Tennis, Kids Cook and Hurricane Prep

 

 

 

Yesterday morning the park in our neighborhood hosted a tennis carnival for kids.  I took Faith, Jon and Andrew there.  It was basically some free tennis instruction and treats for the kids. 

 

I'm pretty sure they had a good time.

 

 Faith and Andrew together in this group.

 

 

Faith

 

 

Andrew

 

Jon

 

WAIT!!!  Something about that picture looks so familiar . . .

 

Could it be that two years ago I took some of the kids to this carnival and took this picture of Jon.

 

 

 

 

 

Too cute!  Funny that he picked the same ice cream treat two years later.

 

Andrew picked the rainbow pop too. 

 

Faith picked a banana Popsicle.  She said the girl told her that she was the first one to choose banana.  Hahaha!

 

 

For the past couple of weeks I've been doing a meal plan.  It's actually been very nice.  I make up a plan and a grocery list and then do shopping once a week.  It's not a new idea - but I'm just getting used to doing it.  Although I usually stop at two stores, it's nice only going to the store one day. 

 

Part of the plan has been letting the kids plan and cook a meal on Saturday night.  It's good for them in lots of different ways and they've had fun doing it. 

 

Last night James took a turn.  He decided to make chicken burritos.  Brian grilled the chicken for him. 

 

Chicken burrito with homemade salsa and chips. 

 

The girls made a dessert cake too.  The recipe came from Faith's American Girl magazine.

Matthew enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

Know anyone named Isaac?

 

 

 Well, we do.  He's a tropical storm that might be visiting this week.  So, we're preparing for his arrival. 

 

We've had our water stash for quite awhile. 

They recommend one gallon of water per person per day and three days supply.  So, if you do the math, that's 27 gallons of water that we need.

 

 

Brian took down some of the branches hanging over the roof today while James cleaned out the gutters. 

Andrew had a good time dragging this big branch in the backyard.

I watched him and Peter for awhile through the window.

Oops.  I got caught! 

 

 

Peter caught me too! 

 

Brian took James, Jon and Alyssa out to fill up our gas tank/cans also and get a couple more things at the store.  So, looks like we'll be set.

 

 

In other news . . .   They newspaper reported that they had identified and cited the drivers responsible for the tanker truck crash that shut down the freeway and essentially a majority of the town last Wednesday. 

 

The guy who caused the accident didn't even have a license.

 

You can read all about it HERE. 

 



Five Hour Tour - or One Man's Commute

 

 

It took Brian about 5 hours NOT to get to work yesterday. 

 

Keep in mind that he works only 5.6 miles from home.

http://theadvocate.com/home/3698836-77/major-crash-involving-18-wheelers-propane

 



It even made the good old Star Tribune.

http://www.startribune.com/nation/167133705.html?refer=y



 

This was the scene late last night as they burned off the isobutane. 

 

Check out this video from the local news.

 

 http://www.wafb.com/story/19348010/crews-vent-and-burn-leaking-tanker

 

And this video also from the local news.

 

http://www.wbrz.com/videos/i-10-tanker-controlled-explosion/

 

Apparently there is still no word on when the freeway will open.

 



7:23am  UPDATE!!  The freeway is OPEN!!  Yay!!

 

LSU II and a Bookmark

James started his second year at LSU yesterday.  Brian drove him to campus early in the morning on his way to work. 

I remembered to snap a picture before he left.  

First day of school.

At 11:30 I had to pick him up.  We made plans to meet in the Stadium Lot.  Unfortunately they are still doing construction on Death Valley - it looks like they're adding some fancy entrance.

 Because of the construction there were cranes around and lots of sidewalk is walled off - not the best situation for the students. 

Finally we see him.

 He's blinded by the sun and the glare off the white van. 

 Hi James!  The kids are happy to see him.

 And we're off toward home and LUNCH for the hungry masses!! 

We made adjustments and are meeting in the Lot Across The Street (LATS) from now on until the construction is done.  Not my favorite lot as it's narrow and packed and a little difficult to maneuver the van through there - but it's better than dealing with the construction mess.

Oh - and he needs to bring his sunglasses!

In other news . . .

Jon got a Crossfire Bible for his birthday ('twas on his list).  He got a package in the mail from his friend Kailey in Kentucky. 

Inside was a bookmark she made for him!!  It was very good because he was using his bookstore receipt as a bookmark. 

Jon's Birthday Party

So Jon turned seven last Saturday.  This year he chose an Olympic swimming cake.  We enjoyed watching the summer Olympics this year and the swimming races are some of our favorites. 

Here are two pictures of the cake.

Little pretzel swimmer dudes.

As usual, Jon made a birthday list to make shopping easier for us.

The things that are crossed out are the things that he got - he also got a Bible at church yesterday. 

Alyssa had the idea to make a very large card and we all signed it. 

He opened some presents.

And we had cake.

 For dinner that night we had one of Jon's favorite foods.

 Papa Murphy's five meat stuffed pizza!

After dinner (and playing with the new presents) Brian took Jon shopping. 

They were on a mission to find the boy some cowboy boots. 

Thankfully they found them at the first store they went to. 

Jon - with his new boots and his new Nerf gun.  Watch out for that guy!

One of his favorite parts of the day was talking on the phone with all of his grandparents.  Thanks for the calls!!

On Sunday afternoon Brian took Jon to the movie theater to see Ice Age.  They had a great time!!

In other news . . . today is the first day of James' second year at LSU.  Stay tuned for the details!

Happy 7th Birthday Jonathan!

Happy Birthday Jon!! 

We love you!

Winner Winner Chicken Picture??

So, over on The Resident Farmer there is a contest running.  Now, I'm pretty wary of those contests that the Farmer runs seeing as how I got jipped out of an excellent prize when I chose the wrong door during the last contest. 

But that's a story for a different time.

So, anyway, the Farmer and his wife have some chickens.  And there's apparently this new hen whose got eyes for the farmer.  And the Farmer and his wife need help naming this new hen.  There was mention of some type of chicken-picture prize. 

So, I showed the picture to each one in my family to see what they would name this hen in hopes that one of us would win. 

(Oh who am I kidding??  We're going to be the only ones entering.  Surely one of us will win.  Unless all of the Farmer's contests are rigged.) 

Here is the picture of the hen in question (taken from the Farmer's blog.)



Nameless Hen

And here's how it went down . . .

Me:  Peter, come and see this chicken and tell me what you want to name it.

Peter:  That chicken's for eating, right mom?

Me:  Well, that chicken lays eggs for eating.

Peter:  And that chicken's for eating, right mom?

Me:  What do you want to name that chicken, Peter?

Peter:  Marshmallow.

Me:  OK.  Go tell the girls to come here and name the chicken.

Peter:  GIRLS!!  YOU GOTTA KNOW WHAT THAT CHICKEN'S NAME IS!!

They didn't believe him at first so I had to call them over. 

Matthew's first guess was "teetdckn".

The girls goofed around a bit about it and then I heard this,

Faith:  Get the baby name book!

Alyssa:  The chicken baby name book!

They opened up the book (NOT a chicken baby name book) for Matthew and he pointed to a name:  Clarabelle.

After debating for awhile Faith chose Lyndsey and Alyssa chose Bobby.

We waited impatiently (just kidding) for Brian to come home from the grocery store with the rest of the contestants. 

Jon chose the name Me.

Andrew was forced into picking Abby (the first name in the whole baby name book).

James chose Henrietta ("get it?" he says.  Yeah, I get it.)

Brian's entry is Ugly. 

And me?  I choose Ethel because who else could keep up with Lucy around the barnyard? 

So, there you have it. 

To recap. . .

Peter - Marshmallow

Matthew - Clarabelle

Faith - Lyndsey

Alyssa - Bobby

Jon - Me

Andrew - Abby

James - Henrietta (get it??)

Brian - Ugly

Corinna - Ethel

Hope it doesn't take too long to decide the winner.  We have a great spot on the wall for that chicken picture!! 

Stay tuned for news on the big birthday celebration happening this weekend.  You won't want to miss it!