Coffee Break Fall Study!!

Living By Faith

What does it mean to you personally to live by faith?

I have spent some time trying to think of another study for this fall, but it seems like the words are flashing in neon lights in my mind. So, that is what we are going to study. This fall I would like to encourage everyone to figure out just what living by faith means in our day to day lives. Lets look at what actions and circumstances lead us to taking leaps of faith and what the Bible teaches of the blessings that can be bestowed on us when we do. I would love to have you log on to :

"Coffee Break"

and join in on some great study and discussion!!

CB

Canada????

Okay so here's our latest news. We(Earle) are being transferred (by choice, not by force) to Canada for a year. We were approached about this the week of Gustav..and then evacuations, and hurricanes sort of slowed our information flow and we wondered for a few weeks if we are going or not. Word is out and we are going. We have our passports, and Earle was told last Thursday that he was going to tentatively be expected to start full time in right outside of Calgary as of Dec. 1st! It is a partial relocation, so we are going, but not selling our house here or really taking any of our belongings except for essential clothes and just a few things. Right now we are planning to rent a furnished condo. The downside...besides all of the crazy chaos of the next two months and the 2400 mile drive up there(with our dogs!)...is that we don't know what will happen after our year there is over. We don't know whether we will be selling our house Mandeville and moving to Houston or coming back to Louisiana. I get very impatient with unknown things like that! But we think it will be a good experience for our family and for Earle's career and are looking forward to the next year. We know God has a plan! We have already been in contact with a church in Calgary that we are looking forward to attending. I have so many questions like, how soon can I get Ben into preschool there? How do I know which preschools are good? Is this going to mess up his kindergarten/Pre-K schedule etc.... Luckily he is the youngest Pre-Kr in his class, so if we have to repeat next year, it will be okay, or if we have to repeat kindergarten it will be okay. Today Earle and I worked with Ben on trying to practice writing his name. Fine motor skills are so hard for little boys!! But we were excited when with some strong coaching, he was able to write his name or the semblance there of all by himself! So yeah Ben! I posted a pic of it!! Anyway, that is the latest! We would love visitors once we get settled a little!

CB

18 months and Finally Walking!!

Ben Last Year on the first day of pre-school:

Ben this year, confident and excited about starting Pre-K!

We have had so many things going on the past couple of weeks! Ben started Pre-K, and Collin started walking! It seems like every time we sit down to try and post, for some reason blogger has been locking up and our pics are not posting..etc...So anyway, hooray for the fact that it finally worked today!! Last Saturday, we were cleaning out some toys in the playroom and noticed that Collin was walking across the room, and in about two days he decided he was ready to be a complete walker! We are proud! It was about time!! Ben loves Pre-K so far this year and all of the new friends in his class!! They are growing up so fast! Hope everyone's week is off to a great start!!
CB

Haircut and Pizza Party!

Well we finally did it...we took Collin to get a haircut. I really did not want to cut off the curls, but he kept getting tangles and food in the curls, and I decided that it was not worth it to keep them. We took him yesterday and he did a great job at the salon. He sat perfectly and was as pleased as punch to see himself in the big mirror. He was even more excited about the sucker! Here are some before and after photos...

These other photos are of our little informal birthday party for Ben tonight. Since we had to cancel the 'big one' at the bounce house, we decided to have a pizza and cupcake party at "The Italian Pie" with just a few of his friends. The kiddos had a great time. He got a superhero Backyardigan movie from Conner and Micah, and from Brian, Sean and Timmy he got the "Bumblebee" transformer..which he did not have and it is his absolute favorite transformer...and then from the Carlson's he got this awesome Superman P.J. set that he had to put on immediately when we got home! He also got some superman underwear that I am sure we will wear more than any others!! Thank you guys! You were so sweet to give him those things...he was so excited!! Have a good one!

CB

Ladies, Hold on to your purses!

I have to share my crazy experience! I just got back from Wal-mart this morning. It was a crazy place at the Covington Wal-mart...especially because they are not back to regular hours and everyone is trying to re-supply because of the power loss from this past week. So it was definitely ridden with crazy wild people that had come out from their hiding places. ( I know, that sounds ugly, but you know what I am talking about!) I had taken Collin with me. I had gotten a decent parking space close to the entrance. I got out of my mini-van, and grabbed a shopping cart and pulled it up to the door where I was going to get Collin out of. I had grabbed my purse and Starbucks drink of course and put it in the cart before I got Collin out of the car. I opened Collin's door and the whole time I was watching my cart. I saw two men walking on the other side of the street and one of them was eyeing my cart. I thought to myself, "I know he is not thinking of coming over and taking my purse!" But yes, indeed he was thinking that. The guy gestured to his friend to my cart, left his buddy and slowly walked right up to the cart and was about to reach in and take my purse...when I walked right up to the cart and looked him dead in the eye. He lost his nerve and walked back over to his buddy and went into Wal-mart to shop...or possibly search for women like me who were tending to their children and might possibly leave a purse out in the open! He must have thought I was too busy with the baby to notice what he was trying to do. Maybe he was going for the Starbucks drink....but I think that is rather unlikely! I went into Wal-mart with my purse on my shoulder and told a Wal-mart employee. I told him that I simply could not believe it...He told me, "Oh, believe it sister, you have no idea what people around here will do!" That was a little unsettling! The employee told his manager about the incident. I also told any women that were shopping that I saw that had their purses in the seat part of the cart that took two steps away to get something off of the shelf....which is what I always do too....that those two men were still in Wal-mart, shopping and to beware! Anyway...hold on to your purses ladies!!! Have a great weekend!!
CB

Family Visits and a Superman Birthday!

We had a great and somewhat unexpected week this past week! We had already planned to go to
visit my grandparents in Alabama, so we went to Huntsville on Friday to see my mom's parents. We had a great time visiting my Mema and Granddaddy Billy, along with my great aunt and uncle, Widdy and Charles Riley! They spoiled the kiddos and fed us way too much, but we had a great time. On Saturday evening, Earle and I started getting a little more nervous about Gustav, and were trying to decide whether to go home to Louisiana or to go back to Paducah with my parents. Our decision was made for us when our parish had the mandatory evacuation. We ended up having a great week visiting with my father's parents, Ma and Bu, and my brother and sister-in-law, Ryan and Amanda Owen. Ben was supposed to have a big birthday party this Saturday, but due to the whole hurricane, for now it is cancelled. So we got to have a family birthday party at Ryan and Amanda's house on Labor Day. One interesting fact, my dad surprised Ben by dressing up as Superman! I am sure these photos will turn up elsewhere for my family's entertainment! I have to say, we were all entertained! We had a great time visiting with them and Ben absolutely loved playing with Lauren! The next day Earle and Dad took Ben to the Superman museum in Metropolis, IL. He was so excited he could hardly stand it! Sometimes unexpected trips are the best ones! We are heading back to LA tomorrow!

The Outcome...

Thank you everyone for your prayers!! Thank goodness things did not turn out as horrible as predicted. We still are in Paducah, and waiting on the return of electricity and re-opening of the roads into St. Tammany Parish, where we live. From what we can tell online there has been minimum damage in our subdivision, so hopefully we will return with most everything in tact. Our plan is to start back tomorrow or Thursday if we can. Again, thank you all for your prayers and concern.
CB