TO INFINITY, AND BEYOND!!

BESIDES music, guitars, and DRUMS....Chandler's LATEST obsession is Disney's movie, TOY STORY with Buzz Lightyear and Woody. He has WATCHED it OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN! When he FIRST started watching it....he was calling it YEA'S......I had NO CLUE, as to WHY????....BUT I KNEW which movie he was talking about! So, finally the other day I asked Saylor...WHY DOES he call Toy Story ..."YEAS".....and her response was "MOM, IT'S because of the little THREE-EYED green martians in the movie" --- Little DID I know....that they say: "YEEEEAAAAA"........right before the movie begins -- So, the MARTIANS are NOW NAMED "YEAS".....He told me when we go to Disney World this year that he wants to take a picture with "YEAS". Sooo all this Toy Story talk ...got me thinking...WHERE in the HECK did I put that Buzz Lightyear costume I bought AFTER Halloween LAST YEAR at the Disney Store??? I paid like 5 bucks for it --- WOW, what an INVESTMENT!! TA-DAAHHH......There it was...sitting in his closet! Chandler LOVES wearing it until it gets about 150 degrees inside....... then we PEEL it off of him!

So, THEN the other day Brian walks in there and finds him standing in front of his DVD player WATCHING "YEAS" and he has these OLD BROWN BOOTS on that USED to be Saylor's. He must have FOUND those in his closet, dug them OUT, and put them on (the WRONG feet, of course). Brian asks him (with a little chuckle) "Chandler, What are you doing?" Chandler says, "I like Woody! Daddy", "Woody have boots", "and Chandler have BOOTS!". Brian immediately came and got me to make sure I saw THIS BEAUTIFUL SIGHT. OOOHHHHH...HOW WE BOTH got a GREAT LAUGH that night!! So, now I have SEVERAL little Toy Story characters running around my house! WHEN I start seeing the little green "YEAS" I'll let you KNOW!!
AND YES, he is STILL wearing the LONG sleeved pajamas!! I gave up on that battle a while ago!!

Luau Lovin!

Friday, June 20th, 2008 - The LAST family hurrah with Phil & Rachael, for A WHILE at least -- We had everyone over to our home for a last get-together with Phil and Rachael before they leave for Cleveland, Ohio. Phil starts Podiatry School SOON! Rachael begins a new career as a registered nurse at a local hospital. The party was luau themed and the kids swam in the pool while the adults enjoyed DRINKS and BARBECUE! Everyone also enjoyed watching the LSU Tigers try for another CWS win...although it didn't quite turn out the way we wanted it too! OH well, there's ALWAYS next year!! But on a sad note, we will definitely miss Phil and Rachael, and wish them the BEST OF LUCK on their NEW journey together! Maybe one day Phil will be able to fix Brian's hammer toes and caves feet!!

Another LUAU followed the next day, Saturday, June 21, 2008 -- CES's Annual Family Picnic - It was held at Blue Bayou Water Park again this year! It was Chandler's FIRST time going to Blue Bayou and Saylor's 3rd or 4th -- at any rate the KIDS LOVE this place!!! CES had a covered pavilion nicely decorated with the LUAU theme. We had lunch as the door prizes were given away! We walked away with a couple of shirts, a hat, LSU Tiger stuff animal, and a $50.00 gift certificate to BASS PRO SHOPS....WHAT MORE can you ask for?!?!?! After a quick group picture, OFF we went to the park -- First the lazy river, which SAYLOR zoomed ahead of us and PANIC set in...as I thought we lost her! NOPE, there she was PATIENTLY waiting for us at the end! THANK GOD!! After a little chat with Saylor...then we ALL got on the CONGA....a five person slide with a bunch of twists and turns....Chandler absolutely LOVED this one!! We splished and splashed all day long until a thunder storm cloud loomed above. Then, we decided, we'd better make a run for it before we got stuck in all of the CHAOS of people getting out of the park during a thunderstorm. Besides that, we STILL had YET another pool party to go too!! GOSH, I just LOVE the summer time!!

Friday the 13TH....DINNER AND A MOVIE

My Friday the 13th was pretty MUCH uneventful AND THANK GOD!!!

Me and some friends went to see "The Strangers" at the movie theater during the DAY.....CAUSE there would be NO FREAKIN' WAY I would see this movie AT NIGHT!! So we get to the theater a little late....the previews had just finished up and the movie was beginning to START....as we WALKED in-- WE were BLINDED by the DARKNESS and COULDN'T see a THING....it was soooo DARK in there-- about as dark as a sack of black cats!! I couldn't EVEN see my HAND if I put it up in front of my face.....AND there I WAS -- leading the pack up the stairs...so I stopped DEAD in my tracks. I just KNEW the whole theater was laughing at us trying to go up the stairs and not being able to see a thing. FINALLY, some light for a brief second as something on the big screen changed. So we walk ONE more STEP up, THEN DARK again!! GEEZE..... SO you see the pattern....THEN finally LIGHT for more than a second....and LOW AND BEHOLD the WHOLE movie theater was.....

EMPTY!!!!!.....

JUST even MORE errrieee......

It's VERY CREEPY seeing a horror movie during the day with NOBODY in the theater BUT YOU!!!! We kept waiting for someone to jump out from behind the seats OR come up the aisle wearing a mask!! OR SOMETHING!!!

THEN we read on the screen that this MOVIE, "The Strangers"....is apparently TRUE or parts of it were true.....WHICH made it EVEN more scarier!! Knowing that THIS actually HAPPENED and COULD STILL happen! Anyways I won't ruin the movie for you......BUT definitely GO SEE IT, if you enjoy this type of movie genre -- HORROR -- There aren't A LOT of blood and guts in it.....BUT it will SCARE the SHIT outta YOU!!! Be prepared TO JUMP!!! Even though you KNOW something is gonna happen....you STILL jump! Liv Tyler (Steven Tyler's daughter) plays one of the main characters....AND she was excellent! The ending sucks A LITTLE...and leaves you wondering...BUT still an OVERALL worth-while movie to see!!! AND it isn't TOO long, just 1 hour and 45 min. I give "THE STRANGERS" the THUMBS UP!!!

So, later on that night...I had FORGOTTEN ALL about the darn MOVIE...UNTIL my husband BRINGS it up again....and THEN my mind started playing TRICKS on me!! arrrrggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOWEVER, on a DIFFERENT NOTE, we DID find a GREAT new restaurant to eat at in Baton Rouge...well NEW for us.....and I don't think its been around too long either. But it's called "The Little Village" and its located downtown near the river on Lafayette Street. It's an Italian restaurant and the FOOD was absolute PERFECTION!! You must taste the bread and the martini's!! It's a quaint little place -- but by little I mean LITTLE, you probably SHOULD make reservations....there are only about 20 tables total in the place. If you luck up, you might get a table near a window with a view of the river. The acoustics are pretty bad in there because its an old building with wooden floors...but the FOOD makes up for what the acoustics LACK!! It's a good DATE-NIGHT restaurant, FOR SURE!! We started off the meal with DRINKS!! I had a lemon drop martini and Brian had a margarita on the rocks. The martini was DIVINE! VERY smooth! ONLY one will do ya!! For the entrees, I had the typical Italian dinner of SPAGHETTI!!!!! Maybe NEXT time I'll venture OUT....yea RIGHT!!! YOU know me....NEVER!! Brian had one of the MANY specials of the night....Soft Shell Crab, deep fried and topped with a sauce that included lump crab meat and shrimp. NOW, I don't eat seafood, BUT if I EVER DID...I surely would EAT this!! Brian even said, being raise in SOUTH LOUISIANA and eating seafood-- like he does...he has NEVER......EVER....had a soft shell crab....LIKE this before!!!! It was tender, juicy and fried to perfection! Simply, OUT OF THIS WORLD!! We didn't have ANY room for dessert! MAYBE next time!! Overall the menu is a little pricey, but an EXCELLENT choice!! We'll definitely be BACK there!!

TOOO CLOSE for comfort!

Let me just begin BY saying....CHANDLER nearly DROWNED yesterday!! I still can't stop thinking about it!! That BOY is SOMETHING else!! Although, he is taking swimming lessons at daycare....AND....we swim in our pool often....BUT I learned FIRST HAND this weekend, THAT you DEFINITELY can't take your eyes off of him ONE SECOND!! He always swims WITH FLOATIES ON, BUT apparently he HAS built up enough confidence to jump in the pool WITHOUT FLOATIES!! Fortunately, I WAS in the pool vacuuming at the time and heard the KURPLUNK!!! I turn around only to see him sinking down in the water -- I FLEW over there and pulled him out...and HE DIDN'T even choke or spit up any water....I guess he has learned to hold his breath too! BUT STILL...a very frightening situation FOR the BOTH of us, AND had I not been paying attention...and turned around to see what the splash was -- it could have ended a lot worst!! After that, I had a LONG talk with him about wearing floaties and jumping into pools! Hopefully, he understands NOW....BUT...AT any rate you CAN never BE too CAREFUL!! WHEW!!!

Weekend Wrap-up

Brian left last Thursday(May 29th, 2008) to head down the Venice, Louisiana to fish in an off-shore tournament with his Dad - Iddo, my brother - Mike, and some friends and family. He caught one 22 lb. Mahi Mahi which he entered into the tournament. The fish held for a while on the boards...but eventually dropped off. Also, Brian caught a WHITE MARLIN and I am not sure how much it weighed as it got off at the boat. My brother, Mike, caught 1 Mahi Mahi as well. This was Brian's first BIG GAME tournament to fish in. They had to video ANY fish they caught and wear these special wrist-band bracelets....which proved, on video, that they were the person actually catching the fish on THAT particular day --I always wondered HOW they proved they actually caught the fish! Because with BIG game fish like that you typically don't kill them...you just tag and release them... Above is a picture of Brian's father's boat, The Virginia Claire (it is named after his mother)which they fished the tournament on. It is a 52 ft. Donzi with PLENTY of room!

On Friday, May 30th, 2008, Saylor had her awards ceremony for T-Ball. Her team ended up in 2nd place for the season. They each got a medal with 2nd place engraved on the back of it along with the year. Her coach gave each member a softball trophy with QUEEN BEES (the name of their team) and the year engraved on it along with a photograph book of pictures from the whole season of every player. That was SO nice of her coach to do that!! Very thoughtful!! She was truly a wonderful coach! And what a GREAT way to end a GREAT season!

Saturday, May 31, 2008 -- The kids and I stayed at home all day! My friend, Ashley, came over and we swam in the pool with the kids. Later on that evening my mom came over to watch the kids as Ash and I went to help out with a political fundraiser in Plaquemine for Mayor Tony Gulotta. After leaving there....we headed to the Texas Club for some much needed DRINKS, dancing, and FUN!! Much to my surprise, Brian ended up coming STRAIGHT from Venice and meeting me at the Texas Club! HA!

Sunday, June 1st, 2008 -- We started out the morning with our WEEKLY visit to Wally World to pick up a few groceries. Then Brian and I went to see Jaime Wax's production of, "Going to Jackson" at the Shaw Center. I just happen to win some free tickets to the show on WBRZ's Tune In morning show on Friday morning. I have HEARD many great things about his performance and was excited about going to see it for the first time! He has been doing this show for 18 years now! The story takes place at the mental institution up in Jackson, Louisiana. He is the ONLY person in the show BUT he plays MANY different characters at the institution. The show was really good, although I almost dozed off a time or two from staying out so late the night before. IF you EVER go to the Shaw Center Theater to see something...TAKE YOUR SWEATER...it was FREEZING in there....much like the movie theater! After that, we went to The Landry's house (our next door neighbors) for Beau and Alyssa's birthday celebration. They boiled some crawfish and the kids played on the slip-n-slide. As I was sitting there watching the kids slip-n-slide, it reminded me of my CHILDHOOD MEMORIES slip-n-sliding in the summer......I remember pulling out an old piece of Daddy's visqueen from his workshop spreading it out in the back yard and grabbing the bottle of mom's DAWN Dish Detergent and squirting it ALL over the place....adding a lil bit of water....and it was FUN FOR HOURS and HOURS!! They surely don't make slip-n-slides like they USED to! That's for SURE!!!

I hope you have enjoyed reading my weekend wrap-up as there is NEVER a dull moment!