Scenes from a Hurricane Evacuation

As many of you know most of our family is from Louisiana.

North, South, East and West.....We don't discriminate

With the approaching Hurricane Gustav all of our family was sent to safer ground. So, Brady, Chris, Tyler, Bryce and Jen all made their way west. It took Tyler 7 hours to travel what normally would have been 3.5 hours. He said at one point it took them 1 hour to go 2 miles!!!!

Fortunatley everyone was able to return home to unharmed homes just a few days later. The hurricane chose not to go toward their hometown.





Rocket even had a little company for a few minutes a day. Lucy Bell didn't seem to mind the size of her 4 legged companion. However, Copper the other Yorkie chose to stay safe in the A/C.



While some of the boys chose to play pool and other games Bryce mastered his texting skills.

Brady and Chris ran the tables most of the day and night. I should have paid more attention because their skills far exceed mine. (Well any skills would far exceed mine)
We got everyone in on a little "Pit" action. This is a very old game that we have recently discovered. You can have up to 8 players at once and the more people.......the louder and the more fun. So beware if you come over you may have to play a round with us.
The Plasma cars were a big hit with all the "kids" Even Libby joined in the fun when she came by to visit Chris.
The kids didn't mind giving up their beds. In fact they tried to keep sleeping here in our room after the Gustav evacuees left. I got a small taste of what it may be like when all our kids are grown and come home for a visit. It was quite different to cook for 12 and clean up for 12 but it sure was fun. Zane, Kaylee, Trent, Mia and Ty sure enjoyed getting to see their cousins for more than a few hours at Christmas and Thanksgiving.

An added perk was always having enough people to get a good game of Mario Kart going......

Look Who's Swimming?

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It's hard to believe just 3 years ago Mia would scream bloody-murder any time she was even near the water. Including just walking into the bathroom. She's really come a long way! Ty took his floaties off and started swimming back and forth. Peer pressure it can be a powerful thing. Mia had to safe face so she started doing it as well.
It looks like Bear Branch may have two new swimmers next year!

Go 'Stros

Earlier this month The Odoms called to invite us for a fun day with the Astros (and the Odoms of course) It was faith and family night at the Astros game and the more we talked about it, the more plans we made. The game started at 6:00 But the Faith and Family portion started at 3:00ish and we would definitley need lunch before that. James made reservations downtown at the original Ninfas restaurant. This was the first Ninfa's restaurant in the Houston area before it became popular and turned into a chain. The Mexican food was great! The chips and queso, even better. As you can see Tate is really enjoying his beans and rice. I'm glad no one took a picture of me with my plate. It would have been embarassing.

Now this is a site to behold......Just Dads and Kids..... where are the moms? (Well someone has to take the pictures)
We're a little embarassed to admit that we've lived here 7 years and this is our first game as a family. David took Zane once a few years ago. But they sat so high,(in the cheap seats) that Zane asked David why the players were as big as ants?

Part of the Faith and Family night was a testimony by Lance Berkman and then a small concert but none other than our favorite artist SCC. (Steven Curtis Chapman) He talked a lot about the loss of Maria. One of the most profound statements I heard him say was that "he knows less now about God and his ways. But the things about God he does know he is more certain of them than ever"
He sang several of our favorite songs and at one point Trent told us that Mia and I were on the Jumbotron. Of course by the time he told me, we were off.

Mia loved making goofy faces to get baby Abby to laugh.
The night wasn't all fun and games. At one point the parents did some negotiating and we arranged the future marriages of Tate and Mia. We all agree.... I'm sure Tate and Mia will one day also.

Giveaway

Want to win a beautiful new bag? Check out this site for a chance to win!

http://www.ourfamilyjournal.com/2008/08/welcome-to-uptown.html

The Blog owner is fundraising for plane tickets to China to bring her little boy home soon!

First Day of School

Ladies and Gentlemen let me formally introduce you to "A Middle-Schooler" Live and in person. He had a great first day. No one sent him upstairs to find his class in the one story building. (David had given him plenty of warning about that one) He ate lunch with "his people" and really seemed to get along fine without his parents walking him into school.
Next up with have a beautiful second grade girl. Who may have been more eager to wear her new outfit than to actually learn something. After doing a little back to school shopping I told David that shopping may just be her love language. She's just as content to look as to buy.... Whew!
And finally our Fabulous First Grade boy. This is Trent's first year in the Spanish Immersion Program. I asked him after school if the teacher spoke any spanish today. He said Yes but he didn't understand what she was saying but then she started making a lot of arm motions and he figured out what she was talking about.
Ty quickly made himself at home in the teacher's chair while Kaylee hung up her back-pack.

Good-bye hugs and everyone left happily. Only a small amount of tears and everyone was setttled.



To Celebrate the first day I made Pink Lemonade Cupcakes for everyone. These three were reserved on the Celebration plate just for the new students.

Slipping Away

Summer is slipping away so quickly. I feel like we were shorted some how. Just 2 more full days until school starts and we are not ready. I went to parent orientation tonight and I could just feel the anxiety building up inside....it's time to think about schedules, homework, alarm clocks and not to mention MIDDLE SCHOOL.

To me this picture just screams SUMMER!
(By the way there was water nearby we don't typically tube on concrete)

Summer Stay-cation

In the early summer I heard on the Today Show that many people would not be traveling as far for vacation. With rising gas prices many people were choosing to stay at home. And a new phrase emerged the "stay-cation" Basically you stay at your own house and choose to do fun things closer to home. At the time I remember laughing quite loudly and thinking what an upsurd idea. The point of vacation usually is to get away for a while.

Well we got away.....17 days in fact.......and missed our beds, food, kids, conviences.
Once Ty got settled in and we got over jet-lag it was time to consider if we were in fact going to take a family vacation.

Very quickly the thought of a stay-cation sounded like a really brilliant idea. Really, all the kids want is to go do something fun and have mom and dad participate as well. So we set aside a couple of days and planned our stay-cation.

We let everyone choose an activity and then worked out a schedule to get it all accomplished. The kids chose things that typically we don't get to do unless there is a special event or birthday party to attend.

So here is the list of requests that we accomplished:
Zane - Ride bikes and go fishing
Trent - Glow in the dark mini-golf
Mia - Paint pottery at The Mudpie Company
Kaylee - fishing and mudpie
Ty - Build a Bear Workshop (everyone else already had a bear)
Mom- Not to cook for 2 days (I picked the restaurant for lunch and dinner one day)
Dad - Not to spend $200 just on gas to and from vacation (He picked lunch & dinner the next day)

We had a great time. We saved a little money (not much) However, we contributed to the local merchants and tried to feel good about ourselves in the process.
And most importantly we spent some good quality time together.

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Incredible Fun

Last year our cousin, Gabe was able to come spend an entire week with us. But this year with all the busyness of going to China and all we didn't get to have our Super cousins week. So, Gabe, Mammie and Aunt Joyce made a trip over for a long weekend. We tried to pack in as much fun as possible. Included in the fun was a trip to incredible Pizza. The kids had a great time. I'm not sure who had more fun playing laser tag.....the kids....or Mammie, David and I..... I'm thinking maybe the "grown ups"

Mammie and Gabe are poied for action......Bring it on!!!
This picture was taken in pitch black. Had I know there was a gun pointed at my head, I would not have leaned in so far to get a nice picture with my "loving" son.

Proud to be an American

Ty got his first letter in the mail last week. Unless he wins the Publisher's House sweepstakes it will be his most important piece of mail ever. It is his US Citizenship Certificate.

Included in the envelope was a letter from none other than George W. Bush. I'm sure it was dictated and typed especially for him. None the less, this was a great day for Ty(and me)

Me, because unless you've been an immigrant or adopted you can't belive the amount of paper-work that goes into getting this document.

We are truly blessed to live in such a wonderful, FREE country. I thank God for it now almost everyday. Just to know that our two babies may have never heard the name of Jesus or had a chance to worship him freely, sends chills up my spine.
We are blessed!!!

Hello?

A new Mia"ism"

We were swimming late yesterday evening. It was such a nice night and wasn't very hot so I decided before we went in for bed they might like to ride their bikes a little. So we all got out of the pool and I sent Kaylee for my cover up. We were going to ride in the front yard.

Everyone got on their bike and Mia stopped and said, "Mom I need a cover up" I said,"No Mia we aren't going to be out very long, just go ahead and ride in your bathing suit"

She responded (In a tone that says duh?) with

"Mom I have a belly button showing here, Hello?"

May the Force be with you

For the past several years Trent has had a Pool party at our local swimming pool. Well this year given the fact that we have our own pool he decided that he would like a party at Chuck E. Cheese. Hey, It's your birthday, let's go. So We rounded up a few friends and met there for fun Friday morning.
Ty and Kaylee were hanging on very tight to the simulated roller coaster ride. I'm not sure how much Ty liked it but he didn't get off until the end.

Mia and Tate playing Monkeys in cage. Actually they were just waving at their Mommies!
All the playing left Grey a little parched. Well maybe a lot parched since he couldn't stop drinking long enough for a photo.

Apparently this jeep is very realistic. Well, at least Lex thinks so.

Do you know who this is? You better not say a really bad Shrek, because it took me until 1:00 a.m to get the right shade of Yoda Green! I'm still not certain why Wilton doesn't make Yoda Green.

Interview

If you missed the interview with Steven & Mary Beth Chapman this morning:

then go over here and you can watch the entire thing

http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/jim/2008/08/entire-abc-inte.html