Mardi Gras Time!

Last Friday was the first of the Mobile Mardi Gras parades. I will always have a soft spot for the Mobile Mardi Gras parades. So many people always associate New Orleans with Mardi Gras, but as I have said so many times to people all over the country, Mobile was the originator of Mardi Gras. We started this fantastical holiday and I think we should get more recognition for that. For Theo, growing up in Georgia, Mardi Gras is a time of fun and immersing himself in the local culture. For me, a native Mobilian, as near and dear the history of Mardi Gras is to me...it also means loud drunken crowds and being pelted in the head with beads.
It was always so exciting as a kid waiting with anticipation at all the free goodies we could catch. I never appreciated the trouble my parents took getting all us kids downtown and keeping track of all the little heads. I was constantly counting to 5, even though I was wearing one and Theo was also. I still counted them. The crowds were crazy, but I only had to yell once at a lady after shoving me so she could get by to her drinking friend. Singing lessons and being able to project really comes in handy!
Hannah has the best seat in the house, and you can tell by her facial expression she knows it!

The beginning of the parade!

Medusa

Creepy Clown

Davey Jones and his locker

Possessed Trojan horse. It even blew steam out of it's nostrils. Very cool!

Phantom of the Opera...my personal favorite!

We couldn't wait to get home to break into those moonpies! Banana flavored seems to be a throwing favorite this year. We got lots of those. The new thing is Coconut flavored which we caught one of and I ate up immediately before anyone saw it and I would have had to share.
One of the food vendors on the street. I love this time of year that we can enjoy fair food without all the creepy Carneys. And my favorite that I absolutely MUST get is a funnel cake. Man they are GOOOOOD!!!
Reluctantly I did share it with everyone. Here's Theo enjoying what is left after I got a hold of it. Hahaha! Just kidding! I ate must of that piece to....heehee....

This is Tobie's favorite, cheesy fries!

There are many more parades to come, but personally I'm good with just the one. Tomorrow night is our Military Ball! I'm really excited, we even got a limo! I'll be sure to post lots of pictures.

A Successful Family Home Evening

Our FHE was on teamwork.

Fried Chicken Cleaner

When will I learn not to open the door to strangers?

I absolutely HATE door-to-door salespeople. I don't know where these people get their training, but being overly enthusiastic about whatever piece of crap you are selling is NOT appealing to the customer! In fact it is really obnoxious and just makes me want to slam the door.

Too bad I can't just ignore them and pretend not to be home. As soon as the bell rings my dog is barking and my kids go running to the front door and press their little noses on the window to see who it is. Would it be horrible if I just let them stare as the stranger stands there awkwardly waiting for the "woman of the house" who will never come to answer? Would it be awkward if I joined them? Would he try to give me his spiel through the glass?

I had one of those annoying salesman come a few days ago, and boy was he psyched about his product! I would to if it was a big brown bottle of cleaner that tasted like fried chicken as he claimed his did. To prove his point he sprayed a few squirts on the palm of his hand and licked it clean off! Mmmm....very tempting....should I buy this $45 bottle of cleaner just so I can taste it? Um...no.

He cleaned the window by the door, he cleaned the wood floor by my feet. It's so versatile! Then to go even further to show what this miracle fried chicken cleaner can do he asked me for a pen because apparently he lost his a few houses back. He wanted to demonstrate how effective it is by writing on a cloth and using the cleaner to clean it! AMAZING! I had to see this!

I got him a pen Theo recently bought and after using it on the wash cloth he asked if he could keep it, then shoved it in his pocket before I could answer. I have to back up here a few clicks and tell you that pens in our house are very scarce. I know it sounds odd, but we don't have the ability to retain pens in our home. For some reason they just disappear. Weird.

After his demonstration he started to ask what my last name was so he could start filling out the order form before I committed to anything. I told him I wasn't interested and can I please have my pen back. He actually seemed offended that I asked for MY pen back. He was shocked and asked "You don't have any pens in your house?". I'm like, "Seriously, we have issues with keeping pens.". Then he asked if we have a permanent marker that he could have since his was lost, if you remember. I thought it was awkward that he was asking me to replace something that he was trying to basically steal from me. But I was trying to be friendly and found a couple of off brand permanent markers in the cabinet. I thought I was being nice by giving him 2 instead of just one, but when he looked at them he started studying them to make sure they were indeed permanent. For one thing, pens aren't permanent, which is the first writing utensil he used and now he's all particular that it HAS to be permanent? And second, considering he is basically asking for a handout he really isn't in the position to be picky.

After finally admitting defeat and realizing that I wasn't going to purchase his product, he asks if I can recommend any of my neighbors and if they are as "cool" as me. I thought, you mean will they listen to your song and dance (literally) and then generously give you two free pens....probably not. So good luck with that, and wish me luck with my "no-open door policy".

Paci Love

Ah....this is the life!

Dude, where's my paci?

I SAID WHERE IS MY PACI???!!!

Whew, that's better.

Nite, nite