Sign Abuse

In a bathroom at speech.


At the Post Office. {really funny!}

This is in an LSU kitchenette. I guess employees were leaving their dirty coffee cups in the sink, and someone finally got tired of it and this made a unique sign!

Happy Easter

The Easter Bunny came to our house & left small baskets for all the children. Went to church this week without locking everyone out of the house. Later Josiah and Jacque had a "Backyard Easter Egg Hunt". All the plastic eggs were empty to represent Jesus' empty tomb. Later we colored eggs and 'glittered' them. We also had a nice Easter dinner together. It was a good day.

Little Paul and Hannah are 1 month away from their first birthday! Dad is just a few months away from finishing his residency. Me? Well, I just don't know where or how to start packing.

Kite Flying Fun

Paul and I haven't flown kites for years. I got a couple for the kids & they have been so excited to fly them. There was one stipulation; Dad HAD to be there. I knew there was no possible way I could help them fly kites & take care of the twins. We ended up taking turns helping flying kites & caring for the twins. It didn't last very long, but it was enjoyable quality time together.

We were by the Bonnabel Outfall Canal & Lake Pontchartrain. Behind us was the Levee {hill} that is a nice grassy area that has a walking path and serves to keep Lake Ponchartrain out of the Metairie neighborhoods during storms. I couldn't see where Jacque and Dad went, I asked Josiah and he said, "They went over that mountain." MOUNTAIN?!? Oh wow, we have been away from Utah for way too long. Our kids think that Levees are mountains, and that it is always snowing in Utah {Jacque thinks}. We need a vacation, don't we?

I love going to the Lake and seeing the sunset & the long 23 miles bridge that goes across the Lake. It was a beautiful afternoon.

Moss Covered Vines

We also went to the park that same day. The babies fell asleep in their car seats, so I let Josiah and Jacque burn some time and energy at the City Park Playground in New Orleans.
Look at the beautiful Live Oak Trees & the spanish moss covered vines. I love them.

Another Easter Party

2 Easter Parties in 1 day! Going to Josiah's school was fun,

they had games & food & cupcakes with red frosting?

Here is Little Paul & Hannah enjoying their first popsicle.

They LOVED them & both cried when they were all gone.

They clung onto the wrapper as a memory.

Jacque found some pretty pinwheels while waiting for Josiah's class to come outside.

It was a very nice day.

Bunny Rabbits

Jacque & Abboot are so cute! His mom & I do carpooling together. I love hearing their conversations in the van on the way home. They are so funny!

Raw Egg Drop

Josiah had a special assignment this week. With this kind of project, it is really MY homework. Josiah was a great helper & I made sure he knew why I did everything I did and let him brainstorm and help retrieve supplies for me. The container had to be no larger than 7"x7"x7". The teachers dropped the eggs off the roof of the school. The teachers unwrapped all the containers to check the eggs & the children got to crack their own egg if it did make it & throw it away. His Egg made it!

Locked Out!

Sunday, I got everyone ready to go to church, all by myself. We were in the car pulling out the driveway and Jacque insisted she had to go to the bathroom and couldn’t hold it all the way to the church. I helped her go & left my keys on the sofa and locked the door behind me. Oh, crabby patty!! I also left my cell phone on my bedside table that day. Paul was out of town too, with his set of keys in the house also. Why do these things always happen under the worst circumstances? I went to my neighbor’s house at 9am and quietly asked her to call me a locksmith. While we were waiting the kids gave me great solutions- 1) mommy just drive somewhere to get help, 2) call Santa, he has a key to our house! 3) Kick the door in . . . they are so helpful, thanks but those won’t work. SO . . . . We waited 30 minutes for them to get here, then found out the new locks Paul put on the apartment are pick proof. ugggg. I kept my cool through the entire experience. The kids ate their sacrament meeting snacks, and colored in their coloring books while waiting in the van & the twins took a short nap in their car seats. What a morning, we did eventually get into the house, but ended up not making it to church. {can you blame me?} Good thing though, our place is not an easy target. Not even a locksmith can break in!!

Jacque's Fieldtrip

The bus ride is always her favorite part. She of course sat by Dara, her guy-friend. That day she insisted on wearing 6 different colored barrettes in her hair. I tried hard to make it look nice. She is so funny. I found out from Charles' mom that he thinks 'Jacque is cool', cause she plays with the boys.' hmmm I wonder why. Isn't that cute though, he told his mom that.

First they went to the post office & they took their own money to pay the postage, and got to postmark the letter themselves. Then they put the letter in the box to mail. The best part was when the teachers were showing the post office boxes and actually found a man getting into his box to get his mail. They quickly asked him if they "look in his box and see what was inside". It was really funny. Thank you to all the patient citizens of Kenner, LA that day. And the very nice man who let 40 preschoolers look inside his post office box.

Then they went to the mall to the famous - Cafe Du Monde - to get beignets {ben-yeahs} It is a real treat and great tradition here. They are like "utah scones" to me. {I say that 'cause what they call scones here, are not what I know as being scones in Utah} But the beignets are a square, hallow pastry deep fried with lots and lots of powered sugar. Look at all the powered sugar we had in the bottom of our bag. WOW. Most people go there for the coffee too. It was a fun field trip.

Change of plans

We have made a very difficult decision about our future.

We have decided NOT to stay in New Orleans, Louisiana after Paul completes his residency.

Things just didn't turn out the way we thought it would with the job opportunity at LSU.

As of now, we don't have a destination after graduation. Anywhere in the great USA.
We have only 4 months left to find a solid job, move & start paying off hefty student loans.

Paul is currently searching, applying, & interviewing potential opportunities.

Wish Paul luck, and I have to try to start packing sometime soon. ahhh!!

This has been very tough on both of us because there are so many people we love here.

I think this will be a good thing for our family though. I know all of this hard work will pay off.

I know Heavenly Father is guiding us to where we need to be & everything will turn out ok.

Splish Splash

Little Pauly loves the tub. He was even laying down & splashing.

He just does all he can to enjoy life to the fullest!

Rock on Jacque!

After we drop off Josiah at school, we have 15-20 minutes to burn until Jacque's school starts.
We hang out in the van & she likes to pick a "CDD" to listen to while we wait.

{scroll down to play or click invisible square}

Look at these Blogs I found

This is the Wilkinson Quintuplets Blog. Very cute!

No, I do not know this family. They are LDS though.

They seem like a great family and their kids are so cute, and she has a great outlook on life.

There are many different city 'Daily Photo' blogs you can find. This one is 'Cleveland Daily Photo'. Since we used to live in Cleveland I check it out every once-in-a-while and this photographer is very, very, talented. The set-up of the blog is a bit different, you have to scroll down and click on the individual 'previous posts' by name. It is worth checking out.

in Bloom

LIFE | Stress | DIRECTION | Faith | PRAYER

THEME SONG

The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I go?

Should I stay or should I go now? Should I stay or should I go now? If I go there will be trouble. An' if I stay it will be double. So come on and let me know. Should I stay or should I go?

Details to follow... no explanation at this time... patience... I must learn patience.

Entertainment

Instead of going out to dinner for our anniversary we went to a Jazz game in New Orleans. We wanted to take Josiah & Jacque. Josiah has fell in love with b-ball {just like mom & dad} and wants to be a b-ball player when he grows up. It was also a great opportunity to do something fun with them, without the twins getting all the attention.

I really love how the New Orleans Arena has beehive light fixtures! They also have Hugo the Hornet. {Jacque just called it -the bug- even though we told her it was a hornet} The dancers were the Honeybees. And instead of yelling {defense} you said {BEE-FENCE}.

Paul is a die-hard Jazz fan for life. Regardless of where he lives. He was very cautious and didn't wear any of his Jazz paraphernalia or cheer for the rival team. Josiah couldn't be convinced of why he needed to root for Utah, so he is a Hornets fan. So we {not dad} cheered and yelled for the Hornets. They actually did really well, the Jazz were 20 down and got within 6 points during the game, but ended up loosing. {sorry Paul}. But we had so much fun!

(my camera's batteries died before we could get a group shot inside)

You know me, always interested in the history of things and sharing them. I noticed the New Orleans Hornets have colors very close to the mardi gras colors of "green, purple, & gold". Over the years Utah Jazz has transitioned away from the original over to blues. I found these pics of the NEW ORLEANS JAZZ. LOVE the poster!!!

Growing up in Utah, loving the Jazz, I always wondered, what is Jazz? I have since learned this very shortly after moving to New Orleans what happened.....

The team was originally the New Orleans Jazz. In 1974 the Jazz franchise began in New Orleans. After five losing seasons in New Orleans, they moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1979.

Although the team nickname was not fitting for Salt Lake City at the time, with Utah not being known for its jazz culture like New Orleans was, the franchise decided to keep it. One fan quipped that "This is interesting, Utah has the Jazz and New Orleans has the Saints," referring to the city's NFL team. "Saints" due to the large population from The LDS Church, in Utah.

Unlike franchise relocations today, there was little local effort to keep the Jazz in New Orleans, nor was there a public campaign to bring a team to Utah. When asked why the team did not change its nickname, one-time Jazz head coach Frank Layden quipped that nobody thought the team was going to last long enough to bother with a name change.

info from: WIKIPEDIA