Marleyisms


This is a little compilation of her greatest hits in order to further illustrate the ridiculous drama that serves as my entertainment.


Me:  Marley, go put on your shoes so we can leave.
Mars:  WHAT DID YOU SAY? (through clenched teeth)  You don't LOVE me and you want to leave me here? (face droops)
Me:  Now
Mars:  Fine, but I'm not going to be your friend.  Babyhead.
Me:  (flatly)  Wow.
Mars:  But I can't FIND my SHOES!!! (hand to forehead, falling   gently to the ground)  I never find my shoes!!!  (violin music starts in the background)
Me:  Mars, they are directly in front of you. (barely holding back the laughs)
C'mon Kenzie, you're looking cute today.
Mars:  (with face squenched and lips pursed)  You never think I'm cute.
Me:  Of course you look cute today!  (said through chuckles)
Kenzie:  abubaabaa, ahhhhh!
Mars:  WHAT KENZIE!!!  You WANT to leave me at home!!!!
Me:   Marley, she can't talk remember!!!  (barely containing the   laughter)
Mars:  Oh, yeah.  Let's go mom!  It's a beautiful day today!  Mom, I looooove you!  Where are we going to go today?  C'mon Kenz!


April



I have been pouting after the epic fail of the memory of my camera.  Somehow, about 500 pictures were randomly deleted, and about 79 were left.  Easter - gone, Jazz Fest - gone, the butterfly that spent it's dying breaths modeling for me that would have made amazing portraits to hang in the girl's rooms - gone.  Argh!  But I digress... these were spared, thank goodness!
Mars and I went for an afternoon walk to pick some wildflowers in a field near our home and the sky was singing!  That's the New Orleans skyline in the distance.
Macks has really been working her new walking skills and she loves to walk up and down the sidewalk in front of the house.  Then she plops down in the cool grass and takes in some sunshine.
Recently we got to spend some time hanging out with our favorite Northshore ladies, my dear friend Erin and her beautiful daughter Ava Grace.  Erin was sweet enough to let me practice photographing a child other that my own, though Ava is so adorable she makes it easy.  You can check out those pics over here.  The girls loved playing with Ava and ONE of them was kind enough to take a few pictures too.
Mrs. Lori, you might want to close your eyes for this one!  Tre' loves to toss my (and other peoples as well) children high into the air.  This causes oxygen deprivation for said child's mother and giggle fits from said child.

My sweet Marley Grace just looking lovely.
Here she is trying on the pettiskirt from my wedding dress - ah ruffles.
Kenzie took Poppie's project for a test drive, but she discovered the brakes were a little sensitive.
Gotta love the self portrait.
Finally we have Kenzie examining her first crawfish.  As expected from any good cajun girl, she loved it.  Then again, there isn't much this little foodie doesn't eat!

A Fairy Tale



Once upon a time, far, far away, there were two fancy sisters who went on an adventure...
The oldest sister, Princess Mars led the expedition as they departed from their gingerbread house in the magical forest.
Little Princess Macks followed her big sister through the Toadstool Meadow.
Alas, the tiny princess, being new to all of this walking had to stop at the bench of azul to take a rest.
It was then that she happened across the savviest of the three pigs home, made of bricks, though he wasn't there.  He must have went to the market.
Finally Princess Macks caught up to her sister, only to find that the witch had put her in Rapunzel's tower!
But the fair Princess Mars had nothing to fear, for her little sister and their mother, the queen, were quick to save her!
And so the princess' continued on their journey when they came to a tiny schoolhouse in the woods, surely it was used by the Garden Gnomes.  It was just the right size for the tiny princess.
Just then Princess Mars spotted something white and fluffy.  It was one of Little Bo Peep's sheep, it had gotten away from the flock!

Then Princess Macks saw a giant shoe in the distance.  The sisters remembered just then that they had heard from the white rabbit that the old woman who lived in the shoe was lamb sitting for Bo Peep while she was on vacation in Hawaii!  They knocked on the door to let her know about the escapee. 
She thanked them for their help and offered them some broth to show her gratitude, but the sisters had to be on their way.
They continued through the forest until they ran into their good friend the old gnome.
He offered to teach the princesses a new dance that he had just learned.
They had a great time learning it, and the gnome was quite a good teacher.
They thanked him and told him to please visit them sometime at their gingerbread house, but they had to get going.  For it would be getting dark soon.
As they continued down the winding path, they came upon a beautiful turquoise frog.  Princess Marley ran up to him and kissed him, hoping that he would turn into a prince.  But alas, he was just a statue!
The princesses were starting to get very tired from their long journey so they decided to call on their fairy godmother to send them a carriage to carry them home.

They stopped to visit their good friend and fellow princess Snow White, but she was STILL napping, waiting for her handsome prince.

One last stop to check on their very dear friend Humpty Dumpty.  Thank goodness all the king's horses and all the king's men were able to put him together again.  Though it seems like he didn't learn his lesson!  Oh well!  The princesses returned safely to their little gingerbread house in the forest where the lived happily ever after.

Sculptures and Flying Produce


I have been wanting for some time now, to take the girls to the Bestoff Sculpture Garden to photograph them and I finally got the chance last week.  For those of you who have not been, you really should check it out.  It is beautifully planned and maintained.  The collection is breathtaking and it is totally free.  The is no excuse to not spend at least an hour meandering through this beautiful garden.
Robert Indiana's Love sculpture was the main focus of our trip.  What a wonderful place to photograph my girls!

I did get some great shots, my favorite was the one that is now the header.  I also got one of Kenzie diving face first into the edge of the sidewalk while practicing her new walking skills.  It hurts me to look at it so I will spare you.  The fantastic falls are definitely my least favorite part of this stage!  Though she is walking all over - finally she figured out that walking is much more interesting than crawling.
Mackenzie decided that the yellow side of George Rodrigue's three sided Blue Dog was most complementary to her outfit.
Prior to our little photo shoot, we spent a beautiful day at the Geeck's enjoying the Irish Italian parade.  For those of you who have never been to a St. Paddy's Parade in New Orleans, such as myself, they throw produce.  From a float.  AT YOU.  Cabbage, potatoes, bell peppers, onions, oranges, lemons, you name it.  We even saw some Ramen noodles and macaroni and cheese.  It was awesome!
See - cabbage.  The potatoes and onions seem to be the most dangerous - produce missiles aimed at your head!
Don't we look nervous?
But this?  This had to be the funniest and strangest part of the whole parade.  I have no IDEA how they did this, and that poor truck. Ha!  Man I LOVE this city!!!

February


February is typically a pretty busy month and this year was no different.  There's Valentines Day, then Tre' and I's anniversary (SEVEN years - Happy Anniversary Babe - it has been amazing!)  Then Mardi Gras of course, and the weather is exponentially nicer than in January so we try to spend as much time outside as possible!

This month Mars had two parties at school - the first was Valentines where she gave and received her first Valentine's cards!  I wish I would have took a picture of them, we made the cutest cards using my trusty cricut!
Well the treat bags were loaded with all sorts of fun valentines stamps so needless to say when I wasn't looking, Marley took the liberty of "tattooing" herself.
Oh - don't worry, she did not forget her face.  Go big or go home, right!
Kenzie got to watch Sesame Street for the first time - as he does with all children, Elmo bewitched her.
She also got to enjoy her first Mardi Gras Parade, it didn't take long before she was waving and yelling HEY!!!  Very cute!
Up next was Mars' Mardi Gras party and then they paraded around the gym and threw beads to all the parents and siblings.  While most kids loved it...
Marley threw a handful of beads and then decided this was just not for her.  I guess it was all of the strangers hollering at her to throw me somethin' Mister!
We also got to enjoy some mommy - daddy time at Endymion with the Geecks.  They camp out on the neutral ground of Orleans Avenue pretty much all week to reserve the best spot to watch the parade, it's a family tradition that has been going on for nearly twenty years!  Thanks for letting us crash your party - we had a blast!  Oh that guy above - that is Nunc...if you can spot him!
Here is Kid Rock, he was the Grand Marshall.
This one is for Mama Geeck, she loves a guy in uniform.  But then again - who doesn't.
Maids.
Bands.
Siblings.
Floats.
Flambeauxs - Ok, for those of you who don't know - this is a Mardi Gras tradition.  Groups of these guys walk in the parade carrying these torches with propane tanks strapped to their backs.  If you are lucky you will get to see one who is really into it and dancing and parading about.  All along the way, people throw coins to the flambeauxs and they collect them off the street.  I wonder how much they collect by the end?  And no, this was not started because of the recession.
Marley started out Mardi Gras day as Snow White but that didn't last very long.  My bumblebee though can't talk well enough to tell me to take this junk off so she stayed in costume all day!  This is Marley's bounty.
I LOVE THESE LADIES!!!
At least Kenzie looks a little like me when she makes this "what the heck are you looking at" face!
Buzzing about with PawPaw.
Begging for throws like a pro.
Our good friend Landen needed a break from the festivities.
Kenzie thought that was a great idea and enjoyed a fantastic nap, fully costumed, firmly grasping her cup, and she didn't even lose her antennas.  This girl has got this down pat!
Here comes Grela!
Our good friends Lauren and Laine.  My girls LOVE these girls!  Hope everyones February was as wonderful as ours.  Now on to our FAVORITE time of the year in NOLA - Spring!