Christmas Pictures 2008

It takes a great amount of effort to get everyone all clean, dressed, kept clean, all together, smiling and looking in the right direction.
Here is a slideshow of this years attempts. I think we did pretty well this year. I love the pictures of Katie Grace and Daddy, and the ones of Katie Grace and Max in front of the door. Hope everyone is doing well. I'll update more later. For now enjoy the show!

Snow?!?!

Yup! Bright and early this morning I woke to Katie Grace shaking me:

KG "Momma its Kissmass!"
Me "No baby its not Christmas yet, go back to bed,"
KG "Nooooo Momma its KISSMASS!"
Me "Honey, its 5:30, its not time to get up yet, go back to bed."
KG "Noooooo Momma!!! ITS KISSMASS! You know that white stuff?"
Me "Snow?"
KG "Yeah its raining snow!"

At this point Jim comes in to alert me to the fact that yes it was indeed snowing. He had already taken pictures and made little snowmen on the patio table.

He had to wake the kids up, so at 6am this morning my children were outside with socks on their hands (because all the snow gear is packed up)making snowmen in the front yard. They had to show their Louisiana friends how we kick it New England style!

Happy Thanksgiving from Natale South

Halloween 08

Almost over

October is the best month of the year, and also the most busy.

Since my last post we have celebrated Max's, Katie Graces and Moms Birthdays. Katie Grace and I were in the Cal-Cam parade with her dance school, Jim went on a business trip to Brazil...and on and on and on. I am so glad that this crazy month is almost over and I can start obsessing about my Thanksgiving day menu, and making my Christmas lists.

Anyway, I had planned to post some pictures of Max's and Katie Graces Birthdays last week. Jim took the pictures on his work camera (much better than our old clunker) and dutifully downloaded them onto the laptop for me to post while he was in Brazil. The only problem with that was that at the last minute before his trip, he decided to take the laptop along!

So without further waiting.... pictures!

Katie Graces Birthday: (her favorite was the Zoe ballerina doll from Auntie Beth, Uncle Chris, Dana and Logan)

The look of a big sister watching her little sister open her presents. Pure Joy!

Maxwell's Birthday (There is a movie somewhere, Ill have to figure out how to edit, so I can post it)

The Cal-Cam parade and fair:

Soccer Birthday

Alexandra turned 11 years old last week. Its still so hard to believe that we have a "tween" in the house. We are so proud of the young woman that she is becoming. I love the fact that even though shes "cool" now, its still "cool" to give her Momma loves. I hope it wont go out of fashion, but if it does I am savoring each moment.

Happy Birthday Alex.

Here are some pics of her Soccer Party. She has a great time. They played a soccer game in the front yard, did some crafts, played pin the ball in the goal, did a pinata and had cake and ice cream. Please pardon the "moat" as we are having pool filter issues at the moment.

Just say NO!

For the love of all things truly American,

INCLUDING the CONSTITUTION!

JUST SAY NO!

They say that the deep south is backwards, but will someone then please explain to me why both Senators from LA, MS and AL all voted No on the Economic Stimulus package? Only 5 states did so. Seems to me that they are the only ones actually paying attention to what Mr. Average Joe is telling them.

Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Sen. David Vitter (LA) today issued the following statement regarding the proposed $700 billion bailout package being considered this week by Congress:“After studying the final bill carefully and talking with many people I respect, I can’t support this plan.
“First, it’s an unprecedented government bailout that will almost certainly pave the way for even more – maybe sooner rather than later.
“Second, it requires people at Treasury to make tens of thousands of judgment calls about what they buy and for how much. And these will be folks who are from Wall Street and want to go to back. That ensures bias and even corruption.
“Third, there’s been no adequate discussion of the major reforms needed. And I’m afraid this big government first step helps ensure that Congress won’t make those strong reforms – like breaking up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and demanding real cash down for all home purchases,” said Vitter

Now, I wont claim to know more than I do, but I do know that this goes against the very thing that makes us Americans, that little piece of paper called the Constitution!

Google the words Economic Bail Out and Constitution and see what you get.

Have you read the proposal? How about this little blurb?

"Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."

Seriously??? Does that seem wrong to anyone else? Its been a long time since my civics class, but I'm pretty sure that there is something in that piece of paper that these people swore an oath to uphold that says "Congress cannot delegate its oversight authority to a cabinet member, even in a time of turmoil."Its called nondelegation and it means that under no circumstances is Congress allowed to give the power to police itself to one of its members. That power must be held by the House and Senate.

Strike One.

How about this one. Remember how the House Failed the bill a few days ago? Somehow the Senate is voting on it? The Constitution says "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills." Wanna know how they got around that one? Easy! They attached it to another bill, something about tax incentives for energy. So now they get to vote before the House!

"Huh? Did the Founding Fathers really intend that if the House votes down a revenue bill, that the Senate should just be able to turn the whole thing into an amendment and attach it to something else?" (JohnNichols )

Strike two against the Constitution.

What about you and me and our Families? This is what its sounding like to me: Its like the Government coming to your door, demanding $2,300 for each member of your family and telling you that you have absolutely no say as to what they will do with that money. Then they take that money and drive past the foreclosure signs on your neighbors house, past the run down school in need of repair, past the Mom & Pop on the corner that is closing after 75 years in business. And then you get to watch as they give your money to a man in an suit that costs more then you make in a month. He puts it in his pocket, shakes his buddies hand, gives him a wink and drives off into the sunset in his brand new luxury car. Meanwhile back at your house you struggle with the decision of whether to buy milk because you just cant afford the $6.00 a gallon, and wondering what happened to America, and when it got lost, and what you could have done to save it.

If this gets passed you wont have a say.

But you DO have a say right now! We have people that we have elected into positions to speak for us. Their sole job is to hear us and let us be heard! Sure, let your vote speak for you on election day, but right now is the time to let them know that we will not stand idly by and watch our Countries most important document be stepped over and around in order to appease a few. Let them know that you will not vote for a LIAR! They swore an oath to protect the Constitution. Remind them of what they said!

"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

Please take 2 minutes to write your states officials.

www.house.gov

www.senate.gov

Writing them took me a total of 5 minutes this morning. Cost me nothing and hopefully saved me $2,300x6.

.

Big Girl Furniture!

Sometimes furniture can mark milestones in your life. Moving from a crib to a big girl bed marks your transition from baby to toddler, from a booster seat to a regular chair: toddler to big kid. In your first apartment the hand-me downs from your parents and grandparents say you are ready to be on your own, but the mismatched pieces -the wobbly leg coffee table and bright orange chair all say you still need to get things together and figure out who you are going to be.

Up till now we have used a table we got on clearance after our wedding, an old chair from Auntie Carol, 4 chairs that Jim tried to match with the table (only slightly unsuccessfully, because the arms didn't fit under the skirt of the table) and last but not least a folding chair from my Mom . Yes, you counted 6, once Katie Grace graduated out of her highchair, we realized it might be time for a new dining room set, -we had to pull a stool over from the counter so that we could all eat at the same time. Yes, it was time to talk grownup furniture! And now, I can finally announce that Jim and I are real life grown-ups with real life grown-up furniture! I know it might sound silly, and I know that its all a state of mind, but now the outside matches the insides.

And to answer your questions.

Yes, the cushions are white. No, I am not high.

Yes, we plan to eat dinner here every night. Yes, I am buying stock in upholstery cleaner and stain out. :)

Look! Wedding China & Crystal! Its either been packed or sitting in a kitchen cabinet for almost 12 years!!!

On a sentimental note: The story from My Mom goes: When My Oma got her first fancy China Cabinet, she begged and begged My Opa to get her some pretties to go inside of it. She ended up getting these Aynsley tea cups. It is fitting that they went to my Mom and now me to display in my first China Cabinet. And someday they will go to Alex when she gets hers...

Slacker...

But with good reasons!!!

We have been super busy here! Hardly a night goes by without some sort of practice or dance class or game.

Alex is is doing 2 soccer teams again this fall. It actually happened by chance. Jimmy's football Coaches Wife coaches a U12 Tournament League and we got to talking.... yadda yadda yadda Alex is playing in her first Tournament this weekend!

Here are some pics of her first game for the T.L.

The T.L. is 2-0 and her rec league which has some ladies that have never played before is 0-1-1.

I may be just a overly proud Momma, but doesn't she look awesome! Can you believe that she will be 11 years old this coming Thursday?

Jimmy is LOVING his first season playing football, its actually Flag Football. He is playing defence, he rushes the QB.

Max is patiently awaiting next year so he can start soccer. But for now he is happy to kick the ball around the sidelines.

He has found a new Best Friend in Moses. They are always cuddling together. Moses usually has his head down on Max's chest but when I came around the corner with the camera he perked his head up as if to say "whatcha doin Ma?"

Katie Grace... is a grumpy gus this morning. But here is proof that she actually does smile once and awhile, and can stop screaming and whining for more than a minute at a time....

She does look pretty in her Pats' gear.

Still here

We survived the night here at home. The power went out briefly at around midnight, but then came right back on. We had all 4 kids camped out in our bedroom on the floor, just in case anything happened. No damage here or in the neighborhood just lots of wind since about 6 pm yesterday. I would say that the sustained winds have been about 40 with gusts up around 60-70 mph. Lake Charles had a lot of flooding around the actual lake, but we are on the other side of the lake and further inland, so flooding isn't really an issue. Its just the wind. Its been blowing and whipping around since about 6 pm yesterday. Jim took these pictures and movie this morning.

My poor key lime tree...

guess who is having margaritas and key lime pie later?

Here we go....again...

We have been keeping a close eye on Ike as he has moved into the gulf. Forecast models show him moving towards the TX coast. We will be on the bad side, east: meaning that we should experience lots of rain and wind from Friday night into Saturday.
There is no main mandatory evacuation, only those who have special needs and live in trailers are being told to leave at this time.
They closed the schools again, no school today or tomorrow (they were supposed to have Friday off anyway for teachers in-service day).
Last week when the potential for Ike to come into the gulf presented itself, we made arrangements to evacuate to San Antonio, but more than likely we will remain here because that seems to be where all of the people from Texas who have mandatory evacs are going.
The weather channel is forecasting that Ike will be very similar to Rita which is causing a lot of people around here to be very cautious. Rita did a lot of damage here, lots of downed trees and power outages. We have our generator, gas, bottled water and emergency food prepared from last time.
Right now as I write this at 10 AM Thursday morning, the sun is shinning, not a cloud in the sky and a beautiful 85 degrees.
I will keep everyone updated...

Home again

We are home safe and sound. Our Parish has a system in place where you can sign up your phone/text/cell numbers and an automated message will alert you to any new information. The text message came in at 9am yesterday. We had planned on going to the zoo, but once we got news that the mandatory evacuation was lifted, we packed up and headed out. We got home around 11 or so last night. OK city is a loooooooong drive. It took us about 12 hours to get home between the stops and the traffic. At one point on rt. 10 in Texas Jim noticed that about 80% of the cars were from Louisiana. Everyone was going home.

Moses did fantastic in the hotel room and in the car, he really is such a good dog.

There wasn't any damage on the house, lots of leaves and debris in the pool, some yard pick up to do. But we got really lucky with the path that Gustav took.

Jim went back to work today to help restart the plant.

For me today is all about unpacking, laundry, cleaning up, and putting everything back together.
FUN TIMES!!!@@

Arrived in OK City

We are all safe and sound at the La Quinta Inn & Suites in OK City. We got here about 11pm last night, a looooooong day of driving. We are all pretty spent this morning.
We are still glued to the weather on TV.
You can check out our local TV station in Lake Charles on kplctv.com, they are estimating that we have already gotten about 5 inches of rain, with more to come. We will keep watching today and hope to hear news from Neighbors that are scattered around Texas, Arkansas, Northern LA, Mississippi and Alabama.
Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts.
We will continue to update that blog as news comes in.

Leaving

We are leaving tomorrow in the morning sometime. It was really hard finding hotels, as everyone is heading away from the coasts. Not to mention the fact that we need two rooms and the hotel must be large dog friendly. We had to go as far away as Oklahoma City to find one. 536 miles away! Good thing the kids are used to long car trips.


I'm off to finish laundry and start packing...

Keep us in your prayers.

Will update from OKC tomorrow.

Gustav

Worried? Sure!
Its the hot topic down here. Everyone is talking about it. It's so different from a Nor'easter that we are used to. Forecasters give you all the hype, blah blah blah 12-24 inches of snow, you snuggle in and wake up in the morning to the sound of plows coming through. True sometimes it would take a few hours to shovel the driveway, but within a day we were back to normal.

This is different. There is so much time. We have been watching the weather channel for 3 days straight. Louisiana declared a state of emergency yesterday, and Pres. Bush declared us one today. The school systems have decided to close not only for the Holiday but Tuesday and Wednesday just in case.

When even the old timers, the ones that have grown up here and have gone through Rita, start talking about leaving, yes maybe its time to talk hotels.

Speaking of hotels, there is nothing available in Northern LA, seems we might have to go further North to find something. Everyone seems to be having the same idea. "Get out of Dodge and fast!"

Some people made reservations as early as a week ago, some are waiting till Sunday to see what happens.

My Neighbor lady told me that it took her about 2 hours to get what usually is a 10 minute drive during the evac of Rita. Hopefully we will make a decision to either stay or go before anything mandatory goes into effect.

Someone at Dance School said today that they had to go to five gas stations to fill up their car.

There isn't a D battery left on the store shelves. We looked. So much for the great idea of getting all of the kids their own flashlights in case we decide to stay. We have 5 brand new empty flashlights sitting on the counter.

We made a trip to Walmart last night to make our Hurricane supply kit. 10 gallons of water, lots of soup, comfort (read: junk) food. A wind up lantern/cell phone charger/radio.

As I write this Jim is outside cutting plywood for the windows.

I'll keep everyone posted through the blog. And update when we have reached a decision whether to ride it out here or head north.

Keep us in your prayers.

"I go to Dance School wit Eden."

Katie Grace had her first ballet/tap lesson on Friday. She signed up with her new BFF Eden from the Neighborhood.

I'm not sure how much actual dancing there was, its mostly just a chance for the Moms to dress up their little girls and watch as they pretend to be pretty pretty princesses.

Isn't she adorable!?!

Pretty Ballerina

No other reason...

With no other reason, except that it was a Wednesday afternoon and that my sweet Husband was thinking of me, he sent me a dozen red roses. Don't you love it when they do something so sweet and unexpected like this. Say it with me "awwwwwww". We've been married for almost 12 years and have known each other for 16 and he's still wooing me. :)

Thank You Jim,

I love you too.

Back to School!

Yay! Its that time of year already! Even though Schools in MA wont start for another 2 weeks, down here they started Friday. We had a meet and greet on Thursday afternoon (an awesome idea). Jim and I took Alex and Jimmy down to the school, dropped off all of their supplies, met their teachers, took a tour of the building and just got to get a general lay of the land. Made going to bed on Thurs. night much easier as most of their nerves were settled. (read: theirs not mine lol).

The bus will be picking them up at 6:45 each day and they didn't get home until 3:50 on Friday, we will see if that is just a first day getting the bugs out of the system thing or if that really is going to be the time that they get home each day.

So far they seem to like it well enough. Their Teachers were really nice and welcoming.

So far...

Likes: Teachers, Art Room, Lockers, Library, Computer Lab. No music.

Dislikes: Having to sit in the first 4 seats on the bus due to the fact that there are also High Schoolers being dropped off at different schools. (You remember bus hierarchy). School Hamburgs (the lunch on Friday), weird bathrooms, no snack, short recesses.

Alex, having gotten somewhat used to the fact that she would need to wear a uniform only made some noises about them not being "her", but did the grown up thing of reminding herself "that it wasn't so bad, and that everyone else was going to be wearing them."

I thought that they looked rather smart.

Our day back here at home has been very quiet. As I write this, Max is playing with his GeoTrax here in the playroom and Katie Grace is napping. Ahhhhhhhh its nice.