Shore Presents, Mini-Golf, & Don Juanz

Andrew (Neil's baby brother) and his girlfriend Beth went to Beth's home of New Jersey for a couple weeks. They drove the entire way! They got home from their trip and brought us all some "shore presents!" They brought us lots of goodies! We each got key chains and I got a magnet and bracelet. Neil got a pull over and Bennett got a rash guard. They came over to Shreveport to see us and give us our presents on Thursday. We also went out for a little mini-golf and Mexican. We went to the new indoor glow-in-the-dark putt putt place in Bossier. I was super excited about this because I have always told Neil that there needs to be an indoor putt putt place. I hope "Glo-Puttz" stays in business. It looks like they put a lot of hard work into the place. We had to set the camera on self-timer to get these photos.

Here is the same picture in the dark without the flash.

After losing at putt-putt to Andy and Beth, we went to Don Juanz-my favorite Mexican restaurant. Anytime we are in Bossier, I always want to go to Don Juanz. It is so fresh and they make their own tortillas! Here are the winners with their score card.

Apparently the owner thinks Don Juanz is pretty awesome too. Here is Don's car:

Sweet Cal

Here is the video of Cal singing to Bennett with a diagnosis at the end. Cal is my cousin's 5 year old little boy. It is dark because we had to lights off trying to get Bennett to sleep. We didn't even ask Cal to sing...he just knew that would help him! It is so sweet to see a 5 year old who has Jesus in his heart. Here is a little story about that:

Cal had to be well-behaved for 6 weeks at school and his aunt would buy him a DS. Cal got his new DS video game thing recently and I asked him why he got it. He said because "he didn't let the devil in his heart!"

Weekend Fun

We had a really fun night out on Friday with the Buteau's and the Dicharry's. It was great to go to dinner while the kids were safe and sound at home with the grandparents! We took this one after the Dicharry's left. We will get them in the picture next time!

On Saturday morning, we got up and drove to Houston for Carrie and Courtney's birthdays. My cousins (I only have 2 TOTAL on both sides!) have birthdays that are close so they celebrate them together. They rented a really big slip and slide! Also, Bennett turned 7 months old! I cannot believe my baby is already 7 months old! He is getting so big and so much fun.

Bennett's first time to Texas! He is wearing his LemmAcres t-shirt too.
Fun slip and slide. Cal was having a blast!


Me, Carrie, Bennett, and Courtney. Bennett loves his cousins!

Happy 7 months Bennett! And also...HAPPY BIRTHDAY LESLIE!

Cal is so sweet. He just loved getting to see baby Bennett. He wanted him to snuggle with him on a palate that he made on the floor for them. He also wanted me to "throw" Bennett down the slip and slide. I think we may have to wait a couple years for that! After all the fun in the sun, we went inside because Bennett wasn't feeling well. We tried to get him to sleep, but he was not having it. Cal came in the bedroom and started singing "Jesus Loves Me" to my crying baby. It was the sweetest thing you have ever heard.

We drove home after the party back to Shreveport. We stopped in Lufkin for some wonderful mexican food a la Taco Bueno. I have never been so happy to see this sign.

Sippy Cup

Bennett tried out his sippy cup for the first time yesterday! I was excited to give him a little apple juice mixed with water. He really like "chewing" on the spout, but I don't know if he got anything! I think he is used to having the camera in his face every day because each time I tried to get a shot of him with the sippy in his mouth..he would take it out and smile at the camera! Here are some pictures of this milestone.

I mean really! Did I need to take 5 pictures of him chewing on a sippy cup?

I guess I thought I did!

Blog Hop!-A Favorite Photo

Here is my cutest sweetest angel. Kristin Mosura took this last week at Bennett's 6 month photos! It turned out so cute and I couldn't wait to show him off!

Fun Fourth!

This 4th of July weekend was so much fun! We started off on Friday just lounging around with Neil. We were so glad he was off work for the holiday! We love getting to spend time with Daddy! We went to Gymboree as a family for our big Level 2 class! I think everyone had the same idea because all the dad's came! They had fun helping them play baby soccer and musical babies! Later on, we had the Buteau's over to grill. It was fun to have a laid back dinner and discuss our plans for Saturday.

On Saturday morning, Dad came over for a patriotic breakfast.

After breakfast, the Doughty's came over. I have been wanting to meet their sweet Garrett since he was born at the first of May. He is the most precious baby!

Bennett liked his friend Garrett. He was grabbing his ear!

Switch-a-roo! I'm holding Garrett and Yitin is holding Bennett!

We went to Neil's Aunt Catherine's house for the 4th. Mom went with us too. The whole Lewis clan was out there. We had a great day playing in the pool and the lake. The Earnest's and Renee Boswell even came over for a visit. They jet-skied down to see us! We ate so much food! Everyone brought a few home made items and we had a feast. I made stuffed strawberries and a fruit pizza. They were a hit and didn't bring any of it home.

(Couldn't get this picture to turn the correct way)

We took Bennett for his first boat ride too. He fell asleep at first, but then woke up to watch me ski! I can't believe I got up on skis! I haven't skied in ages. It took me 3 times, but I finally got up! Jack and Neil went out on the tube and Jack was so brave! They flew off the tube about 3 times and he was smiling the whole time!

Here are some pitcures from our fun day.

Gigi and Bennett

Rebecca, Kelly, Connor, Chad, Janine, Amanda, and Carolyn.

Awesome tubers! Jack was so brave!

The SIL's with our matching cover-ups!

Bennett, Rebecca, and Missy

Mommy and Bennett. This was Bennett's first boat ride!
Gammy, Bennett, and Mommy! That's Rebecca in the background.

We ended the day with a BIG fireworks show! Billy put on a really nice fireworks show. I tried to get everyone to sing patriotic tunes, but no one was really into that.

Happy Independence Day to everyone! I am so thankful for our freedom!

Eat'm Up Eat'm Up, Chomp Chomp!

I'm just going to start off by saying that I got a Family and Consumer Sciences (Home Ec) teaching position at Captain Shreve High School, my alma mater, on Monday! I am more than thrilled because it is really hard to get a first time teaching position at such a good school.

Let me tell you the journey that I have been on to get this job.

It all started back on January 16, 2008. I only remember the date because it was my birthday. I took off work to go to an interview at United Way. The interview went really well and I was overqualified for the position. I also volunteered on different committee's for United Way. I just knew I had the job! Well long story short...I didn't get it. I couldn't understand why.

3 short months later I was pregnant! One reason why I think I didn't get that United Way job is because I would not have had the insurance or the pay to help out with our arrival. I still wanted to work in the non-profit field though.

Fast-forward to March 2009. I get back to work the day after maternity leave and I am laid off! I know I should have been sad. But, I just knew it was going to be a blessing because I had been so bored at work for 2 straight years! I was always looking for other jobs because I was never challenged and always trying to create "work" for myself.

The lay-off helped me to be able to go back to school to be a teacher. It was just what I needed to nudge me back into school...something I have been wanting to do for years now! I really like that I have been able to have the summer off with my baby. I like that I have been able to take 9 hours this summer to get some classes out of the way before I start teaching.

I like that I am the newest addition to the faculty at Captain Shreve! I am so excited that I will be working with one of my former teachers...Mrs. White. I have already talked to her twice today. She is already so helpful. She told me that I could use any of her stuff too. We will go meet with our Family and Consumer Sciences supervisor next Thursday! Everything has just fallen into place!

All this to say: You can't see it when you are going through it! (Thanks Erinn!) God had a total different plan for me. I would not have chosen to be laid-off or anything else. He knew what I needed and it is so cool to be able to step back and see what he did for me.

On a different note...Look what my friend, Merideth left on my door step today!!! A huge bag of Gator Goodies. I am going to get the bag monogramed with "Mrs. Lewis" on it! She gave me a t-shirt too, but it is in the washer!