It's always summer in Louisiana...

Sure in other parts of the country, people are taking pumpkin patch pictures with children dressed in corduroy jumpers, the foliage changing colors, and a slight breeze in the air... NOT HERE! Instead, we are still playing in bathing suits at the Spray Park - but we had fun!

5 little ones versus 4 adults

Good news - the adults survived. I wouldn't say we won, but we all made it out alive! Last night Jen and Dominick had a party (apparently they still HAVE a life), so we watched Nick. Since misery loves company, Ashley, Collin, Parker and Hannah came over too. The boys are SO mellow, happy and calm - the girls on the other hand are INSANE! Ashley and I thought it would be so cute if we could get all five cousins on the sofa for a group shot - clearly we had taken too many "happy pills" when we thought this was possible. Instead, we managed to make everyone lay on the bed as I stood over them and kept clicking. Clearly GiGi will NOT be framing this for her house (she prefers matching smocked outfits, settings filled with beautiful furniture, and children who are actually LOOKING at the camera). But hey, it's a start!

Wowsers! Surprise for a Sunday morning...

So Shane checks the local newspaper website this morning to get movie times. When he opens the main page - he sees this:

Notice the One Weigh ad on the right side - oh yeah - that nutball on the scale is ME! On the Frazzlin' Advocate Newspaper website!

Then when you go to the One Weigh website here's what you see:

There I am again - EVEN BIGGER! I did this photo shoot for One Weigh months ago - I figured they trashed the photos - and then VOILA! here they are! Exciting and disturbing all at once!

Kind of makes me laugh - thank goodness! I'll keep you posted on my autograph signing :)

You know I love to laugh...

so I had to share this e-mail I got today. I mean, I was laughing out loud at my desk. I have the best husband in the world, but these STILL apply in our house...

REFRESHER ON 9 WORDS WOMEN USE

(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.
(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.
(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.
(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!
(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually not a word, but a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)
(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.
(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you're welcome. (This is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome' - that will bring on a 'whatever').
(8) Whatever: Is a women's way of saying , ' to hell with you !'
(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.

Hope it made you laugh too!

My little Avery...

I haven't posted in a while, and I just came across these pictures of Avery, so I thought I would share...

I had taken her to the Spray Park. How cute are those little legs and arms and all the other parts too! I can't believe I forgot to post a conversation I had with Avery during the hurricane. It wasn't so much a conversation, but it went like this...

Avery: Mommy, the house isn't having a good day...

Me: Really, Avery - why not?

Avery: Cuz, there's no 'lectriticy (and that's not a typo - that's how she says it)

Seriously, she's precious! Hope you are having a great day - with lots of laughs...

Parker is growing like a weed

Seriously, I have no idea what he weighs or how much he's grown, but, he LOOKS bigger and he smiles now (mostly for his Daddy). It's so cute, and I can never resist a yawning picture. If you are wondering (you probably aren't, but I'll share anyway), I love making collages with Shutterfly and then saving them to my computer. I normally don't have time to create the collages before posting on the blog, but time is all I have right now - because sanity left a LONG time ago! 10 days without school is a LONG time - Avery can go back tomorrow, and Tuesday school reopens for Morgan - basically just in time to close again for Hurricane Ike. Oh, and while I'm on a roll, for everyone who extended your taxes, the deadline was moved from October 15 to January 5 (if you are in the listed parishes - this is not official IRS guidance!). What this means for me is that the misery of the second tax season of 2008 was just pushed into the beginning of the 2009 tax season. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude, but that left about 10 days ago too.

See below for hurricane survival tips...

1. Make sure you have plenty of coloring books. Your pictures look better by lantern...

2. As soon as Daddy starts the generator, lay in front of the fan (with either your flashlight or your lantern)

3. Move an extra mattress into Mommy and Daddy's room and have everyone bunk in one room with the window a/c unit

And then there was electricity...

We lost power on Monday and it came back Thursday night. Tonight we got the internet back, but we are in the very slim minority for both. During Katrina, Morgan learned why people lived in trailers in the front yard (they had rain in their house). During Gustav, both M & A learned that wind + rain too often = hurricane. How's that for mixing science and math? They have also learned about generators, gas cans, and they now know that EVERYTHING in the house needs electricity. Avery always misses a syllable or two when saying "electricity", and it cracks me up. Most of Baton Rouge is still powerless. Shane and my brother in law went to work today, and they were the only two with power in both groups. We feel selfish sitting here in our cool house, so we invited everyone over for a BBQ tomorrow. Hopefully that gets them to a cool house with warm food. Too many parts of New Orleans are still without power too. Our only thought is that we live VERY close to the oil refineries on the river (commonly called "Chemical Central" among other things), and the power companies must have had some big government pressure to get those up and running, and we must fall in the same grid. Whatever our luck - I'll take it! Good luck to everyone - I hope everyone hears the sweet hum of the a/c VERY soon!

And we sit and wait...

for the power to go out. The wind keeps trying to blow the front door open, and the rain is beating on the windows and the electricty keeps flickering, but so far so good - except for the fight for the Snow White bank - we have two - do you think that matters? Of course not!

I made this little collage of Avery's Hurricane Dance. Avery is my snuggle bug, my silly girl, my not afraid of anything little girl...

And then Morgan is my Hurricane girl. Born on August 29, for Katrina, I bought her birthday cake in Kroger in Florida during our evacuation. This year, we were just in the midst of hurricance preparations for her birthday. She was oblivious to anything NOT Hannah Montana

As long as I have internet access, I'm fine - even though we did receive news that school will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday - and our babysitter evacuated to Texas - the nerve of her! I'll face those two days with extra meds! Stay safe everyone!