Well I admit it....I have been a terrible blogger as far as the frequency of my blogs:( Forgive me please??

Two weeks have slipped through my hands so quickly, but since my last blog, things have been really great.

Before everyone arrived for Christmas, Jas and I thought we'd do something that neither of us had ever done. Build a GINGERBREAD HOUSE! As nice as it would have been to say we made it from scratch, we decided to use a kit. It came with everything we needed. The sugar 'paste', the cookie 'house' and all the candies we needed for the 'decorations'. It was super fun and is something I think we will do every Christmas.

On Christmas Eve my Mom and Pops came down to stay with us. The next morning was a glorious one. My sister Alexis arrived bright and early with my sweet niece Jacqulyn and handsome nephew Shawn. My sister Rachel and her crew were still on their way when Alexis arrived. When I realized we didn't have any cranberry sauce, Jacqulyn and I headed to Walgreens to get some but sadly they had none....but I ran into my sister Rachel! Woo hoo! We had a wonderful Christmas and the little ones were the most patient little ones I know, because we didn't open the 9000 presents until about 5 p.m.!! When we did finally open the gifts, it was so exciting! We did a rotation of gift opening....the kiddos would open about 5 or 10 gifts for every 1 that the adults opened which worked out splendidly. After all was said and done, I think that everyone had a very Merry Christmas. One of my favorite gifts I was able to give this year did not come from a store....it came from my very own heart. I wrote a letter to all of the adults present at our house on Christmas and put it into a nice frame. I was teary eyed as I explained to them what it was they were going to open. After all was said and done, and all the tears were dried, I asked everyone to do the same......somewhat. I had previously cut out bunches of card stock and placed a small box by everyone's dinner place setting. I explained to everyone that my Christmas wish was for us all to share a little something that we admired, really loved about each other or even something as simple and meaningful as I LOVE YOU. Everybody wrote a note and put it in the respective 'note-boxes'. When it was time for everyone to go home, they each (even the little ones) had a box full of love. It made me feel good that we all shared a little something with each other that may have been left unsaid.....Needless to say, Christmas was great! Here are some shots of the boxes.

Two days after Christmas...Jeremie turned THREE!!! Yippee! We all went to Chuck-E-Cheese to celebrate. Here are a few pics! Happy Birthday again Jeremie! Love you!

I also extended the Gingerbread house making to my nieces, but it didn't work so well...the sugar 'paste' in this kit was awful and wouldn't stick at all....so they just decorated the individual cookies instead. Here are a couple pics.

Well for New Years, Jas and I decided to set out on a road trip. We'd set our sights on NEW ORLEANS! We arrived there on Tuesday night and headed out. We were immediately greeted with an amazing group of street musicians. They were really fantastic! They played some good ol' Zydeco music while raking in the tips. As we walked down Bourbon Street, I was so excited for the amount of musicians that were working! It was great! There were fabulous guitarists, pianists, bassists, and vocalists at every turn. The sweet sounds made me a very happy tourist!! I was very overwhelmed with the.....ahemmmm......amount of entertainment there....WHOOOOO! Talk about right in your face! It was crazy! While we were there, we ventured past Bourbon St and went out to the French Market, (which I believe is the oldest in the states) and also enjoyed walking around to see many other sights. We were happily surprised to see notice that most of the area we were in appeared to have not experienced terrible hurricane damage, but it has been 3 years. I am happy for the New Orleaners, that they have built back up and continue to rebuild. This a city of happy, loving and exciting people and I was happy to donate my money to the area in hopes that it will go toward continuing to rebuild. New Years Eve for Jas and I was spent at a fabulous dinner/dance party where we dressed up really nice....which we don't get to do very much. We were seated at table 16 and had the absolute best table mates we could have asked for. Here are a couple of pics.

We got home today and have been relaxing since we arrived this afternoon. We both have the next few days off and have no agenda which is awesome. However tomorrow the Louisville Cardinals play the Kentucky Wildcats so we have invited one of Jas' Louisville buddies and his girlfriend over to yell at the screen. Other than that, I'm in chill mode for a few days!

Thanks for stopping by....

Keisha