What is Louisiana Without Mardi Gras?

So, we missed Mardi Gras...we will just have to do our own! We found a bad of Mardi Gras beads in our closet. The boys went crazy. Who knew...all this time I have been unsuccessfully trying to entertain them and all I had to do was find some beads for them! They had a blast seeing who could "carry" the most beads around their neck!



It is like Christmas morning!


Trying to keep them all on.

After piling them all on, he was quickly ready to get them all off!

I think Bryce wins the prize for the MOST beads! Those beads probably weigh more than he does.

Piling them on.

Mr. T

Andrew LOVES the beads.

Even the dog joined in the party!

We Are Here!!

After 7 LONG hours of driving (and Daddy pulling a trailer) we got here safely. We got the Uhaul almost completely unloaded last night, and the dogs kennel set up. We finished unloading this morning, went to the store and are taking it easy for now. There are boxes EVERYWHERE! It is a mess.

While we were loading the Uhaul yesterday morning, there was a knock on the door. Someone had made an appointment to show the house. Although no appointment was made, we quickly cleaned the house and showed it. It was a pain and we all sat outside while they looked, but we need the house sold, so....

Today is supposed to be an open house, but I hear they are having some pretty strong storms, so I am not expecting much of a turnout for it.

The boys love this house. It is two stories, so there is LOTS of running up and down the stairs! Andrew tries to join them, so we have to be very careful about making sure the gate is up.

I will post some pictures when I get a chance.

Oh, yeah....IT IS HOT!!! It is 92 right now, but with the humidity it feels like it is a lot hotter. We will have to get used to this humidity again! But, as Paul pointed out earlier...hot feels hotter here, but the air conditioner feels cooler too!

Moving

So moving day is upon us. I don't know if I will have internet when we get there, so if there is no blogging for a while, that is why. If there is not internet we will be getting a wireless card when we go get our cell phones (it is going to be very strange Paul not having a phone!!). I will update as soon as I can.

Wish us luck with the ever-so-great Uhaul trailer! It will be a LONG drive with four kids, three dogs, multiple plants, a (small) fishtank, a cat, and a partridge in a pear tree (also known as Billy - the parrot)!! Paul gets the dogs, bird and three of the boys (and the trailer). I get Andrew, the cat (in a kennel) and the plants and food!

Fair trade!!!!! :)

No, seriously - last time we went to Louisiana, Andrew SCREAMED the entire way! Hopefully he will do better this time since his carseat is facing forward now! And the cat tends to freak out in the kennel! We are going to have some FUN times tomorrow!!

IT IS OFFICIAL!!!

Paul looked on the ABIH (American Board of Industrial Hygiene) website earlier this week and saw that his name had been added to the roster of CIH's. That means that he officially passed his exam and is officially a CIH. He went to his office here today to do the paperwork to leave. On his desk was a packet addressed to him with CIH behind his name. That was the first time he has received anything with that on it. It included his certificate.

Although the preliminary report showed he passed, there was still a chance he hadn't. It is rare, but it has happened before that it told someone they passed and they really didn't. So, getting this not only means he can actually start adding CIH behind his name, but also takes that doubt in the back of his head away.

Again, CONGRATULATIONS SWEETIE!!

Playing in Bubbles

Playing Outside

I LOVE This Photo

Playing in the Sprinklers

Andrew is our first that does not really care for water. For a while, it was the only way to calm him down when he was extremely upset. We would give him a bath - he would be fine. Now, he hates pools, he hates sprinklers and he tolerates baths. We were watering the yard the other night and everytime he would get wet he would get mad. Most of the upset funny faces he is making in these pics are because he was getting sprinkled on. We kept throwing his shorts in the line of water. He did good most of the time watching the sprinkler and going when it was spraying the other direction, but a few times we were able to time it to where he could not get the shorts and get out of the way in time. By the end of the night, he was tolerating the sprinklers a little.

Final Arkansas Outing

We took one last outing last weekend. We just did an "autotour" through the Ozarks (the Winona Scenic Drive). Paul loved it because we took the Jeep and got to go on some dirt roads (more like 4-wheeler type roads). It was a great drive. Paul fixed hotdogs over the campstove and we had a little picnic. We just found out about this place and it is really close to us. There were lots of roads we did not explore. Maybe we will be back sometime to explore the rest! Here are some photos:

Playing at the Park

TOO CUTE!!

Isaac's Graduation

AJ Entertaining Himself (and Me)

Boys at Play

Coonskin AJ

Real Life Photo

So, the picture did not come out like I had envisioned. Instead it came out how I sometimes see my life in my head. It is nice to have a picture to prove that it is not all in my head!! I was able to capture real life!

Playing in Backyard

Career Day

Isaac as a scientist:


Caleb as an Industrial Hygienist:


Daddy also went to the school and talked to Caleb's class about being an industrial hygienist. He took pictures of some of the train derailments and hurricane Katrina, etc. The teacher said out of all of the parents that had come, they seemed most interested in his job (come on...Third graders and things that explode....WHO KNEW?). Caleb was VERY proud of his Dad!

Mug Shot

Caleb is DIRTY!!

Caleb had a field trip last week. He came home and took his shoes and socks off and had a very visible dirt line!