Doing the Impossible

Lori's comment made me laugh, and made me think... you know, we've done a lot of things that I have heard other people "can't" do or do and think it's a huge hardship, and we just do it because it needs doing... Like in church one time we heard about a couple complaining that they had to spend the night on the floor in sleeping bags in their apartment until their bed came the next day. We just looked at each other. We have slept in tents in January in the mountains with unexpected snow. We have slept in sleeping bags on the floor for MONTHS at a time. We have slept on cold waterbeds (okay half the night, then I was so cold I went and found an inside corner and all the clothes and dishtowels in the house-which wasn't much- and made a nest). I have slept in my car. When I still had babies at home I slept standing at the sink with my hands in the warm water washing dishes, when I woke up the water was cold. This newb (or noob as it's called in texting) obviously had not had a very exciting life.

I have collected, hauled, split and stacked wood. I have used it to heat my home. I have dug ditches, holes for plants, in the mud and rain. I have weeded and pruned and fertilized. I have canned my own food. I have helped sheetrock, tape, texture, paint, stain, trim, hang and decorate. I have collected free bricks, chipped off mortar and used it to make walkways in the yard. I have scrounged lovely things for our use, rescuing everything from plants to fireplaces from the jaws of the garbage truck. I have been hungry. I have had blisters and calluses and splinters and actually hurt myself too. I have insulated and filtered and gotten on the internet to learn how to fix my own appliances. I learned technology younger than me. I have had my husband painting items for his car and "firing" them in my oven, ruining my lasagne. I have had him put a transmission housing in my dishwasher.... black specks on all my dishes for months. I have had my clothes spray painted in their laundry baskets. I have push started cars more than a hundred times. I have scars from a Derby I push started... I have lived in two foreign countries (Germany and Alabama!) where I did not speak the language (well), I have gone through snowstorms and thunderstorms and hurricanes, broken appliances, broken cars, broken plumbing and broken electrical systems, wars and rumors of wars, watched the Berlin Wall come down, watched the twin towers come down...Run out of gas in a foreign country after all the gas stations were closed, 100 miles from home. Gotten on the wrong bus. Put on a dinner for 500 under budget with nearly no help, and I have lived on Top Ramen and cabbage soup... And I am so much richer for these experiences.

I have also been to concerts, fairs, balls, and auctions. I have owned a house with a pool. I have visited several places and seen several distinct and unique cultures. I have eaten food from all over the world. (Except authentic Chinese, Steve kind of put me off that idea!) I have met wonderful people everywhere I went and loved things about every place I was (except Barstow. Yech. But I was only there one night, and the car was hit while we were sleeping, so it was just not a "feel the love" kind of experience!) I have four incredible kids who have taught me more than I would ever have learned anywhere else, and I have more blessings than I can count. So I am glad for the "bad" because it makes me appreciate the "good" more... and after a while the line blurrs so much it's hard to see the bad in the good and the good in the bad, it's just all kind of amusing.

It's all a matter of perspective and I understand the look I see on faces of those who were born before me when young people cry about their lot. When you see friends die of cancer, lose a child, lose a job after an injury, you put things in a different light.

Time to count blessings!

Matching Brick

Evidently the brick that surrounds our house was resurrected from an old pyramid nearby... because we can't find anything close to it anywhere. Of course to me it looks like plain old brick, but if you are trying to match it to brick they are still making it's rare, it's impossible, they don't make it any more. I am so sad.. this means Greg and I will be spending several manhours chipping the brick off the back of the house to put on the front. I didn't want to do it like this... I really wanted to get finished so if and when we decided to add onto the house we could do it in our own time. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. So we'll begin building a closet off the back soon, and hopefully face it in Hardiplank to match the shop, because we can still get that without a trip to Egypt. I worry though that Greg will really want it to match the house... we thought about getting a brick that was close and doing the stucco thing over it. Many new houses are like that here, they do brick and some of it peeks out to make it look like the stucco fell off (it's a stressed, made-to-look-antique look) but would we have to do the whole house? And do we know what we're doing with stucco? Well you know Greg, he can do anything... but he has a car he wants to work on... poor baby he's worked enough on the house and I feel bad that it's not over yet. He is just determined that it not look like we converted the garage. (Is that a crime or just bad taste or something?) So brick is not brick is not brick, it's all unique and different and a pain... and if it is newer looking on the back than on the front it won't match perfectly anyway... home improvement, yech!

LET IT SNOW!!

Yes folks, it snowed in Lower Louisiana today!! WOO HOO!!!!

Pantry

SO we painted the pantry and put in the shelves. There comes a time when it's gotta be done so you don't scream. So here is the view from the kitchen. I am going to work up to a month supply of TP and see if we have room for a 6 month supply. I doubt it. That and paper towels... we could fill the room and it still wouldn't last!! Maybe someday when we have more time and energy (like...I can't imagine!) we'll stain the floor. We are still planning on staining the room in front. I hope the pictures help you understand what is going on with the house. It's hard to get the whole idea on 2d.

Christmas Parade 2008

Lafayette loves a parade, here are a few important shots LOL!

It's Christmas Time

A little Christmas carol for you. I like it REAL LOUD but regardless it's a fun Christmas song. If you are tired of hearing "happy holidays" you will LOVE this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAckfn8yiAQ

I am busy getting the Christmas cards together and actually found some with Mary Joseph and Baby Jesus. Can you believe it! It only took 4 stores.

We are just about done and in "gather" mode for warm clothes to take on our trip. We are looking forward to seeing all the folks back home. In the meantime this week and next every day is full of Concerts, Sing-Alongs, and other fun stuff. I am really looking forward to getting my little chores done and relaxing and enjoying as much as possible.

Garage becomes House -1

I have some pictures finally of the enclosure of the garage. Let me know if you have questions. Greg and his friend Brian put the windows in the new wall. It's still not heated, the interior has no sheetrock yet but it's looking like house!!

Garage becomes House

This is the hole cut in the wall right past the door into the new room. The silver stuff on the outside of the finished wall is insulation.

Moving along

Here is Elizabeth on our "Pelican Hunt". These pelicans (state bird) are all over Lafayette and are all designed differently by local artists. This one is in front of a carwash. It was Elizabeth's color!

Hey I took some more pictures of the construction. It's hard to explain but the back door that went from the Kitchen to the Garage is now a doorway from the Kitchen to the Pantry. We'll be getting the freezer out of the living room and into the pantry any day now. Probably Tuesday. I am going to put down a coat of stain tonight so it can dry... Staining the concrete (and sealing it) so hopefully that will be the end of my flooring issues in that room anyway!
The new windows were installed yesterday. They left us two windows to go in the front of the garage. Greg has started framing it up and Monday will be putting plywood on it. He'll be poking the hole in the wall to the living room at that time.. I am not thrilled with having it open because there is no insulation at all and we're gonna freeze. And the kids are terrible to get out of bed when it's cold... but hopefully we can get lots done so we can get insulation in and be able to heat by the time school starts again. They are home for the week. Oh and Greg gets to install the door too because they were afraid to do it in case it broke. We paid 2 grand for a 9 foot sliding door and other estimates were as high as $9,000.00 so I guess they didn't build in a lot of profit there. Lucky us! So Greg is going to do that too. Good thing he's handy!
I got the calendars done, they aren't as great as I had hoped but they're out and I need to get them in the mail asap. Very exciting to be done!

Educating the Dog

Here we have Katie reading to the dog, I was trying to catch them before they looked up, but Katie was reading "James and the Giant Peach" very quietly but out loud to the dog next to her on the swing. Tilly was looking up at her as if she was trying to understand.



Ok I have bored EVERYONE within earshot of how the boys took 12th in the nation. In celebration they let the kids wear jeans today (yawn. But with uniforms every day I guess it's a bigger deal than that.) and our City/Parish President Joey Durel has declared Wednesday, November 19th to be Lafayette High School Mighty Lion Marching Band day (that won't fit on the calendars LOL) in celebration for their accomplishment.

My boys are just delighted there are no more after school band practices. Alexander went out and did some bench presses to keep up his "marching muscles" today, glad he didn't have to run "suicides" (run to the 5, back to the end zone, run to the 10, back to the end zone...etc.) They have the kids march off 10 yards with their eyes closed every day to make sure they have their stride matching everyone elses. It's intense... we are celebrating by shaking hands and getting to know these two teenaged strange boys all over again. And haircuts. My gosh there has been NO time for a haircut since Band camp started in July. I took Philip out in September and sheared him (the kid can grow hair!!) and I'm afraid I sheared Alex a little close, but he did not complain. "It will be under the Shako anyway Mom"... Like there is no life but Band Performances... which there really wasn't... so Life Begins Anew!! Very exciting.

Seriously though the show was incredible. If you are one of the folks we are coming to visit, we are copying it onto our laptops so we can bore you with it when we get there, even if you dont' get internet.
THis is what you say. "Nice Intervals! What straight lines! Wow I love the music! The BRASS was really nice there! Wow the shiny horns are so awesome! Great visuals! The Color Guard really adds a lot to the program! I love that effect! Wow listen to that BRASS!!!!" So you can make the proper noises. Don't you wish you always got the "teleprompter" ahead of time to tell you what to say??!!!

At the last performance we got to see live, we wore shirts, painted with letters on them. Greg, Katie, Elizabeth and I wore the word "DUCK" on the front and "PHIL" on the back. Philip said he saw us come in with our crazy shirts and was feeling left out.... but when the Seniors took the field (it's tradition to let them try to march the show they had when they were Freshmen) and Philip ran and borrowed a Tuba (he marched Tuba that year!) we kept turning around and waving our arms, so he got the message and felt loved too. He was hilarious, even did the "visuals" which are the goofy things you do that are extra like turning a 60 pound instrument on it's side and back... He was the ONLY Tuba so it was really funny seeing him do all this goofy Tuba stuff. Of course when Alexander saw the DUCK he thought it was great to have a fan club. He's less embarassed about us than he used to be. Constant vigilance on our part has helped. We yell "DUCK" at every performance. I am sure some of those kids think there is something coming at them they need to duck for... But Alex gets a big grin (unless it's an important competition, where he doesn't crack a smile LOL! But he always manages to turn a nice beet red!) I am so proud of them both.

Love to all! Seminary back in action in the morning!

12th in the Nation!

The Lafayette High Mighty Lion Marching Band came in 12th in the Nation at Indianapolis Indiana National Marching Band competition! I am so proud of those guys! They were the only band in the finals that didn't have band uniforms made for each marcher every year. Can you imagine? In our school system each band gets new uniforms every 7 years (There are 7 high schools so one a year, rotating). There are already two YouTube videos of the performance at SuperRegionals in Atlanta. I am told the performance at Nationals was much better but we'll have to wait to see that. Here are two versions, one from a fan and one that looks converted from wide screen with cuts in and out of three camera angles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRl6zuc91vg&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M9DUKi2fAs&feature=related
So let me know if you get to see it. I have watched them already a bunch. Boys home safe :)

New Fence

Here is the fence Greg and the boys made last weekend. That's Elizabeth holding Woody (see the tail?) It is between the house and the shop to keep the puppy from running off. It's nice to be able to drive all the way back there and unload groceries by the kitchen. Yes I recovered the swing chair once but Tilly thought it looked like fun to strew batting all over the yard. I will do a new cover for it in the spring.

Fruit Trees

Anyone with fruit trees knows the joy of getting "free" fruit off of your own trees. It's a wonderful thing!! Here are some very un-artistic pictures of our lemons and Satsumas. If you live somewhere you can grown them, the Meyer Lemon trees are amazing.

Noises in the Woodpile

Ok no news on Indianapolis Indiana (sorry I thought it was Iowa earlier) for the Nationals, the kids are sleeping on the bus right now.

So Thursday night Greg says he hears something in the woodpile. I tell him he's hearing things and the neighbors in the back yard are messing with him. Nope, it's a kitten and a starving one at that. No mommy cat has been looking and so of course we are doing our best to fatten it up and find it a home. Fozzie has made it very clear that continued presence will not be tolerated. He is already putting up with a puppy; another cat is beyond the pale. So Woody (who is an unusual female who looks just like Fozzie, who has been fixed for 4 years) is looking for a home.

Tilly's Pony

Here is Tilly with her Pony that makes noise :)

And just an update on the band. They made FINALS at NATIONALS!!! That means they are in one of the top 12 bands in the country! GO BAND!!!! :) We'll find out how they did in about 4 hours!

Backtracking a bit - SuperRegionals Atlanta

Well our little Louisiana band (300 strong) did well in Atlanta, sorry I didn't post "the rest of the story" but they came in 3rd over all. They got First for Music. I thought the music was awesome too but was hoping they would get first for General Effect, which is the whole picture more like. The colorguard and band worked so beautifully to complement each other and the music it was a total picture thing... The Orchids start by blooming then have a life and grow and the petals fall off and it's reborn again, it was just beautiful. Anyway that's my prejudiced viewpoint, to be sure, but I liked the whole general effect. Have not heard how they did at Nationals but hope to hear soon. Still, coming in 3rd at Superregionals is UNHEARD of for a Louisiana band, this is the highest they have placed. I am hoping they'll do well and see a lot of great shows at Nationals to get ideas for next year!!

Tilly is playing with her puppy toys... One of which is a pony the girls no longer wanted with buttons on it that make sound effects. The puppy LOVES making the horse make noise! Too funny... she is such fun!! (When she is not chewing on shoes or furniture!)

National Band Competition

Today is so quiet and lovely, Katie is home for the day (teacher inservice or something) and the boys are in Indianapolis at the national band competition. I found there was live streaming available... for $29.00 membership, $14.95 for prelims, $19.95 for semifinals and @25.00 for finals. Ok I am not that dedicated I suppose. I am just cheap, it's true, I blow $2000.00 a year on band (per child) including spending money for food on the trips and I can't blow another $80.00 to see the competition.
Once again the trickle of information is slow... I text Philip and he texts right back then I say, "Wow! You text fast. So how is the competition? Are you doing ok? How are the other bands?" and I get "Not really :) " back. Sigh. So I will wait to interrogate until later.
Eliz has school today, struggling with a teacher who wants her to edit her paragraph but won't tell her what's wrong with it. Edit for what????? Teachers make me nuts sometimes. If the teacher won't mark up the paper and give suggestions, at least do peer editing. Elizabeth thinks the paper is fine, or she would have rewritten it herself.
So we are taking our little charge to the vet today, no not the puppy but a kitten we found in the woodpile that Greg christened "Woody". He was starving but once he got food he started purring and hasn't stopped. Hopefully we'll find a home for Woody -- somewhere else!
Greg built a gate in the back so the dog (hopefully) wouldn't get out but she's found a way, but she'll grow and won't be able to Houdini out of here after that!
Will post pics of the gate when I get back from the vet. :)

Just a few scenes from Wild Orchid
I am having trouble getting my movie to load, it's quick time so I don't know why there's a problem. But my technical advisors are in Atlanta right now (actually performed yesterday and at Six Flags right now) and all I got from Alex was they did "good" which is REALLY depressing, then I texted him HOW GOOD?? He said he thought 2nd and would find out. Ok well so how could you go all that way and compete and not know... well they are so curt in these text messages you know... I type "I love u Mom" and I get "U2" back... so the "flow of information" is a very tiny trickle... In the meantime us girls are all alone here and enjoying the quiet... except Katie who is (can you believe it!) just a little bored (which means she wants to go see friends). Went trick or treating last night with lots of friends, but just didn't get enough I suppose!

Wild Orchid Video - Showcase 2008

Greg shot this from the second balcony so the sound is going to be lacking in details, but you can see the marching formations this way. Beautiful show!! Hope you like it!
Oh and Lori, Mr. Kilcrest, our Color Guard coordinator, works with Pleasant Hill band in the summer! Small world, huh!!

Happy Halloween!

Finally a pumpkin that displays my Halloween sentiments exactly!

Just a Picture from Wild Orchid

I will hopefully get the show put up here. This picture is from the opener when the band is lying on the field in the shape of a vine and the color guard girls are the flowers. They are holding flower petals. The flowers are closed, then open one at a time, then all bloom and the flowers turn around.... It is the first time the color guard has been the show with the band showing them off. It is absolutely spectacular to see and hear. It's by far the best performance I have ever seen including DCI (Drum Corps International). They took first at Louisiana Showcase of Marching Bands last Saturday and leave for Atlanta tonight to compete in regionals, and then I think it's Nationals in Iowa. I honestly think they have the show and the kids to win best in the nation this time.

Wild Orchid Full Show

This is the performance of the Lafayette High School Mighty Lion Marching Band at Showcase October 25, 2008. There are 60 color guard and over 300 people on the field.

Greater Than

Last year's performance and those of previous years are on lhsband.net. I would have put the video on here but it's not working, it's only 35megs and should fit but no joy in Mudville tonight... sorry!! Will get some more of Wild Orchid tomorrow. Tomorrow is Louisiana Showcase of Marching Bands and it's gonna be AWESOME!!

Greater Than

Punkin Time

Time for Punkins!
Ok I know it's Pumpkins. Yet again I got my 4 kids together for pictures. Can you believe it??? Went to the Punkin Patch and they had this nice tractor set up. If I can someday get all the cars out of the background, life will be good! No this didn't make the calendar but I got a better one LOL!!

Mt Hood from the Air

I have no idea why I am underlining... And this picture is Mt Hood, I don't have any new pics shrunk down yet so I am putting in an old one from our trip to Seattle.
However I will have some new pics soon, going to Showcase this Saturday and I hope to get down on the field and get some decent shots. There is a band mom who has a very expensive camera who takes pictures at every performance, but I have no idea what she does with them. I asked if she would publish them and she said I could buy some from the professional photographer on the website. Sigh... If I wanted to pay 5 bucks a print I would not buy marching band kids drinking Poweraid. Whatever... Sorry I don't mean to be crabby, but my camera just doesnt... reach... clear out there. So this time we are bringing the old fashioned 35mm with (ok it's hard for me to use this word, I was swearing off for life) film and the telephoto and zoom collection and see if we can't get some better shots. With digital, at least mine, you click down the button and by the time it measures the distance, adjusts for focus, flashes the light and takes the picture, the next band is on the field and the opportunity is over. I have worked for the last few years on shooting "ahead" but with Marching Band it's just not cutting the mustard. Ok will post some nice pumpkin pictures.

Wild Orchid

The Mighty Lion Marching Band
They always have a great show. They always make
the football team look bad. They always sound fantastic.
This year the show is beautiful too.
Color Guard are orchids and the band are the vines.
There are 300 kids on the field, 60 of which are
color guard. The green line you see in the bottom left
are the kids who are "extra".
Amazing show....I can't wait to see the whole thing!
Philip and Alexander are up there playing trombone and melophone. They start the show on the ground like this and have an "opener" then are announced and start the marching part. It entails thousands of hours of practice and dedication... when you think of how many other things they could be doing, it makes you appreciate these fine teenagers even more!!

Wet Cement

It's poured! Now all we have left to do is sheetrock the interior walls, tape and texture, tear out the ceiling and redo that, frame up the outside wall, put in the windows and brick them up, build a pantry and some shelves and Voila! It will be living space!!
Ok well they poured the cement and it looks really good, a lot smoother than the shop turned out. With the shop, we have the craters of the moon to deal with. It's awful. These guys took a look at the shop and asked why we didn't sue. "Because the contractor lives across the street," we told them, and it's more important to have good neighbors than flat concrete, but you don't have to do that twice... They may be able to sand down the concrete in the shop so it's flat, and that would be amazing.
The next project (!) is a walk in closet in our room. All I have to do is give up wearing clothes for a few months while that is going on. So if you see me wearing less than usual, you can sympathize with me that my clothes are not AWL but excused for construction.

Jackhammer

Well it's Monday and the jackhammer is going again. Big chunks of cement. I am glad Greg decided to get someone else to do this. He would not have enjoyed the job! They put down forms and visquene ok how do you spell that? and now are haggling over putting down wire... and they are supposed to pour in about an hour. Very exciting...

Cat's on my desk, Dog at my feet, sitting by a nice computer it's not so bad! I am really excited to get the wall up and get going. I think we've decided to move the computers out there. Puppies chew on wire and if we can keep a baby gate up we can keep her out of there. I want either rubberized paint on the floor or indoor outdoor carpet. I am tired of waxing. Greg wants more linoleum tile. The chairs at the computers do a number on my wax so I really, really don't want to have to wax in there. I wonder what we'll get....
Greg told the contractor he was going to build the wall out of brick. He asked, "How much brickwork have you done?" and Greg said, "This will be my first project." It was funny to watch the face of the contractor as he struggled not to laugh. I hate to tell him that Greg can do anything. Especially if you tell him it can't be done. I have complete faith it will be the finest brickwork in the neighborhood.
So in the front on the right of the door we have the two windows from the kids' rooms, then the door with an arched brick thing going on, and Greg wanted to do two windows in the rec room to match. I kind of wanted more windows so I was hoping for 3. Now that I have priced windows I am more inclined to cave on this. Maybe if I fuss a lot and finally cave, I will get my painted floor. I am sooooo not into waxing MORE floor. I don't care what color he paints it or how it's decorated, I just want to be able to clean the floor without renting something. Is that too much to ask? Maintenance Free is what I am looking for. Brooms are cheap, and I have a terrific dust mop.
Ok all that mundanity aside, the Mighty Lion Marching Band performs at District Festival tomorrow. It's gonna be something to behold. They still don't have the full performance ready but they will for Showcase (State) on October 25. I can hardly wait. They are terrific this year and will be doing two out of state performances, one Halloween weekend in Georgia and one in Indiana Nov.15 for Grand Nationals. After seeing the color guard (they drill every day. EVERY day. All day. It shows. And the outfits this year are stunning.) and hearing the music and seeing the band march, I think they will do well. The drummers are so dedicated... they do things while they are drumming that you would never think-- throwing drumsticks to each other in rapid succession in the middle of the drum solo....and they are just fun to watch. There is nothing like a marching band to renew your faith in teenagers. You see all those kids who have sacrificed time, money, sweat and tears on this and you think about how America isn't as doomed as you thought!!

Under Construction

Well the lovely sound of birdies tweeting will be replaced by

The Jack Hammer Man

Tomorrow. We are getting the concrete ready and poured in our soon to be addition. I know some of these improvements to the house have tried my patience but this one is gonna be a tough one. I have a dear friend who is bringing me Sees Chocolates next week, I am holding on, just thinking about them....Don't send any (at least until November LOL! They'll melt) but man some days you just need chocolate to get through. I think I am losing my grip and a little dark brown square can set me all to rights again. Ahhhh.

If you have never read the article in the Reader's Digest about the jackhammer man I should get it and post it. It was great. Anyway, we will be up to our eyeballs in concrete this weekend and probably not getting a lot more done. I keep worrying about the other things I have going on... but then Anger Management kicks in and I say "Groos Fraba" over a few times, practice my LeMaas breathing and everything is ok. Man I hate having stuff piled all over because there will be a place for it... soon... but not now... I know it drives Greg crazy too. You want to see someone unhappy make Greg hang out in a singlewide for about 10 minutes. So it's kind of like that. Crowded and packed and with all the kids here (mine plus friends, girlfriends and band buddies of the boys, and kids who don't have moms home when the bus drops them off, they all hang out here.... dispite the mess, can you believe it?) it is just challenging, and of course the doors and windows are all open (It is really cool and not humid here. You better believe it, I did write that, it won't last forever!! So next year plan your trip here in October, its actually habitable!!) and a new puppy (she is still doing soooo well. Comes when called. Nice. Teething, not so nice LOL) so it does get a little rambunctious. It's gonna be a busy week. Oh I gotta take pictures! Before and after.

Here she is!

Puppies are challenging photo subjects. I am so grateful for digital cameras. I can't imagine how much film I would have wasted on the blurry motion of a constantly moving dynamo...Anyway she is already really very well behaved and whines at the door when she has to go out. Can you believe it!! Yes she already had a swim in the pond showing true Retriever love for water!

New Puppy

After we lost Princess it was only a matter of time...

Our new addition is Matilda, a black lab/Doberman mix (1/4 Doberman 1/2 Lab, 1/4 ?) and she is 8 weeks old and very cute and smart. She is solid brownblack with brown eyes. At the rate she is going I expect her to be doing advanced math by Christmas. I will have pictures soon, the camera is in Greg's car right now :(

We're calling her Tilly.

Remember Greg names the animals, I name the kids.

More about PE

In case you wanted to read my rants about PE in schools it's at cajunschools.blogspot.com.
I appreciate the comments too... there seems to be a lot of great activity going on in the elementary school level here but once middle school starts it goes downhill. I think the only thing different is that the coaches are "teaching" PE. In elem there are no teams... so anyway it would be lovely to see things get better here. Philip used to say he wished there was Gifted PE.
OK so I better start a new one for this news it's too big to share....

Teach me something, Coach!

Well for a few days I have some time... which is really, really nice. So I thought I would write a little about a peeve of mine, HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS or lack thereof. I put it on another blog because it doesn't really fit with "family" so I made one just for my school rants.
I looked up tai chi by the way, it's a pretty amazing little workout that looks like it gives you time to stretch and exert control which is a lovely discipline over your body and your mind. Can you imagine 50 boys doing this? Oh yes, I can, and I can imagine them doing aerobics and marching with a band instrument too. And track, soccer, volleyball, baseball and football; tennis, ping-pong, LaCrosse, roller skating, ice skating (a real treat on a hot day LOL), frisbee football (known in Scouting circles as "Ultimate", golf, racquetball, swimming and all the other sports they are NOT learning how to play. Including Dance (I would love to see the school spring for 50 mats for Dance Dance Revolution but I don't see it happening LOL!)

Fountain at River Ranch

Here they are in front of the fountain. I really liked the light on the water here and the backlighting of their hair. I would like to ticket that white SUV for parking in my picture. Reminds me of the time I had a great shot, but there was a stop sign in there that looked like my 5th child. Booo bad backgrounds!!

Calendar --Again

It was beautiful today, I tried really hard to be patient and wait for the sun to not be so glaring. This was a group effort because I wanted them in church clothes, and getting them to keep their dresses and suits on was no easy task. I got some that may perhaps be calendar worthy. This is one, by a big tree in the River Ranch area. It's gorgeous there but Only for the Beautiful People so we got out ASAP. The kids were good sports. I might flash you a few more from this photo shoot.

Ike is coming

Ok so another hurricane is on it's way here now. It's supposed to come to Alabama, then Mississippi, so I assume it will hit New Orleans, which means those poor people are going to have to go to another shelter, hopefully this time with port-a-potties and running water if not the full electricity thing (the evacuees from Gustav went to an old Sam's bldg in Shreveport with no such facilities.)
Anyway, I will try harder to take pictures of hurricane this time, I did before and after pictures for Gustav, I will try to get a shot that shows the difference best for you. Ok did the front corner, the car is one of our guests', no we don't have a new car LOL! I should probably post and "After - After" picture with the pile of branches and the spotless yard again after all the kids and Dad worked on it. Dad went to work with a sense of accomplishment, got through the hurricane and stayed very busy.

We are fine, did not even lose power. Life is good. Several folks in the area had transformers blow so there is still some power problems, and some trees down though that is taken care of by the great army of chainsaw bearing urban football watching types who live for moments like this! Lots of people outside cleaning up and the hum of generators for the folks who did lose power... We thank God it was not worse and keep those parishes who were harder hit in our prayers.
We are about to take Elizabeth out for her Birthday, she asked for Chinese food and the Chinese restaurants are always the first to reopen after disasters here, there is one open close to us and probably more across town.
Thanks for all your prayers, we were very very blessed!!

I lightened it, does it look more like sunshine? Love ya!!

Gustav

So hurricanes are a fact of life here. Non-sunny weather is not. So in preparation for the hurricane my dear husband instructed my dear sons to pop all the balls and put them in the trash. Sigh. So much for my beautiful picture. Hopefully we will still be around to do the rest of the calendar! It looks really bad. Greg boarded up the windows and we have pulled everything inside we could and now we just hope for the best.
In the meantime I have uploaded my pictures to Walgreens so they are there, and I will probably back up the hard drive today. If we lose the computer though we will probably lose the backup as well and archeaologists many years from now may find the tiny fragments of the cds and wonder.
So other than that we bough fun food and friends have brought over movies and it looks like not too terrible a time.
Elizabeth's birthday is tomorrow and my mom's is today (Happy Birthday Mom!!) and Greg's Grandma J is tomorrow and Mike is tomorrow... and Gustav is tomorrow too so I won't be calling anyone. Sorry. I love you anyway. Here is a picture just to say, Pray for us!! Love, Heidi

Hurricanes are a fact of life in Louisiana. They are ruining my hot summer days right now and I need my summer picture! Sorry, other than that they are nasty. I am not a worrier though, I try to be prepared and keep informed and think straight. So rule #1 is make sure you have your 72 hour kits handy. For us this means a backpack full of clothes and food to last three days. Also a few toys and such for the kids or paper and pens, you never know when they come in handy. In there we also put an emergency phone number of someone in another state in case we need to get in touch, we need someone with phone lines. The chances of us losing phone at the same time as Oregon are pretty unlikely. Rule #2 is fill the water jugs. We have 11 five gallon jugs which means 55 gallons of H2O which is a nice cushion in case the water supply gets compromised. We also have lots of those little bottles of water in the 72 hour kits and a flat to put in the car in case we take off. Rule #3 is check the generator and fill the gas cans. We have checked the gen but the gas cans are gonna have to wait until it gets a little closer, I hate having all that gas on my patio... When this one's over we'll put it in the cars and just be ready for next time. Rule #4 is food. Snack food that doesn't take fridge use is essential. If you open that fridge with the power off it loses a lot of "cool" so the fewer times the better. I also borrowed a great book called "Appocalipse cooking" which made me think about things like conserving fuel in a no-electricity environment. We bbq but that does take a lot of gas, so the book got me thinking about things that cook quickly, like risotto (boil water, put it in, turn it off) and minute rice, among other things. Quinoa is something we tried because of this book too, it's amazing but the family still isn't crazy about it. It's a grain that cooks quickly too, great served with rice. OK so here is another must, fill up the cars and be ready to leave town. Lots of people get cash out but I know my bank is accessable in several states so I am ok. Things to think about - being prepared means not worrying, just staying ready!!

Rain rain go away, or not....

SO I get the balls, inflate them, and wait all week for sunshine. Clouds. Rain. Finally Greg suggests I get the kids out in the rain and umbrellas and take an umbrella picture. Ok I figure, If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, but then it stops... raining.... just ugly clouds, darn that Hurricane Fay! So no pictures yet, very frustrating... I am stressing because I want nice pics before the balls fade in the chlorine. I am worrying too much, yeah I know... The kids are all unexpectedly home tomorrow so whatever the weather we'll find something to photograph!

Calendar Picture

Every year lately I have been putting out calendars. My mom in law likes pics of all 4 kids on each month. This intrigued me. Do you know how hard it is to put 4 kids in one place at one time looking 'spontaneous' and facing the camera and looking interesting - once - let alone 12 or 13 times? So I like a challenge. So I love photography. So I love photographing my kids. It's a deal, bring it on! Here is one I just took in my back yard. I went out and bought all the clearance beach balls I could find, rounded up the kids and here is a pic. Now I am going to tell you this, it's painful, but I am gonna tell you, my dh does not think this is calendar worthy. I am going to try again a little earlier tomorrow, will post if successful! In the meantime if you need beach balls come see me!

Before I Forget

I thought I would keep trying with the pics before I forget how. Bear with me now:
First Elizabeth is loaded in one of the cool Dixie Landing rides, perfect in purple!!
I shrunk down the pic of the kids walking, this one is the full 4 megapixels. Then I load picture of Katie on carousel and it looks like it's gonna show up before the one of E. Go figure. Let's see...

Here are the kids, I wanted to take an action picture that would stay in focus so I asked them all to walk towards me at the same time. You see how well this worked. Elizabeth immediately obedient. Alexander goofing off. Philip waiting for Katie, who is very concerned about her knees showing, she knows she has cute knees. Oh yeah, that's my kids, there... I thought the fountain in the back would also provide some water interest and some movement but it kind of got lost.... next time we'll put Katie in the middle of the fountain and hang Alexander upside down from his knees like a monkey and see how that works!! Also need to go back later in the evening... ah photography is not as easy as it looks y'all, not for the faint of heart. I can't post too many or I would give away the Christmas Calendar. You know it's become an obsession.... but hey I love them so I guess it's worth it. And I get some great pics of the kids too. At least I like them!!

Family Update August

I am trying to remember how to do this... sorry such a long gap between updates. I may even get brave enough to post a picture here if I can get Philip to help!!

School started August 8 for us, if you think that's too early, take it up with the high school teachers who wanted to take midterms before winter break (Christmas Vacation for you vintage readers). I certainly think it's too early especially when I see it's 98 degrees outside. Just about year round school. With Greg on the school board, we get a lot of calls from raging lunatics and reasonable people about their kids, the system, or whatever. It get a little irritating when they think I am personally responsible for their troubles.... and when they yell... well anyway, if they would be patient and go through channels, they'd be better off.

Anyway, my baby girl has a very nice teacher this year and my big middle school girl is enjoying getting her homework done on the bus and my high school boys are loving band and getting home early.... now if we can get to bed at a reasonable time we'll be doing well. I keep checking "hotchalk" and my kids have straight A's so far. I love to check it over and over.. No assignments due yet but still an A is an A, it's perfect until you mess it up!

Awbrey Family Update

Well! I am amazed I finally got this figured out. Webposting is exhausting.

Latest news!! Philip got his pic in the paper for winning an essay contest. GO PHILIP! He won local and state contests for Sons of the American Revolution for his paper on the battle of Yorktown. Have a few new pics of the kids will post here soon.
Greg has been working with school board on lots of important issues. If anyone has gobs of money they want to donate to a school system, we'd be glad to see it was named after you (Band buildings, Athletic Facilities, New Schools, You name it!! A chance to be IMMORTALIZED!!!)