Easter

New Orleans

Last week we took at trip to NOLA with my Dad, Mo and Jana and had a great time touring The French Quarter, took a boat ride down the Mighty Mississippi and our family friend Gaynell was kind enough to give us a tour of the city and give us a glimpse of all of the regrowth and past devastation in NOLA. We also stayed in Ann's cousin Teri's condo and it was fabulous. We had a great view of the Bayou right behind us and a great park that the girls enjoyed one day. We had a wonderful time!

Our new Crib!

Hey Y'all! Well, I am happy to report that we have a stylin' new crib! It has been a crazy month for the Applewhites, but we are happy to say that Bryan got a new job coaching for ULM (U. of Louisiana at Monroe), we found a new house, put it under contract, and are happily packing for our cross country move down south. I have never lived outside of the Rocky Mountains and I really have never been to the south (I don't count Florida as the south and 24 hours for a football game doesn't really count either). I spent the last week in Monroe and I am totally impressed! Our realtor was amazing, the area is fantastic and we are so excited to get good and settled. Here are a few pictures of the new house.

Here is the outside of the house-front and back. And it has a screened in porch in the back-woot woot!! Killer bugs and gators can't get us in there-LOL! There are lots of trees in the back to block that HOT afternoon sun.

The living space-kitchen, nook, dining room, butler pantry and family room. I love that we have a fireplace. It kinda makes me laugh. We live in Montana where it didn't get about freezing for over a month (or above -10 for a week) and we didn't have a fireplace. Ever single house we looked at in Monroe had a fireplace.

The bedrooms. The master is nice and BIG and we will have a bathroom all to ourselves again-woot woot! Sharing a bathroom with 2 toddler girls kinda cramped my style. The girls will share a bedroom again and may even graduate to some bigger beds. We are going to have the 2 blue bedrooms painted before we get there.

A visit to see Santa

What holiday season is complete without a visit to the mall to see good ol' Mr. Claus? Daddy was home for the weekend from Phoenix, so he got to join us for the big day!

There was a cute little desk by where Santa was to sit down and write your letter to Santa. We drew pictures for him...and Morgan practiced writing her name.

Then she stuck it in the Santa mailbox so he could see it after he was done visiting with all the boys and girls.

See? Pretty cute, huh?

Then Skylar drew her picture for Santa...

Skylar was pretty excited to mail her picture to Santa too!

Then we got to wait in line to see Santa. We got to the mall nice and early and there was no line, so we were right up front.

Well, Santa was a little late, but luckily one of Morgan's classmates was in line with us so they danced and played chase and did a little ring-around-the-rosy. And Skylar thought that was pretty fun too. They also got fruity Mentos while they were waiting and that was super cool!

Morgan and her new friend and classmate did lots of dancing. But it was more along the lines of Morgan pulling him around the mall. But, hey, that's what girls do-and that's what boys like. And that's what counts. And it kept them all happy until Santa arrived.

Santa called the girls up and Morgan was totally into it. Skylar took one look at him and headed for the door, but after he gave her a giant candy cane they were officially friends again. They both told Santa what they wanted: Morgan-a stationary bike and a yoga mat; Skylar-a book and a baby. It was a fun time had by all.

After the Santa sighting we continued the festivities and had some lunch at Fuddruckers with Morgan's classmate. And this is the perfect age-they get to think they are playing super cool video games-and the parents get out of there for free! Good times! Merry Christmas!

Photo op

Well, we got all decked out in our "Black Friday" best and headed out for some picture taking. It was Skylar's 2nd birthday, so what better time to get a new family picture done. Bryan's parents and grandmother were here as well, so we snapped a few with them too. I think we have a few choices for this year's Christmas card!

Bobcats and Bumblebees

Saturday was not only Halloween, but it was also a home game for us. So, naturally we got the girls dressed up in their costumes and headed to the game. Well, during the 4th quarter Morgan was on TV!!!!! The game was aired on Altitude TV Network and the announcers spotted a bobcat in the stands and were admiring her awesome costume! Bryan's team's mascot is the Bobcats, in case you missed that tidbit. She was a huge hit and the grandmas and grandpas and a few neighbors saw her on TV. It was definately one of the hightlights to our day!

How could you not want that adorable face on your television screen? She was pretty excited and was waving her hands around in the air.

And there is certainly not a cuter bumblebee buzzin' around this town. And the costumes were perfect for the game-the hoods kept them nice and warm.

After the game we had a little Halloween party in one of the meeting rooms at the athletic office. One of the other coaches' kids was a monkey-borrowed from our stash. Which is the costume that Morgan was last year. Grandma Tutu is one crafty lady! And famous now!

No party is complete without a pinata! All the kids had a great time swinging away at the witch's face.

Here is a great shot of all the kiddos and their daddies.

And a great group shot of all of us.

Preschool Party!

Morgan had a Halloween Party at her preschool last week and it was so much fun. We did all kinds of games, the kiddos got lots of fun treats and prizes and it was a great time had by all. I was a volunteer, which meant that Skylar got to participate in the festivities as well. And as with dance class she is always on her best behavior around the older kids. It is exhausting, however, so she followed that up with a 4 hour nap!

Morgan was a bobcat for Halloween and she was a huge hit! Grandma Tutu made her costume and Morgan came up with the idea all on her own. She was especially excited to have the cute kitty nose and whiskers on. The preschool room was a little warm that day, so the hood didn't stay on long.

Skylar bug was suitably a bumblebee this year. She looked so cute! She thought she needed to have makeup on her face too, so we gave her a little nose, which wore off almost instantly. Skylar had a great time playing with all of the preschool stuff. This was a giant bucket of rice that Morgan's teacher had dyed orange for the special occassion.

Who says a bumblebee, Scooby Doo, and a poodle can't play play-doh at the same table?

Morgan's teacher had lots of fun things for the kids to do with pumpkins. They did some pumpkin investigations and this pumpkin was full of holes. The kids got to hammer golf tees into it with a hammer. They thought that was pretty cool.

Skylar LOVES babies! Real and pretend. She isn't picky. She spotted this one in one of the playrooms and immediately knew she needed to be held and fed. So she climbed up on the chair and gave her new baby a bottle and a good burping (or lashing). What a good little mommy she is.

The girls had a fun day and I had a toddler hangover. It is safe to say I would not make a very good preschool teacher. And I admire those that are!