I See The Pattern But Can't Help It! (LOL)

I need to post this week's photo challenge, but I decided that since it's only Thursday I technically have two more days in which to do it.  I know my last blog entry was about a song/band.  Well, history repeats itself, right?  I heard a few songs by a British singer known as Adele and loved them.  Her voice is awesome.  It's so refreshing to hear singers who can actually sing.  My sweet husband downloaded her newest album to iTunes for me yesterday which means that it will not only be on the computer, but on my iPod and probably a CD as well.  LOL.  I wanted to share a few of Adele's songs with the few of you who actually take the time to read this blog.  I'm sure you'll appreciate her voice and singing talent as much as I do.

Enjoy!

Pop Goes The World

I have discovered an Indie Rock Band that I can't seem to get enough of. The band I'm referring to is Gossip.  I heard a song by them last week and really enjoyed it.  A few days later I heard another song by them and enjoyed it even more.  I looked them up and listened to several of their songs and I not only love their sound, but I love the lead singer's voice.  The lead singer, Beth Ditto, is good friends with the lead singer of Scissor Sisters--another Indie Rock Band that was introduced to me years ago by my mother-in-law. I have been listening to this particular song over and over the past couple of days--I really enjoy it.  Alex and Logan even like it (and Alex is VERY picky about his music).  I wanted to share it with you.  ;)  I hope you enjoy it as well! 

Kids

This week's challenge is to post a picture of your kids.  I have two funny and loving little boys.  They have changed our lives immensely and we don't know how we lived without them before they came into our lives.  Alex is 6 and Logan is almost 5.  I have been blessed with sweet boys who are well behaved--and I can't help but adore them! 

Here is a picture of my two boys:

Red

This week's challenge is to post something red--or however you interpret it!  Red is a great color, our dining area is red and our living room is red and black.  Red was my Grandpa Jack's favorite color.  I went to see what this week's challenge was and immediately decided to post pictures of some of my favorite things that are red!

Strawberries.  Logan loves strawberries and when I buy them we will sit and eat some together for lunch.  We sprinkle sugar on them or dip them in chocolate or whipped cream--they are probably my favorite fruit!

Red Daisies.  Daisies are my favorite flower.

Joan Jett and the BlackHearts.  She has a raunchy, yet great voice.  Their music is awesome and this picture has red in it--as do many pictures of them. 

Red Velvet Cake.  I used to get this every year on my birthday.  Something about it makes Jacob sick so I haven't had it in years but Red Velvet Cake is one of my favorites!

Boston Red Sox.  We love baseball in my house.  I even love watching baseball with Jacob and the boys.  We have been to Boston and I guess because of that the Red Sox are one of our favorite teams!

Art--I love any kind of art, but when people focus on one color art tends to get really interesting.  The topic of discussion here was red, so why not throw some red art in? 

 Japanese Cherry Blossom Lotion from B&BW.  It smells so good and it comes in a red container, so there you go! LOL

Red Leaves.  Fall is my favorite time of year and the leaves are so pretty--the red ones are my favorites!

Cherry Cheesecake.  My Aunt Vickie makes this at holidays a lot just for me.  I love it!

I'm looking for something in red . . .

Self Portrait

This week is the start of a new blog challenge.  My best friend and I are doing a weekly blog challenge this time instead of a daily blog challenge.  This week's challenge is to post a self portrait of yourself.

This is a picture of me in our hotel room in New Orleans last week.  I was listening to my iPod and sitting on the windowsill, and enjoying the view from our 10th floor.

Until next time . . .

Strangers in a Strange Land (And I Kind of Like It!)

Jacob and I left Friday morning for New Orleans.  We took a slight detour to the Rangers Stadium in Arlington, TX to hit the cool store they have FILLED with anything and everything Rangers.  We got some little shirts for the boys and a few other cool things.  Then, hopped back in the car and headed to Shreveport -- where we got a motel room and spent the night. At one point we were driving down the interstate in the Dallas area behind a semi and things kept pelting us from the truck.  We noticed a swarm of something on the back of the truck and realized it was full of bees and hives.  Jacob laughed and said, "We're being pelted by bees!"  Needless to say it was an interesting drive.  Shreveport was a dirty and interesting city.  The hotel room wasn't horrible, but it wasn't super nice, either. At one point in the middle of the night we heard a strange high pitched sound.  I told Jacob I didn't know if it was tires squealing or some woman screaming.  When we got up the next morning and the coffee pot didn't work -- well, I was ready to get out of there.  We stopped at an old, nasty truck stop for coffee and honey buns and got right back on the road.  We stopped a few times a long the way -- Tourist information buildings had free coffee, restrooms and were VERY clean and had the nicest people inside.  We stopped to eat too. We finally made it to New Orleans around 4:00 PM yesterday. The GPS system got turned around in the French Quarter so we ended up driving around turning left, turning right, turning left. The French Quarter is nothing but one way streets that were made before cars so they're not really wide enough for cars.  PLUS there are herds of pedestrians and people on bikes all around. We finally (with sighs of relief) reached our hotel entrance.

We got settled into our very nice room and then went walking around.  We saw a parade -- which I loved.  They were blaring music that I enjoy (Pop and hip hop), people were dancing, little boys were on floats wearing little tuxedos and little girls were on floats wearing little white dresses.  They were throwing flowers and beads and, needless to say, I enjoyed it.  Jacob asked if I wanted beads at one point.  I said, "Yes!"  People were fighting over beads (well, not literally, but you had to move fast to beat people to them) and suddenly a guy threw a string of beads and hit Jacob with them.  He laughed, picked them up, and placed them around my neck.

We walked around the RiverWalk area and saw the Mississippi River.  It was really interesting -- and very beautiful!

We tried a Neptune Pizza last night.

My best friend will cringe when she sees this picture because of the tomatoes -- but wait, Denisa, it gets better. ;)  This pizza is one of THE pizzas of the area -- shrimp, crawfish, roasted garlic, tomatoes, and a TON of cheese.  It was delicious!

This morning we decided it would be fun to walk to Cafe Du Monde for coffee and beignets for breakfast.  The cafe is a mile from our hotel, which isn't bad.  We took off this morning and there were other people walking around, the streets in certain areas (the farther we got from the hotel) were still dirty from the parades and parties of the night before.  We saw a shirtless young man stumbling around one little road -- have you ever watched a zombie movie?  Well, that is what he looked like.  It was the creepiest thing.  Jacob and I learned at that moment, as we hurried past him, that we could walk really fast.  Ha. We walked past a park where people were sitting and painting, selling their paintings, and visiting with passers by.  It was really neat.

We finally made it to Cafe Du Monde, which was a cute little place.

We ordered our coffees and beignets as well as some beignet mix and, since the place was filling up, and seating was already becoming limited, we got our breakfast to go and walked back to the hotel.

On the walk back we saw the "zombie" trying to get into a mini van.  The door was locked and he just kept pulling on the handle as if he thought it would eventually open if he yanked on it long enough.  We also saw a man sleeping on the steps of a building.  We walked a little farther and a man and woman walked past us with their young children.  I thought, "Oh the things those kids are going to see!"

This is a beautiful, yet dirty, fun and interesting city.  We have enjoyed ourselves so far and plan to try and visit the Mardi Gras World Museum today (if all goes well).

If nothing else we can now officially say that we've been here.
Oh, and my brave and wonderful husband can now officially say that he HAS, in fact, actually driven in the French Quarter.  Have I mentioned he's my hero?  ;P

Until next time . . .

Godspeed

There are only a couple of days left in the music challenge. This weekend has been all about my two little gremlins.  This morning they boys both crawled in bed with Jacob and me when they woke up.  They both hugged on me and were so love-y and cuddly.  It was sweet. I love little moments like that. 

We have had a fun weekend. We played outside, played catch, played HORSE while listening to 80s and 90s hip hop music (which was a blast), and the guys played board games last night. The boys and I made homemade pizza for dinner last night which was so much fun.  Today we went to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and had a blast running around playing games with the boys. Everyone says that having children changes your life -- this is so true.  It does change your life, but it changes it for the better. I love my parents and my husband, I love my close friends and family members, but I never knew I could love some one as much as I love my two little boys.  They fill my heart with happiness and I don't know how we ever lived without them in our lives! Jacob and I get to do fun things with the boys that we wouldn't get to do if it was just us -- like run around Chuck E. Cheese and play as many games as we can to see how many tickets we can get.  My boys are still young enough that Jacob and I can act silly and they STILL think we're funny.

One of my favorite times of day is bedtime.  I get to sit with my boys close to me and read books to them before they go to bed. -- filling their little imaginations with images from the stories we read.  I get to cuddle with them and tell them goodnight. When we go check on them before we go to bed they look so cute laying in their beds asleep.  Every time I hear the song I'm posting today I think of my boys.  This song describes things little boys like and tells them to have sweet dreams. We called Alex "Little Man" until he was old enough to tell us he was big.  Ha.  This song is a sweet song that every parent of a son can relate to.  I know some people don't like the Dixie Chicks, but at least focus on the words.  It's a beautiful lullaby from a parent to their young son.