A Day at the Zoo

Today, I took the boys to the zoo in New Orleans. We didn't go alone, though. We went with my good buddy, Regina and her 3 kids, Haley, Paige, and Maicol (Michael). Even though it rained most of the way there we got to the zoo and it quit... for a little while. It was comfortable at first, but the later in the day it got the hotter and more humid it got. All in all, it was a great day! The kids had fun, and Regina and I had a blast as well.

Of course, I made another video. Check it out:

Rural Life Museum

I took the boys to the Rural Life Museum today. I wasn't sure if they would enjoy it, but we all had a really good time. Check out the video I made from the pictures I took. Watch out HPC video team! They might want me to replace you!

School Supply Shopping

Parents - it's T minus 3 weeks 1 day until school begins. Are your kids ready? I took the boys shopping today for school supplies. I really didn't spend as much as I thought it was going to be considering Nick has to have a 3" binder and Logan has to have plastic binder subject dividers with double pockets that cost almost $3.00. I guess we make that back by only paying $.60 for notebook paper. I think my total for school supplies was around $53.00. Of course, that doesn't include Logan wanting a rolling booksack or art fees or gym uniforms, or band fees, or school sweatshirts, or a school logo pencil bag, etc. Oh well, believe it or not, I actually enjoy the whole supply shopping thing. Here are some pics:

Logan picks out the color pencil sharpener that he wants for school.

Nick gets his 8, yes 8 packs of notebook paper.

New Endeavor

Okay, well, I am jumping on the coupon clipping bandwagon. I have seen several posts from my bud Jennifer Maggio on how much money she has been saving. Lance gets those posts, also, and he has been bugging me, yes bugging me, lately about why I'm not clipping coupons. "Why aren't you clipping coupons. You used to clip them all the time. Jennifer saves all kinds of money." You know, because I just have so much extra time on my hands. So anyway, I'll let you know if I actually do save any money.

4th of July Recap

Wow! What a fun weekend! The family decided to travel to Atlanta and spend the weekend with my parents and brother and his family. We left on Wednesday and stayed through yesterday. While we were there we visited with my grandmother, Lance helped my dad in the yard, I took Mom to the grocery store for the items needed to cook on the 4th, my brother and sister-in-law threw a birthday party for my nephew, and we went to the zoo. It was lots of fun! Check out the pics below:

Logan and my nephew Will are having a staredown!

The guys are monitoring the progress of the grilling.

Okay, does Nick look like he's about 16 in this picture? Makes me sad!

My nephew had a Thomas the Tank birthday party. Duh! I guess you could tell that, huh?

We sat on this porch at the zoo for about an hour waiting for the rain to stop.

Listen carefully for the thunder in this video. It was like a monsoon!

Unfortunately, on the way home we came to a halt on the interstate for about an hour due to an accident that had at least 2 fatalities. Doesn't Nick look like he's enjoying the wait?

We were eventually turned around and sent on a 45 minute detour that got us about 8 miles up the road back on the interstate. We got home at 4:00 a.m. instead of the original ETA of midnight.

Capitalism at it's Finest

In this land of the free and home of the brave it's important that we exercise our rights to capitalism. So, Logan and I made the most of it today. I had a garage sale (which, while I did well, I still have so much stuff left that I may have another one in a couple of weeks) and Logan had a lemonade stand. Now, being the sentimental fool that he is, when he saw that I was selling his old bike he was rather upset. Keep in mind, he got a brand new one for his birthday in April. Well, he said it would make him feel better if he could have the money from the sale. Sucker that I am, agreed to his demands. His bike sold before too long and even the profits of the sale didn't make him feel too much better. He told me that he was upset about selling the bike because he was planning on saving it for his children. Aah! Now I understand!

Bye, bye 16 years worth of teacher stuff! Well, not all of it.

We closed up shop around 1:00 because typical Louisiana weather rolled the clouds, thunder, and lightning in. Of course, once again, it skirted us completely. Our profits for the day were fairly good and his freshly squeezed lemonade was a hit! He even had some people come back and buy more! Next time his lemonade stand is open, I'll make sure I announce it here.

What a little entrepreneur!

Dark Skies

Today as I was leaving Wal-Mart I had to take a picture of the sky. Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I LOVE stormy weather! Unfortunately, it always seems to move north of us here in Prairieville.

History in the Making

So, this morning I was walking through the house toward the kitchen and I caught sight of the rarely seen. I had to turn around in my tracks and get the camera lest the moment would pass before I could blink my eyes. Here is what I saw:

Now, to the ordinary eye this appears to be normal. However, there are 3 abnormal aspects to it. First, they are actually playing together. Secondly, they are actually playing together and not arguing. Finally, they are playing nicely together and they are confining it to the kitchen table and not strewing their stuff all over the house.

Now, just so you don't think I'm Supermom and start feeling bad about yourself, this lasted about 5 minutes longer. See, I told you I had to hurry and get my camera before the moment passed.

Nick and Submerge

Well, Nick left the house Friday morning at 5:45 to head off to his first junior high/high school church camp. He said that he hardly slept at all because he was so anxious to leave. He's probably not missing us at all.

He must not have been awake yet, cause his eyes are closed in the picture...AGAIN!

I thought I'd also give you an update on our patio. The brick has now all been layed (lain, laid, whatever). Now we have to cut the brick to fill in the edges, fill the cracks with sand, then mortar around the edges to seal it all in. THEN... we can start on the landscaping!

This was taken before the rest of the brick was put down.

Hard as Nails

This morning on Good Morning America there was a segment on an approach to youth ministry by a guy named Justin Fatica who is the pastor of Hard as Nails youth ministry. At first, it seemed rather radical, a little over the top, but after hearing Justin talk he actually made it clear that one of the clips was not as it appeared by the media (he was talking about a girl on stage and calling her fat), but it was, in fact, a skit used to present a lesson. Check out the article on the GMA webpage and tell me what you think. You can also view some videos on youtube.

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaithMatters/story?id=4013475&page=1

Fun at Camp!

Well, Logan made it back from camp. He had a blast! He talked about "the blob", the zip line, boys in his cabin making "noises" with their armpits keeping him awake at night, you know, normal guy stuff. Thanks to Cindy, I have a few pictures to post. The boy could stay in the water and be happy.

Logan standing in line at the pool's diving board.

During one of the chapel services. Logan is the one in the white shirt with the camo do-rag.

First Day of Camp

Well, today is a bag of mixed emotions for me. I sent my baby off to camp for the first time ever. Yeah, I know he's 9 and it's about time, but still, he's my baby. I'm a little sad because he'll be away till Sunday, but I know he's gonna have a great time. It helps that he'll be in the cabin with someone we know, and that my good bud, Cindy, will be there to be a comfort to him if he needs it. Oh well, I guess we have to let them grow up, right?

That's him on the second row, with the white shirt.

Cindy is going to take pictures for me, so when he gets home I'll have to add some here. On a good note, I got home and Nick had started on mowing the grass! He has the whole front yard done, so that is a big help to his Dad on this Father's Day weekend.

Happy Friday the 13th!!

Back to Reality

You know that song that goes, "Back to life, Back to reality..." Yeah well, that's how it is! I so very much did not want to come home. Usually after about a week of vacation I'm ready to get home and get back to normalcy. Yeah, not so much this time. I wanted to call a moving company and just have them come pack up my stuff and send it to me. We had a blast! We went to a luau (where Lance was called on stage to hula, HILARIOUS!), visited the Arizona Memorial, climbed Diamondhead, went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay ( I couldn't hang), went to Pali Lookout (where King Kamehameha attacked to take over the island of Oahu in his quest to rule all of the islands), took Lance and the boys by the house where I used to live and by the high school where I attended, and LOTS more! Here are a few pics:

This is the inside of Diamondhead Crater taken from the top.

This is the house where I used to live. It has a gorgeous view!

This is the view.

Hanauma Bay where we/they snorkeled.

Last but not least, Lance doing the hula. Hey!! What's he looking at?!

Poolside in Waikiki

Aloha!! I have finally gained internet access and can add a post to my blog. We have had a wonderful time here so far. We have visited the Arizona Memorial, gone back to see where we used to live, where I went to high school, we've been to a luau, visited Punchbowl Crater, and driven to Pali Lookout. The weather has been perfect everyday, and oh yeah, we rode out in the ocean in an outrigger. That was cool! Here are just a few of our pictures.

This is the family when we arrived at the airport in Honolulu. The Hawaiian couple went to church with us when we lived out here. They greeted us at the airport with plumeria leis (per my request).

Hey Lana, this is for you!!

This is from my parent's hotel room.

5th Grade Outstanding Band Member

Well, today was the last day of school. Logan was thrilled to death, and Nick wouldn't have minded having a few more days. Actually, he told me that he thinks there should be school at least one day a week during summer. However, he said it shouldn't be for learning, but for friends to be able to chill out with each other and socialize. I was feeling so proud until that moment.

Anyway, I got a note from the school a couple of days ago saying that Nick would be receiving an award today, so I went to the awards ceremony. I was very surprised when Nick received an award for 5th Grade Outstanding Band Member. I knew he took band one 9 weeks, but I had to ask what would merit the award considering they didn't even play instruments. Nick said it was because when they tried out, Nick did a good job playing the tuba. I guess that is what won him points with his teacher. So, he asked if he could sign up for band for next year. He's gonna play the tuba. I just think that's funny. Great, but funny! You think HPC needs a tuba player in the band?

Patio Progress

I have actually begun assisting Lance in working on the patio. That's why so much is getting done. Nah, not really, although, the kids and I have been pitching in. We refill the wheelbarrow with sand, bring him bricks, and I help tamp down the sand before he lays the brick.

As you can see, it's coming along nicely. The section behind our bedroom is all laid and now he will begin placing the brick on the walkway that leads from the front patio (behind our bedroom) to the back patio (where the gazebo will be.

I think we will stain the concrete that was existing before the brick was laid. That way, it will look a little more flow-y.

What Is That Thing?

Is that a wet rat? Is it Timon with a bleach job? No, wait, I think it's a dog! I decided that I should pretend that I care about the dog and give her a bath. Well, actually, you should have seen her before I wet her down. She had to go outside to potty despite the rain and she looked terrible. Add to the fact that she (along with the rest of the family) was in desperate need of a haircut! So, I soaked her, bathed her, brushed her out, then trimmed the top of her hair before drying it. Doesn't she look so much better?

Swimming, Anyone?

So, the progress on the patio was put to a halt Wednesday, due to the surplus of rain in the area. Makes you wonder how a pool would look, doesn't it? Actually, you can see how a pool would look. It has since been drained of the water (thanks to the fact that the dude that stole the hottub off of our back porch failed to steal the pump as well) so hopefully Lance can begin again on Saturday.

Project Backyard Patio Update

I just wanted to give a quick update of the progress of the backyard patio project. It was about 88 degrees yesterday and about 92 degrees today. After work last night and between baseball games today, there was plenty of work done. There was lots of sweat shed, too. It's going to look good once it's done. It's just a long and tedious process.

Nick's Game

Tonight Nick had his make-up game. Unfortunately, his team didn't win, but Nick was able to pitch the last inning of the game. He struck out several batters. Here are some pics of him doing his thang.

Here are a couple of videos of him pitching. Yeah, mom just had to coach from the sidelines. (Like I've ever even played an inning before.)