5822 Port Hudson Drive
The house we grew up in. See also here.
Author: Pam Kocke
NOLA mom of identical triplets. Talent Acquisition at Automattic. Enjoy reading and photography and sewing and bookbinding.
Christmas morning!
Every Christmas with the boys just gets more and more fun. This morning was just wonderful.
The boys got up around 6:45, but I made them stay in bed til 7 because I’m mean like that. Last year I got up before them (miracle) and was able to have coffee and turn on the fireplace channel before they got up. I was kind of hoping that would happen again this year. Not so much. Oh well.
First, they opened their stockings and got their presents from Santa.
Checking out stockings
Reese’s Pieces!
Miles was excited about the snowman he asked Santa for.
What’s this?
Santa really hopes the boys will play outside more now.
Then, in the most heart-melting part of the day, they opened their gifts from each other. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.
The rest of the morning was spent opening the rest of the gifts, and then I cooked, and all of the grandparents came over, and we ate a ton of delicious food, and then after they left, I went to Steph’s house to hang out with friends and drink wine.
More random pics from the day:
MORE PRESENTS!
The necklace George gave me. Love it!
Christmas ornaments from Granny and Grandpa
A frenzy of gift opening.
My date cake came out of the bundt pan perfectly.
A bottle from my own little troublemakers.
Gifts from my Mom and Larry. Perfect!
Saying hi to Granny
Such a great Christmas!
Monthly photos from 2014
Because, well, I’m me, I’ll be posting a lot of year-end recap posts. It’s just the way I am, man.
First up, the monthly picture recap!
It’s weird, I feel like they don’t look any older from the first picture to the last. Maybe a bit taller, but otherwise not very different. And so it goes as kids get older…
Christmas fun with my boys
Yesterday, the boys and I had a fun Christmas adventure that hardly involved any whining or tears. It’s a holiday miracle! But truly, it was a wonderful day with my boys, and lucky for you…I brought my camera.
We took the ferry over, which we haven’t done much lately since it costs so much for us to make a round trip ($2 per person, each way) but it is way more fun than driving.
Posing at the big tree by the ferry terminal
First, we went to Christmas in the District, which is held in the Convention Center. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew there’d be a Santa. Well, it was awesome. One thing that wasn’t there that I was anticipating was crowds. It was the Sunday before Christmas and it was dead. There were no lines for anything. It was nice, but also made me a little sad.
Visiting the giant Santa
Miles running
Linus running
Giant fire!
Don’t get burned!
They loved this guy
It was great. Santa was there with his elves, as well as a snowman who chased the kids around and Mr Bingle. There were inflatables and a rock climbing thing…
Inflatables…
Rock climbing.
Not very high.
Oliver gives it a try.
Sure looks like he got up there, eh?
Don’t be fooled.
At least he had fun.
MR BINGLE!!!!
…and amazing gingerbread houses and a really cool wall of beads that the boys got to contribute to. (Another one made the Guinness Book of World Records, and they’re trying to beat that, so maybe the boys will be a tiny part of making it!)
Linus’s favorite was this one of the inside of Galatoire’s
Beautiful decor
Ollie loved the Superdome (it was very impressive)
My favorite was the replica of the Roosevelt Hotel, complete with their famous lobby decor
Miles loved this one
Adding beads
It’s Natchitoches, in beads!
Natchitoches!
After Christmas in the District, we hit the Riverwalk (a mall that recently re-opened as an outlet mall) and did a little Christmas shopping for Daddy. And some cookie eating.
We got on the ferry, where a nice (or drunk post-Saints loss) man paid for our ferry fares. Yay!
I’d like to say the evening finished quietly, but no, after that, we drove to the mall and searched for new sneakers for the boys. Didn’t get home til 9. Exhausting. But the boys started camp today, and Miles and I are going to have some one-on-one time this evening so he can get shoes and a gift for Linus.
Yeah, this year we’re starting a thing where the boys will pick out a gift for one brother (Miles for Linus, Linus for Oliver, Oliver for Miles – only because I’m cheap are they not getting gifts for both brothers.) We’ll see if they’re able to resist picking out something they really want instead. Ha.
Dancing Miles
This afternoon, I got to watch Miles’s class perform a dance they’ve been practicing for a while. What might you expect from a class of first graders? Square dancing? Maybe a waltz or a line dance?
Betcha wouldn’t have guessed the Merengue, eh?
They performed twice, so I was able to take photos the second time around.
Since I’m going to Spain next month, I guess I’ll have to get Miles to teach me his moves. So I’ll fit in and everything.
One week to go
So I’m assuming this is the last year the boys are going to believe in Santa. I mean, I could be wrong, but either way, we’re in the home stretch. It’s hard to believe their childhood has gone so fast. I know that sounds dramatic, but not believing in Santa kind of seems like the end of that truly innocent childhood era and on to more cynical times. Maybe I’m being a little dramatic.
Anyway, one the boys had mentioned (I think it was Linus, and it’s indicative of this problem that I can’t remember exactly who told me this) that he didn’t want the same present as his brothers. It’s become habit to either get three of the same thing (so everything is fair) or three equivalent, coordinating things (three different video games, three different stuffed animals, three different books.)
But he wanted something different. Something just for him, (you know, now that I think about it, maybe it was Oliver) something that only he wanted, not something that his brothers got as well.
Case in point: my brother sent three gifts for the boys. Three completely different gifts, all meant to be shared amongst them. But when the boys saw three completely different packages under the tree, they decided they each wanted to pick one for themselves.
So I let them each claim one of the gifts, but it’s not exactly the same as choosing a totally different present for each kid.
But no problem, I can do that. That’s easy! I’ve spent the boys’ entire childhood trying to treat them like individuals. Most of the time, they weren’t dressed alike. They’re in different classes. They played different sports. But when it came down to knowing right off the bat what Oliver would prefer, what Miles would like, and what Linus would want. Read More
I AM A ROBOT
They make robots so lifelike nowadays!
Christmas card fail
I totally under-ordered. In lieu of ordering more cards (they’d have to be crappy ones to get them in time) I’ll post some more photos from the session we did with Christina Childress last month. (Dallas people, get her to photograph your family! You will not regret it!)
Well, there’s the one in my blog header. There are a few in a “series” that I absolutely adore. Giggling, happy boys. Natural smiles. Love!
And here are a couple more…
And here’s my new over-the-fireplace display, with a couple of the aforementioned pics of the boys. The canvases were from Groupon, so the color isn’t as gorgeous as they should be. Those will be replaced with better quality prints soon enough.
(oh, and Happy Birthday Grandee!)
Moving day!
Yesterday I made the big move back to WordPress.com. This blog has been on a journey. Started off in HTML, a file I’d have to open up every day (I think every month was a separate page back then), write my post, and then re-save.
At some point I moved to another platform, maybe rhymes with Shmogger. But in 2008, I grew up and moved my site to WordPress.com. Yeah, so this isn’t my first rodeo on WordPress.com.
Sometime in 2009 or 2010, I moved to a self-hosted WordPress.org site (wondering what the difference is? This will help.) and have basically maintained that ever since. But working for Automattic and helping out WordPress.com users day in and day out has made me realize the benefits of having my blog back here, so yesterday I moved it back.
Why would I choose WordPress.com over WordPress.org?
Well, a lot of it is to do with community. When I tag a post with, say, “triplets” (which I am wont to do) anyone who looks up that tag in the Reader can find my posts about triplets. Or LASIK. Or whatever I’ve tagged my posts with. And they might start following my blog, and commenting, and becoming part of my blog’s community.
Or suppose I were to write a really excellent post. It might get Freshly Pressed. (I confess, this is a dream of mine.)
And of course, there is the amazing support I’ll now receive as a user of WordPress.com. Look at all those fantastic Happiness Engineers that are now at my beck and call! Heh.
Oh look! There’s me! I’ll just help myself then. 🙂
First grade pics
Kindergarten school pics
So tiny and hairless!
PreK-4 pic
Just the one. I only got Oliver’s back, and there were supposed to be retakes, but it was a tumultuous year for their school, so I never got them (or the others.) But in the interest of completion…I’ll put it here three times. 😀
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