Brownie Meeting - Cupcake Decorating

Emily had a Brownie meeting last night, and this time they learned how to use a piping bag to decorate cupcakes. They had to bake the cupcakes (at home) then decorate at the meeting.  I think they liked this one - they got to eat their creations.

 

 

 

Next meeting:  Christmas party!

Pixie Cut

I've been taking Eva to get her hair cut by a lady who lives close to the house. She does a good job, for simple cuts, but when we showed a picture, she just did the same cut again. So, I took her to a lady where I get my hair cut. I asked to her to make it a shorter version of what she had and to make it girly.  I think it was a success!

 

Horseback Riding

I purchased a horseback riding Groupon for the 4 of us. It was a good deal already, and I got an additional 20% off.  A bargain.  Emily was very nervous/excited about riding. She said a girl she knows broke her leg riding a horse. She did great though - the horses knew what they were doing. 

My horse happened to be named Neaux-L.  What are the odds?

 This is Emily right when she first got on. Scared.

 David on his $3.5 million dollar race horse.

 Eva getting on her horse.

 The four of us. 

Eva on her horse.

Emily after. A real smile

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Student of the Month

Eva came home last week with this student of the month certificate. One person from each class who best exhibits the IB (International Baccalaureate) learner profiles is selected by the teachers each month. The learner profiles include principled, knowledgeable, balanced, caring, risk-taker, inquirer, thinker, reflective, communicator, and open-minded.  And she has straight A's so far this year.  So proud of this girl! 

Halloween

Halloween was eventful this year. The Friday before the kids were able to dress as book characters to school. Eva was Harry Potter and Emily was a Death Eater (these were their costumes for Halloween last year- reversed).  Eva looked so much like Harry with that short hair!

 

Trick or treating was moved to Friday night because of the horrible weather forecasted for Saturday night (and it came, tornadoes and all).  Emily dressed up as a Voodoo girl and Eva was Raven from Teen Titans Go! 

The night ended at a friend's house with smores and fun. A good night for all!

Lion Up!

We met with friends and tailgated for Southeastern Louisiana University's homecoming.  It was a beautiful day with good friends, drink, kids, and Roomie the lion. 

 

Photo with Roomie and the girls. 

 The girls. Do you see how many there are??? There are more, too!

Lion Up!

 

We did not go to the game--LSU played Florida at the same time.  There is no way David is going to watch SELU play over LSU, me neither for that matter.  It was a great day and LSU won (SELU did not)! 

City Park

Eva and Emily went to a birthday party at the amusement park at City Park last weekend.  All of the kids had a great time. The weather was cool, and the park wasn't too crowded.

 

 The girls.

 All of the kids who were at the party.

 

 Another shot of the group, this time sitting on a live oak limb.

Emily hand in hand with Lanie. Cuties.

 

I didn't post pictures of kids on rides; that just gets repetitive.

Gleason Gras

Lisa and Mitch came in town to visit for Eva's birthday. We spent some time at Gleason Gras on Saturday.  It raises money and awareness for ALS.  It was a little cooler than we expected it to be, and the good music wasn't until later in the day (during the LSU game), so we only stayed a short while before going back home. 

 

The girls got their picture taken with Sir Saint:

 

While Lisa and I had ours taken with Scott Fujita, former Saint for those of you who don't recognize him. 

 

It was fun while we were there, and we all got some No White Flag clothing to take home.

Brownies

The first meeting was last night, a Bridging Ceremony, for those that were in Girl Scouts last year. The new girls got a welcome certificate and a pin for their vests.  Next year Emily will received patches for everything she participated in.

She's already participated in Arts and Crafts (Painting with a Twist), and next weekend is a theater workshop at Renaissance Festival (which is not open yet).  In November they will do the Corn Maze. 

I think she is really going to enjoy getting to do all of these different activities that she normally doesn't get to do.  Some of them allow sibling to join in also, if they want.

This is before the ceremony.  She's really starting to look all grown up. Sniff.

A Celebration

This is our celebration week. David's birthday (40!!) comes first, followed by our anniversary on the 26th (our 12th).  Eva's birthday is next, on Oct. 1.  We went to dinner at Mellow Mushroom to celebrate as a family, which we usually don't due. Normally, David and I get a hotel room somewhere to celebrate his birthday and our anniversary, then Eva has a party. This year, since David is not working right now, we toned it down and had one family celebration dinner (besides cake and presents on their actual birthdays).

I really wanted to throw David a 40th birthday party, but it just wasn't in the cards this year. Eva (and Emily) were told that there will be no birthday parties this year. There were tears from Eva, but I assured her she was getting a better gift since there was no party. Maybe next year there will be a joint surprise party...

That was the only picture I took. 
Happy 40th Birthday, Happy Anniversary, Happy Birthday to us!!!

Back to School Neon Dance

Here are a couple of pictures Eva took at her back to school dance with some friends.  She had a great time, and 4 girls came over afterwards and spent the night.

 

 

 

 

These are a couple that I took, one before the dance and one right before we left.

 

Do you see Eva eating nachos? 

Girl Scouts

After asking to join ALL of last year, I decided to let her do it this year. Her bff is in Girl Scouts, so that is what prompted all of this.  Their first meeting/event was at Painting with a Twist, and they painted Pretty in Paris. 

 

 Her masterpiece.

 

 

 Emily and her bff.

 

 

A silly picture with their paintings.

 

 

The next meeting is next Saturday. Her uniform is in transit with the required pins. I'll post that pic when they come in.

Volleyball Video

This is just a quick video of Eva spiking the ball.

 

 

Baptism

Emily was baptized in the Bogue Falaya River this pas Sunday. In the video she is the next to last person on the right in a dark shirt. Someone runs in at the last minute to the right and she is next to him.  This was her decision, unprovoked by us.

 

 

Volleyball Picture

As promised, an action shot:

 

 

She is doing well, busting her butt and giving it her all.  Some girls are serving overhand, but I think she needs to stick with underhand until she builds some strength up in those skinny arms. That is probably her biggest issue: strength. Once she starts putting some weight/muscle on she'll improve a lot.  I started putting on muscle in 6th grade, so I expect her to do about the same.

 

First game is in 2 weeks.

 

 

 



David's Follow-up Appointment

David went in for his follow-up appointment yesterday. The prognosis is good; Dr. D said his surgery went text-book perfect. . Dr. D said he looks great, is very happy he is out walking everyday (with Phoebe). He is used to people coming in and asking for more pain medication, which David did not.   David had a number questions, all which were answered. The hot spot he is feeling in his upper back/lower neck is due to muscle spasms, which will benefit from physical therapy and pain management. The pins and needles and other had issues are due to damaged nerves and will also get better with physical therapy.

He was able to see the bruise on his spine on an x-ray, which he said was pretty big.  He was able to see the titanium plate in his neck, which he said was pretty cool. 

Dr. D said he can't look at how he's doing on a day-to-day basis; he is on a 3 month, 6 month, one year basis.  He goes back next for a CT scan to check fusion and a few days after that for another follow-up. 

Varsity Volleyball

I have to say Congratulations to Eva on making it onto the varsity volleyball team at her school!  She participated in a volleyball camp over the summer with her coach, and I've been told by more than one parent on more than one occasion how well she was doing in tryouts and practice.  One even said she was a "beast" on the court. She gives it her all,  has a great attitude, and always has fun. 

Sorry, no pictures yet.

Ballet

Ballet is in full swing again. Emily is going twice a week again this year. They will go twice a week through December and then drop down to one day a week for the remainder of the year while they work on the recital pieces. 

I'm a little surprised that she has stuck with it. It seems like this might be her thing.  This is her 5th year in ballet (plus one or two years at another dance school). It helps, too, that her bff is in her class. 

Can you tell she is wearing her tights over her

 leotard like she's seen on various documentaries?

 

I wonder if she'll make it to pointe shoes? I believe that is ballet 4 and 11 years old, so at least 3 years away if not 4. The girls generally stay in each class level for 2 years. That would mean Emily would have the remainder of this year in Ballet 2, then two years in Ballet 3 before being able to get into Ballet 4.  There is always the possibility of 1 year in Ballet 3, but I think a little more time to get her strength up is better. Pointe shoes are hard. I remember that I quit ballet right when I was going into pointe shoes - of course, I quit to play softball.

 

This year (May 2016) they will perform a production of The Firebird. I'm glad they've gotten away from the Disney princess ballets. I was getting tired of those.

 

I'm excited to see how she grows this year, as I am with every year. 

David

As most of you know, David had an accident during his soccer game last weekend. He was going to block a ball (he's a goal keeper) and was hit in the forehead with someone's knee.  Besides getting a concussion his head was knocked backwards leaving him unconscious and initially with no feeling in his hands. After waking up, the pins and needles came and then changed to severe burning pain in his hands. So much that you couldn't tough his hands at all.

The paramedics were called, a neck brace was put on his neck, and he was taken to the ER in New Orleans. I was not at the game and was called when the ambulance was on its way. I rushed in from Hammond to find him in the ER very scared and upset. He truly thought he broke his neck. As it turns out there were no breaks or fractures (!) but his spinal cord was is bruised.

Three days later he was being wheeled down to the OR for anterior cervical discectomy fusion. Basically, they went in through the front of his neck, removed a disc, and fused two of his vertebrae together.  He had numerous bone spurs in his spine as well as minimal space in his vertebrae all of which was putting pressure on his spinal cord. When his head snapped back, it 'pinched' his cord, bruising it.  All of that has been cleaned out now, but he still may need to have this done on the vertebrae below these two that were fused together. He won't be happy about that.

He did get some immediate relief in his hands after the surgery, and they've gotten a tad better since being home, but he is still dealing with some pins and needles and some pain in his hands. His biggest complaint is pain across both shoulders and back. 

He has a follow-up appointment Monday, so we'll see what the doctor says at that time.

First Day

This is what the first day of 3rd and 6th grades looks like.  Sigh.  They are getting big so fast. My new job has me leaving the house at 5:20am, so I do not get to see them off (or at all) in the morning. This is very difficult for me as well as for Emily (she talks about it a lot), so we'll see how this goes. The upside is that I will be home shortly after they get home from school.  I did call and FaceTime with them before they left, so that helped a lot for both of us.

 

 

 Waiting for the bus

 

 

 

 

This year riding the bus in the morning is new. They will also ride the bus home.  (Last year they took the bus to my office 3 days out of the week.)  Eva will get a key to the house for those days that we will not be there when they get home. I can't tell you how excited she is about getting this key.  

 

Do you see a certain dog photo-bombing?

 

David was on kid (and dog) duty this morning. I can see Phoebe getting used to this routine - walking the girls to the bus stop and waiting with them.  It's just so cute.



Baton Rouge Sunrises

I had to share a couple of sunrises I got to see from the balcony on the 7th floor of the building I work in.    If I were to swing the camera just to the left (south) you would see a panorama of refineries, so I'll just stick to this view. 

 

Yes, this is the same balcony in which I was locked out.    Kind of worth it, though.

Meet and Greets

The girls had their meet and greet at school to drop off school supplies and meet their teachers this past week.

Emily has the teacher she and I wanted--for 3rd grade! And her bff, Kendall, is in her class, too. 

Eva is in class with most of her friends. She is going into 6th grade, which is middle school. Their school has changed 6,7, and 8th grades to match the schedule of the high school. They will have a block schedule now. They have 8 total classes that they take, but only 4 in a day, and they rotate each day. This is supposed to transition them better when they do get to high school.  This year is also the first year that they have to dress out for PE, as well as the first year they will get grades for Spanish and computer.  Their English teacher is their homeroom teacher, but they will switch teachers for every other class, just like high school.  Eva is so excited about this schedule. She says it makes her feel older. 

Sigh. It makes me feel older, too.

Busy Times

My last post was in May at the end of the school year. What was supposed to be a fairly quiet summer ended up being pretty busy.  Here's the quick recap:

We've had hair cuts...

We went to Grand Isle for Father's Day with some friends. I believe this has become an annual trip. The kids have a great time and so do the adults.  By sheer chance, this year we ended up staying in David's dad's cousins camp. It was a great location:  2 blocks to the beach and its own pier on the bay.

I quit my job working for a State Farm agent and went back to my degree, geology, and accepted a job working for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.  It's a great place for me to get my foot back in the door while relearning all I forgot.  I now have a commute in/out of Baton Rouge, but I go in for 6:30 am and leave at 3 pm.  I pretty much miss all of the traffic each way, and I'm home for 4 pm. The hard part will be when school starts and I won't get to see the girls in the morning before they start their day. A little face time may be needed instead.  

I had a couple of days off before starting the new job, so we decided to surprise the girls with a last minute beach trip.  The weather started off looking bad, but ended up being beautiful, as Destin always is.   

Oh, before the beach trip we tried camping in Oak Mountain State Park, dog in tow, but the weather there was really bad, and we ended up leaving after one night (we were only staying 2) because it really was going to be a rain-out.  That also prompted the beach trip: we wanted to end summer on a good note.  

July also brought my 25 year high school reunion. I have not been to my other reunions, partly because I was only at Ursuline for my senior year and I really feel like the reunions for my high school in Dallas are the ones I should be going to - it's just hard to get to those.  I opted to go, figuring this would be the only one I attended.  We had a good time and it was nice to see some of my old (and by old I mean some of the ones I've known since I was 4-5 years old) friends.

That pretty much concluded the summer. The girls start school in a week - 6th and 3rd grades. Eva is in middle school, and they are beginning the transition to high school. HIGH SCHOOL!  They now have schedules that match the high school so they are better prepared when they get there, or so they say,  They have a home room teacher for english, then change teachers for everything else, like high school.  They have 8 classes they take, but only 4 in a day and it rotates each day.

Wish us luck with our many changes, and I'll try to be better about updating this blog as events occur.