Here's a BUNCH of pictures... Including Josephine's 7th birthday, a visit from my parents and sister, a visit from Jeanne, a visit to Granny and Paw Paw, and much more... Enjoy!!!

Wow - it really has been too long, this time!

I've only got three pictures for today... there hasn't been much picture-taking around here, lately... I've started back to work (mon. and wed. are full days, tue. and thur. are light days) and tomorrow starts Josephine and Maureen's 5th week of homeschooling, PLUS we've starting ballet for both girls, PSR (parish school of religion) class once a week, homeschool PE once a week (our first class is this thursday) and once a month "Little Flowers girls club" for Josephine and Madeline.

Michael built a special table with plaster to help in the process of renewing his clay... he can explain it, but I don't know how to! There is a possible part-time job for Michael at Baton Rouge community college in January... we will let you know when we know anything. We plan on doing the job application process for FT jobs all over again starting at the end of this year up until next summer... although we'll be happy if he gets settled in with a PT job locally for a couple years, if he doesn't get something FT.

Veronica dropped an unopened 46 oz. can of juice on my toe this morning. I yelled, really loud and even cried a bit! I don't think I even cried when I was in labor! It's black, blue, purplish, red and a little swollen. It feels better now, as long as I don't put any pressure at all on that toe, don't hit it or rub it against anything.

The pictures are from a few weeks ago... I hope to post more next time!

Well, to be frank, Michael was not accepted for the job at MGCCC... to make it worse, he was SECOND pick! In other words, if their 1st pick didn't take the job for whatever reason, Michael would have had it. We found out last Saturday... it was very upsetting, but we're getting over it. Michael spoke to the Dean, who informed him that he had very high interview scores... and that they had a record number of people apply for that one position.

Unemployment sucks.

Anyway, we're slowly making plans to stick around here... I'll start teaching piano again, and Michael will continue to apply for adjunct faculty jobs locally. There's two more colleges in Colorado that we haven't heard back from, but we're not holding our breath. The college in South Dakota (which he was turned down for) had 150 applicants for the one art instructor position! 150! In South Dakota!

Here's two photos Josephine took of herself: so cute :)


MeMe bought all the girls some dresses from Belk... they're modeling some of them below. Belk had a 70% off sale - true bargains for some really nice dresses!
And finally, the grand prize winner: Really. Out of the three girls, I have to say this is the messiest baby/toddler eating picture I have! I was occupied with all the other kids playing a game, while the baby was right behind me eating pizza in the highchair. I turned around to discover a very messy Veronica!

Here's the pictures from a little over a week ago at the Covington art walk and St. tammany Art Association juried art show... Michael didn't sell his painting in Baton Rouge, but that's OK... he's applied for a few more shows and 3 more jobs in the past week and a half, so maybe he'll get into more shows and possibly sell something then.

We haven't heard from MGCCC (Miss. gulf coast community college) yet, but we do know that the Dean (of ??) contacted one of Michael's references (she e-mailed Michael to let him know), which means he hasn't been weeded out in the selection process. Tomorrow makes two weeks since his interview; they told him they would let everyone know the results in two to three weeks. I'm so anxious I can't think of anything else! Oh well, I'm trying to be patient.

I've ordered and received most of Josephine's 3rd grade books, and also have done most of the planning necessary to get started...It looks like a pretty busy year for her! I may slow down the pace a bit w/ Josephine in a couple subjects if things get too hard, but we shall see!

I will be trying out Kindergarten phonics and math on Maureen... I'm 100% positive she'll do great with phonics (she knows all her letter sounds and is doing great with her "BOB" books), but math will be a trial run... after a couple months, if it's not working out I'll try again next year. She'll also have pre-K handwriting, health, safety lessons, religion, reading plus some of the Little Saints preschool program leftover from last year (which includes music, finger-plays, learning games, crafts and storytime).




Michael's painting is the one on the far right, titled "Trading homes for gasoline."

The previous post was from Thursday night: a reception and awards ceremony for the artists and for anyone else who wanted to spend $50.00 per ticket to get in...

Friday night was the free opening for the public... they estimated close to 8,000 people came to the show from the time they opened (6 PM) to closing (somewhere around 11 PM). There's a couple people interested in buying Michael's painting. I hope he sells it, to offset the cost of the frame!

Michael was in the "Art Melt," a juried art exhibition in Baton Rouge... It took place in the Brunner Gallery, in the Shaw Center for the Arts. Close to 600 artists entered the show, only about 70 pieces were chosen to be in the show. From those 70 pieces, 8 awards were given and Michael won two out of the 8 awards!!! He won an "honorable mention" (which he received a ribbon for) and the "Forum 35" award (which he received a trophy for). The Forum 35 is a non-profit art organization in Baton Rouge who organizes the show among many other events. With that award, he will be on all the posters and postcards next year, which will advertise for the 2010 "Art Melt." In addition, one of the three jurors contacted Michael on the side, wanting to see more of his art. She is a gallery owner in Baton Rouge; if she likes the rest of his art, she may hang some of Michael's work in her gallery.

I included pictures of the pieces that won 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes (which included cash prizes). Let's just say, I don't agree with the jurors' decisions! Art is very subjective, I suppose.

2nd place winner


3rd place winner

1st place winner - this picture actually doesn't do the work justice... I don't think it was deserving of 1st place, but an up-close photo would have shown the good drawing quality...


I couldn't resist taking a picture of this one... the artist used shredded US currency to make a collage of Obama. The photo of the eye is a close-up picture to show how tiny the pieces are. It must have taken the artist forever to finish this piece. He titled it "Dollars Not Change."

Michael and I had a great time together. We haven't had a "date" in a really long time! It was nice to dress up, have dinner and enjoy the art show all without kids!

Michael had another show earlier tonight in Covington. He didn't win any awards in this one, although it still looks good on a resume if you are even accepted into any kind of juried art exhibition. I have a lot of pictures from tonight, but I'll have to post them some other time... it's after midnight and I really need to get to bed!

Finally, Michael's interview at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College went well last wed.
They said it may take 2-3 weeks before they'll give him a call to let him know whether or not he has the job... talk about an excrutiating wait!

Some exciting news: Michael got a call yesterday from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. An interview has been schedule for next week... I can hardly wait! I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high... I know he may still not get the job, because I'm sure they're interviewing other people, too. I will of course post when I know anything.

Here are some lovely pictures, all taken from the professional photographer, Madeline :) She got some pretty good pictures!


She decided to play with bubbles and put some of the bubble soap/liquid on her head...


At the hotel in MS.



Josephine being silly.

Inside the moving truck... her pigtails look puffy and curly because they were in buns earlier in the day.