The Big Easy!

So why did it take so long for mama to update the blog? Because she and papa were en route to New Orleans! They dropped Henry and June off at Nama and PawPaw's and hopped a plane to New Orleans to go visit Aunt Lillie. They had a connection in Memphis and were (voluntarily) bumped from their flight out on Thursday night. But bumps are great if you're not in a rush. They were put up at a hotel (mama was hoping for the Heartbreak Hotel, but the airline would only pay for the Holiday Inn). They got a ton of meal vouchers, which treated them to a pretty plush breakfast this morning and filled their bags with plenty of bottled drinks for the trip. And they got vouchers for free flights in the future! Anyone want to babysit?

Not only is Aunt Lillie a gracious host and marvelous company, she also happens to have a spare apartment just off of Bourbon Street. She spent the afternoon with them reveling from the balcony and then had the good sense to get back home before nightfall.

Mama and Papa spent some time walking around Bourbon Street before they remembered that they don't really like bars or large crowds of drunk people. They stopped at Cafe Begneit to escape the madness. It's actually just a space between two buildings, but they served red beans and rice, some great local beer, and had a fun band playing old timey jazz music. Convinced they had sufficiently lived it up, they headed back to the apartment, only to realize it was only 7:30 pm. So much for a wild and crazy time without the kids.

But luckily for them, the apartment has a big screen tv and wireless internet. (Plus Aunt Lillie stocked the fridge with fancy cheese, shrimp and pate! Not to mention the place is filled with plenty of refreshment of the liquid variety.) They settled in to watch the Sugar Bowl, which is taking place just a few miles away and will probably head back outside to the balcony to watch all the Utes come back to celebrate the big win over Alabama.

Playdate number 2- Henry.

Since Ethan came to my house on my birthday, I wanted to go to his house on his birthday! It was great! We played with everyone else for about 2 minutes before high tailing it to his bedroom upstairs to play without the hassle of little sisters.

After we got done playing, Mister Kevin took us to his farm to show off all the cool equipment he has! We rode a backhoe.

And a huge combine! I was scared to climb on all the big equipment, but it helped that Ethan climbed on everything with no worries. Plus, Mister Kevin assured me that he left all the keys at home, so they wouldn't start.

They also told me I couldn't get in the workshop without a farm hat, so I agreed to wear the green one they gave me.

And we did manage to get a shot of all four kids. Girls vs. boys. Thanks for having us Miss Mindy and Mister Kevin! We can't wait to come back (although mama is a little relieved that we don't live too close, because she thinks that Ethan and I could really get into trouble together).

Playdate number 1- June.

To keep us busy, mama set up a series of playdates for us.

We got to meet our blog buddy Braeden for the first time. His papa and mama were also home visiting his Gradma and Grandpa. We had a great time playing together, especially after Grandpa realized Henry had too much energy for two little kids and took his out to the barn to move rocks with the backhoe and dump truck.

The playdate wasn't all fun as Braden was tortured with a haircut at the mercy of my Grandma. But he toughed it out and it now cleanly shorn.
After Braden recovered, these two nap deprived kids spent some time at the window looking for Mary Alice, the kitty.

Here we are with Mister Brent, mama's good friend from high school Coincidentally, he was also mama's first "boyfriend." That means in 5th grade they passed notes until one was intercepted by Mr. Faust and the relationship ended in a flurry of extreme shame and embarrassment as mama NEVER got in trouble in school!

Thanks for visiting us Mister Brent, Miss Rachel and Braeden!

Lights at the Toledo Zoo-Henry.

WE picked up the Archbold Seiberts and headed to Toledo to go to the zoo and see the lights.

Mama said I was old enough to walk. Luckily, Uncle Kevin packed the double stroller and said I could ride up front.

Tessa, cheated out of her spot, was toasty warm strapped to Aunt Elizabeth.

The lights really were a spectacle. Every tree and bush was covered in lights. Mama really admired the dedication of the zoo staff to wrap all the trees like this.

This tree (50+ feet) took two weeks to wrap in lights.

The Seibert family waits for the show of lights synchronized to music.

I really liked all the lights, even though we didn't get to see many animals.

Natalie danced along with the music and we all declared "Dominic the Christmas Donkey" the new "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas,"

We took one last look at the lights before crossing the bridge back to the car.

Juner rode in the little stroller and was cozy in her frogger costume and kicked happily under her blanket despite the strong winds.

We tried to go to a restaurant that delivered its food on model trains, but it was closed when we got there. So we settled for Steak N Shake instead. June was a little embarrassed at her extreme case of hat head.

Back in Ney, I followed up a good meal with some mini M&M's, a birthday present courtesy of my old buddy Hucky. There's a great video to go along with this that mama promised to upload as soon as she can.

And June got friendly with Grandpa as he "shared" his bowl of ice cream with her. Poor Grandpa had to go get another bowl because it was less like sharing and more like shoveling it into Gugger's mouth while she yelled for more.

We don't have photo evidence, but mama and papa also spent some time peeling the wallpaper border from the top of Grandma and Grandpa's bedroom wall. Thanks to the handy steamer, the paper came off in only 4 hours. Unfortunately, there was plenty of glue left on the wall. Good thing Uncle Kevin showed up for the long haul of scrubbing the glue off. They made it through 3 1/3 walls before we left. Hopefully Uncle Kevin and Grandpa made it through the rest quickly and didn't find too much left on their quality control review. Aunt Jenni, it's ready for you to paint!

Photo catch up-Mama.

We keep a second smaller camera for quick shots and the ability to take videos . And then we usually forget to upload those pictures and videos, so here's a few leftover pictures from the Coopers. We have some great videos, but the internet connections have been spotty and usually don't last long enough to upload a full video.Henry was very pleased that Uncle Adam found a VHS copy of the Grinch cartoon. He giggled the whole way through.

June, though please mama finally put away the summer clothes that she had been wearing with tights, was a little disappointed that mama thought the leggings under a long shirt is acceptable for a baby.

But this baby really pulls it off.

Sadie and June had a great time cleaning the magazines off the shelf- again and again.
Then the girls headed over to pound on the French doors while Nama finished decorating the Disney tree on the porch. Let us out!

More parties- June.

We headed over to Uncle Kevin's house to play for a while. At lunchtime, Uncle Jim let me eat part of his Christmas present- cheese puffs! Puffed cheese products for Uncle Jim is the motherload at the Taller house. Add a little high fructose corn syrup and Aunt Jenni will keel over from all the artificial ingredients and spend the rest of the day laying on the floor whimpering for lentils.

Later, we headed over to the Edgerton Meyer house for the annual Christmas party. From two couples came 31 people (we were hoping for 32, but Holly and Jake don't have a new baby yet). That includes 3 new babies this year. The Meyers have a huge basement and the parents set us loose down there. The big kids spent a lot of time covering up the playhouse with blankets. I'm not sure why.

Uncle Jim saved Tessa from being trampled on the floor. (Doesn't he look nice with a little baby?)

Oliver wants to be a dentist and spent his time trying to drill a tooth (and perched atop a slide avoiding any remote controlled car).

Annalise gathered every animal in the house and read them stories.

I tried to climb the slide and was having fun until mama bonked my head trying to turn me around to go down the slide.

Then I found a balloon to play with and was happy again.

Heidi showed us the correct way to use lawn trimmers. Be sure to have protective eye and foot gear.

When it got later, I made sure my best friend and I stayed close together, although I did give mama a little break and sat with Miss Jane for a long time.

I exchanged some pterodactyl screeches with Aunt Jenni.

Thanks for hosting a great night Miss Kim and Mister JJ!

One more Christmas present.

Yesterday, Aunt Jenni was feeling a little low from post-Christmas letdown. Well, Aunt Jenni, it's still Christmas on RFD TV. And on Big Joe's Polka Show we got the best Christmas present yet.

What could be better than a polka version of Kenny and Dolly? It was a great night for Big Joe and we hope this renews your Christmas spirit.

Seibert Christmas- Henry.

Yesterday, we celebrated Seibert Christmas.

All the grandkids had matching Christmas dresses and shirts. This is the best shot we got of all 7 kids.

June was really hungry, but supper wasn't ready, so she chewed on her shoes.Grandma read the girls some books.

At supper time, the 4 oldest kids got to eat at a special kids table. Uncle Jim and Aunt Elizabeth bore the brunt of cafeteria duty and everyone else was very grateful to eat a meal in peace.

With much prodding, the kids ate enough of their meals to earn a very special treat- "Scarlett" sugar cookies.

I picked out a mitten!

Annalise ate a tree!

Oliver loved his wreath.

With 7 grandkids, it's increasingly easy to lose track of one kid. This happened last night. While everyone was cleaning up a half eaten cookie inadvertently was placed on a chair so the table could be wiped off. No one was paying attention to June until mama looked down and saw that she had found the cookie and shaoved it in her mouth as fast as she could.

Needless to say, she was pretty proud of herself.

After we got June cleaned up, we tried to enforce the house rule: "You make a mess, you clean it up." But June's big belly full of cookies made it hard for her to work the vacuum.