Andrew's Birthday!!

We celebrated Andrew's birthday early this year because his actual birthday falls right at the beginning of Kids Camp and the kids are gone from just after breakfast until bedtime.  

We heard that the park in our neighborhood was finally finished so we brought a pizza and watermelon picnic over there to check it out.

Dinner was quick and good and we headed to the playground/sprayground.  

Up North we didn't have these spraygrounds.  If we wanted to run through water on a hot day we had to supply our own yard and sprinkler.  But here the city does it for us.  

The new park looks great!

The sprayground

We Visit The Capitol!

After learning that James was LSU's youngest graduate ever, a very close friend of ours proposed a resolution for the state senate to recognize him.

So, we were invited down to the capitol last Tuesday to meet with Senator Claitor and have our first tour of the capitol building.

Quick Beach Trip ~ Sunday

Sunday morning dawned bright and early too and Jon and I took a morning shell-hunting walk.  He still found more cool shells than me.  But I did find a couple.  

Because Brian had to work the next morning, we had to pack up and head home that day.  

On our way out we stopped for a couple of souvenirs and photos.

Quick Beach Trip ~ Saturday

Saturday dawned early as we wanted to catch the sunrise.  

Quick Beach Escape (Did I Say Quick?)

The Friday after the graduation we headed out for Orange Beach, Alabama.  

First we had some prep to do - which means a trip to Target for groceries.

The kids are always looking for their names on the Coke bottles . . .

Grad Party!!

Saturday dawned bright and early and we had lots of work to do to get ready for the graduation party.

We headed out to our store of choice to pick up the cake and some of the fresh fruit and rolls to put out on the buffet.

While there, the kids and I scoured the Coke bottles for our names.

We found a couple we liked.

The Grad Photos!

I mentioned earlier that our friend Jessica came out to take some pictures of the family on the graduation day.  

Although it was crowded there on campus that day, we were able to get some great shots.

Graduation Day!

Graduation Day dawned bright and early.  Finally it was here - the day James would walk across the stage at the PMAC and receive his diploma from LSU.

Graduation Prep!

We had a whirlwind week!  Lots of things to do to prepare for James' graduation from LSU.  

We had a party to plan and guests coming in from out of state.

First we made cookies to freeze . . . 

I had lots of help from lots of kids.

This Week Randoms

You may or may not know that Matthew has officially started school since turning 4.  He is learning to read and write and also doing some math.

Satsuma Trees

Back at the end of March the Satsuma trees were blooming in the backyard.  It's one of the great things about having citrus trees in the yard - the smell of the flowers is fabulous.  I decided to take my camera outside and see if I could catch some of the action among the flowers.  

Peter is SIX!

Six years ago we welcomed Peter into the family!

Family Cruise Tips ~ The Gear

Jon's Blanket Redux

In the past I have made each of the kids their own blanket - with the exception of Baby Grace (she'll get hers soon!).  And they all use them - with the exception of James (his wore out and was too threadbare to fix.)  

A few years ago my sewing machine broke and I recently picked up a new one.  The back had blown out of Jon's blanket a while back and he has been asking me to fix it.  

I finally got the chance. 

Just for fun - 

Here is Jon in January of 2008 when I made him his blanket.  

So cute.

And here he is today when he got his blanket back - just like new!

Get out there and sew something!  They'll thank you for it!

Red Robin!

Matthew Turns 4

We celebrated Matthew's birthday yesterday.  He turned the big Oh-Four.

He requested a Nerf cake.

Turned out pretty good! 

Visitors!

We welcomed some visitors to Baton Rouge recently.  Brian's aunt and uncle visited from Minnesota by way of California, Arizona and Texas.  

They traveled a long way! 

We had a big lasagna dinner the night they arrived.

We broke out the extra table.

Texas!

Brian and James traveled to Texas recently.  Brian had work to do in the Houston area and James had an event with the worship team from church.

Texas-shaped waffles at the hotel breakfast.

March Goings-On

We've been very busy this month!  Expect several posts in the next few days.

Matthew got dressed up for church a couple of weeks ago.

Large Family Humor

The kids had their annual Christmas program one Sunday at church a few years ago.  They had been practicing for about a month.  The oldest four were in the choir so it was just singing they had to practice.  

Brian and I had been playing tag team all afternoon because Peter was sick - poor little guy!  So, I took the four oldest to services in the morning.  Then we grabbed some lunch on the way home.  Brian drove them back to church at 2:30 to rehearse again.  I stayed home to make sandwiches for the choir to eat after rehearsal.  Brian returned home and then I left around 3:30pm to bring the food to church.  I stayed to watch some of the rehearsal since I knew I would be at home with Peter and would miss the whole "live" feeling of the program.  The kids ate and then I returned home to tag Brian so he could come and watch the program live.  At the last minute he decided to take Andrew with him for company.  They left in the car.  Brian forgot to take his phone...

Can you figure out what happened AFTER the program?? 

The phone rings with a number I don't recognize.  When I answer it, it's Brian!  He wants to know if I'm coming to church with the van.  

The van? 

"No!  I'm not coming to church with the van!"  Silly! 

"There are too many to fit in the car!" 

"Too many WHAT?"  I couldn't think of what he would be bringing home that wouldn't fit in the car...

"KIDS!" He says.

Silence - while my brain tries to catch up. 

"Oh!  So, then, yeah!  I'm coming up with the van!" 

I had to quickly throw some clothes on Peter and we arrived to find Brian waiting with the kids.  We picked some of the up and were on our way home.  I got some more details from James about the situation.  Brian had borrowed a friend's phone - and that friend heard the whole conversation, including my exasperated "how many what?" comment!  He jokingly said "Too many... cookies?"  

It was hilarious!