What's Going On........

Well, summer has arrived. It is hot. It is humid, but I am not teaching school. That is good. I am taking a class. It is through The Louisiana Endowment of the Arts and Humanities. I get 3 hours graduate credit. They paid for the class and materials at McNeese. Best of all.....I get a $1250 stipend when the class is completed. Of course I have a couple of papers to write and a weeks worth of lesson plans to turn in too, but we get a field trip to New Orleans too. We are going this Friday. We will have an academic tour given by a professor from Southeaster in Hammond. We will go to St.Louis Cemetery No. 1 where Marie Leveaux is buried, and then spend the rest of the day in the French Quarter going to various sites and museums. It will be hot. It will be humid, but it will be fun! We leave Lake Charles at 7 A.M. and leave NOLA at 7 P.M. to come back. It will be a full day!

At this point I must say that the name of the class is: Louisiana, A Multicultural Journey. So far(I have had 7 days of classes) we have visited cemeteries in Lake Charles, did the geneology of a person in the cemetery, read about Louisiana women, Creoles, blacks, and free people of color. Our state has such a colorful history. So many people are so larger than life.

Today, we went to the Jewish cemetery and the Jewish temple. I had never been to a Jewish temple. The people were super nice, and I learned that the Jewish community of Lake Charles played the vital role in the development of businesses of all sorts and the development of the arts in Lake Charles.

Here is a funny thing that happen when I was leaving the Jewish temple. I was crossing the street when I heard someone call my name. I look up, and there is my Mormon bishop mowing the lot across from the Jewish temple. He said,"What are you doing?". I laughed and told him about the class and assured him I was not converting. It was just a little surreal to come out of there, and the first person I see is my bishop. The Lord is everywhere!

I am having Internet problems at home. I am at a McDonalds now using wi fi to post this. To top it off, our land line is out of commission as well. Technology is great when it works, but the pits when it doesn't.

My watermelon garden is growing like wild fire. I have melons as big as pears right now. I am amazed by the daily growth. I will post pictures when I have more time.

Farming

I had a farm in Africa........thus begins one of my favorite
movies, Out of Africa. I have a farm in Fields! My dad gave
me 6 watermelon plants. I am determined to have
watermelons. 2 of the plants died, but I still have 4 and
they are flourishing. I have been adamant with watering
since it doesn't rain much lately. My dad tells me that I
should count 30 days after I see a melon sitting on the ground
until I will have a ripe melon. I am just beginning to spot
some less than an acorn size melons. Wish me luck!

This is what they looked like less than 3 weeks ago.

About a week later............

The latest...I can see growth almost daily. I keep having to
hoe out a bigger space for the runners.

Liam's car

As Liam's 2nd birthday approached, I decided that I wanted
to get him the Little Tikes cozy coupe. He loves anything
with wheels. The decison was final when Sarah told me that
he played with one at a birthday party, and spent the whole
party in it. Little Tikes makes great products that are really
inexpensive. I learned that with my own children

Sarah and I read some reviews of the Cozy Coupe, and many
people complained about how difficult it was to put together.
I assured her that Randy would have no trouble.

Some people warned that putting on the wheels took forever.
I timed Randy, it took 12 minutes.

4 wheels on...getting ready to attach the roof

The finished product! There is nothing that PawPaw can't do!

Babies and more babies

Saturday, May 29th, was Liam's 2nd birthday. After all his
presents were opened, Sarah said there was one more. She
pulled a T-shirt out of a bag and held it up. Liam is wearing the
shirt in the picture above. It took a second or two for it
to register what it said and what it meant. Liam is going to be
a big brother! Mabile baby number 2 is due on January 7.

Sarah and Greg have unique ways of introducing their pregnancies.
We were sitting around telling Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes when
Sarah said, "Have you heard the one about Sarah being pregnant?" Thus,
we learned of Liam's scheduled arrival.

Sarah is not the only one in our family who is adding to our family. Our
son Jacob is going to be a father. It is a little girl due in October. Babies
offer such hope and purity to our lives. I am grateful for that.

Roses, roses, roses

The first time Randy brought me to see the property we
live on now, there were wild roses everywhere. Across what
is now or front yard was an old fence just covered with
those old timey wild roses. It was beautiful! When we were
preparing to build the house, the old fence was torn down, and
many of the roses were destroyed, much to my dismay. We
did keep one mound of them. For several years now, we have
debated whether to just destroy them too. Randy insisted that
they would take over what looked like just junk. This year
they seem to be doing what Randy had in mind. They were just
beautiful. Although there still needs to be some trimming and cutting
of the "junk", the old roses looked spectacular and seem to be taking
over the junk.

Even with such a great lack of rain they bloomed profusely.

Every time I looked at them, I wanted to pin some in my hair.

We transplanted some to this bird feeder. Last summer we
kept training it to go up the pole. Our persistence paid off. I
constantly marvel at natures beauty.