Date Night: Robbery Excitement

DH had been calling me several times during the day. Did I want to go out with him tonight? I was excited! Usually, I'm the one planning our dates. However, today, it was him! We decided to go out to a local restaurant that's been in the area forwhat seems like FOREVER! Brunet's Cajun Restaurant.

This place has wonderful fried seafood with a Cajun flair. The service is great, the atmosphere is relaxed, the food is outstanding, the helpings are overwhelmingly generous! If you are a fried seafood fan, this is the place for you. Although, there are SOME healthy options on the menu as well.Your waiter will start off with your drinks, followed by a bowl of hot hush puppies (fried bread). Then she/he will take your dinner order.

One of my FAVORITE appetizers is the Little Stuffed Bread. It looks like a dinner roll stuffed with a filling of crawfish or shrimp and then deep fried. Absolutely to die for!!! If you want a simple meal without all the calories, just ask for the Little Stuffed Bread with a salad and a bowl of gumbo and you're set!

I LOVE the shrimp dinner. It comes with a shrimp salad, bowl of gumbo, shrimp etoufee, fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, shrimp au gratin, 1 stuffed shrimp, and another bowl of shrimpy something but the name escapes me right now. Be sure to ask for a to go box when your meal is served because there is no way you're gonna clean your plate in one sitting.

Our tummies full of not so healthy fried Cajun seafood and several glasses of iced tea, DH and I exit the restaurant to head home. Since he'd been driving all day for his job, he opted to be a passenger instead. We got to my surburban where I got into the driver's side seat. He opened the back passenger side door and noticed the glass. My purse was gone. The purse that I had THOUGHT about taking inside with me but decided against because....after all....there's nothing in that thing that anybody could actually want! Hah!

He says, "Where's your purse?" and I turned to see him and all the glass and I say, "Where's my purse!!!???" Then he says, "Cynthia, go inside and talk to the manager. I'm calling the police." An hour later, we're still patiently waiting for an officer to arrive. In the meantime, hubs had his copies of all credit cards so we spent our time on the phone getting all accounts closed/cancelled. That part wasn't that difficult. It's a good thing he had his cards with him. I was more concerned about my checkbook, son's social security benefit check that I hadn't deposited yet, and much, much later I remembered that my wedding ring was in that purse! I didn't have much cash in the purse as I had just emptied it of all pocket change. My GPS navigator was also taken. My bank debit cards were in my back pocket since they are what I use MOST of the time.

The officer arrives, we file the report, officer R. Simoneaux goes down into the canal that runs alongside the restaurant. He shines his flashlight around a bit and looks for my brown purse that's gonna miraculously appear in the dark weeds.

At this point, I'm livid and shaking. I even felt a bit nauseous. If I could only get my hands around the neck of the jerk, kid, drug addict, whoever.....Why do I feel this way? It's only a purse! I can certainly relate to the vigilantes of the world now!

The report filed, the theories discussed, we said our goodnight's to the officer and headed home. FINALLY. Arriving home, the very first thing I do is sit down at the computer and began researching what to do about stolen social security numbers. Learning that there's NOTHING you can do through Social Security . gov, I start looking up the credit bureau info.

I'm concentrating on that at 11:45 p.m. when my house telephone rings. Not recognizing the number on Caller ID, I ALMOST didn't answer it. But curiosity got the better of me.

"Hello?"

"Is this Mrs. Cynthia?"

"Yes it is"

"My name is Chris and my wife and I found.....Did you lose a purse?"

Me, excitedly...."YES, YES I DID!"

Chris proceeds to inform me that he and his wife were looking for moving boxes in dumpsters and he found my purse sitting on the top of a lot of garbage about 3 blocks away from the restaurant!!! He told me that he had gotten my phone number off the checkbook.

So, anyway, to make a long, long story short....My purse was returned to me approx 4 hours after it was stolen. Checkbook, credit cards, and son's undeposited Soc Sec check were still in it. My wedding band, ALL cash (even down to whatever pennies was in there), and the GPS navigator are still missing.

Now, off to file a claim with the insurance company to get that back window replaced.

Ahhhh, date night with hubby. I think it'll be a while before we go out again.

Learning about Bees

If I haven't told you already, my dad is a beekeeper. He captures swarms and helps them move into their new home, usually an empty yet prepared hive. He made one of the hives as and observatory hive. It has glass sides so you can see what's going on inside of it. The girls and I went over for a visit to get a closer look at the bees. Here are some pics of the bees.

Here's my dad pointing the queen out to Little Bird. Don't you just love the tree face?

Here's the queen. Can you see her? She's wearing a white dot on her back.

After observing the honeybees, we followed some free range chickens around.

Then Little Bird enjoyed a frozen mango fruit bar.
Overall, we had a good time at Pappy's and learned a lot.

Dance Recital Mishaps

My girls had their dance recital yesterday afternoon. It was Little Bird's Third and Kangaroo's First recital! They love to dance and when I tell you that they LOVE to dance, I mean, they LOOOOOOVVVVVEEEE to dance! It's gotten to the point that when they misbehave, I tell them we won't go to dance class. They quickly straighten up at that!

Yesterday was a pretty uneventful afternoon, well, except for the rain. We got backstage and dressed in their tap costumes for their first dance of the evening. They did great! Watch the Video to see them dance to Crocodile Rock! Watch Kangaroo as she attempts to do what the other girls are doing. Little Bird just does her own thing. LOL They're too funny!

At intermission, I was "paged" to come backstage. My Little Bird was crying and had mussed up all her theatre makeup. She was having a dramatic reaction to the fact that the other little girls didn't want to play "I Spy" with her. I calmed her down and proceeded to repair the make up damage when I heard what sounded like running water. I thought to myself, "Uh Oh, someone spilled a bottle of water!". At the same time, it was announced that my girls were lining up for their ballet performance. I'm putting the finishing touches on Little Bird when Kangaroo comes to me, walking like a cowboy with bowlegs, and announces that she had a tee tee accident......while wearing her ballet costume!

Thankfully, another mom had an extra pair of matching tights!!! Little Bird got in line while Kangaroo and I made a run for the restroom to get cleaned up and changed. We got backstage just in the nick of time for her catch up with the other girls before going on stage for their "Pure Imagination" ballet dance number.

All I can say, is THANK GOD she didn't have her accident while ON STAGE!!!

After the Finale, I went back stage again to gather up their things and exit with the rest of the crowd. We met Daddy in the hallway where he presented our angels with a bouquet of flowers.....EACH! They were thrilled to receive their very own flowers and while riding on the way home they carefully examined each and every blossom. Half of the flowers survived the ride (the other half are in the back floor board of the suburban) and are currently residing in a table top vase on the kitchen counter.

All in all, it was a great afternoon with my dancing angel babies!

Will post pics and dance videos soon.

Facing Rosacea

I've been so frustrated lately. I think I have rosacea though I've never seen a dermatologist to diagnose it. It really flared up during my last pregnancy and my obstetrician said it was hormonal. He prescribed Metrodonizole cream to apply twice a day to the red areas. That was nearly 4 years ago. Occasionally, it would get a little better but I chalk that up to cooler weather. Now that it's getting warmer it seems to be getting worse, even when I use the cream. My face is red, splotchy, itchy, and burns. Sometimes it itches to the point that I'll scratch until it bleeds.

Rosacea seems to be a very common problem and many people live with it. However, when it gets to the point where one is thinking about it a lot and not be distracted with something else, doesn't that mean that it's really getting problematic?

My step mother (from Bogata, Colombia) tells me to break a leaf off an aloe vera plant and apply to my face on a daily basis. I haven't tried it yet but plan to purchase an aloe vera plant tomorrow.

Do any of you suffer with rosacea and what do you do about it?

Edited to Add: 5/15/09 After doing some searches on Google, I went out and bought a small jar of Olive Oil and some chamomile tea bags. Tonight, I will begin dabbing about a teaspoon of oil and tea mixture on my face before bed. We'll see what that does!!

Disney: On Ice

In anticipation of our upcoming Disney vacation, I decided to get my gang in the mood by attending the Disney On Ice show.

We were welcomed to the show by some classic Disney characters.

Following the welcome was a short Lion King production number that featured a pair of skaters representing Simba and Nala. The performance they gave was absolutely breathtaking. They treated us to several stunts, flips, and tricks that literally made me gasp out loud! The athleticism of the cast members left me awestruck.

When Simba and Nala left the skating rink (or stage), Sebastian appeared with some mermaids to introduce Ariel to the crowd. She was so beautiful and skated amazingly despite the little fish tail skirt that had her knees bound together. I couldn't walk around dressed like that much less skate as amazingly as she did!

As Ariel and her fishy friends finished their part of the show, a group of hula dancers (wearing iceskates) came out onto an elevated stage area. They did a little hula number and then Lilo and Stitch appeared to entertain for a bit. I didn't think this particular part was very impressive but
the girls enjoyed it.

Then we had a short intermission where everyone made lines to the concession stands. A 21 oz. bottle sports bottle of iced lemonade was .... TEN DOLLARS!!!! Did I buy one? No. I bought TWO of them!!!! I know, stupid stupid stupid! And these plastic sports bottle thingies aren't even dishwasher safe! THEN I purchased two snowcones in these cute Little Mermaid cups (which ARE dishwasher safe). The snowcones were only three dollars. Much better than the sports bottle but....well, live and learn. I shoulda just found a water fountain.

If the concession and souvenir prices at DOI are any indication of the same at Disney World, then it looks like we're gonna be in trouble!!! Somehow I'll need to get the message across to DQ and The Teen (okay, and me) that we will not be purchasing a bunch of junk while we are there on vacation. I'm thinking that we won't have too many complaints from the little ones. **shrug** Maybe?

Here's DQ sporting all her Disney On Ice regalia. Note the Flounder hat and Ariel snowcone cup. In her Left hand she's holding a bucket of cotton candy and the 21 oz sports bottle.

Little Bird and I enjoyed our snowcones!

Happy little spectators.

After intermission, the show resumed with a big Peter Pan production complete with the "We Can Fly" scene where the Darling children flew to Neverland with Peter. Captain Hook's pirate ship also made an appearance.

Tick Tock the Crocodile was also there AND he ate Captain Hook!!!

The show ended with a spectacular finale. They even had fireworks!!! Then we came home, had lunch, and took a long nap before I got up and cooked some dinner! We're very excited now about our upcoming Disney World Vacation!!!!

Thanks for looking!!!

Disney: The Short Sets

Well, here they are!! The short sets I had blogged about last week (?). I haven't blogged much since then (if at all) because I've been busy sewing and will have to catch up. I've decided to make some pillowcase short sets for our days at the other parks besides Magic Kingdom. We plan to have 3 days at the Magic Kingdom so I'm pretty sure the girls won't want to wear the outfits all the time. Then again, I have been known to be wrong.

Okay, well, before I go chasing a rabbit....here are the outfits. Oh, and I made matching hairbows too. Well, except for the Cinderella one....I bought the wrong shade of blue for that one. I really have been on a roll.

P.S. It is NOT wise to iron Organza!!! :D

Disney: One down, Four to go!

I spent a couple of hours putting together the first outfit last night. I put the finishing touches on it this morning before heading out for The Teen's History assignment. Here's Kangaroo granting me a Princess pose (check out those royal hands!!!) while wearing the outfit created for Sleeping Beauty.

I'm thinking of making a couple of changes. Maybe putting a Princess Aurora iron on transfer in a lower corner of the tank top. Or even adding a light pink "skirt" to the tank top since it looks kind of short. Then iron on the fairies on the little skirt part.

So what do you think?

Louisiana History 8th grade Assignment

The Teen has an assignment that he neglected to tell me about. Thank goodness it isn't due until next Friday. The only way I happened to know about it is as a result of a conversation with another mom! Turns out The Teen actually had 4 notes in his booksack regarding this assignment. However, his excuse about forgetting the History assignment is that he was concentrating on his Science assignment which is also due at the end of the week. That one is to make a model of the solar system. A solar system assignment is nothing compared to the History assignment. What in the world IS this assignment anyway?

It's a Louisiana Scavenger Hunt. The Teen is supposed to collect as many items as he can, at least 15 from a list of 30. The collection can be put together in any creative design. Examples: poster, box divided into sections, booklet, mobile, etc. He can also use a combination of the examples.

I have suggested a few questions for the Teen to ask his teacher. For example, on the items listed as "a picture of..." can that include a google image printed off the computer? OR Does the teacher want a postcard or something to that extent?

Anyway, here's the list of items required for the assignment.

1. A picture of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana.


2. A magnolia leaf.


3. A picture of LSU or Southern University (ask the teacher does he want campuses?)


4. One pair of Mardi Gras beads


5. One Mardi Gras doubloon


6. A sample of moss


7. A brochure on Louisiana (tourist spots, festivals, etc.)


8. Five labels from Louisiana products (Where the product was made must be on the label)....a side note here....did you know that Community Coffee is actually a Mexcian product and NOT a Louisiana product? It's just packaged here.


9. A dried crawfish, shrimp, or crab


10. A favorite Louisiana recipe


11. A drawing or picture of the Governor's Mansion


12. A picture or drawing of the Superdome or statue of Andrew Jackson


13. A tape or music of Cajun music (we got a CD...I hope that counts!)


14. The emblem (including name) of the Saint football team (picture or drawing)


15. The emblem (including name) of the B.R. hockey team (picture or drawing)


16. A map of Louisiana. With a blue marker trace the Mississippi, Pearl, Sabine, and Amite rivers. Put a red star for LA capital city. In yellow, shade in your parish. Put a black dot to show and label your city.


17. A list of U.S. Senators and Representatives for the state of Louisiana


18. A photo of you holding or standing near a type of Louisiana wildlife (not your pet!!)....another side note....18 months ago, we had a nuisance alligator down in the bayou behind our house. We called a Wildlife and Fisheries fella who came out set a trap. He ended up catching a 6 ft female. She doesn't look like 6 ft in the photo though. That's because the tail is actually 3 ft!


19. A cotton boll (Not to be confused with a cotton ball!)


20. A picture, photo, or drawing of the alligator with 5 VERY interesting facts about the animal


21. A picture, photo, or drawing of the cypress tree


22. A picture or photo of a Louisiana paddle wheel boat or ferry still in operation


23. A piece of sugarcane


24. A picture, photo, or drawing of the Brown Pelican


25. A picture, photo, or drawing of the Catahoula


26. A photo of you standing in front of the State Capital.......we went downtown this afternoon to get some of these photos. I took this one when I remembered something about putting the subject in the photo "off center". It looked a little strange when he was standing directly in front of the building.


27. An 8 x 10 drawing of the Louisiana state flag


28. A recipe of how to make roux


29. A photo of you standing in front of Tiger Stadium


30. A photo of you and Mike the Tiger

Whew! We really had fun doing this project. However, I was a bit disappointed that my son only cares to do the minimum required for his assignments. If extra credit is an option, he could care less. Arrrghhh! Teens!!!

Full Moon

No, it actually isn't a full moon tonight. However, as I was driving through the local Wal-mart parking lot this evening, I swear I saw one. Excuse me a moment, I have a few words to say to someone.

"Hey you, Man-Boy, Look....dude, you're way too old...what are you anyways? 30? At least? Whatevah, anyways, dude, you're too old to be wearing your pants that low. On top of that, you're white! A little fashion advice ala Stacy & Clinton...this is not your look. It just doesn't work for you. PUH-LEEEEZ Pull your pants up!"

I'm thinking of having a camera surgically implanted specifically for such photo ops. I kid you not! This guy was bending over to put groceries into his car. He was parked in a handicap spot so he was right there by the front doors of the store. I was driving past looking for a parking spot when there it was. A Full Moon, Bright and White!! Not a crescent moon, not a quarter moon, not even a half moon. A FULL MOON!!! It nearly blinded me!!!

Now, my son, The Teen, is 15 1/2 years old. I'm not ignorant to the style of low-riding pants. It's a fashion thing and I get that. I'm not saying that you need to wear your pants up high on your waist, Urkel style. But let's face it, if the belt is fastened BELOW the butt, there is no way those pants are stayin' up! You're better off takin' the pants off and just wearin' a dress!

It seems there was once a Mayor in some Louisiana town that had passed a law (or signed something to make it a law) that made wearing saggy pants an act of indecent exposure. If you expose your private parts, you get fined $500 and risk 6 months of jail time. Hmmm, I wonder if there's something like that locally.

Oh, and just a side note; fortunately, my girls were in the backseat tuned in to a DVD and they never looked up to see the moon.

I'm signing off tonight to the old Police tune, "Too much information....runnin' inside my brain." People, make sure you're completely dressed before heading out to Wally World!

Happy Birthday Aunt Undine

We went to visit my Great, Great Aunt Gloria Undine Bush Bickerstaff today. She turned 89 years old today!

Little Bird wasn't too thrilled with meeting someone she didn't know.

She wouldn't even shake Aunt Undine's hand!

Look at Kangaroo's face! She wasn't feeling too friendly either.

Before we got there, we stopped for lunch at a Chick-Fil-A where we ate some chicken nuggets and played in the play area for a little bit.

There were even some big kids there!

Here's my step-mom Martha who had to climb in the play place to retrieve Kangaroo.

172 Years Old

Our church celebrated our 172nd anniversaray today. We had a huge potluck dinner after a worship service loaded with Southern Gospel songs. According to the roadside historical marker, Hebron Baptist Church is the oldest church in Livingston Parish and was organized in 1837. The first church building was located 3 miles south of the current location. In 1859, a frame church was built on 4 acres of land at the current location. In 1918 a larger church was built and in 1955 the current sanctuary was built. Rev. Thomas M. Bond was the first pastor.

Over the years, other additions have been made to accommodate the growing flock and the church currently has plans for a bigger, multi functional facility.

Birthdays and Friends and Treasure, Oh My!

We got up early this morning to head out to a birthday party that my beautiful little girls were invited to. The theme to the party was Pirates and Princesses. The invitees were supposed to be decked out in princess (or pirate) costumes. Kangaroo seems to have misplaced her Tinkerbell costume from last year. So on our way to the party, I made a detour to the local Wally World, spending about 20 minutes walking around in search of a birthday gift and another Tinkerbell costume. Finally finding what I was looking for, I made my exit and we were on our way.

When we arrived at the party, the girls were so excited they just unbuckled themselves and hopped right out of the truck to join their friends in the celebration. I joined them a minute later and approached a friend of mine. She turned and greeted me and about 2 seconds later put her hand on my shoulder, saying, "Do you know that you have your top on inside out?".

I immediately looked around for a hole to hide in. Not finding one, I decided to make my way to the nearest restroom to correct the situation. That done, I rejoined the festivities and began taking pics of my girls.

Here they are enjoying a hot dog and chips.

Little Bird and the birthday girl have a deep discussion.

Kangaroo is making the rounds.

Near the end of the party, one of the Pirates found a treasure map. If you can't read it, it says,

"Congratulations! Ye have found the map of Pirate Jean LaFite's treasure. Pirate Jean Lafite was mean as a snake. He swore a curse on anyone who dare touch his treasure, but if a princess or piratess pulls the treasure out of the ground, the curse will be broken. But woe to the young pirate who removes Pirate Jean Lafite's treasure from its resting place. That pirate shall suffer the kisses of ten princesses (on the lips)."

The pirates shuddered and issued an "eewwwww" at that last sentence.

The pirates and princesses embark on the treasure hunt.

Arrrgh! A treasure we have found, me hearties!!!

Little Bird shows off her bounty!

As does Kangaroo!

Twas a good day for birthdays and treasure hunting! Kudos to my friend for her creative party planning!!!

Disney: Sewing Projects

Whoooo! I have embarked on quite the task! This week, I went and purchased all the fabric I needed for my Diseny sewing projects. Today, I spent this afternoon getting all the pieces cut out. Now, I'm forced to take a break until Tuesday away from my project due to other obligations. However, Tuesday will definitely be spent getting some of this large "jigsaw puzzle" put together. I anticipate finished projects by the end of next week. Photos of my girls modeling will definitely be posted!!! In the meantime, here's the cut outs!!

So what do you think?

Disney: Dressing my Princesses

We're going on our FIRST EVER Disney Vacation in 44 days!!!!!! We are soooo excited!!! I have really struggled with how to dress my family for our time in the parks. I finally decided to make my girls some princess short sets and have the rest of us in matching tee shirts with iron on transfers of our favorite Disney characters. Here's some photos of what I'm planning to do in the next 3 weeks. I'm taking a bit of this and a bit of that to come up with some cute short sets similar to what you see in these pictures. By the way, the following pics came from Tinkerella Creations on Etsy.com.

Aren't they just adorable outfits? So, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some patterns, fabric, and ribbons. I figured I'd make some of these for my girls. Again.....I'm not making EXACTLY what you see in the pictures. If you want THAT, go to the link and purchase it from Tinkerella Creations.



Here are the patterns I'll be using and modifying.




Oh, I'm also making our own autograph books and Epcot passports. I'll upload some pics of those later on. There's just nothing like the creativity on Disboards.com!!!!

Do you like to sew? I'd love to see some of your creations!!!