Isabelle's 5th Birthday

We celebrated Isabelle's 5th birthday at home on her actual birthday with just our family. Isabelle had asked for an American Girl doll, Kit, for her birthday, so that was her special present this year. She has loved that doll! She takes her everywhere, sleeps with her, eats with her, and brushes her hair and changes her clothes. For her birthday party with her friends, we went to Harry the Potter, which is a paint your own pottery place. The first hour we ate pizza for lunch and had cupcakes, and then Isabelle opened her presents. Then all the kids got to choose a piece of pottery to paint, so they worked on their creations for the last hour. Almost everyone she invited was able to come, and I think everyone had a good time. After the store glazed and fired all the pottery, we got to distribute it back out to all her guests so they have a favor from the party that they made.

Isabelle with her new American Girl doll, Kit (from the Depression period)

Eating pizza at Harry the Potter

Cupcake time

Opening presents

Painting the pottery

Nutcracker and hunting

During the first weekend of December, Barrett and Caleb went on their second annual hunting trip to Buck Daze in Georgia and met some of our friends from Florida there. Caleb got to see his good friend Johnny while spending some quality time with his daddy. The best part was that they shot an 8-point buck as well as a small doe. We know have our deep freezer full of venison, which we have been enjoying over the last month. While the guys were hunting, Isabelle and I went to see a ballet production of the Nutcracker. It was a great performance and Isabelle really enjoyed it. It was extra meaningful this time, I think, because she has been taking ballet for the last year. Judson, since he is a little too young for the guys hunting trip, opted for a babysitter while we went to the ballet.

Isabelle with Caroline Jones, who danced the lead role of Clara in the performance. (She also goes to our church)


Caleb and Barrett with their 8-point buck

Caleb with his friend Johnny

Judson at 6 months

Judson is already six months old! He surprised us and started crawling at 5 1/2 months- a lot earlier than I expected. He really began crawling before he was sitting up on his own really well. Now he is getting all over the house and pulling up on as much as he can. We put our Christmas tree out in our front living room so we wouldn't have to worry about Judson getting into the tree and ornaments, and I have had to move Scout's water to the laundry room because he got himself soaked with that find soon after he became mobile! Life is a little crazier now, but at least he is enjoying his newfound freedom and ability to explore his surroundings. He got his first cold last week and has been not feeling well. I had forgotten how tiring it is taking care of a sick baby! Hopefully he will get well soon- for everyone's sake.


He likes to look out the window

Thanksgiving

We had a low-key Thanksgiving day this year, spent with just our family and Barrett's brother. Since Barrett's family was coming the weekend after the holiday, we opted to do a simple meal on Thanksgiving day, so we grilled some chicken and watched the Saints game. Then Barrett's parents and Susanne and Elijah and Gracie Beth came for the weekend and we cooked our turkey and had our traditional meal with them. We had a nice visit and the cousins had a great time playing together as usual- it was a little crazier with a baby in the mix, but everyone survived!

Two little turkeys:

Fall Festival

This year for the Fall Festival, Caleb dressed up as Obe Won Kenobe, Isabelle as a ballerina, and Judson as Yoda. Originally, Isabelle was planning on being Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, since she has a pair of red sparkly shoes. I had ordered their costumes online this year to save from having to go shopping for them, except the package didn't get here in time for the Fall Festival, so I ended up being one of the crazy shoppers out the night before at Target getting costumes. They didn't have the Dorothy costume in stock, so she opted for a pink tutu to wear with her ballet leotard. We went to their school for trunk or treat, and they got to play games and get candy. It was a fun evening and Judson was a good sport in his yoda costume, too!

New Orleans

We decided to go to New Orleans for the Columbus Day weekend since the kids had a three-day weekend. We didn't take any family vacations this summer since we were a little busy with a new baby and moving, so we thought it would be nice to get away for a couple days. We left Saturday morning and got to New Orleans by lunch time. We were able to check into our hotel first- we stayed at the Hilton right on the river and we had a river view out our window, so that was really nice. Then we walked down the street to Mother's Restaurant for lunch. We had to wait 30 minutes or so outside in a line just to get in and get seated, and by the time we sat down, Judson was getting tired and also very fussy. We soon realized that he was setting a precedent for almost every other mealtime that we were there. We ended up getting our food to go and eating it on a bench before heading to the Insectarium. We all had a lot of fun at the Insectarium- even Judson was happy riding in the Moby Wrap. We got to see all kinds of bugs and even a butterfly garden. The best part of the day was going to the bug cafe and sampling some real bugs!! Seriously, we actually ate bugs. Crickets and worms. The crickets were baked into chocolate chip cookies. As you can see from the pictures, the kids were not too sure about this at first, but they finally tried them and actually went back for another one! Barrett and I tried one too, of course. It wasn't that bad- more of a mind over matter thing. As a remembrance of their experience, we got Caleb and Isabelle each a t-shirt that says "I ate a bug at the Insectarium". YUM!

We did a lot of walking, and it's a good thing we purchased the ride on stroller, because Caleb and Isabelle both took turns sitting or standing on the back. We walked through the French Quarter, ate breakfast Sunday and Monday at Cafe Du Monde, walked around the Riverwalk mall, and took the free ferry ride to Algiers point and back, so the kids got to go across the river on a boat. Sunday afternoon we decided to make a trip to a local ice cream store called the Creole Creamery that we had seen featured on the Food Network. It looked like fun and they have a lot of flavors to choose from. We had never taken the street cars, so we thought that would be fun to try. First we had to walk to catch the bus, which took us to the street car, which we waited for, and then after the street car dropped us off at our stop, we still had to walk a few blocks to get to the ice cream shop. This was now just the perfect time for Judson to be fussy again. After we ate our ice cream, we went back the same way, and in the street car Judson screamed his head off the entire way back- lots of fun. So, our ice cream outing took about three hours from start to finish! All in all, we did have a good time, even though it was a little crazy at times. But hey, that's what traveling with a four month old is like. The kids had fun, so it was worth it.

Butterfly garden at the Insectarium:

The Bug Cafe:

Don't you want to try a bite?






Eating breakfast at Cafe Du Monde:


Riding the Algiers Ferry:

In front of the River:

Lots of changes

Well, it again has been awhile since my last post. Life has been non-stop craziness for the past month and a half, since we moved to Jackson. Barrett was back and forth between here and Eglin for the month of August, and my parents came for about a week to help me out while he was away. We gradually unpacked all the boxes and now we are hanging pictures, so our house is beginning to feel more like home. In the midst of moving, unpacking, and taking care of a baby, Caleb and Isabelle started their new school, Christ Covenant. We are really happy with the school, and Isabelle has adjusted very quickly and has made new friends. It is taking Caleb a little longer to adjust, but I see a gradual improvement over the last few weeks. It's just going to take hime a little longer for Jackson to feel like home again. Caleb also started soccer here a few weeks ago, so that has kept us busy during the week, and he also began taking Karate once a week after school. He is really enjoying both activities. Isabelle is taking ballet at school once a week and loves it. Judson is getting big so fast! I can hardly believe that he is already more than 3 1/2 months old! He began rolling over right at three months, so that is his new trick. He is getting really good at it now, and sometimes I find him halfway across the floor from where I set him down! He is very active now and constantly waving his hands. He "found" his toes a couple weeks ago, so it's fun to watch him grab them when he plays. He is doing great at night and sleeping very well, too. He would be content to be held all day if someone would, but he does enjoy his johnny jump up and his other activity chairs placed throughout the house. We have discovered that he is a thumb sucker, too. He'll take the pacifier, but now prefers his own thumb. We tease Isabelle that she taught him that :).
Barrett has been working some shifts with MEA this month although he doesn't officially start full time until October. It's been good for him to get a feel for what to expect, and probably good that I don't get too spoiled with having him home all the time this month!
We are really enjoying our new house and love the neighborhood. There will be some neighborhood festivals that we look forward to attending and meeting more neighbors. So far, all our neighbors have been very welcoming and it will be fun to get to know everyone better. It has also been so convenient living right down the street from our church. We have been able to just walk, which is great. BSF, the bible study I do each week, also meets at Trinity, so I'll be able to walk to that as well. I have enjoyed living a lot closer to the kid's school than we did in Florida. I don't have to be in my car half the time, like I was before.
It's been nice to move back to a place that is familiar and where we already have friends. It has made the transition a lot easier, but it is still a major adjustment for all of us. We really miss our church and all our friends in Florida. However, the Lord is faithful and we know that he will provide new friends for all of us and show us how we can serve Him here in Mississippi.

Unpacking paper:

Hey, let go of my hair!

First day of school






Getting a kiss from Scout