February 2016

It seems like just when we need some help with school projects, Grandpa Kerry is visiting!  He was certainly helpful with Ellia's Rosa Parks poster project!

Of course while they were visiting we had to go to lunch with Ashlyn at school.

We also dressed Brody in his blessing outfit to get some pictures to show Grandma Betty and to put on an announcement for him.

Our favorite!

As we were trying to get the pictures of Brody's booties (we had him positioned on the table), Quincy asked us to take a picture of her foot on the table!

Grandma Carol multi-tasking.  Helping Ashlyn and Ellia with homework and Quincy with cooking dinner.

One last Mardi Gras parade while grandma and grandpa are visiting. The Breedloves came over and the girls rode around the cul-de-sac throwing us beads.

Quincy got to have a little hallway parade throwing beads at her Mother's Day out program.

Handsome little boy with his eyes wide-open!

Time for Ellia's poster parade!  I had some other things going on that morning and didn't know if I would make it.  I came running up just as she passed the first of two times on their parade. I was pretty emotional.  Feeling proud that I was able to make it there for her and that she was so happy to see me.

Later that day it was the third grade's turn for their Mardi Gras parade so I went back to watch with Ashlyn and Ellia. Fortunately their classes were situated close to each other so I could easily walk from Ashlyn's position at the beginning of the parade to Ellia's at the end of the parade loop.

Batwomen, aka Principal Parker.

Some of the creatively decorated wagons.

Sometimes Quincy just asks me to take her picture.

Northshore's Orpheus parade

It was a little cold this year, but we had a blast.

Iris and Tucks. I didn't make it to these parades Jeremy made it happen and said the girls were all so helpful to each other packing all the stuff back and forth to the parade routes.

This year since the girls are getting older/bigger we added a step stool. It was Ashlyn's favorite place to dance and shout, "throw me somthin mister!" She was quite the little hip shaker and probably got the most of any of us.

Hitting the Mardi Gras parades with our friends the Judy's. This time I stayed home with Brody.

Cynthia and Isaac.

Skywriters!

The bead tree in all its glory.

Sunday morning we loaded the car for parades and rushed off to church first.  We were planning to meet Emily and Jed in the city.  Unfortunately we made have been trying to do too much, and ended up backing the Honda into the Camry. We did make it to the end of the Thoth parade and all of Bacchus. Two we'd never been to before.

The Jorgenson's made it to Mardi Gras!

We borrowed the Judy's ladder to make room for everyone and it wasn't long before they got the hang of things and found their favorite spots.

The aftermath.

A picture I found online of the aftermath.

Emily was holding Brody and reaching down to grab a toy she dropped when someone ripped it out of her hand. They had a few words and later I showed Emily this meme that Mary Tapia had shown me.  Very fitting for us Collings girls.

It's always nice when the girls help with Brody.

New Orleans Orpheus Parade.  This was another cold afternoon for parades. Ashlyn found a spot to stay warm.

Our Mardi Gras Krewe.

The Smoky Mary float.

Quincy was a little disinterested but stayed pretty happy nonetheless.

Plus she learned to be a big helper.

On Mardi Gras day we experienced the traditional Rex parade and also over 200 semi trucks back to back for the Truck Parades, and that was just before we decided to leave our spot.

Another shot of the bead tree.

It was also pretty cool that the Mardi Gras Indians happened to be parading down the back street that morning.  You never know when and where they will show up. This is our second time seeing them, but it was cool that they made an appearance when the Jorgenson's were here to see.

For the truck parades we switched sides of the street occasionally and man did we get some loot. It was nice to have our picnic lunches too, so we could just sit back and watch truck after truck.  Ashlyn ended up with a porcelain doll and thought it was so crazy something so beautiful was a Mardi Gras throw.  

 After all those sandwiches we decided to have a fun lunch out. We chose Chimes back on the Northshore and were planning to sit outside for the view but it was WAY too cold so we relocated inside after visiting the goats.

I kept bragging about the coolest stuffed animal I caught, the bull. Then the Jorgenson's caught one twice as big.

That night it was time to unload all of the stuff we got.  Cole caught enough footballs to give everyone in his class one.

There was also lot's of time to hold Brody.

A picture of Jace and Brody wearing the pajamas I gave Jace when he was born.

Trying to recreate some other memories.

Before the Jorgenson's left Ashlyn made them a book.  She kept writing her a's as d's and it was almost as if she was writing in a Cajun accent.

"little kids book"

Do you think they got enough stuff? I hope they don't plan on picking up any more souvenirs.

A hot chocolate sort of night in the tree house.

With all the stress of reorganization at Chevron we decided to some distractions were in order and went to some girls and boys LSU basketball games.

Even though we were on the LAST row of the stadium we made it down to the court to say hello to our neighbor Brennan.

 Jim Hawthorne, the voice of LSU.

 The girls thought this handout was so funny since it looked like a real box.

Organizing Mardi Gras catches. 

Ellia got a hold of Jeremy's phone and took some pictures of herself in her new bone jammies. These have been a tradition in our house for quite some time.

Quincy has started climbing in and out of her crib so we decided to try another arrangement. We borrowed this crib converter toddler bed and set it up in the room with the big girls.  She was super excited to try it out.

A beautiful sunset through the trees.

Tired boys.

Brody's blessing announcement.

Some of Brody's outfits that may not fit much longer....LSU pj's.

An outfit from Grandma Carol.

I was desperately trying to get a nap with Brody and Quincy couldn't leave us alone, so I finally made her a spot ON TOP of me and we actually all got comfortable enough to have a rest...and take a selfie.

Ellia was named Student of the month!

One night I decided to be in charge of a temple trip. I cleaned out the car and packed it with snacks, bedding and a movie.  We made the drive and converted the car into a media room while Jeremy and I took turns doing temple work.  It was really nice and the kids really liked it.  Well, it was a bit harder for Quincy.

Such a sweet face,

I caught these two holding hands while they watched a show.

The weather is getting nice so we were spending some time outside when Ashlyn made this little pouch and pair of glasses for Brody.

Another style.

Probably the last time for this cute outfit.

Some of my favorite pj's. They could be converted to a dress jammy too so they were nice in the hospital when he had all the wires hooked up.

Tornado warnings.  A lot of things, including school, were getting canceled, but we were spending time at the dentist. They decided to close early so as we were heading home we started planning our time in the bathroom just to be safe.  Ellia was with the neighbors in their closet when we picked her up, then we got comfortable in the bathroom and tub.  I was just glad I had cleaned the day before.

We were all pretty comfortable and fortunately it didn't last long, maybe an hour?  After that though I decided the bathroom cabinets were a better place for our 72 hour kits.

Once the warnings were over we went to check the water level. It's been higher but it had been a pretty good storm. I heard there were tornado's that touched down in Mandeville but I think I found out later it was just water spouts in the lake.  I found a picture of one online.

Waiting to go visiting teaching, had to get some pictures of him in this cute outfit.

Off to another basketball game. The girls were more interested this time. They got a bunch of team posters and found some fun ways to stay entertained with them.

Cuddling on a cold night in their fleece foot jammies.

Treehouse play time.

Take my picture mom.

Fun day for a bike ride.

Enjoying the spring sunshine.

Our last LSU basketball game for the season.

This was actually the day we found out Jeremy wasn't going to keep his current position at Chevron.  I was sitting in an appointment for Brody when Jeremy sent me the text. We almost didn't go to the game but we were glad we did afterwards because we were much happier after than we were before.

I just love this outfit on her but she wouldn't pose for a picture so I had to snap one fast.

One Saturday we borrowed the Breedloves trailer and rigged a seat for Brody so we could all take a ride on the trace.  (His seat consisted of a bathtub insert wrapped in a bouncy seat cover.)

DOGPILE!

He must have been in a deep sleep because he woke up with fingerprints imprinted on his cheek.

Locating meaningful states on this map and wondering where we might end up next.

Quincy got to try a free gymnastics class and of course she loved it.