Toilet Paper

So what was Peyton secretly, quietly doing while we weren't paying attention?


Yeah, she knows she's in trouble.

Sperry's and Sebago's

Today we went to the mall to try and find some great deals, but there really weren't that many great deals at all actually. But I did break down and buy a pair of Sperry's. Apparently these shoes have been all the rage, and I'm just now catching on. I don't have young sisters in New Orleans to fill me in on the latest fashion trends, so anyway, I bought me a pair. And by the way, my mom did too (so I told my sisters that Sperry's are no longer officially cool when mom's start buying them...haha, but now that I'm a mom too, I guess that applies to me). Anyway, these shoes may be great, comfortable, cool, etc., but for those of you who were in middle school or high school in the 90's, you probably remember Sebago's. Sperry's look exactly like Sebago's! And in seventh grade, I got a brown suede pair for my birthday. I just had to have those things, and they were forty dollars back then! I loved those shoes and took such good care of them. And of course I did my shoes strings like curly cues. And the pair of Sperry's I bought even had the shoe strings (which are leathery) in curly cues like we used to wear our Sebago's. Some of you reading this may be clueless here, but for those of you who know what I'm talking about, here's a walk down memory lane for you.


Sperry's




Sebago's




PS-My mom just informed me that they had similar shoes when she was growing up. Oh well, fashion goes out of style then comes back in.

Some Christmas Pics

Did an Angel cure a Dying Child?

Great story about a girl healed whose birthday happens to be Christmas day. If you listen closely, they looked for sources of a possible reflection but there are no windows in the area. The parents had just taken the girl off life support expecting her to die a few hours earlier when the angel appeared...

Charlie Brown Christmas

Here We Are

Right now I am sitting in South Carolina, and it seems weird that one afternoon I'm in Louisiana, and a few hours later I'm 1/4 of the way across the US. Peyton did great on the plane ride...no complaints. But carrying luggage, two bags, and pushing a baby in a stroller is interesting. Today I think we're going to go see my almost 90 year old grandmother and then maybe go buy some wrapping paper for Christmas presents. Peyton loves my mom's house because there are so many things to explore and so little time. It's great, she basically entertains herself.
We miss Arnold though! :(

A Great Find

I am so excited that I found my watch! (See post below if you don't know what I'm talking about). And guess where it was...on the floorboard in my car on the passenger's side. It must have been hiding under the mat. Sneaky watch. But I am so happy!

An Early Christmas

We celebrated Christmas last night in the Arredondo household. It was a great time! We had Snicker cookies (with Mini Snickers in the middle...wonderful when they're coming out of the oven! MMMM!!!), eggnog, and apple cider. We sang some Christmas carols, read the story of Jesus' birth, and opened presents. Arnold got a bluetooth, Lord of the Rings trilogy, and some clothes and candy. Peyton got a little toy piano, blocks, a little chair (see post below), and some clothes (the clothes were her favorite...yeah right!). Arnold got me a wonderful gift...a gift package to the spa, which includes a massage, facial, pedicure, manicure, Makeup session, and shampoo and style! Go Arnold! He also got me a bracelet, necklace, and a few cds and candy. We are truly blessed!


Peyton helping Arnold unwrap a gift.







Our little Schroeder (from Charlie Brown)

Now for a few tips for new moms:

NEVER give your baby your watch to play with. Even if you are in the middle of church (as a way to distact him/her). Peyton lost my watch last week. Yeah, the one I got for our one year anniversary. It REALLY stinks! That watch was special.

ALWAYS wear glasses when you are cutting your baby's fingernails/toenails. A fingernail went into my eye Saturday afternoon. I tried to find it. Heck, I was so desperate that I poured contact solution into my eye, to no avail. The darn thing finally came out a few hours later.

And last, a random picture from this weekend of Peyton with her little friend JT, sitting on her new chair.

Snow Pictures

What's that, Al Gore, about global warming?? It SNOWED in New Orleans.


It's so weird to see snow on a palm tree.








Our backyard



Peyton didn't quite know what to think of the snow.

And now for some pictures we took this morning. Peyton got one of her Christmas presents early--a little Dora the Explorer chair that also folds out into a little bed. She really liked it, and was upset when we had to leave to go to preschool.

She looks so proper in this picture...defintely not my child!



She was so proud of her little chair.

SNOW!!!

IT'S SNOWING IN NEW ORLEANS! I WILL POST PICTURES LATER SO THAT EVERYONE WILL BELIEVE ME!

Miracle on Fulton St.

After Thanksgiving, New Orleans has "Miracle on Fulton St.", basically Christmas trees, lights, and "snow"(suds). It's pretty neat to walk through. This Saturday, we went with some friends. Here are some pictures:

at first she was all bundled up, but that didn't last too long


I didn't have the right setting on the camera, so some of the pictures look discolored.





Comet, or maybe Cupid, or Donnor or Blitzen

Some Observations

One of my weekly trips, of course, is to the grocery store. Actually the only places I pretty much go to are the grocery store, Target, and church. I know, I lead an exciting life. But anyway, I've made a few observations the last few times at the grocery store. Maybe you can relate. Here they are:

• It now cost me double, or just about double, to buy the same amount of groceries that I used to purchase. That is really a bummer.
  
  
• I always get the cashiers who are talking the whole time to each other and ring my groceries up twice. Then they get aggrevated when I point out that they rang something of mine up twice.
  
  
• How come it's expensive to eat healthy food and cheap to eat junk food?
  
  
• I cannot believe it is $5 for a gallon of milk. And I couldn't bring myself to pay $3 for a HALF gallon of eggnog. Even though I will eventually break down and buy it because I LOVE that stuff!
  
  
• I always get the buggy that wants to veer off in its own direction.
  
  
• Do they not make three liter drinks anymore? I didn't see one three liter drink on the Coke aisle. What's up with that?
  
  
• There is always, ALWAYS a bird in the grocery store...either flying around or walking around. The other night one bird was checking out the canned meat products. I'm so scared that a bird is going to poop on my head as I'm picking out my cereal. Do you have birds in your grocery store?
  
  
• Now this didn't happen to me, but it happened to Arnold. He was at the Winn-Dixie down the street, which is a terrible place to go, and a guy in front of him was in the express lane. When the cashier tells him it's 20 items or less, he gets another buggy and starts sticking half of his stuff in the second buggy. And this, my friends, is typical New Orleans.
  
  
• People never take their buggies to the little buggy place in the parking lot, they just leave them in the parking spaces when they're done. This aggrevates me extremely because you can never park your car. There's always a buggy in the way! Not to mention how many times I'm sure a buggy has hit my car when it starts rolling on its own. And no offense to native Louisianans, but people in Louisiana are just lazy with this. No where else in the United States do people do this.
  
  Don't you just love going to the grocery store?
  

Christmas Lights

We decided to put up a few lights this year...



AND DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT ARNOLD DOING THE CHRISTMAS ELF DANCE IN THE VIDEO BELOW...

The Elf Dance

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

What if Starbucks marketed like the Church?

A modern day parable...

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday! Lots of food...turkey, dressing, gravy, sweet potato souffle, broccoli casserole, carrots, rolls, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, orange salad, and pumpkin pie. It only took me seven hours to make all that food...haha. I started at 8 am, and I finished at 3 pm. We did miss family this year though.


 

Today Peyton and I put up the Christmas tree, well, really just me of course. The only place we ventured today was Walgreens and Family Dollar.
 

Thanksgiving Indian

our little Thanksgiving Indian

Great...Not

This is always the kind of news you want to hear about the city you live in...

This was an article on Foxnews.com
New Orleans Ranks as Most Violent U.S. City, Study Finds
Tuesday, November 25, 2008

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans ranks as the most violent U.S. city, with more than 19,000 reported crimes and 208 murders in 2007, according to a study released Monday.

I miss this little guy...

Ever since the hurricane wiped out Six Flags in New Orleans we don't get to see this little guy any more.

Have you ever wondered...

Have you ever wondered what a one year old does for fun on the weekends?


She pulls stuff out of her cabinets.


And has a good time doing it.


She steals her daddy's baseball cap and walks around with it on her head.


She dumps her milk out on the floor and plays in it. Secretly of course. I knew she was being mighty quiet for some reason.


She also "helps" her mommy pack a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child.

What a fun weekend little one year olds have!

Spiritual Emphasis Week

This past week at work, we had a "Spiritual Emphasis Week" for our students. We gave out devotional booklets to our students. Tuesday, we had a Thanksgiving lunch and one of our professors gave a devotion. Thursday, we had hot chocolate, cookies, Christmas carols, and decorated our Christmas tree. Our tree is gorgeous! The picture here doesn't do it justice.

One Year Old Pictures

I am going to post some pictures of pictures. I know it's kind of goofy, but Olan Mills didn't put these pictures of Peyton online. So, to let you see the pictures, I took pictures! The quality isn't so great, but hey, it's the best I could do!