How Old Am I?

Based on the following image, and disregarding everything you may know about me and my family, etc., I'd like you to answer a simple question for me:

(Not the best picture of me.  :P ) 

How old do I look?

There is relevancy for my question, which I will reveal when the results are in!

Spring Break, The Southern Way

For Ella's spring break we decided to head down to my sister's house in Louisiana since this is the closest we'll ever live to her ever again.  It was a 10 hour drive that I got to do by myself since we left Anton at home to work and earn money.  On the way there we broke the drive up and spent the night in the booming town of Buffalo, TX.  Then from the minute we got to LA, it was nonstop fun, fun, fun!

We had to visit our favorite alligator friends at the alligator park.  The adults here are named Boudreaux and Clotile:

And one of the kids' favorite moments from the whole trip, getting to hold the baby alligator, Bubba:

That moment was talked about for days before and now days after.  We also let the kids play on the super-fun playground they have there.

(Ella showing her bravery and lack of fear of heights.)

I think if I gave my kids the choice, they would both willing move in with Aunt Andrea.  And do you want to know why?  They have a barn and a field FULL of horses.  The kids spent hours playing in the hay.

(Ella on top of the haystack peeking out of the barn.)

And I spent hours picking hay out of a certain little girl's long blond hair.  :(

But the definite favorite even over the alligators was getting to ride horses.

They both were riding by themselves and directing the horse where they wanted her to go, and Ella even learned to trot.  They got to ride on two different days and probably would have ridden more if it weren't for all the work you have to do in order to ride.  Ella even said at one point, "Why are horses such hard work?"  It was cute.  I would actually love to put Ella in riding lessons, but I fear they will break the bank.

The kids also got to go on a horse-drawn wagon ride.

This wagon was built entirely by Andrea's father-in-law, and they use it on trail rides.  The kids each got a turn to drive.

And then they just took over the driving seat from Pawpaw, as the cousins call him.

We dragged Ella out for a photoshoot with Aunt Andrea.  (She has her own photography business.)

First Andrea did her hair all pretty.  Ella insisted on a side ponytail, and I'm glad Andrea knew how to do it without it looking all '80s.  Then we headed out into the bayou for photos!

(Yes, you can find abandoned bathtubs in the fields of LA.)

By the time we were getting close to being finished, Ella was really done cooperating.

We were lucky to get the good ones we did.  She is just not naturally photogenic.  She makes lots of goofy faces.

We watched copious amounts of movies while we were there.  We went to a rabbit festival where I was able to eat the requisite boiled crawfish.  You can't visit LA and not eat crawfish!  And I even managed to just relax and read.  The kids loved being able to run around outside and ride bikes and play with their cousins.  But my favorite thing was sitting on the back porch in the mornings and listening to the birds and other sounds of nature and basking in the sun.  I'm starting to think that I may need to find myself a nice country home to live in someday.

Then after a looooong 10 hour drive home (which was made much easier by listening to an audiobook), we came back to reality.  We're hoping Andrea and family can come visit us before we move to the other side of the country and don't get to see them for ages.  We have so much fun playing with them!

Yuck.

I think losing teeth is one of the grossest things ever, but Ella gets really excited.  She's one of the younger ones in her class so is also one of the last to lose her teeth.  But Top Tooth #1 has fallen out and left a nasty tooth shaped hole in its place.  Top Tooth #2 is already loose.  Soon Ella won't be able to eat a thing.  You can also see where she lost her bottom teeth and the new ones have had to grow in behind the baby ones and almost next to each other because her mouth is soooo small.  I'm predicting large orthodontic bills in my future!

Boredom Musings

I've gone and done it again.  This is going to become a very bad thing for my already bulging waistline.  But it sure is tasty.

Our house rental comes with DirecTV, which is a very good babysitter.  However, after hours of Disney Junior and Nick Jr., I've decided that all these kid shows are detrimental to my healthy relationship with my children.  All the mom's in those shows are perfect.  They never lose their tempers.  They talk calmly and sweetly.  No matter what bad things their kids do, they always know the perfect thing to say to make their kids eternally sorry and never do it again.  My kids are going to come to expect this level of perfection from me, and they're just not going to get it.  But since the alternative is turning off the shows and actually having to deal with my kids and proving to them how bad of a mother I am, I think I'll just let them rot their brains in the fantasy worlds of perfect, happy families.  Thank you DirecTV.

I'm Allergic to Oklahoma.

I think I've used more allergy medicine in the last couple weeks than I have the last few years of my life.  Ugh.  It's the kind of allergies where everything itches: my nose, my eyes, my throat, even the roof of my mouth!  It's driving me crazy.  Anton feels the same way.  It's miserable.  I hope this is just a spring thing and not how it'll be the whole time we're here.

Other than that things have been pretty dull around here.  Ella likes her school.  We've made friends with other families in the neighborhood.  Anton's classes are going fine, though they bore him to death.  Every time I go grocery shopping it makes me want to cry.  Things are so expensive here!  I want my WinCo back.  :(  But I guess I better get used to it since it won't be any better in California.

So there's a short and sweet update for those who care.  I wish I had something more exciting to say, but I guess dull is better than dramatic.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

(The view out my back door.)

No one told me I needed to bring my ark to Oklahoma.

The House Tour

Welcome to our home!

It is a lovely brown brick color with a vibrant brown lawn.  It's also very unique in the neighborhood.

It stands on a curve rather than a straight section of road!  Ahh, the serenity of a street full of brown.

Come on in the front door and have a seat on our lovely brown couches.

Don't miss the beautiful brown artwork hanging on the wall.  If you look closely you will see a book in the picture named "Is Sex Necessary?"  Perfect for sparking conversation.

Say hello to Anton.  He's modeling our lovely brown kitchen:

Don't be deceived by the colorful placemats on the table.  Those are just to distract you.  In the corner behind the table I've assembled my own little sanctuary:

Of course the only unpacked boxes happen to be enjoying my sanctuary too.

If you turn to the right you get another view of the living room from the other side.

For variety we have a light brown dresser with a bamboo style holding up the Dish TV box.  (Way too many channels for non-TV watchers like us!!)  Now turn around and take a gander down the hallway:

The brown walls and brown tile coordinate with the brown house just perfectly, don't you think?  But before you go farther, we need to look to the left into Alex's bedroom that opens right off the kitchen/living room junction.  Perfect for peaceful, quiet sleep.

Yes, there is some yellow and blue in this room, but we bring all back down to ground level with the brown bed skirt.  We don't let the color go to our heads, we promise.  But please don't tell the authorities about this:  

Pink!  Ella tries to bar Alex from the room because she is convinced it is for her and her alone.  See the problems color injects into our peaceful society?  Next up is the very serviceable laundry nook:

The shelf is far to high to reach.  It's there merely for looks.  But doesn't it look lovely?  Turning to the right we see Ella's room:

Again, those brown bed skirts keep everything in line.  Thank goodness for the efficient brown dresser.  

And finally, at the end of the hall, we come to the master bedroom.

See the door in the wall?  Easy access to the backyard!  (And the only access.)  But the plus of the room?  The closet:

If we had another child, they could sleep here comfortably.  And here's the room from the back door:

The previous occupant was so kind as to leave his own wall art: airport charts!  I love them so much I may build a frame around them.  Before we step outside let's peek in the bathroom which is behind the door on the left:

The lovely color combo of blue and orange is just the jolt I need each morning before going out and facing another brown day.

And finally the backyard:

A lovely combination of brown grass, brown fence, brown cement, and a hill that makes the entire thing somewhat unusable.  Fabulous!

But all funny quirks and joking aside, I really do love being in my own house.  I'm a little concerned about being too noisy for our duplex neighbors, but such is life.  Ella's school is less than half a mile away, and most everything is fairly nearby.  We're outside of the city amongst all the horse fields, so country living for us!  I hope you enjoyed your little tour.  Feel free to come visit sometime!