busy

Okay, I know I am the biggest slacker in the world for not updating sooner. But, I can't seem to squeeze one more thing into my day lately (except for maybe laying on the couch and "resting"). But we have a lot going on these days. Brownies, room mom stuff for both grades, copying this week, subbing (which I haven't done the past two weeks, but still!), PTO meetings, sleepovers, Nutcracker rehearsals (which is going to kick my butt, I'm afraid!), dancing (twice a week for Megan), Halloween costume searching (not as easy as you would think), choir, walking Maksim, playdates, fundraisers, vampire boyfriends (which HAVE to fit into the busy schedule!!), seriously....is there anything I can do for you? Because I can. If I remove my shirt, you would see a ginormous S on my chest. haha!!!! Anyways....
So, here's a few things that have gone on lately in addition to the above listed.... My friend Abs has become a GRANDMOTHER!!! Her daughter Jenny and son--in-law Ryan have welcomed Miss Riley Eden Elliff to the world. She is just darling, and is so named after me. (not really, but I'm telling everyone that anyway!).
We finally did settle on Halloween costumes - Cassidy is a darling devil and Megan is a witch (with very cool purple and black striped tights...she is her mother's daughter). Megan will be able to wear said costume for the character parade at school next week (because public schools do not celebrate Halloween) as we luckily have a book with Katie Kazoo in a witch outfit on the cover, and Cassidy will be Bubbles from the Power Puff Girls because we own no books with darling devils on them.
We finally got a date on the Nutcracker - December 6th and 7th - so if you can, come see Megan - she'll be a party girl and a candlelight angel. It's totally fabulous, and I will be gracing the stage as a party mom, and Megan and I will get a short dance together. I have to do way too much dancing for my comfort level....I thought I would be window dressing and being backstage would be perfect with the men in tights...but I find there is a price to pay. Actual dancing. I'm not so very coordinated and there is much turning, and I get a little dizzy. It's good stuff.
Okay, I need to get out of my pjs since Tricia will be here soon so we can finish the birthday cards for the teachers at school from the PTO. They are cute little gift card holders. I promise to update sooner (we are going to Cindy's bonfire this weekend, and lots of stuff going on next week with red ribbon week and Halloween - so I'll actually post some pictures!). Ciao!

a learning experience

While we were in BR for our Ike vacation, I decided that we had to take the girls to the Louisiana state capitol. This is something we did in elementary school on field trips, and I loved it, and it made me a little sad to think my girls would miss out on that since they'll be focusing on Texas history, not Louisiana history. And I had to drag my poor Mama with us, with her hurt knee and all. Megan was mortified at the thought of actually learning something on her vacation. So, a few facts about the capitol - at 34 stories high, it's the tallest capitol building in our country. Huey P. Long was assassinated there and is also buried on the grounds, under a statue of him. You can see the bullet holes in the hallway behind the elevators (yes, I remember the tour from all those years ago...). Sadly, when Gustav blew thru BR, it took out the most beautiful oak tree in the gardens...that is way sad - you can see it on the right side of the picture of the view from the top. The steps leading up to the capitol have the states and the year they entered the union. Inside the capitol there are statues of past governors, and lots of other cool stuff like the Senate and House of Reps. At the end of the trip, it was all worth it, because Megan and Cassidy said it was the coolest trip ever. So, learning isn't so bad after all....

Back at home...

We are back at home...I'm happy and sad about that. I had so much fun in LA visiting with my family and friends (many thanks to Kriste and Randy and my parents for their hospitality!), but I was really ready to get back to "normal" (we all know how THAT is! haha). So, we got back Saturday afternoon, just in time for Jon to make me some of his delicious gumbo and watch 'dem Tigers. I'm seeing that my fave football team is going to give me another season of "cardiac football". I almost didn't make it thru last season, I hope I'm up for it... The girls are back at school tomorrow. So, hopefully I'll get some pics downloaded and posted for your viewing pleasure.

trees

Here are some of the pics of the backyard after Ike. We heard from our friends and neighbors back home and WE HAVE POWER!!!!!! Hurray! We'll hang out around BR till the weekend, then head home.

Ike again

Here's a pic of the girls in the "safe room" (our downstairs closet). I put them in there during the hurricane in case there was a tornado or something. Notice the bike helmets hanging in there. A friend of mine told me about the kids wearing a bike helmet to help protect their heads in case something fell on them. I thought that was brilliant. Jon thought I was crazy.

the first hurricane visit

When Gustav hit LA, Kriste, Randy and the kids came to visit for a week while power was restored to the BR area. Here are some pics from their visit. We hated that they were "stuck with us" because of the hurricane, but we sure loved having them here. Maybe now they will visit a little more.....

More Ike

We have left home and evacuated to Baton Rouge. The 3 to 5 week timeline on getting power back was not something we really wanted to hang around for. So, for now, we are torturing our poor families here in Louisiana. We were very fortunate with the storm - we had a few trees down from the greenbelt behind our house that took out the fence and playstructure, but no damage to the house. And we are all safe, which is the most important thing. I'll post pictures probably tomorrow.