We're In!

Hello, my darling blog readers! It's me, your long-lost friend! I have missed you all very much, and I have lots to share, so here goes . . .

In April, Jack made his First Holy Communion at St. Martin de Tours Church in St. Martinville. Even though he wasn't thrilled with having his picture taken, Gil and I were really proud of our sweet boy on this important day!



Matthew's Pre-K class had a tea party. The children wore their "Sunday best" and practiced using good manners. Mattie took this all quite seriously, and was very happy to have a beautiful classmate to escort!



Pre-K had an end-of-year closing mass, which was just beautiful! So many little voices singing to God with all their hearts . . . it was absolutely precious. Matt was chosen to be an alter server, and here he is in his robe. He was pretty proud of himself, and so were we!



I had the happy task of making the banner for the mass, which was St. Edward School's last mass of the school year.



It was Caroline's turn to graduate next, along with her 8th grade CHS classmates. I can't believe that this girl of ours is going to be in high school next year! It seems like she started Pre-K just yesterday! She's worked very hard, made really great grades and played some pretty awesome soccer. We are so blessed to have such an intelligent, wonderful, beautiful girl!



Here she is post-graduation with friends, all really sweet girls. 8th grade sure don't look like it used to!



Our Mattie is five years old! I know, I can't believe it either. It happened over the weekend, June 18th, to be exact. He was born on Father's Day in 2006. We had a party at the blue house, complete with cake . . .





a water slide . . .



and party favors!



He had a happy day with lots of friends and family around him. :)

I saved the biggest news for last! Yes, we are finally in the blue house! We closed in May of 2010, began working on the gutting/remodeling in June of 2010, and moved in on June 4, 2011. We still have lots to do, but hey, we're in! This is truly our dream house, and I hope that we can live here forever. The property that the house sits on is what first attracted us. 4.88 acres on the bayou, 40+ live oak trees and a lovely "rolling" front yard. The house itself suits us perfectly, with plenty enough room for our family of six.

Here's a shot of our bedroom. You'll note that there is nothing on the walls yet. That will come soon! You will also note that after 16.5 years of marriage, we still do not have proper bedside tables. We have tv trays. Lovely, I know. But nightstands are on my list of things we "need" for this new house!



Here's a shot of the living area. I didn't think that the red sofas from the other house would go, but they kinda do. Good thing, too, because new sofas aren't in the budget at the moment! That's Mattie on the sofa with Bitsy-Boo, our Chihuahua-baby. Please excuse the basket of laundry waiting to be folded - I was keepin' it real!



Here is the kitchen I have dreamed of! There is so much more counter space than in the last house. I love the big stove with the copper hood, the long island where the kids can have snacks and do their homework while I cook, and the beverage cooler for their drinks. Since we've been in, I've been cooking up a storm. We are still waiting on the backsplash and the pot filler, but other than those two things, the kitchen is DONE!



This is a shot of the kitchen from the living area. Sorry about the dark pictures. We finally got a bit of rain this afternoon, and the light wasn't the best.



I've been working hard to move my studio from the other house to this one. I'm making progress, slowly but surely. Here is my desktop, just waiting for a new project! Yes, I love Disney snowglobes. No, I am not 11.



Here is the view from my studio windows. This is our front yard. What do you think? We love it!



So for now, my pretties, this is it. We'll be off to the beach in a few weeks, so I will have more to share soon. Maybe even a scrapbook page or two! ;)