Gustav Aug 31, 2008

Here's our future as of this moment. Kevin, the kids and I are here in Austin at my parents' house, with our dear friends David and Coleent Hulbert, watching the projections for Gustav, currently a category 3 hurricane heading straight to Houma - where our boarded up home lies in wait. We are feeling uncertainty, but deep gratitude that we left town Friday for our scheudle LAbor Day holiday and KEvin's long-awaited Austin Trianthlon and that our home is as sescure as possible.

The Yogurt Eaters of Cirlce C Park

They were spotted this evening, just before dinner time in the local Circle C neighborhood park. Yogurt stained faces gazed back into the camera as the culprits we caught, in the act, of eating the said yogurt - WITH SPOONS no less - and absolutely no remorse! The insanity.

Mmmm, a cool glass of Crapange

Huntie is a lover of science and REALLY loves making edible/drinkable concoctions. Her latest was at the Beaumont Marriott during our evacuation from Gustav. At the breakfast bar, the fabulous place had not 2, but FOUR, juice choices: cranberry, apple, orange and grapefruit. Huntie was so proud to offer us her new combonation of cranberry, apple and orange.

"I call it Crapange."

It was indeed delicious. I told Huntie she has a bright future as a food scientist making new flavors and recipes, but she will certainly need to leave the marketing to someone else. Power on Huntie.

Those Pesky Backyard Waterslides

We bought Elle Dora PANTIES today. She peed in the potty and did an AWESOME job. Then she played outside while I got dinner together and came in all wet. I asked her why she was wet and she said "I waterslide in da backyard." Hmmm, a waterslide that smells like urine, in my backyard? Nice try Elle. The diaper went back on and we'll start again tomorrow. Pretty hilarious though. What a story teller.

Poor kid. She's never peed on herself before, sans diaper. I think she really thought she must have somehow made her way down a wet slide somewhere to have ended up wet like that. LOL.

Elle Moment

This morning while I was cooking breakfast, Elle came up to me and hugged my leg. She gently rubbed my leg and looked up to me and said, "You're so important to me."

Ahhh! What a gift. My one-year-old is so loving and expressive - I LOVE IT!

Nailed

I think we should buy stock in the bike tube business. Riding on these Louisiana roads, Kevin gets a flat tire at least every other ride. He's become quite a pro at replacing his tubes. Here's last night's culprit.

KINDERGARTEN!!

Michael's First DAY!! Here's Michael and all our dear neighborhood friends waiting for the bus this morning on Michael's first day of kindergarten. I don't think he could have been prouder. He got himself ready for school, helped make his lunch, packed up his backpack and was out to the bus 30 minutes early. I convinced him to come back inside to eat breakfast, but just barely.

Ok, I think that backpack is as big as him! But it's his triathlon backpack that he earned, so it wasn't heavy at all.Huntie wore her uniform shorts so she and Michael could be twins today. She asked if I could write a note to her teacher so she could leave class a minute early at the end of the day to go and pick up Michael from his class and help him find the bus. We agreed his teacher will help him and Huntie can save him a place in line. Cute little Huntie. His teacher this year is Mrs. Joann Caillouet. Not only does she seem like a fabulous teacher, she is also our neighbor just around the corner. Last week Michael went to kindergarten orientation where he got to meet her and find his seat in his classroom. Mrs. Caillouet had an activity prepared for the kids to do while their parents were "oriented." Michael finished his project in just a few minutes and stacked his things on his table and sat quietly with his hands still the ENTIRE rest of the orientation. I was SO proud. He's going to love the routine and structure of school. He is so excited.Our poor bus driver was so accommodating letting this silly mommy take loads of pictures of her son. LOL. Michael was ready to be on his way - no looking back.

Ellie vs The Mosquito

I know Ellie looks bad, but you should have seen the Mosquito!!

Huntie's First Day of 3rd Grade

Woohoo!! Huntie's in 3rd GRADE!! She gets to start school and entire week earlier than Michael. Boy oh boy does she know how to strike a pose!