Bless the Cajuns

Greetings from Lafayette Louisiana!   The food is good, the people are so nice, and most importantly Brooke and Travis are here and in their new home!  We came down Wednesday night to help them move in, fix the nursery, and organize.  Kirk has put together the crib, dresser, baby swing, baby bouncy seat, and book shelf.  We have kept him busy.  The furniture came Thursday and so we spent most of that day unpacking  and organizing.  Chris ( Travis'  mom ) and Kirk spent Thursday afternoon painting the nursery.  I even painted a small area.  Yesterday we were able to have some girls time at the Blue Dog Cafe and went to buy the rest of the nursery "stuff " and new home supplies.  What Fun!  So all in all, Lafayette is a great place to live.  We are here during the most exciting time of the year- Mardi Gras.  There are two parades tonight.   I wanted to go to one but Brooke has overruled- you know 9 months pregnant-she calls the shots and reminds me that walking to the parade, waiting for the parade and standing up watching the parade is not something she cares to do at this time in her life.  Kirk and I did take a drive last night and found a favorite spot, a drive through daiquiri bar.  Yes that's right, you drive up and order your daiquiri!  Now they do have rules like you cannot open it in the car or even stick the straw in- but what an awesome concept.  I think we will go again tonight!  Here are some pictures of our girls time and  boys assembly time!

Girls time at Blue Dog Cafe

Kirk is assembling the baby dresser and Travis is assembling the baby exerciser
Brooke is putting her feet up and resting!

More pictures of the house and nursery coming soon. 
Count Your Blessings, Bella

God Bless the Puppies!

Can you say stress.  What a week.  The great part of the week was a visit from Brooke.  She was here all week and I so much enjoyed my evenings with her.  School was hard this week.  I don't know why...some weeks are just like that.  Next week may be better as I have a three day week.  I am off to Lafayette with Kirk and Christine ( the inlaw-outlaw who I love dearly) to help Brooke and Travis move into their house.  We also get to fix the nursery up for Hudson. Back to last week- what to do when stress from your job is so intense. When this happens, I am usually exhausted and tend to just watch movies and eat chocolate.  Well with the diet ( no carbs or sugar), chocolate is out.  So last night we played with the puppies.  Brooke left her dog here and Maggie is having a blast. We have had three major dog wars over food- but I think we figured out now how to avoid that.  We also worked out this morning which helped so much.  I swam this morning an extra 20 laps and boy does that help with stress.  Kirk and I also went to Z-Tejas for brunch.  It is a great brunch with a "bloody mary" bar.  Connor had solo and ensemble today and made a 1 on his piece, so we are very proud of him.  Over all a very good day.  So my advice when you get stressed is to eat right, exercise, and find something to smile about because the bottom line- stress does not go away - the same issues that gave me stress this week at work will still be there- it is really about my frame of mind in dealing with it!

Here are some puppy moments that made me smile!

This makes me smile!

What is not to love about this puppy!

Callie spends all day looking for squirrels.

Callie resting on my sweetie!

Blessings to The Pioneer Woman and Bakerella

Well I have always loved to bake.  It's a little harder now because I spent the last 20 years of my life eating any carbohydrate I wanted to and now well I just don't eat them.  So baking is not quite as fun!  With the three older kids gone, Connor, Kirk, and I usually cannot finish anything I make and let's face it if you can't eat it and if no one else eats it- well it is just not so fun.  This weekend with Travis and Brooke here and Abbey and Justin over, I decided to make a Valentine's day spread.  I have really been into two blogs lately:

 The Pioneer Woman Cooks | Ree Drummond

and

bakerella.com

Luci gave me the Pioneer Woman Cooks - cookbook and while I cannot eat everything she makes- butter and Lawrys seasoning are main staples for her- all of her cooking is great and it is the way I used to cook.
I saw Bakerella on her blog and my secretary Jeanne, made some awesome cake pops, I decided to try cake balls.  You can go to her blog for the recipe. They are awesome- at least I thought so.  My family does not like anything new and they equated my cake balls with my Martha Stewart dressing balls a few years ago and that did not go over well.  They did eat them! I did cheat and have one of each for Valentines Day!  I have some left over so my office staff and teacher's will be happy tomorrow!  Here are my creations:



White Cake Balls



Chocolate Cake Balls

What else but Chocolate Strawberries on Valentine Day!

My Dessert Spread- So very Pretty!

Count your Blessings- Bella!

Brooke, Travis, and Hudson are Home!

Brooke's home!  She and Travis came in for a funeral for one of Travis' friend's father.  She is not supposed to be traveling at 34 weeks pregnant- but decided to come anyway.  Travis has a managment class in College Station this week, so Brooke will stay with us until Thursday.  We are so excited!  Callie is even here to play with Maggie as well.  All is good at the Smith household today.  We had an early dinner at Chuy's with Abbey and Justin.  Brooke and Travis were happy to have good Mexican food.  They just don't have that in Louisiana.  We were all happy to see Abbey and Justin.  Tomorrow is an early valentine's dinner with everyone. Connor went boy scout camping this weekend so he will be home.  I am making Cake Balls and Chocolate covered Strawberries tonight!  I will let you know how they turn out!  Here are the pics from today!  It was a beautiful day in Austin, Texas!  Count your Blessings! Love,  Bella

Nothing Like Chuy's on a Saturday Afternoon!

There he is!  Hudson already weighs 4lbs and will be here in 6 weeks!

Callie is pretty comfortable at her Bella's house!

Super Sunday

In sitting through the super bowl tonight, I pondered- is it really about football? For some it is about the game for sure, others it is about the food, the party, the commercials, and the hype.  For me it is about family.  We were all together tonight.  Abbey, Justin, and Leo ( the cutest dog) came over.  I made every one's favorites.  I even cooked on the grill ( yes Travis, I missed you and it wasn't as good as yours).  We ate, watched the game, enjoyed the commercials, but most importantly delighted in each other.  We laughed and joked and enjoyed being together as a family.  Thank goodness for Super Sunday- I would take it any day of the week!



Justin's dog Leo- so sweet and cute!



Justin and Abbey



Maggie was worn out after playing with Leo

Kirk into the game!

Connor irritated I was taking his picture

Snow Day Austin

I woke up this morning to a beautiful blanket of snow- so no school today.  We will have to make it up on Memorial Day.  Our family has had a great relaxing morning.  Pancakes made- house picked up- and laundry started.  Connor and I have planned out our movies for the day.  First off though is Dexter season 3.  Here are some pictures of the snow.  Hope you are enjoying your snow day!

Beautiful back yard and view of some of the hill country!

Had to clean out the garage to get both cars in!

Maggie Loved the Snow!