Cold Spaghetti

Despite my illness, we did manage to take the kids Trick-or-Treating. We went to Georgia and Emmy‘s so that the kids could explore the neighborhood en masse and we had enough support to let me rest if and when needed.

Georgia had a great party with yummy food, including delicious chili, homemade mac-n-cheese, and a movie theatre popcorn popper machine dispensing fresh kernels in red and white stripped bags. The kids took turns filling their assorted trick-or-treat bags with party candy and then putting the candy back in the cauldrons.

We got to spend some quality time with baby Ollie. Emmy kept calling him a little peanut while getting the kids in costume (I got to hold and burp the baby). Then she dressed him in his costume — he really WAS a peanut.

Everyone got in some baby time.

Wittle baby peanut!

Will and Kate stripped their impromptu costumes from the day and donned fresh personae: Will was Mike Wicowski from Monsters, Inc (a CCEX find last fall) and Kate wore her gorgeous red suit, a gift from Randy and Katherine on one of their trips to Taiwan.

Will had the Trick-or-Treat thing down this year. No need to prompt or remind, he knew how to negotiate the door knocking and opening, used the correct parlance for transaction, and held his bag or reached appropriately in the right situations. Kate, on the other hand, preferred to take one piece of candy at a time, bringing it in her tight little fist to the next door, where she would offer the kind Treater a trade: new candy for the warm mushed one in her hand. They would offer to fill her bag with candy if she’d hold it open, to which she’d reply, “no thank you.”

Both kids were pretty much ready to be done with the whole thing after one house, just to go eat what they had collected. It wasn’t until we were done that they realized the power of volume. You could actually see Will’s wheels turning as he understood that longevity of the trick-or-treat was a strategic choice. Whoops. He’s asked if we can count down the days ’til next Halloween ’cause he’s REALLY READY NOW.

Here’s a video of them in costume preparing for the Big Event…

I’ve already made the $11 investment in toilet seat covers for Will’s costume, so it’s too late for this Halloween.  But I am placing our order of four in for Mardi Gras.  I wonder what kind of alterations we’ll have to make for it to fit Kate?

And while we’re on the subject of the minds behind ‘Whip It’… poor Paul!  That fall put some nasty huge bruises on his (ahem) derriere.  Huge, gynormous, brusies.  I’d post a picture, but I figure the hole-in-the-seat-of-his-pants picture was probably pushing it.

New mission: slowly switch out all of his undies to leopard print, to up the entertainment value of future hole-in-pants photos.

(Devo find, h/t to Mighty Goods.)

I knew they were tourists before we climbed inside.  Even with Will boldly clutching the $2.50 for the driver, I was still weighed down with a large tote bag, stroller, and Kate, all in my arms.  If they were from here, I wouldn’t have so much as put one foot onto the unfolded step before someone soundlessly took an object from me to help us on board.  It’s just the way things happen here.

Eventually the kids and I stumbled into the Streetcar and rambled down the isle to an open seat.  Two open seats, actually, as the kids took turns hopping between empty benches on each side of the isle, changing with each stop.  It is July in New Orleans and it is hot: both kids wanted the breeze from the open windows and to be out of the sun.  Their seat experimentation was just them working to find the coolest space available.

“This area doesn’t look like it got hurt by the storm,” the lady in front of me says.  “Oh, right,” her companion incorrectly chimes in, “but the Garden District got it real bad.”  Definitely tourists.  I am about to ask them where they are from, to chat them up and welcome them here, to be that friendly spot of hospitality one expects here for good reason.  But then the stroller I’ve laid beside our seat comes to smack me in the shin; the companion sitting in front of me is pushing it back, away from where one end has rolled into her personal space.  I decide to say nothing, listening instead to the women periodically comment on the “interesting” and “unusual” and occasionally “beautiful” architecture that unfolds before us as we roll along the tracks.

Finally, we turn the corner to Carrollton Avenue, where the Streetcar driver announces: “End of St. Charles, Carrollton Avenue, Camilla Grill!”  Everyone around us gets ready to depart.

One of the women asks, “Isn’t this it?  Camilla Grill?  Is this where we go?”  She is looking around as if her expectations weren’t quite being met.

“I’m not sure.  I guess so.  Everyone else is,” her friend answers.

Then Will, who has been silently looking out the window snaps to attention.  “Get a Cheeseburger.  They’re the best here.”  He says it right to the women, who take a moment to realize from where this sage advice has come.

“Really?” the first woman responds, “cheeseburgers?”

“And a chocolate milkshake,” Will remembers.

“Cheeseburger,” Kate adds.

For a split second I find myself wistfully wanting a third child, one who would pipe up and offer that last bit of important advice, “and get it dressed.”

The last three weeks.

We had a week-long visit from:
Nana. Who brought presents, time, patience, and recipes. The day she left, Kate wandered around calling “Naaaaa-Naaaah, Where ARE youuuuuuu?” (Subtext: “Save me from these crazy people!”)
Having a third adult in the house was a huge relief. It was also well-timed, because the day she left and returned us to a house of two adults, we downloaded a child.

He was thrilled to be spending almost a week away from home, his parents, and his particularly his sister. In Will’s words: “Mommy, I needed a break from that crazy girl. She’s too much for me.” I dropped Will off with my Mom in Gulfport (our half-way meeting place) and he joined Granna and PapPap on a trip to visit my brother and sister-in-law. (My incredible sister-in-law, who by all accounts spent 5 hours a day on the floor re-reading the same books and cards so patiently to the-ever-curious-Will, has posted adorable photos from the trip.)

While Will was away from home for the longest time ever, Paul turned 38 on May 5th. This is remarkable only because I told at least 3 people that he was turning 36. I also wrote that I was 30 on a doctor’s form a few months ago and only realized the mistake because “date of birth” and “today’s date” were close enough together to make me do the math. I’m not forgetting little things, I’m actually forgetting years. It must mean that it’s time for us to have some sort of life crisis.

Also on Cinco de Mayo, our friends Alex and Dawit were married. (The wedding date was chosen because it’s Alex’s birthday, too.) In between a day of picking up tiles, switching cars, dropping off kids, and buying paint, I took photos of the event and you can see them here.

Meanwhile, back at the station, the house continues.

Drywall took a long time. There were delivery problems. Supply problems. And daily layers of drywall dust… dirty, gritty, drywall dust… ALL OVER the bedrooms and hallway each evening to mop, dust, polish, and wash off. And, we’re back to no washer and dryer. Still, the crew (comprised of a husband and wife) did a very good job.

Here’s the site of the future cat-door to Scout’s litter-box “room” under the washer and dryer.
Outside, Paul spent a good 20 hours on the roof over 2 days. It’s done, although these pictures show it as still-in-progress.

Now that it’s done, I’m thinking we may finally be able to remove the ever-present can of Goo Gone from our shower?
We discovered that Kate can work the garden hose. WATCH OUT.
Note that Will’s head is soaking wet. Coincidence with that last picture? I think not.
Kate also discovered an obsessive love of ice. Workers (read: Daddy) must carefully guard their precious cups ice water, lest it be plundered by the Sweet Pea with the dirty hands.
Also: Kate loves Crabby Jack. Oysters. Shrimp. And duck. (Domilise’s for Roast Beef, though, of course.)
Kate turned 2 and got presents. Including ELMO UNDERWEAR from Gwen & Co. Here she is, putting on Every Single Pair.
And dancing.
My Fellowship Year officially began with our Orientation Retreat. At first it was going to be an overnight event, but it was shortened to a Really Long Day in Baton Rouge. Who knew the LSU campus was so darn pretty??? The group is inspiring and interesting; I left the day feeling an unexpected excitement for the coming year. We did a variety of team-building exercises, including ropes. I surprised myself by having fun, and realizing that my recently-developed fear of heights is more extreme than I thought. I was Very Impressed with the folks that climbed the 60 foot pole, stood up, and jumped for the trapeze. Here’s Jonathan, the only one to touch the bar, in one of my favorite pictures from the day:
This one of Kemi is probably my favorite:
Meanwhile, back at the station, drywall finished. Tile started.
Tomorrow, the base of the washer/dryer platform will be grouted and trimmed… so we’re hoping to have these back by Wednesday?Paul ALMOST finished the plumbing today while I wrangled kids and house. The tub plumbing is hooked up and tested perfectly. The ONE LEAK in his intricate shower plumbing? It wasn’t from a failed joint… it was a failed PIPE.
The darn elbow had a crack and hole. When Paul went to Lowe’s to get another elbow, he came home with the wrong kind. When he went back to trade, they were closed. As was Home Depot. Plumbing to Paul is like Cryptonite to Superman. Utterly defeated and forced to wait until the morning… because, after all, tomorrow is another day.

Friday evening, we headed out into the fray early (or so we thought)… and were on the neutral ground by 4:45. Apparently, every person with a ladder within a 300 mile radius had been there sooner and set up their ladders supplied with taser devices to ensure on one infringe upon the PUBLIC space surrounding their ladder by several feet. Some even set up huge caution tape lines. One of the best parts about Mardi Gras is the camaraderie in the lines; folks sharing food, throws, and jokes.
Luckily, Ana spotted us crawling up and down Napoleon and we joined her and their friends, who had the good sense to bring several chairs. Ana (above) settled into our ladder seat with Will. After a few minutes, though, Will flipped out over being up in the ladder (as would be a theme for the rest of the holiday). His spirit was bolstered, however, when he discovered the delights of Doritos in a bag shared by Emmy. It was love at first sight; Will hasn’t quite been the same since.

In the meantime, as dusk settled in, I went to town trying out different techniques to capture the floats as the riders took their places, prepped their throws, and night began to fall. Normally, this would be a flash situation: I increased shutter speed, increased ISO, and played around with exposure to get these shots.
In my opinion, Hermes has the most beautiful floats. The parade “starts” a few blocks from where we were, so we sat at in the staging area of the parade. It was a great place to start the night. Watching them slowly light up as the sun set was almost magical.

(Note: see the caution tape below? For some reason, this seemed endemic this Mardi Gras. What is up, people?)

Ana stayed up on high (that girl is afraid of NOTHING) and chatted to me while I snapped away.
She even offered me a few of her wake-me-up-with-a-bang! flavored Zapp’s chips. That’s Ana, keeping the NOLA Mardi Gras spirit alive!

Hermes was the only parade we saw. At the start of D’Etat (always one of our favorites), it became clear that Kate *had a diaper*. It could not be fixed… the girl was a mess from head to toe. Will was still being freaked out by everything (the flambeau, usually a favorite, was freaking him out, too), and it was getting colder and later. We went home. It had been a big day. It was a good idea; we were much better positioned for Saturday. (Except for Kate, who we realized was unequivocally ill.) Will and I were the only ones to attend parades on Saturday.

Friday morning, Oak Street.
About our costumes. We’re Mardi Gras Superheros: Will is Captain Mardi Gras, Kate is the faithful sidekick Lagniappe, and Paul and I are The Beignet Bunch. The idea came from Will’s obsession with Superheros and a purple cape he made at school.
We’re wearing about 8 layers of clothes each (it was a chilly morning) but the top layer is a purple t-shirt… which was incredibly difficult to find. I ordered from an online t-shirt place; working to find sizes in kids to adults that was going to be the same color was impossible. When the order came, half of the stuff was delayed and we ended up being some in long sleeves (Paul) and some in short. Paul and I are wearing scrubs for bottoms. Will is wearing purple tights from a girls Hello Kitty pajama set I found on sale in some megastore. Kate is wearing a purple glittery jumper that came from Clare. The capes were made by a crafter on Etsy who I highly recommend to any and all; the capes are fantastic (more pics of them to follow) and she was wonderful to work with. I made the embelms with sticky sided felt, glittery felt, and hot glue. Paul spray painted rubber boots with metallic gold spray paint. I was going to make golden shorts for Will but gave up after 30 minutes of hand sewing got really old and talked Paul into spray painting a pair of Will’s underwear. It worked perfectly. Paul’s Helmet came from MardiGrasOutlet.com and arrived the day after we ordered it. Will’s King Hat came from Jefferson Variety, a local hole-in-the-wall supplier of all the fancy fabric and trim for your Mardi Gras costuming needs.

View of the full regala… with Paul and I wearing Abeona’s signature throw: the Golden NuNu.
Kate, getting ready for her ride. She was pretty subdue for the morning.
Emmy lead the way as “Queen of the Boil” (complete with cajun spice and tiny crawfish in her big net skirt). Ana and Will eagerly dolled out loot to watchers. Fun moment: hearing people call out: “Throw me somethin’ Mister!” to them as they went by.
Our band: Panorama Jazz Band! TWELVE musicians! They were absolutely fabulous. It was a great!
There were concerns of how pulling the float would impact it’s delicate construction (and who could drill holes in that beautiful paint job?) — so Paul pushed it. We forgot to make a float sign to go in the front. Something to add for next year’s royalty!
The parade crossing Carrollton.
Back in front of the school… superheros compare their get-ups.
Will and Ana hold hands and smile… preparing for their entrance and Mardi Gras toast!
Entrance of the King and Queen. Notice Will’s face… he didn’t quite have Ana’s sense of drama in this moment. (She waved and walked demurely to her seat.)
Toasting! After watching the Mayor toast the King and Queen of Zulu this morning, I much preferred the sincerity of this toasting.
The Little Man!

— The stomach flu hit this weekend. Kate was implicated, having thrown up for a few hours late Wednesday night (she was pretty cool about it… she’d retch in the sink, hold her hand out to run her pacifier under the water, and pop it back in her mouth.) No fever or other symptoms, so we went to school on Thursday and attended the parade on Friday. Friday she started showing signs of feeling unwell (i.e.: she demanded to be held, versus the usual, when she acts like she is being boiled in hot oil when someone tries to hold her). By Saturday, she was warm and even more cuddly. Many many many diaper explosions. My parents came into town Friday for the parade and ended up staying through Sunday morning, because my Mom came down with
something similar Saturday afternoon which kept her violently ill all night. The real fun was that no-one-exists-in-the-world-but-me neighbor partied hearty for most of the night… 6 feet from where my Mom was trying to recover. We are pretty much at wit’s end here, as I am pretty sure the stress from his consistent noise violations is going to give us both ulcers. Fun times.

— But we still have managed good fun. Friday’s parade was awesome, as was the ball (more on that, later.) Saturday, Paul and my Dad installed the door and windows in the back. It is officially closed to the elements. We can walk through the house to the backyard — something we haven’t been able to do in a long, long time. Mom watched cuddly Kate inside while I took Will to a friend’s house for an Iris/Tucks Mardi Gras party and saw parts of both parades. Will was an absolute delight: polite, sharing throws with other kids, so sweetly waving and following “Throw me somethin’ Mister” with “please.”

— Thoth was great. We hosted the parade party/provided the close potty for friends and watched the parade en masse.

— We didn’t attend parades today. Paul worked and I played with the kids (think: long paper art project), took 3 walks, went out to stand in line for our first Randazzo’s king cake (my opinion: good, but a big cinnamon roll, too sweet for me), and stopped by Emmy’s for an impromptu playdate with Ana and Elliot.

— And now, I’m fighting off flu. Typical symptoms. We have a 50% attendance rate going for Fat Tuesday parades and I think that this percentage is going to go down a bit after this year. Which is more than fine here. I’m hoping for a great family day and to feel well enough for some great red beans and rice.

It’ll take hours for my 7-year old computer to eat up all the pictures from the first 2GB card I filled this morning, so here’s a preview from the second set already loaded. King Will (as Captain Mardi Gras) and Queen Ana (Glinda, the Good Witch) toast the start of the Krewe of Abeona Ball, which followed the fantastic morning parade down Oak Street.
It’s a beautiful day in New Orleans — and we’re gearing up for an awesome night (FOUR parades… including the bubbly delights of Muses, which got postponed ’til tonight due to yesterday’s storms.) Four more days of nonstop fun and excitement await here!! We only hope our energy can get us through it!

Paul is making a float for Friday’s Krewe of Abeona parade. He used scrap wood we had in the back from the renovation/addition. Wheels came from the hardware store, although Paul isn’t quite happy with them and designed it so that upgrades may be made in the future. While it is made currently to push, he’s going to attach ropes to the front if folks want to pull it instead. (It works sort of like a shopping cart when pushed from the back and is actually pretty agile, all things considered.)

A few key pieces were supplemented from wood we use to cover the front door transoms when we evacuate during Hurricane season. He figured there was something… appropriate… about using Hurricane protection materials for a Mardi Gras float.

Here it is, before trim.

While he finished trim, I primed the top of our ladder. No idea what we’re going to do with this, decor-wise, but I thought it needed paint nonetheless.

Then we worked together to prime the float before going to pick up the kids. (How could we not knock off a few minutes early to enjoy the gorgeous weather? Not that everyday hasn’t been like this lately!)

After dinner, while I got Kate ready for bed, Will and Paul put on the first coat of purple paint.
It’s now almost 11pm. Paul just left to go to the out building to put the second coat of paint on the float. We’re trying to get the big coats of paint on and done so that they have plenty of time to dry and we have plenty of time for blinging out the rest of the contraption!! We should have stocked up on battery powered lights after Christmas…!

The things we do for our kids.

A month or so ago, Abeona House applied for and was given a grant from Oak Street’s Main Street improvement project to have a sign made for the school. (The kids themselves walked to the office and hand-delivered the grant, something that the granting committee have said they will never forget!)
This weekend, before going down to enjoy Oak Street’s Block Party, Abeona held a small celebration (complete with champagne and noisemakers) to formally announce our non-profit status and have the unveiling of the sign.
The sign is spectacular. Our wonderful logo was designed by a talented graphic artist parent and the sign showcases her work in impressive relief and bright colors.
It is absolutely fantastic! A very touching moment to reflect on how far the school has come and all the wonderful things we have yet to do. I cannot wait to see it up!

Then we all walked down to the Block Party. We watched Brad (owner of Oak Street Cafe) read out some of the raffle winners, said ‘hi’ to Charles Farmer (Oak Street musician) and went out in search of food and fun.
Hooray for Abeona House and Hooray for Oak Street!