Mardi Gras Mambo

Mardi Gras/"Fat Tuesday"....February 24, 2009

For those of you that read this blog from outside of the Deep South, Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday" and refers to the carnival period during the days just prior to Ash Wednesday. It is a time of partying, gorging, and feasting (on Fat Tuesday) in preparation for the season of Lent (the 40 days of spiritual reflection in anticipation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ) that begins on Ash Wednesday.




Large Mardi Gras festivities take place in cities like New Orleans, Louisiana; Mobile, Alabama; and Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. We took in a large parade in New Orleans, Krewe of Toath.



Buck-a-roo was all about a parade. He hollored, "Throw me somethin, Mister" for two straight hours. He remained perched atop Daddy Buck's shoulders and caught oodles of beads, stuffed animals, footballs, swords, and the coveted, spear!

Frank-o was content with the first round of beads, that when draped around his neck weighed him down to the point that he took a seat in the folding chairs and that was all she wrote. He slept through the screams of the crowds, the beat of the drums from the marching bands, and the sirens of the firetrucks signaling the end of the parade.

As we say in these parts .... Laissez les bon temps rouler/"Let the good times roll"

It all ends on Wednesday .... when I will attend Mass during the day, receive my ashes and blessing for Ash Wednesday, abstain from meat/meat products on Ash Wednesday and every Friday of Lent, and make a self-sacrifice for the entire 40 days of Lent.

"Not Me!" Monday

I allowed you all a break last week from your free therapy of indulging in the miscues of everyday life in our family. I will not deprive you this week, so with out further adue:

My boys most certainly DID NOT recover in classic textbook fashion from their ENT surgeries over a week ago. That would be way too ordinary, low-key, and uneventful and that IS NOT the way that we do things in this family. Do it bigger, do it better, do it longer and with many more complications...now that's our motto, 'round here.

I DO NOT find myself with double the amount of whites in the laundry department than is necessary because my little men boys think they are much more grown-up than they really are. My 2 and 3 year old boys DO NOT insist upon wearing white undershirts daily just like their dad; as well as, applying deodorant and "smell good" (aftershave) daily. They idolize their dad :) {sweet!}

To further encourage the imitation and idolization, Daddy Buck DID NOT purchase, for each of them, "croakies" for their sunglasses - same brand, same color as his.

They WERE NOT so excited that they insisted on wearing their "sunglass hangy-neck-thing" from sun up ... to sun down ... inside where there's no sun ... and outside where the sun finally shined for the remainder of their 7-day recovery period at home.

Daddy Buck and I DID NOT ponder the thought of tossing the kids in our bed with us at 6:45pm and closing our eyes for the night because we were so beat from our Mardi Gras mambo in New Orleans. We didn't. However, I am about to shut down this computer, turn off all the lights, kiss my boys and hit the sack. It is now 8:29pm.

i heart faces ~ Week 7

Here we are for Week 7 of i Y faces weekly blog carnival.








This week's theme.....Black & White

My picture selection this week is a picture that I took just yesterday of Daddy Buck and Frank-o sharing a moment at the Mardi Gras parade.

To view more Black & White pictures, visit there blog here...

Flashback Friday

In honor of the season opener for the 2009 LSU baseball season tonight in the NEW Alex Box Stadium....

here's a picture of some loyal LSU fans from the final game at the previous Alex Box Stadium from last season.

Going into the 2009 season ranked #1 raises the stakes even higher for a win tonight in the season opener. I'll be in the stands and will let you know the outcome!!

GEAUX Tigers!!

Frank-o meets real-life Bob the Builder, 1st time couponing/comparing/ad shopping pays off

There is still an abundance of lounging, crying, complaining, fluid-sipping, relaxing, whining, television watching, and couch potato-ing taking place around our house; though I have to believe it has peaked and is on the downhill where these drained little guys will return to their regular, rowdy, rambunctious selves, I hope.






We did return to the pediatrician today. His words, "Frank-o is on the mends and recovering nicely". Buck-a-roo has developed a nasty, moist cough and continues to run high fevers around the clock. He was prescribed a new antibiotic that I just know it is gonna give this a swift kick in the get-along.





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Here's the timeline for the Sinkhole Saga that unfolded in our front yard yesterday and provided hours of much needed entertainment for Buck-a-roo and Frank-o:



0800





1000






1200









1400











1600

1800

2000

2200

0700 (this morning)

Aside from the shear magnitude of having a whole dug in your front yard spanning the course of 15+ hours that is 20 ft long x 20 ft deep and large enough to house a small SUV overnight; the greatest part of the day was the fact that Frank-o truly believes he met Bob the Builder, live and in person in his front yard.

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Perfecting the art of chapstick application with the aid of your mom's pressed powder compact...

{their dad's gonna get me for these, i just know it}

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As I have mentioned previously on this blog, I have committed to making an honest effort at comparison shopping/advertisement shopping/couponing. And I have. Not too extreme. Just clipping coupons on items that we routinely use or shopping sales at stores that I frequently shop. I'm not trying to devote my life to slashing our grocery/toiletry budget in half; I am, however, thrilled at the thought that I could pocket an extra $15/trip, $20/week, or even $50+/month.

Last night I had to run to Walgreens to pick up another prescription for the boys. Of course, it was not ready! I did not have my clipped coupons in tow (note to self...improvements needed in coupon organizing in an effort to have them on hand in moments like these). While waiting a ridiculous amount of time for my prescription that had been called in 4+ hours prior, I decided to go to the front of the store and pick up their weekly advertisements and search for bargains...here's what I found and purchased:

Sweet-n-Low (120 packets) - Reg. $2.49 each , On Sale 2/$400 (limit 4)

**savings $1.96

Kleenex (110 count) - Reg. $1.29 each, On Sale $0.89 each (limit 3)

** savings $ 1.20

Walgreen's Training Pants (2T/3T) - Reg. $8.99 each, On Sale 2/$15.98 + coupon $3/1 (limit 3)

** savings $8.00

Total Savings....$11.16 with very little effort at all :) I think I could get really good at this!!

Score!!

Wordless Wednesday

Sinkhole Saga

As a rule of thumb around our house, we watch very little televison on a regular basis. However, over the past six days....the routine has definitely been {ahem} relaxed, shall we say?

We prefer to spend majority of our time playing PlayDoh, making art projects, playing outside, playing with Matchbox cars in our rooms, playing outside, playing games, reading books, listening to music, playing outside, playing computer games, playing outside....you get my drift!

The boys did have a shortlived burst of energy this morning where they broke out the guitars, drum, and radio....and {ahem} "busted a move", shall we say?

And since we (or at least ME) have had our fill of televison-watching...why not stare out the dining room window and watch the saga as it {ahem} unfolds, shall we say?

The sinkhole saga that is.... if you are a frequent follower of this blog, you will remember this post where I introduced you all to the sinkhole and this post where I jokingly addressed the fact that the sinkhole had been {ahem} repaired, shall we say?

Repaired....it was {ahem} NOT, shall we say?!!

For two outdoor-lovin, recovering boys that haven't been outside with their tractors and tools in the dirt themselves in 6+ days, this was the next best thing. Why not pull up a chair, prop up your feet, and watch the {ahem} show, shall we say?

We are off to take naps and dream about what we will {ahem} awake to, shall we say?