Ready for Hurricane Season 2006?!?

The New Orleans Superdome is still quite damaged after Hurricane Katrina blew off part of the roof last August.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Hurricane Season, and I have to be honest folks, part of me is terrified. Yesterday I spent the day with my husband, my kids, and my sister and her hubby in New Orleans at the Aquarium of the Americas, which just reopened this week, next to the river. As I passed by the Superdome (see picture above) I was reminded of just how much work is left to be done to recover from LAST Hurricane season. So much of the area next to the 17th Street Canal is a ghost town - many homes are still virtually untouched since the storm. I don't want to dwell on all of that, but I said this to say please pray for New Orleans. So much still needs to be done before we are ready for another storm. And now, more of our day yesterday...



The kids had a great time at the Aquarium! We also went to the IMAX theater (next door) to see a Coral Reef movie which was beautiful! After the movie ended we just sat along the river - there was a nice breeze blowing and the kids liked watching the boats pass by.


The sun was in our eyes - this is not the greatest picture! :)




We ended the evening by eating at Deanie's Seafood Restaurant, a GREAT seafood restaurant. I ordered the crawfish quartet, which had crawfish au gratin, crawfish etouffee, crawfish balls, and fried crawfish. Needless to say I had to get a take home box! :) It was a great day filled with great food and fun with the family. How is your summer going so far?

Summer is Finally Here!!

YAY! Summer is finally here! This month has been incredibly CRAZY at work, but now it is finally over!! :) :) I am so happy to now have so much time with the kids. We plan to start going to the library next week for storytime and the summer reading program. Also, we will be signing up for swimming lessons. What are your summer plans?

Stressful but rewarding trip...

Wednesday I left with a group of 21 students for the Jr. Beta Club Louisiana State Convention in Lafayette, LA (about 3 hours away). We came back yesterday at around 5 and I am pooped! Our little club hasn't even won as much as an honorable mention at State Convention the years that I've been there because there are over 10,000 kids that attend each year. But, this year was different!! :)

We entered a brand new competition called the "Living Literature Museum," where 10 students re-enact a scene from any piece of literature using props, costumes, and a backdrop. We chose C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was SO stressful yesterday. We were supposed to be ready to check out of the hotel and be dressed in costumes by 7 am, but it seems like noone was ready on time. By the time we got to the room where the competition was being held, we only had 15 minutes of setup time left out of the 30 we were supposed to have. I was a nervous wreck!!! The backdrop was put together incorrectly when we only had 5 minutes to spare. I have never seen a group of parents and 2 teachers work so quickly. I was so blessed to have them help me, because by the grace of God we got everything set up with NO TIME TO SPARE!! At 8:00 they blew a whistle and all adults had to leave. The kids then had to get into a pose and hold it for 15 minutes (yep, you heard right) to look like a wax museum exhibit. They got a 5 minute break, and then they had to get back into the pose for another 15 minutes. A few kids (not ours) came out throwing up and a couple even passed out!! I guess they locked their knees or didn't eat breakfast. Anyway, after all that stress it was worth it. We won!! We won 1st place - it was so amazing! I would love to post a picture, but I wouldn't want to place pictures of the kids without permission from their parents. We got a beautiful plaque and an invitation to compete in the National Convention in Greensboro, North Carolina at the end of next month.

So, just when I thought the school year was coming to a close, I will be working an EXTRA MONTH!! It will be fun, though. I couldn't do it without my co-sponsor . She's a great help! Well, I'm off to go look up plane tickets and hotel info. Have a great weekend!