School is what?

School is cancelled! Can you believe it. The Governor has cancelled school Monday thru Wednesday. I can understand cancelling southern Louisiana, but we are 6 hours from the coast. Oh my, what will I do for 3 days to entertain my kids? Any suggestions?

GUSTAV

What the .......

Tell me again why we moved to Louisiana......

HELP!!!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!

Look what is hanging on my bedroom wall......

I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would ever have a picture of a dog hanging on my master bedroom wall...... well guess what.....





Before we left Iowa, Jared's assistant painted him a picture of "Wolf" (Jared's dog, his pride and joy). She did an awesome job! When we got to Louisiana Jared wanted to get it framed. He spent a lot of time picking out the right frame. The picture turned out great and Jared loves it. The only problem is that we had no place to hang it. It didn't really go with our family room decor, so the bedroom was the next best place. Actually it really isn't too bad...it could be a stuffed goose or something worse. Someday, Jared will have his own office and all his "treasures" can go there. Aren't I a good wife!

First Day of School

You would think with Nathan in 4th grade and Joshua in 1st that the "first day of school" would be easy for me..... but I was very nervous this year. Maybe it is because this is a new school, they don't know there way around, they don't know many kids... or could it be that we live in Louisiana. I think was a combination of both. BUT, they had a great day! They love there new school and their teachers. They both met knew friends and are excited for the school year! HURRAY! Tomorrow they will ride the bus for the first time, so we will see how that goes!

No, I didn't choose to dress my boys like this on their first day.... they have to wear uniforms, lucky me!

FYI: For those of you who get cute pictures of your kids with their teachers, or walking into class on the first day, good for you! I SO wish I could get those cute pictures, but remember my 10 year old son Nathan. He ABSOLUTELY refuses to let me even take my camera, let alone a few pictures and he has TOTALLY influenced my 6 year old. I wouldn't want to embarrass them on the first day!

The New Bike

5 Days after Nate's birthday.......and 3 hours of shopping...... and 3 different bike shops....... and too many choices......

THEY (Nate and Dad) FINALLY MADE A PURCHASE!

Louisiana Excitement!

What do you do in Louisiana to have fun.........

1. Attend a neighborhood block party and let the kids get tattoos:

2. Head to downtown Shreveport to let the kids play in the water fountains:

Nathan turns 10!

Oh my gosh! I can't believe my little boy is 10 years old. He has grown up so fast and I wish I could slow down time. To think he will be a teenager soon, scares me to death.

Nate had a great birthday. We celebrated with family in Utah before we left. Then last Saturday we went to Arkansas and met Jared's sister Melissa and her family at Magic Springs (an amusement/waterpark). His birthday started with a great breakfast, scrambled eggs, monkey bread and OJ. We waited for Dad to get home for our family celebration. Nathan opened presents. He got a new stereo/CD/IPOD system. What were we thinking. We then went to dinner, Pizza (Nathan's request). After that we made a stop by Target and Walmart to buy Nathan a new bike. He was SO excited. But since Nathan and his Dad are slightly OCD we came away with nothing. They couldn't find the "perfect" bike. They will be going to a bike shop this weekend to get the new bike and I will be staying home. I want no part of it. We came home and had German Chocolate birthday cake (also Nathan's request). He was beaming from ear to ear and is still on a birthday high!

Finally something to do......

So living in Louisiana has brought us much sorrow..... no "nice" community pool (North Liberty rocks!), no close parks, no cool weather, no friends, no Children's Museum, etc. What are we to do? Well, I have spent numerous hours feeling sorry for myself on the couch, we have watched lots of TV and we have longed for this summer to be over. Today, I decided we had to find something else to do. I searched online for movie theaters or museums and yeah, I found a Science Station/IMAX downtown. So I was "super mom" and surprised the boys with a fun filled afternoon. They had a great time and the museum was awesome. They even got to touch a human heart, lungs, and brain! They were in heaven. We loved it so much that I bought a yearly pass. So guess what we will be doing every week! Finally something FUN to do in Louisiana.