"Why is my daddy crying?"

...because his beloved football team, the New Orleans Saints, just won the Super Bowl!

Yeah, well...how do you explain that one to a 4-year old. That's how! Did she understand? I don't think so, but I think she'll remember the day that we all got dressed in our Saints clothes, went to New Orleans to eat and watch the game (in her case...color Saints pictures) ...and the day that her daddy and many other adults cried and screamed! At least, I hope she remembers the day that history was made! After all that's why I am blogging about it...I want her to remember she was just a little girl the first time that a team who had never even won the championship of their league won the Super Bowl!

Natalie has worn Saints clothes and accessories since since before she could talk. I am certain she doesn't truly understand who or what the Saints are, but I am sure that she will remember this day or something about it!

We chose to celebrate the Super Bowl in New Orleans (not downtown, but in Metarie) at Deanies Seafood...at Bucktown. Randy called Monday (to make reservations) after they won the NFC championship (defeating the Vikings) because that was where he wanted to go. He listens to the Saints on the New Orleans radio stations all the time. He listens to Bobby Hebert give the Point After Show from WWL. Randy was certain that this was the Deanie's Seafood where Bobby did the show. Come to find out, the show is actually at the downtown location not this one...OH WeLL. We weren't wanting to go downtown...just to the NOLA area. It all ended up being a great family adventure/family party with lots of new family--people with kindred spirits...aka other Saints fans. It was a nice family atmosphere.

So we had this super bowl party location booked at one flat-rate (per person). It was a little steep for our budget (even though we found out the one downtown was more than double the price we paid and sold out). We were concerned if the food would be good, would it be crowded, would it be a family environment...in general: would it be worth it!

I think YES it was! It was great that we did this as a family and made precious memories with our children, granddaughter, and daughter-in-law.

Before our food started coming out.

Can you just see the excitement (before the game started)?

I love that Cari and her daddy watch the Saints together. It is "there thing"!

Natalie, always happy to smile for the camera...

Me and my girls...

I love that watching the Saints with her daddy is one of her favorite things to do.

Cameron, Brittany and Natalie...

Everyone stood up for the National Anthem.

You can't tell for this photo and if you happened to miss this...that's Carrie Underwood singing it.

Natalie found a little friend. Her name was Paris!

This is one of Natalie coloring before Paris got there. I was her playmate (missing most of the game) coloring and entertaining Natalie as much as possible. I found and printed her these Saints and NFL photos online. She loves coloring with makers.

My family and many others in the background....seriously watching this. I think maybe this is when we were behind...at the beginning of the game. Those are some serious expressions!

See what I mean...

A posed photo of my hunny, sweetheart and me before the food came or the game started.

And this was how Natalie and Paris reacted to the screaming excitement as the game progressed...

Finally, it going our way...the SAINTS way!

After eating awhile, Natalie was very tired of being here. Her mommy wasn't feeling well. So they went to the car to watch a movie. After I got them set up, I came back in with intentions of going back to hang out with them. The game was just too good to leave. Once it became evident that the Saints were about to become Super Bowl Champions, Cameron asked me to get Brittany and Natalie. He wanted them in there as history was being unfolded right before our eyes! I am so glad he did. What compelling moments...

And yes, that is Tracy Porter right after he made that last breakout touchdown! It was awesome. It gave me chills!

My family could not have been happier if they had been there in person!

And yes, I know this is out of focus...we were caught up in the moment and I am not deleting the out-of-focus image because it make me cry with pride and joy. I love that those two shared this moment and I KNOW I WANT TO REMEMBER IT FOREVER.

People everywhere were laughing and crying...

SO WHAT WILL MAKE GROWN MEN CRY? OBVIOUSLY, IT'S THERE TEAM WINNING THE SUPER BOWL!

It really was a great game and I am not even "real" sports fan.
Sorry, Peyton...it was our time!

I love how this quarterback got up there and gave God the credit!

Our family loves you, Drew!

Later that night when we were trying to wind down and I was thinking about the significance of the history that we had all witnessed I tried teaching this line to Natalie...she asked me to repeat it several times so she could learn it: "On February 7, 2010, I was four years old and the Saints won the Super Bowl for the first time and I was in New Orleans at the time."

~~Natalie's Mimi~~

A LITTLE FUN AFTER THE STORM:

After the yard was cleaned up from the storm and before cooking supper, on Thursday evening (09.04.08) Natalie had a little fun out in the back yard with her new "Dora" soccer ball. Cari and I found this ball earlier this day at Fred's. We went shopping at Fred's just to get out of the house for a little while. We had already done some work outside earlier that a.m.--sweeping leaves and small limbs of the steps and porch. It was much cooler working outside with the Fall-like breeze blowing rather than the alternative, no air conditioned house. The first phot is of her getting the ball out of the car...I left it in there when we came home since it rolled to the back. It is much easier for her to climb in to get it than us.

Earlier this afternoon we finally got to watch the Little Mermaid movie that we checked out several days ago. She liked and had many questions about the witch and such. She still seems to enjoy shows like Dora and Diego that interact with the child viewing the program. They interact by asking them questions, asking them to repeat things and to do things like jump, etc. according to the adventure of the show.

The following images are her playing with her daddy and her aunt Cari. Her mommy was working. She called the Sand Bar and told them that she was "in" for the storm and asked if they could use her to work. So while they were in, she got to make a little extra cash.

I love this one with her knee up in the air trying to really understand this soccer concept!

After a litte soccer fun, Natalie and her daddy swing.

I love this one too. It shows her braided her that I braided while we were watching the Little Mermaid. She has never been too fond of you doing much with her hair. Evidently she is tendered-headed like her mommy. I never thought that actually existed until I have had many battles with her doing her hair. It turned out really cute and she seemed to be proud of it too.

That's it for now. While I was cooking supper this same night the rest of our power was restored. Actually, all of our power. We turned the generator off and finally had central air again. Yeah!

~~Natalie's Mimi~~

DADDY COMES HOME: 09-14-07

My favorite close-up of the day!

Cameron made his first trip home since he moved to Baton Rouge four weeks ago. He started LSU August 27th. Natalie and Brittany went down there with her family over Labor Day weekend, but I had already made plans to go to my mom's. We had not gone this long without seeing our child (Cameron) ever. So were glad to see him. We went out to eat at the Duck's Nest Friday evening and we fixed a big family meal to eat here Saturday evening.

I forgot to get the camera out until the end of the meal. Natalie loved the fishes and the bird at the Duck's Nest. We (taking turns to take her) made several trips during the meal to see the bird and the fish. At one point, I did convince her that they were sleeping thus avoiding a few trips to see them. They were running behind with our food so we had time to visit and time to make trips to visit the fish and bird!
The funny expression on her face is her chewing her after-dinner mint (compliments of the Duck's Nest).
Since I forgot to get the camera out during her meal, I took this one of my four babies while Randy was paying the bill. That's Natalie's "cheeeeese" with a mint in her mouth. She loves all candy like her MiMi!
In the car seat during the ride home...
... another one in the car seat.
This is a high five! We were high fiving because Natalie tee teed in the potty at the Duck's Nest. I was telling Aunt Cari and Poppa how proud I was of her. She's not completely trained, but she is doing pretty well...especially when you go somewhere. I think she likes trying out everyone else's potty! Oh well...we were proud. We had a nice visit with Natalie's daddy Friday night and Saturday. I prepared a big meal and I even baked a cake (I felt like my mom!) Kathy (Natalie's Nona) brought the salad and bread for Saturday evening meal. Our families had a nice meal and then us girls (Brittany, Kathy and Jami--me) set the wedding date and worked on getting started with wedding plans. MAY 31, 2008 IS THE DAY. NATALIE and HER MOMMY WILL GET MARRIED TO NATALIE'S DADDY AT LAKE ST. JOHN. I HAVE STARTED PRAYING THAT NATALIE WILL BE ON HER BEST BEHAVIOR THAT DAY. I APPRECIATE ANY ADDITIONAL PRAYERS GOING THAT SAME DIRECTION!

Cameron left Sunday morning as we were leaving for church. He still had some homework due on Monday so he needed to back to Baton Rouge to do that. I know Natalie misses him and so do we (his parents). We had a nice visit. That's it for our weekend. ---Natalie's MiMi