White Christmases, Monday Night Football, and Scrapping with Kids
If you read my blog on a regular basis, you've seen the picture of what my house looks like since Hurricane Katrina. If not and you really want to see the house, inside and out, check my Webshots page at http://community.webshots.com/user/birdee18. Anyway, tonight I thought I'd post a picture of how my house used to look. This, however, is a very special picture. It was taken on the morning of December 26, 2004, one day after I celebrated my first white Christmas! Yes, can you believe it, a white Christmas in New Orleans? It was probably the greatest Christmas gift I've received because I truly believe it was a miracle. That snow totally made up for all those Christmases we were in shorts. That snow was a gift. It made me stop and appreciate the forces of nature. It showed me that material things aren't everything. It amazed me to see how quickly everyone forgot about the presents and just ran outside to play in the snow. We had such a wonderful day. What a difference a year makes. This year we are celebrating Christmas in a new town and a new home. There probably won't be snow. But that's OK. We still have each other. Yes, this has been a difficult and stressful holiday because of our situation, but at least I will be spending Christmas with my loved ones. Not everyone will be so lucky.
I'm sure you've noticed the Monday Night Football banner at the top too. You're probably wondering what that has to do with anything. Well, tonight my New Orleans Saints played the Atlanta Falcons on MNF. Yes, the Saints lost. I wasn't surprised considering the way their season has gone. Even if the Saints weren't playing, I'd still have watched. Monday Night Football is something I very rarely miss. I watch it every week, no matter who is playing. Even if the teams playing are bad, it doesn't matter. There's some sort of mystique associated with MNF. As a football fanatic I've witnessed so many memorable moments on MNF. I remember one in particular, one that I was lucky enough to be a part of. It was New Year's Eve about 13 years ago (I'm terrible, I can't remember the year!). My parents and I were at the Superdome to watch the Saints play the Rams on MNF. Saints kicker Morten Andersen (sigh, swoon) kicked a last-minute field goal to win the game and clinch a playoff spot. It was awesome!
Now the scrapping with kids part. One of my oldest and dearest friends now lives two doors down from me. She and her family also lost their home in the hurricane. Her eight-year-old daughter Jenna is my buddy, and she loves to come over and spend time with us. She's been watching me scrapbook and has been very eager to make one of her own. Today my LSS (that's Local Scrapbook Store for all you non-scrappers) had a kids' craft class. Jenna and I went, and we made the cutest decorated Altoid tins. We used KI Memories paper, which is one of my favorite lines, and added ribbon embellishments. I loooove using ribbon on my scrapbooking and craft projects! Afterwards, Jenna picked out some paper and we went back to my house so she could make her own scrapbook. I helped her make a paper bag book so she could scrap pictures of the four seasons. She did a great job! She still wants to add a few embellishments, though. I've scrapped with my cousin Lauren and with the kids I worked with in the after-school and summer programs at PGT. Scrapping with kids is an awesome experience. They aren't worried about their pages being perfect. They are more concerned with the pages reflecting their true personalities. I always tell kids that there is no right way to scrap. I think they truly believe that. I've seen kids create some awesome scrapbook projects.
While I'm on the topic of scrapbooking, I want to give a shout out to two of my most favorite places. The first is Scrapbooks Etc. in Metairie. I've been shopping there since the day the store opened. It's huge! I swear they have everything there. The second is the store I've adopted since I moved to Pearl River. It's Scrappin Buds in Slidell. This store has all the latest and greatest. If you're in these areas, stop by. Tell 'em Birdee sent ya!
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