Notes

Okay, a super quick version of my weekend so as not to leave you hanging:

• Drove from Lafayette, LA to Flint, TX on Saturday morning.
• Met up with Angie at her house.
• Left shortly after for Dallas.
• Went shopping at the incredible Sam Moon!
• Met up with Angie's friend, Toni, and the rest of the kids (Jordan, Elise, Brigg).
• Ate at Buca di Peppo! (Awesome!)
  
• Shopped again on Sunday.
• Ate at Babe's Chicken House. (again Awesome!!!)
  
• Went to the game to oggle at Mr. Beckham.
  
• Left late Monday afternoon and headed back to Laffy...
  

That's about it folks. Check out the links if ya want! Sam Moon has got to be one of my favorite places to shop...inexpensive and a great selection.

Many, many thanks to Phillip's parents for watching Sarah for the weekend, so that Gabe and I could have some "guy time". I'm so glad that she wasn't at the game with us, because it was freakin' HOT!

Dear Husband, Please Forgive me...

But I drooled over and took lots of great pictures of David Beckham at the FC Dallas/LA Galaxy game on Sunday evening. I can't wait to get home to H.H. to edit them with Picassa.

Jeeeeze, Louise...it was hot out there and I even have a video of Angie, Phil's sister, telling us exactly how hot it was and let me tell you, it sure is candid and to the point (I have yet to decide on whether I'll grace you with it).

I'm speechless, so I'll just post a few pictures for now and tell you guys more about my weekend later.

Hope everyone is doing well. J~

Baby Laughs

Gabe loves to play with Sarah and make her laugh. And her laugh makes all of us happy.

Scaring the snot out of her is a strange way to get a laugh, but hey...whatever works, right?

Just Killin' Time

Hey Ya'll...

• Phillip got a new phone number on Skype, so we can call him in his room from our phone to his computer. Cool!
• Gabe and I are having fun. Gabe's in a day camp in the mornings and we've been swimming in the afternoons. Well, okay, yesterday was our first day...but there will be more to come since the neighborhood pool is around the corner within walking distance. You usually have to buy a membership for the summer, but we were able to get some strings pulled for the last weeks of summer remaining.
  
• I'm addicted to Facebook now. I've been wasting so much time on that.
• Gabe and I are going to Dallas this weekend while the in-laws watch Sarah, so we can go see the incredible David Beckham do his stuff. When we come back from the weekend, I'll be bringing my nephew, Brigg, back with us. Gabe will have him to play with and vice versa.
  
• Sarah may be on a growth spurt. Eating and sleeping is what she does most of these days... oh, and laughing too.
  

Not much else is going on.
I do need to make phone calls, and return phone calls.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PHILLIP!!!

Today is Phillip's birthday.

Yep, he was born a looooonnnnnng time ago. ha ha

And I pray that we will be able to celebrate many, many, many, many, many (do you get it?) more birthdays with him. Even though he is not here with us now, we'll have a piece of cake tonight in his honor. We may even film a video of it.

We Love You, Phillip!!!

I'm back in Louisiana

We got in last night and we'll be here for a while. And when we finally do make it home, we'll be busy preparing for school to start!

When I texted my Dad and brother to let them know that I was on the road and going home, my brother called to say that he was in Houston. Fortunately, we were able to meet up for lunch and follow each other back towards Lafayette. It was nice to have a road companion, and Gabe thought it was so neat that his uncle was in his big truck following us and vice versa.

Here's Gabe jumping off of the diving board on Tuesday. I'm so proud of his courage.

Busy Monday

You will see our day on Monday in reverse, because I'm feeling a little too lazy to organize the uploaded pictures into the actual sequence that they should be in.

Phillip's sister, Angie, and her kids came down from the Tyler area on Friday evening to spend some time with us. On Monday, we all went to play down near and in Austin (Ken met up with us on Sunday).

We started the day at Innerspace Cavern in Georgetown, went on to eat at The Monument Cafe, toured the Capital, had dinner at The Shady Grove, and then went on to see the Austin Bats.

We had a special treat yesterday too; an very unexpected, in the middle of the day, phone call from Phillip.

A very friendly and curious little squirrel had his eye on Sarah on the Capital grounds.

Elise and Sarah

An example of Gabe's Photography.

and another one.

At the cavern...

The Noonie Game

Okay, so I've experimented with my camera to see if I can make little videos for Phillip.
Pardon my "baby talking" Sarah on this one, please.
Here she is playing The Noonie Game at the Texas State Capitol yesterday.
Oh yeah, and you're gonna have to twist your neck to view it. Oops! I'll know better for next time.
And so now that I know this works, I'll be a video posting fool from now on!!!

One down, how many more to go?

Well, it's been a month since Phillip left. I talked to him last night for the first time in about 3 days and I was getting very lonely for his voice. It was time to hear it.

It's weird that when they're home, you seem to have no time to do anything. And now that he's gone, time is all I have. I'm constantly thinking of my next move in taking care of the house, myself and the kids. I'm always planning my strategy on how things will get done when I'm the only one here to do it. I miss the big and little things that made our busy life exciting, and most of all, I miss the presence of another adult in the house. I miss not having so much to do, and I hate that I'm looking forward to such things like doctors appointments to pass my time; our time. I guess that things will get busier once school starts. It sucks that they had to leave when the summer started, but is it ever a good time for them to leave? I'm thankful that I have plans to go back to Louisiana soon.

So, I'm happy that we've survived a month. It's been rough and it's been a long month; yet, it passed by quickly, if you get what I'm trying to say.

I've talked to people. I've read blogs. I've done some research on politics and the war. There is such a negative vibe this time around. The first tour wasn't so bad, because we were all going into this without knowing what it would really be like. This time, we know. We are all feeling the stress and fatigue of this whole thing called uncertainty.

What's going to happen with the elections? Who will our next president be? Will that person make the right choices? When will our husbands come home? When will they have to leave again? Is it really going to be 15 months, or can I look forward to only 11 more months? What will it take for morale to improve? Where will we be moving to after this deployment? Or will we move at all? How long will it take to sell my house if we do? And will our unit come home safely and in one piece? And why in the heck can't those people overseas get along? Why do we have to go out there at all? They've been at each others throats since way before Jesus was born!

As long as we live this active military life, there will be rumors. Nothing is ever written in stone. And that sucks. I'm ready for some answers. I'm ready to have something to look forward to besides planning our next Welcome Home Celebration Vacation. I don't even know when to make reservations for, so I'm just saving up for it now.

One thing that is strongly discouraged on my end is talking religion and politics. Everyone has a right to believe in whatever they believe in and I respect different point of views. I learn from them actually. Here are a few links that I ran across yesterday: this one, this one, and this one. I admit, I'm darn confused. I honestly don't have a formed opinion on the war; I really don't know if we should be there or not. I'm an independent thinker; I don't belong to one party or the other. All I know is that my husband has been out there already and I've heard stories that the media doesn't tell you about. There is a whole world of information out there, but what are we to believe?. I just hope everyone out there makes an informed decision come this November, and votes for the lesser of the two evils.

Bye Ya'll.
J~

Pictures from last week...

Well, we're home in Texas now. Gabe has swimming lessons and this morning was his first class. He really enjoyed it and can't wait to go back tomorrow. Some of the kids in the class were not Level II (Red Cross) so were shifted to another class, but Gabe showed his skills and was able to stay in the class he was originally assigned to. Below is a picture of Gabe having fun at a friends house in Lafayette.

The pool was nice and warm, and the landscaping around it was quite nice. I got some ideas for my own yard.

We also went to Girard Park near the UL campus to feed the ducks last week.

Nutria!

Sarah showing her enthusiasm.

She soon found that playing "The Noonie Game" was more fun.She's actually getting quite good at the game; she even manages to "win" by putting her Noonie in her mouth correctly (but always at a slight angle).Where's the baby? I do have to say that this time coming back to Texas was much better than our first trip home (I cried just about everyday, because the house just isn't the same without Phillip home [have I mentioned that before?]). We're keeping busy to help the mood, and right now, I'm listening to Gabe and his friend Zac, play in our living room. Soon, Zac's dad will come over to fix my irrigation heads; I bet that the contracted irrigation company for our neighborhood would love to know that they forgot one key in someone's garage and that key is being put to good use around the 'hood right now!

And that, folks, is all that's going on over here at the moment. Wish I could make it more exciting for you. Maybe next time.

Take Care!

Gabe's Treat

At LASM, we got Gabe this egg that contains a dinosaur. It was supposed to be his project to excavate it out, but the grand-parents got suckered into the task. Again, you gotta love that kid! Sarah watches and "airs out the laundry" while the egg is being worked on. Those little legs would open and shut, open and shut in the breeze.

Pa-Paw's turn.

The end result. A baby spinosaurus.

Pa-Paw dances with a very tired and hungry Sarah, while I fix her bathwater.

I'm heading home...

Going back to Texas for a bit.
Wish me luck.
J~

Touring the USS Kidd and LASM

After our particularly sucky day on Tuesday (I was a more than a little peeved at some recent events), I decided that Gabe and I needed to get out of town and explore something. When I mentioned my idea to tour the USS Kidd, he was all for it! The kid loves "old war stuff". And then I realized that it wouldn't be very easy to do with Sarah-Belle along with us, so I came up with a plan to go check out The Myrtles Plantation. Gabe would have nothing of it; he wanted to tour the ship. There were some places that I couldn't go with Sarah in her sling attached to my front, but we managed to have fun anyway.

Gabe below, walking toward the ship. The Mississippi River bridge in Baton Rouge, is what you see in the background.

The Old Capital building.

Yeah, I don't fix my hair very much these days. In this heat, it goes straight into a ponytail or something.

After we toured the ship, we went on to the Louisiana Art and Science Museum which was a short walk nearby. Children under the age of 3 were not allowed in the planetarium part of the museum, but again, we managed to have some fun. Gabe and I left refreshed and happy. Sarah slept all the way home.

Good Timing

Phillip called today during a pivotal moment in Sarah's life. He called while she was getting her first meal of sweet potatoes. For the past three weeks, she's been having rice cereal morning and night, but after consulting with her pediatrician's nurse yesterday, we decided it was time to give her a third solid meal. (she's been a little monster in the afternoons)

He wasn't able to be there to see it, but boy, he sure could hear her happiness at the sweet stuff she was having. Yummy, Yummy, in Sarah's Tummy!

The call was unplanned, but it was a nice surprise to hear from him at that time. I'm so glad he was able to be a part of it.

And unfortunately, my camera was in the car, so Gabe was unable to play the little photographer for me (and Phillip). Again, Darn!

Our Day at Jefferson Island

We went to see the gardens and tour the house on Jefferson Island last week. It was really nice, but really hot and humid. I guess everyone else was at work or wherever, because we had the place to ourselves. It really is a beautiful place. Phillip and I considered having our wedding there since it was the location of one of our first dates.

The mansion belonged to the actor Joseph Jefferson, who was famous in his day (a looooong time ago) for portraying the character, Rip Van Winkle. Unfortunately, I was unable to get any pictures of the mansion. Since we were the only tourists, we were able to see and ask about lots of things in the house. Our tour guide even took us for a tour of the back herb garden where we were able to smell and sample some of the herbs. Below, you see the chimney of the care takers cottage that was sunk in the Lake Peigneur sinkhole incident on November 20, 1980. I believe 65 acres of the property are now under water.

And this is where my camera died on me (I would've actually gotten some really cool pictures of the oak trees, if that hadn't happened). Darn!

Our Little Girl

Today, Sarah Evangeline turns a whopping 5 months old. It seems like yesterday that we were hoping to soon give Gabe a sibling.

And now, we have our set.

We're so thankful for her. She is a happy baby and just like her brother, she loves to talk. We, of course, love to listen to her and watch her facial expressions. Whatever she's talking about, it's important.

Happy 5 Months, Sarah-Belle. We Love You!