NOLA Bound

As some of you know, Sean won a sales trip at work for us to go on an all-expenses paid trip to New Orleans. We will be staying at the Waldorf Astoria - which looks fabulous and is within walking distance to Bourbon Street. Neither one of us have been there...so it should be fun, right??

Except for one small detail : I haven't flown anywhere since our honeymoon. For those of you doing the math, I know that's coming up on 7 years. I haven't flown anywhere for very good reason...I am terrified - deathly afraid - of flying. When Sean called to give me the "good news" I immediately felt like I was going to get sick.

I know I should be really excited, but just can't get past the whole flying thing. Pretty sure I will be calling my doctor to see if she can prescribe me anything (alcohol doesn't work, I've tried). I also assured Sean that I would step not one foot on a plane until our will was finalized. Please don't think I am being too morbid (it needs to be done anyway).

We will be leaving March 18, and returning March 21. All of your thoughts, good wishes, and prayers will be GREATLY appreciated - I know I'll be doing a lot of praying until I am back home with the kiddos.

FORT!

One of the games from childhood I miss terribly is creating forts. A few weeks ago, Ava and Aidan decided to make their tent into a more interesting by adding all sorts of blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals.

They must have played in there for an hour or more. As I watched them, I really wanted to crawl in and join them - they looked so cozy:

My Funny Valentines

Most people would count themselves lucky to have one valentine - I consider myself extremely blessed to know that I have THREE!! This year was such a fun-filled, eventful day of celebrating love and our love for each other. Here's what we did:

I started the day by making heart-shaped pancakes and sausage:
...we gave the kids their gifts:

...then, we all went to the Children's Museum. We had originally planned to do a Daddy/Ava and Mommy/Aidan date, but we heard the movie Sean planned to take Ava to was a bit too grown up ("Percy Jackson"). Instead, we spent some time at the museum with each kid individually and then swapped half-way through. Here is Aidan manning the earth mover (I think that's what this machine is):

Ahh - a glimpse into the future? Ava had fun pretending to talk to Barbie on the phone (doesn't she look like such a natural?):

I have to explain the sour-puss face. Aidan was so proud of the garden he "planted", so when he discovered there really wasn't any water in the watering can, he wan none too pleased:

Isn't she sweet? Don't let her demure appearance fool you: the only reason I got this great smile was because I threatened to not let her ride the carousel unless she gave me a pretty smile. What? Don't tell me you have never done the same:

Aidan got to ride a "Nile Crocodile" in Egypt:

Ava strutted her stuff. I love the, "Ooohh...is everyone looking at ME?" A girl could get used to this attention:

We finished up the visit with a ride on the carousel:

We decided to stay in for dinner and eat as a family because Sean and I are going to be away from the kids a lot the next couple months. I tried to create a genuine steakhouse meal. The menu:

Roasted Filet of Beef

French Onion Rice

Sauteed Vegetables

Rolls

White Chocolate Creme' Brulee

Red Wine & Champagne

Everything was made from scratch...even my first attempt at Creme' Brulee - which was SOOO good (except the rolls - after Christmas, I will leave bread baking to the pros).