Miss Me? I Missed Y'All!

I thought these two little boys were so cute with their red hair. I always tell Brent I was born 40 years later than I should have been born. I'd love to be my age that I am now back in the 1940's, raising my boys and raising providers for their future families, but then again I'd probably be dead from old age by now. But I just love that era, don't you??

We have been busy for the last couple of weeks between soccer games and practices and Ian's school had their annual Fall Festival last Thursday so that was pretty time consuming. However, it worked out great and he had a lot of fun running around with his little friends and Brent was watching over them while I worked the food. Yikes, that job was demanding. When these people get off work and bring their children to the school festival, they are hungry. I was so busy that I didn't look up but the time went by so fast, it was over before I knew it. Liam even skipped soccer practice that night to come with us and he ran around with his friend chasing some girls, well the way I saw it the girls were actually chasing the three boys. He said they were following them and then when they started running the girls started running and then they all ended up hanging out together. I can remember things like that when we had functions at our Catholic school. I could tell you stories that would make your hair stand on end about what went on with all those good little Catholic kids I went to school with, oh yeah, I was one of them. Nothing major but the girls definitely instigated all the chasing, hugging, etc. We thought it was such a big deal to get hugged back then and hold hands. Yup, we were bad, bad, bad. lol

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... everywhere you go!!! Now isn't that the truth. Santa's already arrived at the mall but I absolutely REFUSE to partake in any kind of Christmas activity until after we give THANKS for all that we have received this year. Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about -- family, fellowship, relaxing before the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. I abso-friggin'-lutely LOVE Thanksgiving. I just told Brent the other day that it has to be my all-time favorite holiday and do you want to know why? Huh, huh, do you? Well I am going to tell you - in just a sec I have a text message to send. Who said I wasn't a multitasker? I love Thanksgiving because it gives us time to just be, do you kind of understand what I'm trying to say? All you have to do is show up for dinner, maybe bring a side, everyone can relax and enjoy each other, drink a glass of wine or two, listen to Christmas music, watch the game, just be. No worries about is he/she/they going to like the gift, should I have gotten a bigger size, this child needs a nap because Santa came waaay too early, listening to everyone whine and gripe about leaving the house and all their new toys to make the rounds on Christmas. I think Thanksgiving is about spending time together, enjoying it -- even if the food tastes bad or the kids are acting up, after all, you are with your family. If you can't be yourself with them, then who can the kids act up around or say that something doesn't taste too good. I just really enjoy it. I love spending the day with Brent and the boys, I love coming home and laying on the couch with Brent and watching A Christmas Story or any kind of Christmas movie, then snacking on all the great tasting goodies we brought back home.

Isn't this little girl adorable with her little fat feet and I can just see her boinking that turkey on the head with the ear of corn!

After I brought the boys to school this morning, I came home and have been listening to Christmas music on 104.5 all morning. They usually start this on Thanksgiving but it is really early this year. That's ok though, it still won't make me buy into the mainstream media propaganda by trying to boost the economy with the ever engaging commercialism of the Christmas season. And by the way, when cashiers, waitresses, waiters, the guy at Best Buy say (or don't say) Merry Christmas, I always make an effort. Even to the Salvation Army people stationed outside of Sam's Club I said Merry Christmas. If they say Happy Holidays or anything other than Merry Christmas, I am always wondering what is up with that???? I cannot consciously do that. Maybe it's a good thing I am a stay-at-home mom because if my employer asked me to do that, I would have to speak up. Hell, I worked for a Jewish family for three years right out of high school and it was not an issue then, what is the problem now? OK, off the soapbox. Just give thanks on Thanksgiving and celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas. Is is really that hard?

(I used this turkey last year and thought it was hilarious then. Well, guess what? I still think it's hilarious this year!)

So soccer season is officially over. My baby's team is going to the playoffs in December. They were undefeated all season and have done exceptionally well. So the first weekend of December is going to busy between playoff games and Ian will be making his First Reconciliation at church so we are going to do a dinner and cake for him, just to celebrate his First Penance in preparation for his First Communion in April. He told us that soccer was waaay more important and he'd rather go to Liam's games. I was like no way buddy. I think he's just worried about confessing his sins and trying to remember his Act of Contrition. We've been working on it but the next few weeks I am going to work with him every evening. He actually has CCD tonight so while he's at church for that hour it's the one hour a week Brent and I get it all to ourselves. Last week we went to Starbuck's (although I don't really like their coffee) so this week I think we are going to go look at a few Christmas gifts at Circuit City. We tried the other night and ended up buying them things they wanted, mainly two video games, that were on their list in the first place. Must. stop. this. Must. stop. buying. them. things. before. Christmas. If I keep that up their Christmas is going to be really disappointing. You know what I do like??? Kind of acting ADD today again right? Jumping all around as much as the thoughts in my lil o' head. Anywho -- I like the coffee at Cracker Barrel. We had to go and buy the stain and acid for the cement we are staining in the den last Tuesday when Brent was off for Veterans Day and we wound up eating breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Their coffee is so good. I bought a pouch of it and a few other things in the shop. I love shopping at Cracker Barrel. I bought a new Gooseberry Patch recipe book. I guess I need to go again sometime soon and get some more coffee. I actually drink my whole cup in the mornings then when I get back from taking the boys, I drink my hot tea. Yum. I love my PG Tips tea that I bought at World Market in Lafayette. Are there any grocery stores that sell the Cracker Barrel brand? That would make it a little more convenient but then again, I do love going shopping at Cracker Barrel. And the John Deere stuff is so cute. Just when I think Ian is growing out of it, he'll says something about his so-and-so broke so he needs another one or he'd like the collectors edition of this one certain combine. Maybe his passion for John Deere will stick with him who knows?

Brent is supposed to be going to Colorado again in January right after Christmas. Hoping and praying it's not the same time as my birthday. With my luck though who knows? He'll still enjoy it and we can just celebrate when he gets back. Oh yeah, why would I want to celebrate THAT? Getting toooooo old for that crap. So I've been lurking around blogs and getting ideas for Christmas gifts this year. There are sooo many great ideas. Of course I am not crafty at all. I love crafty people, but I'm not crafty. I can follow directions and reproduce crafts, but to just come up with it all on my own -- no way Jose.

I have made some really great recipes lately. I keep making the Apple Dumplins from the Pioneer Woman's website. They are so good and Brent loves them. He takes them to work for breakfast. I also made the Mexican Potato Casserole from Diary of a SAHM and they love it. I've made it twice so far and they can put it away. We made Sausage and Lentil soup from Carrabba's this weekend. We froze out butts off at soccer all day Saturday with two games in Beaumont so we came home and Brent made a big 'o pot of this delicious soup. When I email the recipe to my sister, I'll include it here. Didn't take it any pics of the soup but it is so good and spicy. Everyone who tasted it loved it. I have no idea what to do with the porkchops I have defrosting for tonight but I'm sure I'll think of something pretty soon.

Thursday is Thanksgiving Dinner with Ian at his school. I guess the middle school is not doing it this year but Liam hasn't said anything about it. I'll have to ask him about that. He told me in the car this morning on the way to school that he wants to get his hair cut. I'm sure he means more like a trim but I told him I'd call the guy that cuts our hair and get him an appointment. If he does it on his own, does that mean he doesn't have to get straight A's anymore? He's kept up his end of the bargain since third grade, so we are going to keep up our end. Little toot, he's such a stinker. I have got to get off and go figure out dinner -- decisions, decisions. Ciao!

Can You Guess Who Ian Was for Halloween?

Brent & Ian on Boston Avenue Trunk-or-Treat

I never realized how much Ian looks like his daddy until they won a little costume contest last weekend. I was really floored. Ian will watch him and do exactly what he does, such as standing, folding his arms, scratching his ... well, you get the idea. Like father like son ... or monkey see, monkey do. Whichever, I love 'em both!!

YUP, Ian wanted to dress up like his daddy for Halloween, so that's exactly what we did. He was so cute and proud of himself. We even managed to find their old jeans with holes in them so he could match. I do believe this had to be the cheapest Halloween costume in America. They actually wear everything they have on and the Astros caps are from this past baseball season and the mascara, well, they snatched up my new tube and used it so I went and dug out an old one for them to use. All I've ever really asked is STAY AWAY from my makeup! But hey every now and then they have to go in my makeup bag, mainly when they are searching for the best tweezers known to man, and I watch those little suckers like a hawk the whole time Ian's trying to get out his own splinter. Yeah, we have made huge strides during the summer months. He's not a baby anymore and can get out and dig for his own splinters. Hey, more power to you little man. The less I have to gag, the better. Anyway, they were too cute. Liam was with his friends wreaking havoc on their neighborhood and playing chase with some friends who happen to be girls all night. I guess he turns 13 and runs amok. Not really, but from what I heard the girls were chasing them. Here are a few extra pics of our Halloween week and our pumpkin decorating contest. I think Brent won with the black and gold pumpkin, which are the colors of our school. He always does a good job with artsy stuff. I just wanted mine to have black polka dots but then I tried to join the polka dots and add a little splash of pink and Brent said it looked like a bunch of special spiders. He said my pumpkin was hideous. Oh well, I was the judge and he didn't win. Both the boys tied and got a kiss and a buck from mom. They were less than thrilled. But... it's all about that quality family time we spent together until I threw a fit and stomped off because mine turned out so fugly. Brent's was the best and his was the first to either and die because all the acid in the paint or some chemical reaction ended up eating right into the pumpkins. ha ha Serves him right for being so hoighty-toighty (is that even how you spell it??) and big-headed about having the best pumpkin!

This was Brent's pumpkin he decorated. Yeah his is great, mine sucked. His deflated after a couple of days because of all the paint. HA HA

This was Liam's pumpkin. One side was a happy face, the other side was a scary face. He was trying to appease everyone and one of the little kids in our neighborhood is scared of scary faces. I thought that was really sweet.

This one was mine. I know it's hideous, you don't have to tell me. I put a lot of work into until I got pissed off because it got uglier and uglier the more I tried to help it. Oh well, c'est la vie.

This one is Ian's. It's kind of crazy and all over the place which suits his personality perfectly. He took great pride in his Bulldog pumpkin to reflect his love for our high school football team. He said it was all different colors because he couldn't decide. He does take after me in some aspects, especially his indecisiveness. Now those words could have come straight out of my mouth!! Do not, I repeat, do not give that child a $5 bill and the toy section. You will be there all day.

And I just wanted to say Happy Birthday tomorrow (November 4th) to my sister, Lesley. I'll be out voting so I'll be sending my love and wishes to you on this day. Sorry we had to leave so soon Saturday night. I know I probably missed the free cake but you know how Tricia is... Have fun and remember, you are only as old as you feel. You may look really old on the outside but I'm sure you feel younger on the inside. LOL Luv ya lots Lesley!

OK, so today I have some cooking to do and we have basketball tryouts tonight and working on a school project. Yup, another one. Then Brent and I are going to sit down and make a list of stuff that needs to get done. We are going to playoffs in soccer this December as Liam and his team won a really important game Saturday but the kicker is playoffs are the same weekend that Ian makes his First Penance. AAHHH, another kink in my plan to go away for a weekend with my family and get some Christmas shopping done. So I may have to call on godparents to make sure Ian fulfills his First Penance, especially if Brent has to work overtime that weekend. Hopefully it will work itself out.

Don't forget to vote tomorrow if you haven't already. I was going to vote early but every time I thought about it my stomach would start hurting. So procrastination is my friend in this case. You never know what could develop to make me want to change my vote. So we're down to the wire and I think Barack Obama and the Democrats have a great chance of winning, at least from the information I've perused these last crucial days. Like I always say, I really don't care who anyone votes for, just VOTE. It's your constitutional right. Especially women. Moms in this country do not get enough credit for their participation in these elections. Take pride in your country and the fact that you are voting on your children's behalf. It really does matter. OK, off my soapbox. Get out and VOTE on Tuesday!!

Hey All: It's Been Awhile... Happy Halloween Week!

Ladies, I have been busy reading lots and lots of blogs. I absolutely LOVE all the new sites and blogs for moms and money saving ideas and making our houses into homes. I have gotten so many great ideas in the last couple of weeks that I can't wait. We've had a few small projects going on, but this week I'll be concentrating on trying to do one thing each day for Halloween or fall related with the boys. Liam could really care less but usually once we start he'll join in because he cannot stand being the only one not doing something. Tonight we are making caramel apples so I'll try to remember to take pics and post them tomorrow. Ian is excited because although we have made them before, usually he just eats them after I'm done. This year I told him we'll put the caramel stuff in the crock pot and after supper we'll dip and decorate the apples. I'm also attempting my own pumpkin puree with the six small pumpkins I bought but since I have never done anything like that before my expectations are quite low as to what it will taste like. I'll let you know either way!~M






I finally decided yesterday that I would keep up with my posts and even if they aren't the best posts in the world, it would be something just to chronicle the day's events and rag on people that piss me off. I have been really busy lately. We've cleaned up from the hurricane but wrangling with insurance companies and things of that sort is just so frustrating. We had a great weekend and it was over sooo fast. We went to the Homecoming Parade for the high school football team on Friday afternoon and then tried to entertain Liam and his friends. Keeping Ian out of their way is our biggest challenge so we decided to lit the fire pit and drank wine on the front porch. Brent and I stayed out there forever. It actually felt like fall and had a little nip in the air. We talked for about three hours (which isn't hard for us to do) and came up with the answers to some questions we had been pondering for some time. I felt better after our talk and it's always great having someone to listen to you, I mean really listen, and then coming up with an answer and sticking to it. You know those life-altering decisions I have to make like "What should we let the boys dress like for Halloween? Scary? Original?" and "What did y'all do for Halloween when you were little" and "You're voting for WHO?" That was my biggest question. Maybe after a little lovin' and some sweet talkin' I can persuade him to RETHINK that vote if he plans on doin' any of that again!!!! Just kidding, but I would resort to that if I had to. Last weekend we painted our pumpkins instead of carving them and I didn't really know this at the time, but acrylic paints looks great on pumpkins but from what Liam told me the acid eats away at the pumpkin and now all the pumpkins we painted are distorted and deformed! I bought some more but they will stay in their original presentation and be boring and healthy. The other ones have not fallen apart yet but at any second the back on the biggest one will probably fall off -- it is disgusting. We took Ian to two church fall carnivals and he had fun. The first place Brent took him to was his preschool for Mother's Day Out that he attended for five years. I sooo miss that little school. I loved it and it was so simple - no homework and he looked forward to going every day. I didn't go with them because Brent waited too long to wake me up and so I got dressed while they were gone to the trunk-or-treat there then they ran back and picked me up and we headed over to St. Charles for our Halloween Carnival. Brent and Ian won Most Original with Ian's costume because he was a "mini-me Brent." They dressed alike in camo shirts, hats, jeans and shoes. Then we used mascara to make the goatee on Ian and they look remarkably alike! Everyone just died laughing and were standing there pointing and taking pictures. One girl from our soccer team said she knew they always looked alike, but that Ian was a clone of Brent. I thought it was pretty funny. Until they stood up on the stage and looked out, I don't think I ever realized exactly how much they look alike. Ian was so proud of himself for placing in the contest. Of course, if Brent's not around he just looks cute but when they're walking together people turn and do a double-take. It was hilarious watching their reactions. I'll try and upload a pic from my cell phone. My camera battery was dead so I used the cell phone now I have to figure out how to get it off the media card on the phone. I love the gadgets but sometimes they don't love me!

Reports cards and conferences were this past week and both the boys did really well. Liam made all A's with an overall average of 97 which is really great and he's been working hard to keep his grades up because he loves his long hair. We are so totally proud of him and give him great kudos for such a good job. Ian had really high grades this six weeks which really surprised us because he had such a hard time wanting to go to school, getting him to go to school and to stay there. With the two hurricanes, evacuations and time off of school, he has really stepped up and pulled his weight. I told him that second grade is a hard adjustment for a lot of kids and that what he's feeling is totally normal, only that some kids hide it better than others. And I told him that if he ever feels sad or lonely then when he goes to the nurse to take his tummy medicine (TUMS for kids) to ask the nurse to call me and I can talk to him for a minute. He said he'd like that if he feels that bad but that right now his days are busy at school and he has not gone to the nurse for his Tums in two weeks. Whew! I know it takes 21 days to form a habit, but geez, this is the first time since school started that they have gone for 21 days in a row. His teacher was really generous with her comments and said he is smart and competitive. She knows him well. Liam on the other hand doesn't have a competitive bone in his body. He loves winning in soccer but on a personal level he just does the best he can and doesn't feel he HAS to be the first or be the best. I wonder if it's that "second child syndrome?"

On Wednesdays I help my friend at her jewelry shop and so for the past two Wednesdays I have really enjoyed it. I am not actually getting paid for it, but I'm ordering stuff to put in there to sell and coming up with ideas and bouncing them off of her. She's so much fun to do this with and hopefully the holidays will keep it busy. I found some beautiful crosses that I am going to try and sell in the store and am researching the need for Bento boxes in our area. I talked to a bunch of friends in my neighborhood and at school and we seem to have run out of ideas for lunches. They get so boring and I hate doing that to the boys. However, my kids really don't like buying their lunches and I make them buy it at least once or twice a week so I can get a break and try and find something interesting to pack for them. The bento boxes are so versatile and so I'm going to bounce those around and use them on the boys for awhile and decide if I'm going to try and get them in the shop. Went and scouted out other boutiques/shops in our area and got some great ideas. I love, love, love the vintage wallpaper and initial necklaces. However the place in our area that has them also has them priced pretty high. The ones I looked at were like $18 for two pendants and the chain. The one I priced was $79 and that was only one pendant. I don't know the difference in the quality but the overall effect is the same. Cute and charming.

Halloween plans are trunk-or-treating at several area church functions again and another carnival on Wednesday evening. Liam has CCD but he said that it was OK and we could just bring Ian. I guess he's growing out of the kiddo stuff. I bought this adorable headband to wear that has a giant black and purple spider on it with leopard print so I bought some leopard print yellowbox flip-flops to match for our trick-or-treating night out. However, with my luck, it will probably be chilly or rainy and I won't be able to wear any of the cute stuff. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

OK, so I've tried out a lot of new recipes in the last several weeks. In all of our married years I have never made or attempted sloppy joes. However, my child came home from school the other day asking what a sloppy joe was and could I make him one. So Saturday afternoon after soccer and before our trunk-or-treating, I made my first sloppy joe. I researched about seven different recipes online and then just incorporated all of them and they loved them. Liam & Ian each had two and Brent ate three. I ate one, it was OK, just not my cup of tea. But they loved them and it was super easy. Meat, tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, mustard, Lea&Perrins Worcestershire sauce, a little brown sugar, onion, garlic and basically that was it. I added a little water then let it simmer until it was pretty thick. They were famished and ate almost the whole pot. Even Ivy had a little sloppy joe. I think what sparked it is the lunch lady song by Adam Sandler where he sings about the lunch lady and sloppy joe getting married. Ian sings it all the time and I think they had sloppy joes at school or someone brought one from home and he didn't know what they were. So, it was a success and I'll probably be making it more often this winter. Super fast, cheap and easy. I have two new recipes in line this week so I'll review those later in the week as I make them. Tonight we're having chili. Have not made chili yet this fall season and it's about that time. Brent made jalapeno wraps and grill pork tenderloin last night and there was a lot left over but I feel like it is a chili kind of day so tomorrow night we have CCD for Ian and we can have a smorgasbord of different flavors. I found a recipe that looks great on Diary of a SAHM of a Mexican Potato Casserole. Looks easy and like something I could get the boys to eat and maybe even like.

From Tween to Teen: Happy 13th Liam

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIAM
stay sweet and happy
WE LOVE YOU

My baby, my sweet little innocent baby is turning 13 today. We cannot believe it. Not only does it make me sad, it makes me wish he was just so little again and I could rock him to sleep every night and make everything better for him. He is 13 going on 30 and I am not kidding. Brent and I are just amazed at how fast time flies by (when you're having fun) I guess. He's so little for his age but he's growing. He's actually grown about two inches since the end of the school year last year and he now weighs 75 pounds. Yeah, we made it to the mid-70# mark before high school. Bad thing is the little fart eats night and day. He eats more than my friends 12-13 year olds who tower over Liam. He loves being little and fast. He loves track and being the fastest kid on his soccer team. He is so funny with the "being fast" and yet in everyday life he moves sooo slow. He talks slow, he eats slow, he walks slow. He is never in a hurry. Unless he's playing soccer or running. Some days I'll call him a sloth and tell him I'm going to have to mount a camera on him just to make sure he is moving when we fast forward it. I guess it will only get worse as the teenage attitude is starting to rear its ugly head. But in his case I'll say damn cute little head if you ask me, but then again, I am his mom. His friend at school is 5'10" and weighs 175 pounds. Can you imagine what they look like hanging around together? LOL That's almost as big as Brent!



So today is his birthday and we have a soccer game out of town at 4pm so I'm trying to do this really quickly so we can load up and leave. Then we're having dinner at his favorite seafood place and doing cake and ice cream. He really wanted an IPOD touch for his birthday and we kept saying no, no, no but guess what he got. YUP, we broke down the other night at the mall and got it for him. Hey, he's a good kid, says yes ma'am and no ma'am and makes straight A's in honors classes. I think the kid deserved it and so did his daddy. He was so happy. I told him we'd give him some $ and let him pick out his own gift and I could see the disappointment in his eyes. So I guess the surprise this morning was all the more better because he had no idea he was actually getting one. He said he knew he'd get it for Christmas if he didn't get it for his birthday. I hate when they're right all the time.


Anyway, doing the hurricane clean-up crap day after day and whittling my way through major cleansing of clutter. Actually broke down and got new cell phones the other night so now Brent and I can write nasty texts back and forth to each other. That's what we did last night when we took the kiddos to Chili's for supper. Drank margaritas, ate chips and salsa and sent nasty texts back and forth. The boys were just laughing and talking and had no clue we were texting each other. In fact, Liam said it was rude for me to ignore his daddy. We just started laughing because it was our little secret. Came home and set up the birthday table with all the decorations I bought for Liam and it turned out really cute, of course we waited until he went to bed. I know he thinks it's a babyish thing but I told him to indulge me and act happy about it. No one else will see it! (just everyone who sees it on here!) I'll try and download one of the pics from early this morning. We woke him up at 5:30 to open his presents and blow out the candles on his cookie just to indulge me before Brent and Ian went to work on his uncle's property that had hurricane damage also. Take care, have a good weekend. Waiting on adjusters and waiting.... and waiting.... and waiting. I guess that's the name of the game. Ciao!

The Aftermath of Ike: Still in Lafayette, LA

Just a quick note to let everyone know we're still alive. We evacuated Thursday night after having to talk Brent into it all day. And I am so glad we left. Brent went back home the day the storm actually hit so he was back home by 3pm on Saturday. He's a first responder so he had a hologram to be able to get back in quickly. We have flood damage and a tree scraped down the side of the house taking all the electrical lines, boxes and weatherhead. I haven't been back yet. Brent said I'd be horrified. Evidently the french doors were blown open during the hurricane and we had leaves, debris and pieces of shingles all the way into the bathroom and hallway. That means the wind had enough force to blow in the french doors in the den, travel through the dining room and into the hallway. That seems pretty powerful to me. No power so I'm in no hurry really. Brent is wearing himself out trying to clean it all up and work at the same time. He has been ripping out the carpet in the den and had to board up the french doors that were destroyed by the high winds of Ike. We were looking on the internet today at the devastation and destruction at Crystal Beach and Galveston. I cannot believe it. It is so sad. We were planning on spending a week at the beach with the boys for Thanksgiving this year. Brent's grandfather's cabin that was on the second row and has been in their family for decades is just gone. I just saw the aerial and there is nothing there. You cannot even distinguish the roads. Please say a prayer for all the families involved. It looks like a long road to recovery. We're fine and doing good. The boys are fighting everyday and healthy. What more can I ask for? I miss Brent. I miss my house. I miss school! LOL. So, hopefully by this weekend we'll be back home. I don't have any idea when we'll get power but Brent has a generator and we could make do for now. Ready to get things back in order and start a list for all the things that need to be done and need to be replaced. Weren't we doing this three years ago? It is so bizarre that it's happening all over again. Everyone I have talked to and kept in my prayers daily is safe so that's all we can pray for right now. Some very dear friends lost their home and their business on the Bolivar Peninsula. So many friends I've made throughout the years have been affected by the devastation at Crystal Beach. Let's pray for a speedy recovery of the beach towns we love so much.

Bridge City is about 12 minutes from my house down Highway 73. My brother-in-law's dad had 9 feet of water in his home and from what I read on the news sites, 100% of Bridge City was underwater during the storm. It is unbelievable because we actually went through Bridge City on our way out Thursday night heading toward Louisiana. I cannot believe people would try and ride it out, especially in a town surrounded by water.

http://jakeabby.com/ has some great pics of the beach and before/after pics to view.

Check out the pics and CNN and youtube has some great footage of the devastation this hurricane has caused. Oh and by the way, FEMA was nowhere to be seen until about Monday in our area. Brent was home on Saturday afternoon and as of Sunday evening he had not seen FEMA anywhere or Red Cross. He did see military but water and ice was not being given out until Monday. I would think after what happened in New Orleans the government would be a little quicker in their response time. Entergy trucks were traveling into Texas with my husband on Saturday, the day of the storm. I think FEMA and RED CROSS should have been ahead of the power company, don't you? There are people who do not have very much and those supplies mean a lot in a time like this. C'mon, Chertoff, get it together.

Lawlessness Prevailed and a Simple Ode

My Ode to Gustav:

Gustav, Gustav, where for art thou Gustav?
I packed water, tuna, figs and even my Wusthofs.
Yet you shunned me and went on down the coast,
All I can say Gustav is "Thank You" for not defrosting my organic roast.

LOL, okay, now that's a funny title to my little post today. Well, in the wake of a possible Hurricane Gustav making a visit to the Gulf Coast, people started evacuating. Brent made up a voice of an elderly lady and kept saying "Run for the hills, it's a mandatory evaporation" and then he'd say "Run as quick as you can it's a majority ejaculation." That was pretty funny. When he was acting like that I almost peed in my pants I swear. And I didn't drink a thing. He was being hilarious. HOWEVER, and that's a big however, we didn't actually make it anywhere. Well, it was kind of a last minute thing to stay and I am SOOOOO glad we did. We had a great couple of days and spent time just hanging out and playing, at least we weren't stuck in traffic like when we evacuated with Hurricane Rita almost three years ago.


Well, Brent's work had a meeting and they were told by the other government agencies that mostly it looked to be headed toward Morgan City, LA and the New Orleans area. So Brent never planned on leaving. However, not wanting to fight the traffic all over again, I opted to stay until the very last possible minute, having hotel reservations in Houston, which would take about 1 1/2 hours, without traffic. After waiting for my very slow sister and niece to arrive at our house from Lafayette, LA, we watched the weather another day and then Sunday morning it was already heading into the Louisiana coast. But, we did not cancel the reservations until Monday morning just in case we had to jump up and leave if it made a turn. I know that was the best decision for my family. We just about had to make my sister evacuate from Lafayette, which was hit pretty hard in some of the outlying areas. She had a wedding to go to and did not want to miss that so they made their way to our house about 3am Sunday morning. She's too funny. I remember with Rita we evacuated two days early and sat in traffic heading north for about 14 hours. Well, I learned my lesson and it only takes me once to make a mistake like that. We cooked and the boys played on their dirt bikes (only after we saw exactly where it was going just in case gas became an issue) and they swam in my neighbor's pond and played for a few days. It was a good break and Brent made some excellent grilled food, not having too much to do after everything was boarded up and socked away. But we were prepared ... just in case. I now have my "hurricane boxes" as we call them. Important papers and bills, insurance and medical information in one, hurricane supplies in the other, and of course the very few things I could not possibly live without. It's funny... the first time we evacuated I took every album, picture and baby video I could shove into my Expedition. This time I make sure everything was in Rubbermaid containers and the plan was to put them on the tables and counters just in case of flooding. Funny how your priorities shift. Liam had his very important stuff he couldn't live without in his backpack all ready to go. Ian's consisted mostly of John Deere tractors and his ipod and PSP. Liam has a fishing reel from his great-grandfather, a picture of his great-grandfather and a few things he's had in his room forever, although I assumed he has lost them several years ago. He's a saver and sentimental like his daddy -- Ian is more like me, nothing matters more to me than the actual people. Things don't seem to have a place in my life. I'll throw away just about anything if I look at it long enough and it gets on my nerves.


Well, you ask where the lawlessness comes in during all of this???? Well, scurrying out early Sunday morning to track down a Sunday paper and some donuts (now that's funny during a mandatory evacuation) we instigated bad driving. Brent and I were laughing so hard. We made u-turns in the middle of roads depending on where we needed to go (there was absolutely no traffic and no one out on the roads), we crossed over double yellow lines, we ran (well, rolled through)many a stop sign and even turned left on a red light. Well, we do have the cameras at the traffic lights so we'll see if anything arrives in the mail in the next few days. We ran through the parking lot at Walmart and not once did we yield, stop, and if anything, Brent just sped up because I was verbally choreographing his next move in the same manner that a sports announcer gives the play-by-play during a game. I kept saying stuff like "lawlessness and lewd behavior ravages the small, sleepy town save for the lone car trying to make their mark upon the city as if they didn't have a care in the world, in search of a Starbucks." You may not think it's too funny now, but believe me, you just HAD to be there. We finally found, of all things, guess what??? A CVS and it was open. Yeah. I stocked up on bomb pops, ice cream sandwiches and sunflower kernals for the kids snack that day. We tore out of the parking lots and even sped down the street. There were two other people in CVS but on the way home we only passed one other car in the residential area and one on the highway. Now that's deserted. It was fun. We laughed. Then we came home and made grilled burgers, hotdogs, banana pudding and my sister brought over a blueberry crunch dessert that was to die for. Oh, and my neighbors starting making their way BACK Sunday morning. They came back into town and were having family over to eat out with them. About three sets of neighbors came back on Sunday, which was the day of the mandatory evacuation. I truly cannot understand our emergency management officials. Everyone else in the country knew it was going to Louisiana and they were aware of that on Saturday, yet they still called for the mandatory evacuation to cover their butts just in case it decided to turn. Just researching hurricanes in the last several days, it is almost impossible for a hurricane moving that fast to change direction. See I did learnt sometine amid all of this.



Guess what? My cousins have arrived from across the pond, you know the big ass pond such as the Atlantic. Yes, six of my cousins have come over from England to be here for my nephew's wedding. The first day they were here, which was Monday night and had only been in Houston for about two hours, my cousin's 3 year old son fell off of her lap onto his head and later began having what seemed like a seizure. Needless to say my sister and all the others spent the night in the ER with little Tommy and he had MRI's and scans and was released Tuesday evening. He seems to be doing well but amidst all of that commotion, my brother-in-law Tommy, decided to leave Ruston, LA and drive south into Hurricane Gustav as it went through Alexandria, LA and he was trying to get back to Lafayette, LA. Well, a tree had fallen across the highway and he hit the tree and crashed in a ditch. He called my sister and niece while he was still in the car waiting on the police and my niece just screamed and started crying. It was so heart wrenching to see her like that. I thought Brent was going to break down in tears just watching her. But Tommy was fine and was not hurt in the least. Note to self, do not drive into a hurricane while others are driving away from it. However, the two Tommy's in our family have had better weeks if you know what I mean. So excited to spend some time with my cousins and show them some Texas hospitality. I'd like for them to see Gator Country so little Tommy can play with some baby alligators and Brent wants to take them to the races. Wez really liked that the last time they were in about four years ago. Our goal is to take the boys within the next year or two before we have to spring for cars and all the really expensive things they'll need in the future so along with college and retirement, we definitely need to work on a R&R account for our overseas visits. I guess I could get a job and just save all that money for ..... aah, who am I kidding... I couldn't even speak of such nonsensical thoughts! Hey, like I tell Brent all the time "yob (meaning job) is a four-letter word." I think that's pretty funny. I don't think Brent thinks it's too funny. Christene thinks it's funny.

Gustav - Even The Name Sounds Ominous

I thought this was too funny to pass up..... can't get to November soon enough for me!

This week so far has been pretty uneventful. Brent is working really late tonight so we have soccer practice and homework. Wow, I'm too excited about that prospects. I guess we're keeping an eye on the Gulf of Mexico to see exactly where Gustaf is planning on visiting in the next week or so. Talked to my sister so if he heads this way, I'll head that way and if he heads her way, she can head this way. Is that confusing? Hope it's not a repeat of Katrina for New Orleans for Rita for us. Ugh! That was bad, but it was mainly being separated from Brent and trying to keep the boys happy that made it hard for me. He lived at his work for the first two weeks so he didn't get to come to see us at my sister's until he got a day off after two weeks of working non-stop. That's the stuff that I hate. Any material things we lost have been replaced but the only thing I can truly say that Rita took away from our family through that whole ordeal was our time together as a family and our three huge, really old, cedar trees. I loved and still miss those trees that lined the front of the yard. It still, to this day, looks so blank and boring toward the road. Those trees were one of the selling points when we moved here when I was four months pregnant with Liam. They missed the house by about 3 feet when they fell, so I guess I should be thankful for that. I used to love to keep watch on Liam and even Ian as he got older climbing those trees and playing between them. Once there were about six little neighbor kids in the three trees, just hanging on the branches and talking and playing. That's what I miss. I need a few flashlights and batteries, lots of batteries. I guess we'll know more over the weekend but it cannot hurt to go ahead and pick up some of those things and water, we need bottled water anyway. Too bad we used up everything we had from Hurricane Rita. I think at one point I had about 30 gallons of water in the garage from all the free water/ice we got when they opened up the city. Brent is classified as a first responder so I don't think he can leave with us if he wanted to, but at least he can go in/out of the cities without any problems. His federal id badge was the only thing that allowed him to during Rita, which was not technically a first responder. But that's exactly what they were. He was the first one back in our neighborhood as soon as the storm passed while it was still all flooded. He said it was eerie that no one else was around. A few men arrived within the next day or so, so that put me at ease a little because everyone was worried about looting. Luckily, our area never had to experience any of that after Rita. OK, enough on that horrible, boring, hate-to-think-back-to-that subject.




I'm cooking a roast and a big dinner tonight. Why you ask? I have no idea. Brent will not even be home to eat with us. Mainly because I took it out yesterday so I had to cook it today. At least he'll have something really good to eat when he gets home tonight. Have to remember to sign the boys up for CCD this evening and Ian for basketball basics. They teach/tutor basketball, dodgeball and he will go two afternoons a week. He's excited about it because two of his little friends are signing up for it also. So that will get us through the fall and then he'll have Upwards Basketball in January and then baseball season starts in April. He'll be busy, at least I hope so. Liam stays busy with soccer and then I think he's doing track and baseball in the spring. OOPS I hear thunder/lightning so I better go in the carpool line. Take care and drop me a comment if you want. I seem to be pretty bored with the back to school blues. Ciao!

Can A Mom Say That School Sux??

Liam, Ian and Trent, our neighbor, playing in the sand before the rains came.
Brent relaxing with a beer. He was resting while I was busy preparing. wtf?
This is not a great picture of the cake but we used a John Deere tractor pan and then decorated it. He absolutely loved it -- it wasn't perfect but he thought it was.
Ian was actually blowing out his candles and was not happy about his picture being taken.

This morning before school -- Ian was excited, Liam was almost indifferent. Sporting his approved standard uniform -- school shirt and jeans. Can you believe Liam got his hair cut on Thursday? Hopefully with the new uniform code he will not be in violation. As long as it it "appropriately groomed" it should be ok. Should Liam get more cut off, what you think???

Yes, school officially started today at 8am. I'm really kind of sad. I love having the boys home, even though they do fight a lot, but it keeps it interesting and I guess I just love the freedom myself. So, can moms say that getting up and going back to school sucks big time? I guess so because I just did. So, we've been busy right up until last night. I'll break it down:

August 18th -- Ian's 8th Birthday. We had a neighborhood birthday/family party for him in the garage. It had rained all day but they were able to deliver the sand as promised and the kids all played in the sand pile, swam, and we did the eating/birthday cake usual. He said it was the best birthday he'd ever had. Really laid back and casual and since the kids weren't running in and out of the house all day I pretty relaxed. They even swam in the rain and they were so excited. It turned out well and we all had fun. Kind of ended up being a neighborhood get-together but it was nice to reconnect after a long summer. Of course the only downside is that some of the kids were over playing at noon although the party didn't officially start until 5pm and then I had to end up sending some of them home at 8:15pm. Ian had a blast with his friends so I guess that's what counts, not all the hairs I pulled out throughout the day. Good thing I have a lot of it so you can't see the bald spots! Nah, it was good.


Saturday we wanted to do something fun to celebrate the end of summer so we took the boys to eat and went bowling. We've done it a few times but they were happy that their granny decided to go and we had so much fun. We had great Mexican food at Carlito's, bowling and then we came home and talked and laughed until Ian fell asleep. Even Ian didn't gripe or whine one time... well... maybe once, but that was it and that's pretty good for him.

Liam was really kind of scared, maybe a little nervous about starting seventh grade today. He seemed nervous this morning but he said he was fine. I'm just praying he has a great day. Some of his teachers are supposed to be really hard and sticklers so I'm kind of dreading that, but I didn't tell him anything. Hopefully their personalities will overshadow their reputations. Ian was so excited about second grade. I'll download some pics of the first day of school and the birthday party in a bit. I don't feel like going out to my truck to get the camera. Lazy I know but I'm comfy and sipping my hot orange tea. Trying to get back into the swing of being on my own. Brent went with us and then he raced off to work. I can't imagine racing off to be at work so whatever floats his boat. He usually runs in the opposite direction.

Let's start something new:


How do I feel today???? (1) kind of sad (2) kind of happy (3) nervous about their day (4) positive about this school year (5) indecisive --nothing new there if you know me really well.

Oh yeah. I almost forgot. My sister and I attended my friend's Pure Romance party on Friday night. We had so much effin fun!!! We drank daquiri's, laughed, made fun of all the "tools" used for couples, drank more daquiris and ate all her snacks. It was the most fun I've had with a bunch of women in a long time. So, me and Tricia decided to book a party for September. Mainly I want the discount and the free hostess gift. I really want the free gift and the consultant said she'd give it to anyone who hosted a party so we decided to do one together. I asked her if we had to share the gift, and she assured me and she would give each one of us one. It was pretty funny but I was really curious. I mean she's my sister and all, but no one wants to be that close! LOL So I bought $212 worth of "tools" and creams and edible this and hot that. Everything looked like so much fuuunnnn I just couldn't decide. I know, I know, I totally blew the whole not spending frivolously thing, but I did some freelance work a while back so I decided that's what I would use that money for, and well worth it I might add. Anyway, this is like the first time I came home from spending a bunch of money that Brent didn't offer up a negative comment. HaHa He actually sat with me and I told him what everything was and what it was for -- it was like Christmas, well, only in a naughty and raunchy kind of way!!! So needless to say we had a great weekend and if you haven't been to a Pure Romance party or bought any of their merchandise and want to know which flavors taste the best, just ask me. We had so many things to taste, sniff and lick that I was full by the time the party was over. Ok, so that's pretty funny even I laughed out loud at that one. Yup, that's been my week. Birthday party - check. School shopping and picking up schedules - check. Learning what your neighbors and friends do in the bedroom - check. Giving the boys a great weekend before school - check. Giving my husband a great weekend - priceless.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Lions & Tigers & Bears Oh My....and a monkey's doodle?

I think this is the one you can kind of see the spider's monkey's little penis!! he he We thought it was pretty funny, and gross, and disgusting. Kind of like a train wreck -- cannot keep your eyes off of it no matter how hard you try.

So this is Liam doing some of his first jumps. He's so little for his age so he was really proud that he could lift the front end of his bike up enough to even do this. Kudos to him for persevering!

This is what we've done this summer that the kids, including ALL the neighbor kids, really like -- we make our own sno-cones. Fast, cheap, did I mention cheap? And fast. Then when you hand out about six of these things they are already wanting more then you make more and they want more then you have to say "Ah, I would but my blender's on the fritz." -- go home and tell your momma to make you one you little sponge!! Nah, just kidding. I wouldn't really call them a sponge! LOL

The boys in front of the fountain in downtown Lafayette, after eating at the Blue Dog Cafe. Y'all think Liam needs a hair cut before school? Maybe just a trim eh?
This white tiger's pic is a little smoky/hazy/blurred because I had to take it through the glass which was soooo dirty and she kept pouncing up against it. She/He was totally po'd at the voyeurs. I would be too!!
Ian seems to have a forced smile. Liam loved the tortoises but I think they really grossed Ian out -- although he did love the alligators.

Outside the Blue Dog Cafe with, yup, you guessed it... a blue dog. It actually had a yellow dog and a red dog on the other two sides of it. Why stop with one color right? We said if our dog, Ivy, was blue, it would look like her. Only Ivy's not blue, she's kind of peppered I guess. She's a Catahoula Leopard dog. She's our totally cool dog. Ivy. Not this big blue one....

So we went away for a few days. Our little mini-vacation with the boys. We ended up in Lafayette, visiting with sister and having fun and staying busy. We took the boys to the Acadiana Zoo on Sunday and they really enjoyed it. Of course, let's just say, the animals were waay too hot, not excited in the least to see us! Ian thought the baby bear we saw was dead, but actually he was just sleeping, probably because he was so lethargic because of the heat. It was about 150 degrees, nah, not really, just about 96, 97, 98 give or take a few degrees. We were all hot, yet the poor animals looked really miserable. The Siberian Tiger was ( I guess, it was white!) was EXTREMELY agitated and would lunge at the onlookers only to be stopped by the plate glass windows. It was pretty exciting though and made me jump for sure. Liam's favorite things were the old tortoises, Ian really like the tiger because it scared him and I absolutely loved the giraffe. He/She was so graceful and content. Oh, Ian told me to put on here that he loved the lemurs. He has a soft spot in his heart for lemurs since we did a huge report complete with pictures and geological information for his first grade class report. We love lemurs. They were pretty funny. The spider monkey was soooo funny because as he hung upside down and would swing from one side to the other, his little penis was protruding. Needless to say, it was hard to get my three boys (yes, Brent included) away from spectacle. Well, I think I was the one who wanted to stay around to see what that spider monkey was actually going to do about it! LOL I crack myself up sometimes. So we went to a fresh produce market, tried some new restaurants that were great by the way: Serrano's, Blue Dog Cafe. Brent was really impressed with the places we went and even a quick meal heading out on Sunday at Raising Cane's was really good. The chicken was sooo good I'm craving it again. Brent and I got to spend some quality-much-needed-alone-time together and we did grown up things. We bought grown up movies and grown up toys. It was too fun and actually felt naughty. Oh, and it will definitely be repeated. We had a blast. Learned that I want to start doing things we enjoy without the kids. NOTE TO SELF: hire a babysitter and go out and have fun. I have always been against people outside the family watching the boys, but they are much older now and can tell me everything so I figure a little high-schooler might want to earn some extra money. We need to get away more often.

Last week was really busy with Brent being off all week and then decided at the last minute to leave town. At least I didn't overpack with so little time to prepare. We rented a nice car and had great conversation all the way there. The boys napped and watched movies on their PSP's. LOVE THE PSP. We have a dvd player that I'll bring but the PSP's allow them to watch different movies and they seem to stay quieter longer which is best in the long run for all of us!

Took Liam school shopping yesterday for a few things while Ian went to Jump Zone for a few hours. You pay a flat fee and they can jump on the giant indoor inflatables, play basketball and dodgeball. He had a great time and wanted to go back today but...... it's after 2:00 and I still haven't gotten dressed yet so I told him he could go back tomorrow. I was cleaning the bathroom and kitchen today which ended up taking longer so I'd rather him go for the full three hours. Hopefully it will be open next week also and he can enjoy that with his little friends before school starts. His birthday is next Monday, the 18th, so he's trying to decide what he wants to do with his friends. I want him to wait for a big party until after school starts but he just wants to invite his little posse and swim and cook out so we may do that for him Sunday. I need to think about that today. NOTE TO SELF: think about Ian's birthday and go change out the clothes in the washer. See, if I don't write it down and see it in black/white, you can forget it. I am a visual learner. You can show me once and I'll have it down or you can tell me a thousand times and I still won't remember. Oh, and while driving to Louisiana we asked Ian what he wanted for his birthday and this is what he said, "Well, I've been thinking about that and I want Pokemon cards (him and the neighborhood boys are all over that) and a load of sand. Not regular sand but 60/40." What the hell? Is there a difference in sand? So I guess he'll be getting his load(s) of sand because that is what their track needs to get it stabilized so he can ride his dirt bikes on it and start practicing some jumps. So if he wants sand, let the child have sand, although it's kind of sad. Why couldn't he ask for a new xbox 360 game or WII game or something a little more tangible? How the hell am I going to wrap up a load of sand? I guess I could have it delivered on his birthday and not tell him then he'll be all surprised? Any suggestions?



New movies coming from Netflix: Pippi Longstocking and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Yeah, I'm all over that with excitement. Neither one of my babies have ever seen either of these movies and I am going to make them sit down and watch them. We watched Field of Dreams this morning on HBO and they both loved it. Who knew? Trying to stay away from all the sex, drugs, killing movies and there's not a lot to choose from that will keep Liam interested so he's just going to have to grin and bear it. Also putting in my que for netflix: The Princess Bridge. They should really like that one and I do not think either one of them have been it before but I probably made Liam watch it at some point.


Heading into Beaumont tomorrow to take Ian shopping. We got him a few under armor shirts at Academy yesterday but he needs some shorts something fierce. All of his are getting too short because he has such long legs. Hopefully I can scope out Kroger for Farmland Bacon since I have about 15 coupons for $2 off each package. I bought 10 pks. at Super H-E-B in Beaumont last week but I want to use the other coupons up before they expire at the end of the month. Hey, you can never have too much bacon right? Brent laughs at my deals but all the jars of spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, jelly and bacon sure have come in handy lately when meal planning. Going to attempt chicken parmesan this week although I'm not too big on it, we'll see if I can manage. to cook it. Any good recipes for the crock-pot using canned sauga? I think I have Emeril's and Classico. yeah, the Classico was the Target special with the coupon so I think I picked it up for about $1 after the $1 coupon. It seems like all the prices I see on different websites for Target, Walmart and HEB are more expensive here. I cannot remember exactly what it was but the website said their Walmart carries it for $1.69 and I found it at ours for $2.12. Eh? WTF? That just seems wrong. So, off to call the pedi and make an appt. for Liam's school physical. YIKES, it's that time again. Liam has soccer practice until school starts three nights a week then it goes down to 2 plus games on Saturdays. He was exhausted after his 3 hour practice Monday and 2 hours last night. He's one of their fastest little runners and he loves running. Who knew MY child would like running??