Happy Birthday to You...

Tonight we had a chocolate cake for dessert. We decided that we needed to sing "Happy Birthday" and voted to sing it to Thomas...it was his idea. While we were getting gathered around the table, we talked about how Aunt Carlynne and Grandpa Prince just barely had birthdays this week. Thomas excitedly asked if they got "animohs" like he did! :)

So we sang "Happy Birthday" but as we finished Thomas has quite the perplexed look...no candles!!! He about lost it!!! So we quickly grabbed some candles, lit them and sang again! Much to Thomas' delight! :)

Happy Birthday Carlynne and Grandpa Prince!!! Happy Birthday to Grandma Prince too!!! (Her b-day was the beginning of June!)

Happy UN-Birthday to the rest of us!!! :)

This week, I thought I'd highlight Andrew! I think he's been enjoying the fact that he's the oldest at home right now! :)

Andrew loves to tease his sisters~typical brother, right!!! Some of his other loves right now are games...he loves to play on his Nintendo DS and loves his computer games too. Especially, "Rise of Nations!" He waited so patiently, well sortof patiently, for his replacement game to come in the mail. It finally arrived in the mail on Saturday! He was sooo excited!!! :)

He also loves to play outside! He has a continuous battle raging in the backyard under our big oak tree with his little green & tan army men. Last night he was teaching Aimee and Mattie how to hit golf balls. Once they were tired of that, he and Edd played baseball! Andrew was quite the heavy hitter!!! Good thing we have a BIG BACKYARD! Otherwise, we would've been hopping the fence after each hit to retreive the ball!

Andrew is very sweet and a very giving person. When he got a new DS, Andrew gave his old one to Aimee. When it is convienient though, Andrew reminds Aimee that he still has ownership of the DS and he could reposes it at any moment!

Ever since he was a little toddler, he has always been a very giving person. If Bethany would ask for anything like a bite of candy, lick from his icecream, he would let her...without a second thought and no questions asked! :)

Andrew is easy going too! :) Poor guy has had to wear hand-me-down sandles to church for the past month now. We are still trying to find the shoe basket, hmmm which box could it be in??? I finally found the couch cover this week!!! YEAH!!! It was in the bottom of a box labeled "Master Bedroom." So there's no telling where the shoes are!!!

I guess any boy sandwhiched between sisters would have to be easy going! :)

On our way to church today, Andrew commented that even though the sandles are comfy, it's annoying to try and get his socks situated right! Hopefully we'll be able to find his socks this week...there aren't that many boxes left! :)

Periodically, Andrew can be found reading! He finally has decided that it's fun to read!!!! :) There was a time when I seriously wondered if he'd ever like a book. His latest JRR (just right reading) book surprised me! He has been reading Bethany's HUGE "Chronicles of Narnia" book!!! He also likes the "Beast Quest" series and those choose your own adventure books. I introduced him to those a few years ago when I was trying to get him excited about reading.

Andrew is growing up quite a bit! One day before we moved, after Edd had gone to LA, I came back home from dropping Aimee off and Andrew was mowing front lawn for fun!!! He even mowed the back lawn the next afternoon, just for fun! WOW!!!

Andrew is quite the helper these days, which is really nice! What is awesome is that Andrew usually takes Thomas up to bed with him and they snuggle together! It's especially cute when Thomas reminds them that they need to brush their teeth first!!! (Brushing teeth is one of Thomas' hobbies right now!)

Andrew and Thomas are so cute together!!! :) Maybe it's because they have the same haircut, maybe it's because Thomas is a mini Andrew!?!

At any rate, I'm so thankful for my cute boys! :)

First the Worst, 2nd is the Best

This morning, Aimee came in to see who won the game last night. Unfortunately, LSU won championship. When hearing this news, optimistic Aimee, immediately said, "First is the worst and 2nd is the best!" = LSU is the worst and TEXAS is the best.

Then Aimee went on to list the reasons why the Longhorns couldn't pull of a win:

#1 They weren't wearing their ORANGE uniforms.
#2 Aimee wasn't holding up her Texas cheer signs she'd made.
#3 Aimee didn't have her magic/good luck charm bead...it got lost in Mattie's bathroom.
#4 Aimee wasn't watching the game.

When they turned on the TV, TEXAS was loosing. They ended up watching "Beast Quest" instead.

I think it is easy to win, but a whole lot harder to loose and walk away with your head held high, knowing you gave it your all and being OK with it.

Can they do it???

Tonight is the big night...the final game of the COLLEGE BASEBALL WORLD SERIES!!!

Monday night was a nail bitter! At the end of the game, Aimee said that her fingernails were all jagged!!! For those who don't know, the UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS LONGHORNS are playing the LSU TIGERS!!! When we turned on the TV, UT was ahead 6 to 4. During all the drama, Aimee said that the team needed to decide if they were going to be "LONGHORNS OR BUNNY RABBITS." Unfortunately after extra innings, the TIGERS pulled out ahead and won.

While we watched, Aimee gave her impression of LSU FANS... "they yell sooo loud and are so annoying!!!" She had much experience growing up in TEXAS with LSU FANS. They are everywhere! Parker, our old backdoor neighbor, who was in Aimee's school class for 2 years is a die hard fan! Our next door neighbor, Ms Cobi, is another die hard fan...Bethany had first hand experience with this since Ms Cobi was her algebra teacher this past year.

Aimee, of course, is a die hard LONGHORN FAN!!!! :)

Aimee painted her nails ORANGE, BLACK & WHITE to support her team!

Her nails had been YELLOW but not for long!!! Unfortunately she had to paint over the yellow because the polish remover was "hiding"!!!

She also put on as much ORANGE as she could for the game last night! Aimee made her own cheer signs!! She even had her good luck bead!!! GO LONGHORNS!!!!

YEAH!!! THE LONGHORNS WON!!!!!! :)

LET'S DO IT AGAIN!!!!

Frog Heaven

Thomas is in frog heaven here at the new house! Every night is a new adventure with the frogs!!! Last night he found the...

BIG MOMMA FROG!!!

He was at the pool with Edd and the other kids. After swimming for awhile, Thomas thought it was time to hop out of the pool and head over to the chairs to go frog hunting! JACKPOT!!!!! Of course Thomas had to bring her home and add her to our frog collection.


Once home, Thomas put the big momma frog into our converted peanut butter jar/frog habitat. After a few minutes though, he could hardly handle it and got "Momma Frog" out and played with her!


Thomas loved just looking at her!












He loved seeing how long Momma Frog'll stick to his hand before she falls!


I think this is a picture of the baby frog sticking to Thomas' hand. He got baby frog out to play for a little bit too. Luckily, Thomas is smart enough to only play with one frog at a time!


Those frogs sure are sticky!!! :)

Thomas even had fun tormenting Andrew with the frog!

At last, both frogs are back in their new home~at least for the time being! :)

Adjusting

Now that it is officially SUMMER, it sure is hot!!! According to the computer it is 104 right now in Madisonville! Earlier today, our power went out, sounded like a transformer blew...I heard a pop/boom sound outside after the lights went out...reminded me of the tranformers blowing right after IKE.

To cope with the heat, we head to the pool!

A few days ago, the water in the pool was so warm that after awhile, I had to just sit on the stairs because I was too warm even though I was in the water! I try to get the kids to wait until at least 4 to go. One night we went after dinner, which was nice because it wasn't so hot outside, but the mosquitoes started to bite before we got out.

We had a little fun on Sunday. We had stake conference and had to travel about 1:15 to get to the chapel where conference was at. There were about half as many people at conference than we are used to.

After conference, Edd took us on a scenic tour...we were heading to the Chalmette refinery so we could see where he works. On our way, we ended up riding a ferry across the Mississippi! That was fun! It's amazing how fast that river flows!!! Right now it is flowing faster than usual and Edd said that it was really high one day last week and showed us where the water went up to...pretty far and almost to the refinery.

After we drove past the refinery, we saw the battle ground where Britain was defeated in the war of 1812, which is right next to the refinery. We saw a sugar refinery, I think it is the Domino brand. We got to see quite a few houses affected by Katrina. The Chalmette area was completely under water after Katrina. We didn't get to see much in Chalmette because we had to get B to the airport. But we saw plenty in the lower 9th ward. In some places, all that was left of the house is the slab. It was really sad to see. Some houses had been repaired and looked nice again, but they are in the minority. There were quite a few still boarded up and some were crooked or collapsing because of what they'd been through. So sad.

We got Bethany to the airport and I walked her to her gate, since she was and unaccompanied minor. I had to wait until the plane pulled away from the gate. Haven't done that in years!!! As we were driving home, about 1/2 across Lake Pontchartrain, I laughed to myself that Bethany would probably beat us home! Her flight was only about 45 long, just barely long enough to get some drinks passed out before they start their descent.

We'd been home about 5 minutes when Bethany called to say that she was in Houston and the Knights were there with her. So I think she beat us! She's off to girl's camp this week, then EFY next week.

We are hoping for some rain, but it's not very likely. So the kids and I are off to buy a sprinkler for our lawn. We're looking for the train kind that follows the hose. We'll see if we can find one. :)

It's Hot!!!

It is HOT outside!!! I just looked the temp reading on my desktop screen and it said Madisonville is 1oo!!!!!

I noticed that the kids had moved our little window thermometer to the back door. When I asked them why, Aimee told me they'd done it so they could see how hot it was and if they want to go outside or not.

Right now we're all inside having "quiet time." Instead of reading like they're supposed to be doing, the kids are in Aimee's room--the cleanest bedroom right now besides Bethany's, which is off limits. They are listening to "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and singing along.

I've been trying to get some more boxes unpacked. The treasure hunt for the day is to find Andrew's shoes! We are slowly finding things and getting stuff put away. Last night, we finally got Aimee's bed put together~YEAH!!! :)

Big "B"

Today, Big "B" is off to girl's camp! This week she is going with the girls from our new ward. They are heading off to Mississippi to "Paul something" state park. It's by Hattisburg (?) Mississippi, which is about 2 hours from here. Bethany wasn't too excited about the drive. Hopefully she'll change her mind once they get on the road. After all, it's only 2 hours!!! :) That should seem like nothing now!!! :)

She gets back on Friday. Once home, she'll wash everything and repack for her BIG adventures in TEXAS! (Of course everything is BIG in TEXAS! Bethany will fly out Sunday afternoon to start her grand Texas adventures. First it will be off to girl's camp with our old ward. Then the next week it will be EFY. Then the next week it will be playing with "The Girls" in San Antonio. Then off to Austin to play with Aunt Paula! Then back to Houston to fly home. Bethany will be gone for a whole month!

Of course, Bethany had to get a few piano songs played before she could leave. Can she handle a whole month without playing the piano??? At least she'll get a few days of piano playing in Austin, but can she waith that long???

There she goes! Hope she has fun!!! :)

Our First Summer Outing

Our first summer outing was going to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans! We had a great time~although it was "blazing hot!"

Some of the highlights were:

"When we saw the white alligators!" ~ Mattie
"ICEES!!!" ~ Aimee
"The bear chewing up the sippy cup." ~ Andrew
"A hippo, yeah!" ~ Thomas


The zoo was beautiful! What would else would you expect with the name "Audubon"?



This pool and fountain were one of the first things we saw. Thomas was excited to see the hippos surrounding the pool! He keeps talking about the hippos at the zoo. I didn't see any real hippos. Maybe in his imagination, he saw real hippos. They are one of his most favorite animals right now.

Of course Thomas liked the crocs too. I think this exhibit was the family favorite! The white crocodiles, were in an air conditioned area! Hmm, is this why it was a highlight???













Here's Thomas checking out the white crocodile! :)

Here's the gang taking a breather in the White alligator area!











Andrew & Thomas were particularly interested in the "Swamp Monster!"






After awhile, we took a break at the playground. While the kids were playing, Edd and I were talking about how we felt bad about not joining up with his para-legal, Lisa. They had planned to do the zoo together. Edd tried to call her, but all he had was her work cell #.



As we were talking about it, I looked up and across the playground was Lisa holding her grand-daughter Hannah!!! Imagine that!!!

Hannah and Lisa

We ended up spending the rest of our afternoon at the zoo with Lisa and her family. We went and rode the carousel, got icees and then looked at the "monkeys" again. All the furry monkey-like animals are "monkeys" to Hannah. Aimee and Bethany became Hannah's buddies! It was really cute! :) We also were able to see part of a sea lion info demo!

After the zoo, we all went to Riverview Park, which is in between the zoo and the Mississippi River, for a work crawfish boil! It was fun to meet some of the people that Edd works with. It was also fun to eat some crawfish, which are really tasty!!! We were also able to watch some boats/barges on the Mississippi too.

On our way home, we took the scenic route and drove down St Charles Avenue, where there are some really neat houses! Then it was back on the causeway. As we were driving along the causeway, I asked Edd if he'd ever been on the bridge when they'd had the draw bridge up. He hadn't. Andrew looked up from playing on his DS and said, "Are we still on the causeway???" Yup, we were at mile 12 out of 24! A couple of minutes later, in the distance, I could see a red blinking light and there was something big in the distance too! Turns out, we got to experience right then, an open drawbridge! We only had to wait a few minutes for a sailboat to go through before they closed the bridge and we could be on our way.

The open draw bridge on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.

What fun adventures!!! :)

FINALLY! :D

YEAH! I found my camera cord!!! :) Now I can share some more pictures with everyone! :)

Monday, June 1st: Was almost over before it started! Our packers had the upstairs almost completely packed by lunchtime! Is quitting time really 4:00? Terry, the guy in charge, told everyone it was time to leave...at 4:00??? After the packers left, Thomas said to me, "Momma, the guys made a BIG mess!" There were boxes, rolls of tape laying around, tape wads, packing paper, etc everywhere!

Luckily, Edd's brother Dan & his wife Melissa invited us over to their house for dinner! It was nice to get away from the brown box jungle! Thanks!!! We miss you!!!

Late Monday night, Edd and his old running partner, Adam, delivered our refrigerator to Adam's house. Adam's wife, Karista, had come over earlier to pick up some LPS things for her girls and say good-bye. As she was leaving, Karista asked if there was anything else she could do to help.

**DING DING** Great idea!: Give Karista all my perishables that I didn't have room for in the cooler!!! I asked her if she wanted some food, of course who could pass up free food???

5 or 6 Wal-Mart bags of food later, Edd and I were helping Karista load all the food into her car, Karista mentioned something about how they were looking for a new refrigerator. Well, it was her lucky day!!! :) We told her that we'd been trying to sell ours, but it hadn't sold! So she went home, talked to Adam & they decided to buy it from us! :) Thanks! :)

Tuesday, June 2nd: The big truck arrived!!! Wow, what craziness! There were people packing, taking apart furniture, going back and forth, loading the truck! Edd & Thomas went to Mattie's kindergarten picnic. I stayed behind to supervise.

Bethany got home at lunchtime. A while later, she was in the kitchen talking to Edd about how her finals went, her friend Blythe came to pick her up for one more outing. As they walked out the front door, Bethany was grabbed by some masked girls, who'd been hiding in the bushes waiting for her! B had seen them, but assumed they were just measuring the house for something or maybe some of Andrew's friends goofing off. They kidnapped her for a fun last friend get together!!! :) The movers thought it was pretty entertaining! :)

After school, Mattie & Aimee were able to squeeze in one more playdate with their friends. Andrew & his buddies just goofed off outside and climbed the tree for the last time. The packers finally got everything packed and loaded by 5 pm. The truck driver told Edd that he'd be arriving at the new house Wed morning between 9-9:30 am.

Wednesday, June 3rd: Came really early! Edd got up at 3:45 so he could get on the road by 4 so he could beat the truck to the new house. Andrew, Aimee and Mattie decided they'd rather go with Edd than go to their last day of school! So off they all went!

Bethany, Thomas and I stayed behind. Oh, and Missy too. B had to take her last 3 finals. Thomas and I had to finish cleaning the house. I had hoped to have the house clean and the van packed by 11:45, when I was supposed to pick Bethany up from school and hit the road, PLAN A. In case we had to go to PLAN B, I was to call B's phone and tell her to ride the bus home.

I worked fast and furious, but time was going by just as fast! I wanted to be done cleaning by 11am so I could pack the van in time to pick Bethany up. By about 10:30, I knew we had to go to PLAN B. It was really sad cleaning each room for the last time.

I was almost done loading the van when Bethany got home at Noon. She helped me carry the last things out of the house then we hopped into the van and drove away from our cute house for the last time. So sad to say good-bye!

Before we could leave Kingwood, we had a few loose ends to tie up: getting Andrew, Aimee & Mattie's report cards from the school, deliver some b-day presents for B's twin friends, & closing Bethany's checking account. We were finally on the road by 1:30.

At about 5:45, we saw our moving truck drive past on the other side of the highway! We were almost home!!! FINALLY!!! :)

Thursday, June 4th: Unpacking day! It started bright and early with the kids asking if they could go catch crawfish...it was 6:55 am!!! It gets light about an hour earlier here than it did in Kingwood! We unpacked like crazy! It was amazing what the packers packed in paper and what they didn't! B was sad that they didn't wrap her bird statue, which got messed up. She was even more sad that they didn't wrap the mashed potatoe box, which spilled all over the whole box of food! But they would wrap stuff, obviously garbage, in paper!!! GO FIGURE!!!! Thomas had a blast playing in all the hideouts and climbing all the box mountains!

Thurs afternoon, my sister Carolee and her husband,Tim, arrived! They are moving to Florida! They helped us unpack and put things together, like hooking up the washer & dryer. After dinner, we treated them to Cafe DuMonde!

Friday, June 5th: Carolee & Tim spent their morning with us. We unpacked some more and Tim helped get the computer set up. Thanks Tim!!! They left at lunchtime, but not without leaving a lasting impression!

Now it's June 15th~my how time flies when you are having fun! :) Yesterday, it was so nice to come home from church and just relax instead of driving 5+ hours back to Houston. We even had some visitors! Our friends, the Jenson's, were on their way home from Florida and they stopped by to say "HI!" The kids were excited to see each other again, especially Ashton & Andrew!!!

We've gotten a few more boxes unpacked and are slowly finding things that are hiding! Yesterday, I finally found the instructions to put Aimee's bed together! Now where is that couch cover?????

Today starts the big move! The packers are here and already have most the upstairs done! They just got here less than an hour ago. They said they'll be packing the truck tomorrow...a day ahead of schedule! Wow!!