Testing

We have had standardized testing this week at school. I am administering the GEE (Graduation Exit Exam). It is very serious. If I mess up or have any sort of mistake while giving the exam I have to pay a fine of $350 per mistake. A little steep if you ask me because they certainly don't pay us anything extra for giving the test. Oh well. Today my group did not have to test, but since a lot of the other students are testing we have to stay in my room and be quiet. We have watched 2 movies today and I brought donuts for them to eat. I have gotten so much done, too! I am totally finished with my Spring 2010 class thanks to these 3 relaxed days. I have been able to get everything for that class and it is all typed up and turned in! I feel like I have a huge weight lifted off of me. I have gotten some lesson plans typed, made a test, and invited a guest speaker to come and speak. I am really liking testing week!

I found out yesterday that I passed the 4th and final test for my teaching stuff! Summer of 2009 I took the Praxis I, Praxis II, and the GRE. In March, I took the Principles of Learning and Teaching and thought I would never pass. It was a timed test with 24 multiple choice questions and 12 essay questions. I wrote feverishly through the whole thing and barely finished before time was called. I am so glad that I am finished with all of my testing. I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

This Summer I will take 3 classes and then begin my "internship" in the Fall. The internship is basically where I pay Tech for 3 quarters while I work. This is something hard for me to grasp because if you "student teach" under another teacher you only have to do that for 1 quarter. Some things just confuse me.

Yummy Visit.

Nana and Grand-Machine came in town tonight to see us (Bennett) and grill steaks. We were excited that Andrew came over, too. The steaks were wonderful as always. Have I ever mentioned that Richard makes the best steaks ever in the world? Well he does. Janine made fresh corn and asparagus. Yummy as always. I whipped up my new favorite dessert for Spring, too.

Here are the Lewis boys after dinner. They look so excited because they were discussing their new hunting lease! Neil is really thrilled about it. He is trying to come up with names for it as I type.

Nana gave Bennett a bath. They were both soaking wet after because they were having so much fun.

Bennett loves his grandparents!!!

16 Months Old!

I will not start this post off by saying how fast time flies. I just won't do it. I say it every month.

Bennett!!! You are 16 months old today! What a big, beautiful boy you are! Here are some things going on with you right now:

• You wear a size 4 diaper.
• You wear 12-18 month clothes. Some 12 month is too small and some 18 month stuff is too big...we are trying to find a happy medium.
• You weigh around 25 pounds.
• You say "thank you, hi, bye, cheese (for pictures), 2 (as in 1, 2, 3), shoe, and uh oh" regularly.

• You have a lot of blabber and random talk that we don't understand yet.
• When we pick you up from day care you stop what you are doing and run up to us and give us a great big hug. You then wave to everyone while saying "bye bye!"
• You will pretty much eat anything...still!
• You try to put on you own shoes and ours for us.
• You have a bunch of teeth. There are 5 top front teeth (1 eye tooth) and 4 molars.
• You have done a wonderful job without the pacifier. You only had 45 minutes of crying 1 time for it and then you have been great.
• You still love Ms. Lyne at daycare. They have taught you to sit down on the mat to get a snack. You sometimes do that at home.
  
  
  
• You are still the love of our lives. We are amazed everyday by how much you learn!

3rd Annual Lewis Family and Friends Crawfish Boil

Well our 3rd crawfish boil was a success! We had a beautiful day, huge yummy crawfish, and lots of fun. I have tons of pictures that I am posting so bear with me!

Here is our sign. I just took it to the sign place and had them take off the "2nd" and put "3rd!"

I just think these crawfish cookies are so cute. I get them at Cheesecakes and More in Shreveport because they do such a great job.

I think these are my favorite cups. The first year we had red and last year we have blue. I like these the best. I also like that everyone can take one home as a little party favor.

Here are Chris, Margaret, and Annabella in front of the bounce house.

Here are Aunt Cloie, Woody, Cody, Carolyn, Dianne, and Dad.

Rebecca, Amy, Catherine, Michelle, and Emily.

A BIG thanks to Walker, Andrew, and Russell for cooking all of the crawfish! Great job guys!

Here is Neil putting holes in the green beans can to make sure they soak up all of the good stuff!

Pops and Bennett.

They love their boy!

Neil, me, and Bennett. I love getting family photos.

Gammy and her boy. Mom was the biggest help for the boil! She did so much cooking and preparing...I couldn't have done it without her. She also kept Bennett while he napped and brought him home early when it was time for him to go to bed. Thanks so much, Mom!!!

Georgia and Bennett

This year Bennett was big enough to play in the crawfishin' pot I made.

SIL's.

Me, Katie (my big-sis from Sigma Kappa in college), Leslie, and Erinn

Way to go guys! Here they are about to dump the first pot!

YUM! We the artichokes were so good. I think they look so pretty on top of the crawfish.

Crawfish, clear skies, and a band. What more could you ask for?

Katie, Jared, Chris, Don (my old boss), Emily, and Catherine.

Casey, Keri, Michelle, Rebecca, Drew, Hillary, Nikki, and Lindsay.

The sweet Palmers.

Me, Carolyn, Baby Clara, and Rebecca.

A Sigma Kappa Alumnae photo. I think I shall submit this to the Virtual Violet.

Toby and Kayla are both new to crawfish. Toby is from Kansas and Kayla is from Canada. They are both down here because their husbands play hockey for the awesome Shreveport Mudbugs! Toby and I teach together.

G and B love to swing!

Neil, Dad, Beck, me, Toby, and Kayla

Me and my boy.

Casey with Mason and Bennett. They were loving this!

The Yates family.

Here are Sarah, Beck (Bennett's self-proclaimed godfather and the person that traveled the farthest to attend the boil), and Bennett

Bennett was loving the band.

Margaret, Chris, Amy, Neil, and Bennett

A Lewis family photo minus Grand-Machine and Nana.

Here is our 2nd attempt at a family photo. We are glad that Cox, Beck, Russell, and Amy feel like part of the family!

It really turned out to be a great time. We had a nice turn-out and the weather was perfect. We are looking forward to next year!

It must be boilin' time!

We are getting so excited! Our 3rd annual crawfish boil is tomorrow and we are getting ready.

It started 2 years ago in our backyard with a few friends. Last year we had it at the Shreveport Yacht Club and will have it there this year, too. It is supposed to be sunny, clear, and 75 degrees! A perfect day for a crawfish boil.

Here are some of the supplies. Ever boiled green beans? They are so good. We are going to have a new addition this year...artichokes! Emily Aclin gave me the idea.

We are getting everything ready tonight for the big boil tomorrow. I made a few items and I have lots of friends and family who are bringing stuff to help me! Thanks everyone!

I will be back tomorrow with loads of pictures from our annual boil. I hope it goes great.

Easter Weekend 2010

We started this wonderful Easter weekend with a day off from school/work/daycare. That was wonderful! Neil went with his cousin's husband to check out some land for deer hunting. They were more than thrilled about it. They were staking out where to put deer stands and such. The only thing bad about it is they are going to have to tell the people that are leasing it now that they can't have it next year. Neil was telling me how he can't wait to take Bennett out there to hunt, fish, and play.

While Neil was off scoping out the land, we went to Starbuck's. We met Leslie, Erinn, and Georgia. This is the only picture I took. Random I know. It was such a pretty day so we sat outside. Here's Leslie, Bennett, Erinn, and Georgia.

My aunt and cousins came in town on Friday to spend some time with us. We had a late lunch at Jason's Deli. Only Carrie and Aunt Carolyn are smiling at the camera.

Neil took care of the ordering and he got Bennett his first chocolate milk. He loved it!

Cal is so sweet to Bennett. He helps with everything and even wanted to sleep next to his bed!

On Saturday morning we headed to Strawn's for breakfast. The 2 Best Buy bunnies were out walking around so they stopped in to say hello.

After breakfast, we headed to the egg hunt at First Baptist. There were lots of hunts around town so we went to the one closest to our house. They had tons of eggs and prizes. Bennett and Cal were content just playing on the playground.

Here are me, Bennett, and Caldonia.

Bennett is probably egg hunted out. This is his 3rd one this year!

I used the good ole self timer for this one. I put the camera on a stump and clicked it. Here we are: me, Mom, Bennett, Aunt Carolyn, Cal, Courtney, and Carrie

After the hunt and Bennett had a nap, we dyed some Easter eggs. Cal did such a good job. He was even patient while they were sitting in the dye! I remember wanting to take them out of the dye 2 seconds after placing them in the water when I was little.

A family egg-dying photo opp.

This was our favorite egg. It was the brightest one. Here is Cal showing it off.

Dyeing eggs is very serious.

And here are the eggs!

After my family went back to Houston, my brother and dad came over for dinner. My brother took this picture of Bennett and me. Doesn't he look adorable!?

During dinner, Bennett put a green bean in his ear. Gross. Don't worry. It wasn't really "in" there.

We were up early today. I made Paula Deen's French toast casserole for Sunday School. I put it all together last night and made the praline sauce and baked it this morning. My mom came over with an Easter basket from her house. I guess the Easter Bunny stops at Gammy's house, too. Bennett took everything out of it!

Look what the bunny brought to our house!

He loved it. He took everything out of this one and carried around the empty basket. I guess he just wanted the basket!

We went to church and it was great. We had a lot of people at Sunday school. Emily Aclin came too! Church was awesome. The music, the message, and the worship were all wonderful. One of the highlights was when Derek (our SS teacher) baptized his daughter. It was so sweet. He cried through the whole thing. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. I have chills just thinking about it!

We went to Zocolo for Easter lunch. We had a reservation for 12:45 and didn't get out of there until 2! It was crazy because only about 5 tables had people at them. I was nervous that my dad was going to blow a gasket.

Guess who was at the table next to ours? Teresa from the Grammy-Girlfriend! And I didn't even take her picture! She had her son-in-law take our photo, though. It was neat to meet someone that I have been reading about. I recognized her grandson first and then the rest of her family. It is one small blog world!

Here are Michael and Dad.

Handsome boys in yellow.

After a busy Easter morning this was one tired boy. I have so many pictures of him asleep in his car seat. I guess we just wear him out!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!