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

Gustav Update

It has been a whirlwind of activity for us since Friday. We had already planned to go visit Carrie's grandparents in Huntsville, AL for the Labor Day weekend so we headed out of town on Friday morning. In hindsight, this was a good move as our Parish called for emergency evacuation at 7 am this morning. I have been tracking via the internet today and apparently the interstates are gridlocked out of N.O. We are here in Paducah keeping our fingers crossed. We live above lake Ponchartrain but that still puts us east of the eye which in general experiences some of the worst weather. Our main concern right now is the high winds given the number of trees in our yard. I don't think flooding will be a problem for us (hopefully), but we do have insurance. Please keep all of those in the N.O area in your prayers.

EB

Back to School....Back to Budget!

Something that most people know about Earle and I is that we are always trying to work within our budget. I guess that is probably not a shock to anyone's system considering Earle is a Financial Anaylst! Sometimes it can be annoying and sometimes it can be empowering! We took Crown Ministries a couple of months after we got married, and then co-lead a few groups after that...but we are always re-assessing and re-defining our budget! Summer is always crazy because of unplanned weekend trips, extra eating out and gas money on those trips...etc....So, now that we are pretty much home and settled we have to come to grips with reality and get back on track with living responsibly within a family budget! For us that means, only one credit card, and sometimes using cash for everyday expenses. We usually eat out much less during, "Lock down Budget time" and don't go shopping as much for items that we don't need. Also, we have to plan for Holiday spending etc.
I recently saw these two posts on Yahoo, and if you did not get a chance to see them, I thought I would post the links.
This one is called: "How a Family Saves big by living on Cash Only"
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/indexFP.php?rn=3906861&cl=9425290&ch=4226720

This on is an ABC news clip "Tips: By America's Cheapest Family" (I think you have to listen to a quick advertisment first..sorry)
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5496045

Anyway, I am needing to take some more pics of the boys...so I thought this might be a good tide me over post!! I found the clips really interesting! Hope you enjoy!!
CB

New Family Favorite....

Okay, I have to share...there is a restaurant in Houston called "Chuys". They have this awesome dip called Jalapeno Ranch Dip that they serve with chips and the food. Earle and I used to absolutely love this dip! The other week when Rochelle was visiting, we were trying to find the recipe online to recreate it. The one that Earle and I tried was absolutely awesome!! I tweaked it a little to fit our liking and needs and we have had to have a constant bowl of it in the refrigerator ever since. It only takes about 5 minutes to make up and you can make it healthy so you don't feel a bit guilty about eating it. It is great with chips, sandwiches, or veggies! It is pretty hot, but I threw a little sweet in there to balance out the jalapenos!! Here it is:

1 Cup of Sour Cream(we use fat free)
1 cup of Mayo (we use fat free)
1 Packet of Dry Ranch Dressing mix
Garlic Powder to taste
2 Packets of Splenda or Sweet n Low
About a third of a Jar of Pickled Jalapeno Peppers(0r however much you like)!!
1/4 bunch of cilantro leaves(this is optional...it is good, but we prefer it without..totally up to you)

Throw all of the ingredients in the Food Processor for about 2 minutes until creamy and chunk less!! It gets a little hotter by the day, so you might go light on the Jalapenos, and then taste it and if you need to add more you can!! YUMMMM!!! Anyway!! Enjoy!! Have a good rest of the week!!
CB