrongness.  I enjoy watching the snow capped peaks from my window, and that is all.

Should I keep the kids?

I have to tell you that five minutes before I took this video, I would have sold my kids to the circus.  Then the magic happened.  Kizzie took Max by the hands and said, "Dance, Ma-well" and then she starting singing softly and leading him around the house in an imaginary waltz.  Max was totally game, and they were twirling, running, and jumping with hands clasped and smiles on their faces.  If you have multiple kids, or grew up with a sibling, I'm sure that you can relate.  When they are playing together it's precious, when they are fighting I want to gouge my ears out.  I hope that you can still see, even though it's grany. 

Happy Halloween from the Munsters!

Last night's trunk or treat was a blast!

 

 

Our creepy, warty pumpkin.

 

 

Max as Eddie Munster. (Thanks mom for the cute suit!)

 

Family portrait: Lily, Marilyn, Herman, and Eddie.

 

Me and my beautiful girl!

 

Max with his woof woof.

 

Max fell asleep with his glow regalia on.

 

Hope your Halloween was memorable, fun, and involved chocolate!

Have you ever been this tired?

The other night Jack took Kizzie to our friends Heather and David's house to hang out while I was helping Max do his homework.  Kizzie was really tired, and Heather took this video while she was bobbing and weaving, trying to stay awake.  I've only ever seen her do this at her high chair.  I just love this little girl with all of my heart!  Enjoy.

Mowhawks and Kizzie Walking!

Okay, so I've been meaning to catch a video of Kiz walking for a couple of weeks now, and the only one that I have is me getting on to the kids.  So just ignore the audio (I sound ridiculously upset--forgive me, I've been surviving on 5 hours of sleep for about a week) and watch my crazy children playing in front of our apartment.  Kizzie's favorite thing to do right now is to walk in circles till she gets dizzy and falls down.  Max just got a haircut that Jack's been dying to give him for 5 years now, a mowhawk.  It's sort of a modified one, and when his hair's not spiked up he looks a little bit like bon jovi from the 80s.  Tell me what you think. 

Belated Pictures of Awesomeness

I have been meaning to post some of these pictures for over a month.  Jack and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary in May, and I made him promise that we wouldn't just go to dinner and a movie.  His solution: spending the day hiking in Monument Valley on the Navajo Reservation, and sightseeing on the drive back home.  Here are some of the beautiful pictures from our trip.  I absolutely loved it, and spending time alone with my honey was completely awesome.  I can't believe that it's been 10 years!  We were such little babies when we got married.  Here's to 60 more!