One Crazy Week!

Hard to believe we could do all we've done this last week and still fit in three hours of American Idol but somehow we've managed! (Quick congrats to David Cook - my pick to win!) But onto everything else that's kept us busy this past week ...

Scott took a trip to Chicago to see his brother, Dayton, graduate from School of the Art Institute of Chicago (congrats also to Dayton!). While he was gone I got the surprise pleasure of hosting one of my best friends from college, Jennifer, and her two kids. They were visiting from Minneapolis to work with the Jimmy Carter Work Project building blitz with Habitat for Humanity on the Gulf Coast. Her daughter Noelle and Eben got along great and it was so fun to be with them again.

On our way to pick up Scott in New Orleans, the kids and I made a stop at the Louisiana Children's Museum which was awesome! It was really well done and all three kids loved different parts. Later in the day we picked Scott up and sadly had to head home without stopping for muffelatas or beignets :(

Finally, on Tuesday Tyler's class took a field trip to the New Orleans aquarium and the boys and I went along for that. We took a whirlwind trip through the aquarium, ate lunch at Riverwalk beside the Mississippi River and headed back on the school bus (the bus was as exciting for the boys as the aquarium). Over the next few days we finished off the t-ball season as well as the school year and we're looking forward to a week with absolutely nothing on our plate!

The Kids at Springtime

First Grade? Check!

Yesterday we bid farewell to Tyler's year as a first grader! Her school year closed with a short awards ceremony for all the kids. The teacher acknowledges the areas in which the student has excelled and has a few other awards they give out. Tyler did an incredible year this year and we're so proud of her! Here's a short video of her and her teacher as well as a list of the awards and certificates she received.

Pictures from Tball game

Red Hot!

Here's a short video of Tyler's at-bat tonight and run to first base. Enjoy!

Creative Writing

If you didn't already know, you can tell from this blog, I'm not into creative writing. However, our children have been blessed on both sides with literary genes. Scott is a wonderful writer and poet, his mother is a published author, his dad writes, my dad writes, my brother is a creative writing major - so it's all over. Fortunately, although I think Tyler mostly takes after me, it seems she has some interest in writing. Her teacher believes she'll grow up to be an artist or a writer. During this last part of first grade Tyler has had several writing assignments where she's given a subject and asked to write a few sentences on it. For having never done something like this before, I think her writing is really cute and creative! Here are some things she's written lately:

Kites
My kite has a long tail. I will let my string go out far and it will fly high. I will run with my kite. The wind blows it in the air. I can see it in the sky. The breeze might pull it in the trees. The End.
Rabbits
Rabbits are soft, cute and come in many different colors. They like to eat carrots, cabbages and flowers. They love to hop in the garden.
Breakfast
Breakfast is good with pancakes, egg, sausages and grapes. Mmmm good! I love a breakfast like that.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln lived in Kentucky. He lived in a log cabin. He loved to read the Bible! Abe Lincoln liked school very much. He liked to read all kinds of books. Abe Lincoln was honest and brave! He was the 16th President of the United States! Most people called him honest Abe.
My First Fishing Day
One day me and my Dad went fishing. I caught a couple of the same fish. My Dad helped me. I did pretty good! The fish i caught were very pretty. I went to another part of the pond. Then I caught a large mouth bass! The End.
George Washington
George Washington lived on a farm. He loved God and prayed. He became a brave soldier. He was the first President of the United States. George Washington always said do your best your very best and do it every day. And he loved to read the Bible.

Tate has The Life You've Always Wanted

I recently caught Tate taking a break and reading the book Scott and I have been going through in our book group. He was also taking some notes!

Blue Crabs

Eben recently became fascinated with the idea of catching and eating crabs. So, he and Scott went fishing with a friend and caught two crabs at the same time. Eben also caught a croaker which, despite it's size, he was quite proud of! Then, they spent Monday in Back Bay with crab traps and managed to catch five small crabs.

Here's a set of pictures and a video of them enjoying the two crabs they'd caught during the first trip.

T-ball 2008

T-ball season '08 is in full force! This year Scott is an assistant coach and Tyler is showing improvement in every game. She told me the other night that she doesn't like it when she doesn't "get much action" meaning she likes to play pitcher or one of the bases. Click here to see how much she's grown since last year's season.

This year we're the "Red Hots"! Hopefully I'll remember to bring my camera to a game sometime soon!