Flashback to the 90s

Last weekend was the New Orleans Moms Blog‘s annual Mom’s Night Out. The theme this year was 90s prom. It was super fun, and I had a great time reliving that decade.

Clothing-wise, I wore pretty much exactly what I spent my two years at LSMSA and my (cough) six years at LSU wearing: cutoff jean shorts, doc martens, baggy t-shirt. I added some leggings and went a tad overboard on hair and makeup. (For real in the 90s, my hair looked pretty much exactly as it does now, but hennaed, and makeup was limited to mascara and lipstick.)

IMG_4449

Hee hee heeee hee heee! I made sure not to smile at all. That would have been out of character.

Okay, once I couldn’t help it. Prom pic with Megan!

IMG_4485

The event was held at NOMA, which was pretty cool. I can’t believe they let a bunch of punks hang out with Picasso paintings and such.

IMG_4475

I gotta give the makeup artist kudos on that eyeliner. It didn’t come off until maybe two days later.

IMG_4407

The cakes made by a local bakery were soooooo perfect. (Tasty too!)

And people really got into the theme:

It’ll be fun to see what theme we have next year! How to top this?!?!

Felix, the Chosen Minion

The boys are currently running around the house playing in a knockoff Harry Potter world, complete with bad British accents and made up spells.

I’m writing this from beyond the grave because it has killed me.

Second grade!

IMG_7844-Edit

Look at those shiny new sneakers! Oliver’s kill me. They’re so dang white. I kept thinking he only had socks on. Bless his heart, he’s super proud of them.

IMG_7849

IMG_7855

I walked them into school today, and Miles had kind of a hard time. It’s not even that he was scared of the unknown, he just didn’t want summer to end. I feel ya, buddy. I should be celebrating the start of school, but honestly, I’m not pumped about homework and the daily hour and a half commute across town to pick up the kids.

Walking in.
Walking in.
IMG_4269
Miles not being pumped about the first day.
Linus was all, "see ya!"
Linus was all, “see ya!”

Oh, you want to see other first day of school posts? Sure!

(Wait, I just have to post this one pic, from their first day of prek-3, four years ago!)

6056128428_04a5a4c5a6_o

Fun with friends

One of my coworkers, Deborah, came through New Orleans today with her family, and the boys and I met them all for an adventure. I haven’t seen her since we were in Barcelona, so it was exciting to see her again.

First, we braved the boiling heat to meet them at the streetcar stop on St. Charles. We stopped for fun pictures at the steps of One Shell Square first.

IMG_7005

IMG_7047

Then, we met up with them and made her daughter, Vera, take pics with the boys, since they were all wearing their Wapuu shirts. Meanwhile, her son Isaac closely scrutinized the boys to figure out how best to tell them apart. (I will be asking him for tips.)

IMG_7058

We got on the streetcar and had a great ride down St. Charles.

IMG_7073

IMG_7322

IMG_7068

IMG_7328

Until they kicked us off and made us get on a bus. At first we were disappointed, but then we realized it was air conditioned, and the kids got to stand up, and hey, the bus is really better than the streetcar!

IMG_7081

IMG_7084

IMG_7085

IMG_7339

We got to the park where Deborah and I sat on a bench in the shade while the kids played. And she realized her hat was still on the bus. Ack!

If you look closely you can see Vera putting her stuffed animals in a swing. (Foreshadowing!)

IMG_7089

IMG_7090

We made them pose by a tree.

IMG_7097

Got back on the streetcar and bus to go have lunch at Slice. Yum! I bought a Groupon on the way. Handy!

IMG_7117

IMG_7121

IMG_7346

After we ordered, Vera inquired about the whereabouts of her stuffed animals. ACK! Still in the swing back at Audubon Park!

Deborah zoomed off in an Uber to retrieve the animals – luckily they were safe! while I hung out with the kids and stuffed ourselves with yummy pizza and salad.

11836725_10205517974332185_7273805885564157482_n

IMG_7342

After lunch, we headed back to the streetcar, and then to our car. I was sad our adventure had come to the end. I was very tempted to swipe Vera and take her home with me. She’s adorable and sassy. But I left her with her family, alas.

The end!

Say what you will

…but if buying a selfie stick means the boys not only sit still for pics but actually want to be in them, then it’s worth the embarrassment of admitting that I bought a selfie stick.

  

Another one bites the dust

  
The tooth fairy has been very busy this week. She needs to get some more golden dollars, stat!

I need to figure out how many teeth have been lost this summer. I’d guess ten, at least. 

Just little things

I keep thinking of little things to say, then I forget. Let’s see if I can remember.

  • Went swimming last night with the girls. Adults only, had festive beverages from the club’s bar. Too bad our membership runs out at the end of next week. There’s going to be a lot of evening swimming in the next two weeks, I hope!
  • School starts Monday! Second grade. Nuts.
  • The attic is getting insulated tomorrow, just in time, since it’s about a thousand degrees here.
  • I started running again, even though I am still dealing with Achilles tendinitis. I’m trying to do my stretches, icing, and rolling my calf muscle in hopes that I’ll survive the Jazz Half Marathon at the end of October.
  • Helpful hint: Don’t put the digital food scale too close to the hot element on your flat top stove. Unless you want a new digital food scale.
  • Promised I’d take the boys to see Pixels while we have to be out of the house for the attic stuff. I am not optimistic about the quality.
  • Took the boys to the dentist last week – no cavities!

Some pics ‘n’ stuff:

Oliver uses his head:

 

IMG_3770

What is the deal with these? I have seen “Asia” like eight times, but never a Linus, Oliver, nor Miles. But I had to buy these when I saw them both at Target. Sucker.

Saying bye to friends

I went to a goodbye party last night for some friends who are leaving New Orleans. It was sad, of course, but also full of laughs.

Especially watching old people my age try to figure out selfie sticks.

IMG_3832

  

IMG_3838IMG_3864IMG_3855

Those are all triplet and quad mamas, giving Robin and Bryan a send off before they head out of town.

The Gates moved here about five years ago, as part of the Hornets/Pelicans coaching staff. Thanks to them, the boys got to attend a couple of NBA games, which was pretty awesome.

  
Their triplets were born quite prematurely, but they’re all healthy four year olds (what?) now, quite a bit bigger than when I photographed them.

IMG_7821

Aw, squishes!

Anyway, they’re just great people and hopefully they’ll find themselves in New Orleans again one day.

Linus update

Linus decided that he actually didn’t want the Star Wars backpack and lunchbox he’d picked out last week. (Because the lunchbox wasn’t rectangular like his brothers’. Okay.) So we returned them to Toys R Us and headed to Target, since Toys R Us was pretty picked clean.

He ended up with…

IMG_3768

A not-rectangular Mario lunchbox and backpack! Sigh. (Well, at least it’s more rectangular than Darth Vader’s head.)

We also went to the dentist so they could tell us how much it would cost to take care of his yellow tooth. Turns out it’s not as expensive as I’d thought it might be (I think it would be a veneer) so his smile won’t look like this for too much longer:

IMG_3751

Well, it’ll still be goofy, just a bit whiter.