Lila's Baptism Invitation

I had a lot of trouble finding a stamp that was what I wanted for Lila's Baptism invitations so I came up with another idea. I used the flower trio punch from Stampin' Up! and our new soft pink cardstock (Pink Pirouette, which I love!) and a little bit of glitter and voila, a cross made out of flowers! It was just what I wanted... tasteful, pretty, and girly. All this for eight invitations but it's good to have a creative outlet. Eventually I will even mail these; hopefully I will get it done before the Baptism.

The School Bus

Last year on the school bus Cullen and Carson had a lot of little problems. There were no large issues but when their friends Jake and Josh were going to be car-riders I decided to give it a try too. It seemed like a good way to protect them from the evils of the bus, like bullies and learning new four-letter words. Well I guess I am not a very good mom because I hated sitting in the carpool line, especially with a screaming baby (which Lila was 80% of the time when it was time to bring them to school or pick them up). The last day we had school (Thursday) she was crying so hard that I had to park about 1/4 of a mile up the driveway from the school (the driveway to Duplessis Primary from the highway is pretty long) and walk while holding Lila. I walked up and got the boys and they hiked back to the car with me. Josh, who we carpooled with, innocently asked after a few minutes of walking "are we walking all the way home?" The good news is that Lila was no longer crying and the boys had a good cardio workout walking so far with their backpacks. As of this morning my boys are back on the bus. I figure them learning a few new words or having a piece of artwork thrown out the window is a small price to pay. They'll learn it eventually somewhere anyway and I'm running out of room for the artwork.

September Hostess Club

I had to change my September hostess club from Friday to yesterday (Sunday) because it was predicted that we would have rough weather due to Ike on Friday night. The irony is that the weather wasn't bad at all on Friday night but my power went out some during hostess club yesterday! We kept on stamping and looking at the catalog since it was daytime and we could see enough. Plus there was lots of good food here and that makes any power outage easier. Here are photos of our projects. I have written instructions for the purse gift card holder if anyone wants them. I still have a few spots left in this club. We meet once a month and members are required to place a $25 order, even if they can't make it to the gathering. The projects are free to club members and every member gets a turn being hostess and getting the hostess benefits!

Blog Stamping Special

My first blog special is a big one... don't expect it again anytime soon! The first five customers who make a comment on this posting can get 20% off ONE item in the month of September. This can be applied to something ordered at hostess club as long as there is an additional $25 in products on the order beyond the discounted item. Order something big to really take advantage of it!

Dear Governor Jindal

Dear Governor Jindal
I would like to thank you for your quick response to and preparation for Hurricane Gustav. I would like to propose the following additions and changes to the handbook your offices published to help Louisianians prepare for natural disasters. Those changes are as follows:

1. add lysol or air freshener; things stink after a few days without power. In fact, change "candles" to "scented candles" and it would be great too.
2. eliminate thermal underwear from the list, unless the natural disaster is the next ice age we won't need that here
3. eliminate "whistle" from the list of supplies. Of course if one evacuates to Alaska to run a dog sled they may need this AND the thermal underwear. The compass would be really handy then too.
4. add earplugs. It is really annoying to hear your neighbors' generators when you don't have one. These could also come in handy if your children start whining.

That is it for now. I will let you know if I think of other ways to help you do your job. Thanks again!

Double Chins

At what age is a double chin not cute anymore?

Lila- age 7 weeks and being held by Grandma at the Broders Family Reunion

Hurricane Gustav

Cleanup- Sunday after the storm

Lila is ready for the storm... Monday a.m. before the winds started.

Hurricane Gustav was definitly the worst we've seen around here! We didn't evacuate, although I did consider it. The winds were strong and scary (gusts in the 90's mph in Gonzales) and it looked like a warzone around here afterwards. However, we were VERY blessed at my house with just a ton of debris and some large limbs but no property or house damage. Several of my neighbors had trees fall through their houses and that sort of thing really helps you keep everything in perspective. The day after the storm the kids and I went to Mobile to stay with my brother Chris and his wife Molly and their two adorable kids, Hannah and Hampton. It was a great little vacation and it was delightful staying in their house. We came back to Prairieville once our power was restored because we missed Kevin, who stayed here to work. Here are some of our hurricane pictures.

Cullen and Carson dressed themselves in what they deemed to be hurricane attire. I think the goal was to protect themselves from flying glass (something they learned from the news). Then they proceded to sit by their bedroom window all day and play their Nintendo DS games.
This is what Lila mostly did during the storm. She also ate a little. It was one of her calmest days, actually! Her onesie says "what a beautiful world", which I thought was a positive way to look at life!

Our neighbor's house.