Welcome 2010!

Okay, with this new year comes a whole new me. I am really going to try hard to post on a regular basis just in case I have anyone out there that might still have any interest at all in what these FL Kaushagen's are up to. We had a wonderful Christmas, a fun New Year's and we're excited to bring on new changes and stick with resolutions for 2010. I have resolved to catch up on many things that I've fallen behind on (blogs and scrapbooks just to name a couple).
I will work this week to post updates of the boys, and pictures from our holidays, and I look forward to keeping in touch throughout the entire year!
Until my next post...

Thanksgiving 2008

I'm up to Thanksgiving of 2008 now...I have hope I can finish my 2008 posts to this blog before 2009 actually ends. This is huge, because I'm actually 5 years behind now on my scrapbooks, so I'm hoping these posts will actually help me remember what to journal by the time I actually get to these scrapbook pages, if I'm not dead by then that is. ha! Anyway, for Thanksgiving we went over to Sis and Ricks with the whole clan. My dad, Adam and Cindy flew in from VA...they were so happy to be out of the cold. Also there was: Pam (my SIL), Tony (my BIL) and their kids Carter and Elizabeth, Carol (my MIL), Rick and Sis and their kids were there of course...since it was their house, and mom, Sean, the boys and me. We had a lot of fun...tons of awesome food, horseshoes, the kids played on the play set and of course wrestled Adam to the ground non-stop. We ended up leaving at a reasonable hour but of course Adam stayed the night so he and Sis could go lounge in the hot tub to who knows what hour of night.

Brief visit to Mississippi

We headed back to Mississippi for our flight home but got there in time to tour a tiny bit. So the boys were interested in seeing a casino and where we had gone for our anniversary so we took them to see. We went inside so they could see the decorations and somehow ended up in a gift shop. Matthew found a watch that he wanted to get for my mom since hers had broken and it was $10. He insisted on getting her this watch, and it was actually very nice for $10...shocking! So when he got home he gave it to her and she was saying how much she loved it and he says "I only paid $10 for it." Ha! We laughed so hard...I guess it's still the thought that counts huh? Anyway, the boys had a good time checking out Biloxi and they found a cool "Star Wars" figure at the welcome center. We walked on the beach a bit and then we were ready to just get to the airport and head home....we were beat! I know people tell me I've got energy and I'm always on the go...but I've gotta tell you....we could barely keep up with Liz, John, Luke and Noah. We'll have to train for it months in advance the next time we're meeting up for vacation with them. HA!

NOLA

Okay, in case you're like me and have no idea who NOLA is...ha! It's not a who, but a where...New Orleans, LA! We went with some friends over the Thanksgiving break to New Orleans. I kept seeing this NOLA all over the place and I finally asked "Liz, who is NOLA anyway?" She just cracked up...and I will probably never live it down...makes sense now. Maybe I was just too cold to think, and I have to admit I had a terrible cold and was on several medications too...that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, Sean, the boys and I flew in to Mississippi and rented a car there and drove into New Orleans. None of us had ever been so it was an exciting adventure. We were staying in the heart of the French Quarter, right in the middle of all the excitement!

We got there early so we took the boys to the aquarium. It was a really nice place, very kid friendly. I think they're favorite part was the playground and the things you climb on...the sea life was okay but if a boy can climb, that's way more fun to them.

Then we were off to meet with our friends: John, Liz, Lucas and Noah. They've been there a lot and she's from LA so they made great tour guides! I'm not so sure they loved being there with me, I was just dragging from being sick and I just couldn't get warm no matter what! I wish I would have felt better for the trip and I do plan to go back...maybe closer to the summer though or I'll at least pack warmer next time. They took us to all the famous sites of the town: Bourbon Street where the boys caught a glimpse of a lot of what they'll probably need therapy for in a few years. ha! Hunter could not stop talking about the "naked butts" he saw on the pictures in the windows. I had no idea that it was going to be that risque at 2 in the afternoon. But people were walking down the street already hammered, drinks in hand and it was a very wild sight that I don't think any of us will soon forget. There were street vendors and beggars on just about every corner. Everyone was standing at the corner of Bourbon Street and I ran across to take a picture and a guy was standing there and offered to let me go back across and get in the picture so I gladly passed off my camera to him. I'm not sure who freaked out faster...Liz or Sean. The guys pretended to be taking off with my camera but I knew he was a bouncer at that bar because I had seen him from a distance. We saw some characters, got some beads and just had fun people watching!

We ended up at Pat O'Briens for hurricanes and dinner...the very best muffaletta sandwich I've ever had! I would highly recommend it if you're ever there...that olive salad they put on it, YUMMY!

The next morning we ended up going to breakfast at Cafe Du Monde...that's where we quickly became addicted to beignets! We had powdered sugar all over us but loved every second of it.

We toured the streets, rode a trolley, admired the art, toured St.Louis Cathedral, went shopping in the French Market....just had a great time. Oh...and did I mention the Catfish Po'Boys? YUMMY! As you can tell...I seemed to fall in love with the food there just as much as the excitement of the city.

We also went to the Children's Museum...though to hear Hunter tell all about NO, we didn't do anything but look at pictures of naked people the entire time. My... how distorted that little mind can be huh? Ha!

We ended the trip at Hard Rock Cafe. We hated to part ways with our friends but hoped to be seeing them again real soon!

Hunter's turkey

Hunter had to make a turkey out of a paper bag for his class project for Thanksgiving. Well, we had this grand idea of using mod podge to stick torn paper pieces to make it look like feathers. That was a great idea and everyone was on board so we all made a mess with glue and paper and put it all together. It was all good until the glue dried and the bag was stiff and SQUARE! Hunter was so mad because "turkey's are not square". We tried to explain to him that this is pretty good considering it's made from a paper bag...but he's such a perfectionist and expects that we all should be that way. We were just happy to be finished with the family project and I personally thought it turned out very cute. So I was making him pose for a picture (which he was delighted about as you can tell from that extremely happy look on his face). HA! Right after I snapped the picture he was so mad and upset about this square turkey he punched it and it went flying right off the table. I know we shouldn't have....but we just cracked up laughing, which didn't help his attitude at all. We were laughing until tears were running down our face...which then brought tears to his face...but not of laughter so much. ha! We felt bad but finally talked him into believing that his turkey was great, of course he still said it was horrible...but what can you do?

Cypress Gardens

We decided to take a trip to Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, FL. This was FL's first theme park so needless to say it's an older more "Hershey Park" like park. But that's exactly what the boys have been asking for. They're a bit tired of the big time theme parks and just wanted to go to a smaller more down to earth park...and that's exactly what they got. This park was pretty nice, we were there at opening so we beat all the crowd, they had a special so we only paid $5 person and we got to ride everything we wanted....the Tilt-a-whirl we rode at least a dozen times in a row. This wasn't an old school one with the canopy either, this was a really good one and we were spinning fools for sure! We had a wonder day, great weather and even got to see some pretty cool animals and a butterfly garden. They closed the park that very day for a while to re-vamp but when they open back this year we'll go again I'm sure.

Matt's field trip

Matt's class went on a field trip to see the Symphony and they had to dress up. So we thought it was time for him to wear his first tie! It took a lot of struggle and then some bribes but he did it and I have to say, he looked so cute! He said "okay, I'll wear the tie but I'm not tucking in the shirt. Not even for 2 DS games." ha! I figure the tie was good enough, and that's somewhat trendy not to tuck your shirt in...right? He's not a fashion figure by any means, not until sweat shorts are in high fashion...but for this one day I got to see him dressed up. That'll probably be the last time for a long while too...bummer.