Bring It, Gustav!

So yes I am alive and yes we are well. I am really going to have to be more consistent at this. However, I wanted to be sure and post something before Gustav disconnects us from the rest of reality for several days. I am comparing myself to a squirrel right now, with the hoarding of food and supplies I mean (not the cute bushy tail and the clicking noises to communicate!) I have water jugs lining the wall of the kitchen, enough insulin for three months, batteries over flowing my usual battery box and more gas than we can ever use in our mower in case the stations run out and we run out in our cars. Oh yes and per Eric and the kids request cereal straws...apparently they are up on the survival list with water, food and shelter. Thanks for you ingenious marketing Kelloggs you will be happy to know you saved us during Gustav! Yes we are ready. I am obviously praying for a no repeat of Katrina but we are ready for whatever comes. I remember when I was young and we would have hurricanes that got us out of school for a week. That was always the biggest most exciting part about it for me then. Now I am an adult and have all these little mouths to feed and it is a little more disconcerting. So pray for us and the entire Gulf Coast. You will probably know more than we do as we will only have a small and crank radio to tune into while we have no power. We will also eat like kings if our freezer starts to defrost and we have to cook all 7lbs brisket I have stored for another day, I guess so will my family and neighbors too! I will resume regular posting when this is all over. Maybe I will get to it before, but don't hold your breath!

PS We have no land line phone and the cell phones are usually busy or the towers are down so if you try to call us don't freak out if you can't get to us. We are going to be fine. I was very glad for the hand crank radio we bought after we got rid of our land line because it will charge cell phones!

First Days and Birthdays

So, my little man left for his second day of first grade this morning and I figured it was time to put up the pictures of his first day of first grade and Mya's birthday which were the same day by the way. It was a big day for the Bascom household! Austin is 2 for 2 with his bus being late this year on the first day of school. We waited for an hour for the bus to come. It finally did and he happily hopped on. This kid loves school. He cried his last day of kindergarten and has been so antsy to get back ever since! That is the way Eric was, so I am told. I got a picture of his shoes because he HAD to have Sketcher Z strap shoes for the new year. He also insisted on having a messenger bag as opposed to having a traditional backpack. I thought, "He is not going to like that after a couple of days. I should not let him get it. He is going to get to school and realize that everyone else has a traditional backpack." Boy am I out of the loop. Apparently messenger bags are really popular these days. I guess I am officially "uncool"! Hope you have a great year Austin! You are one awesome dude!
Mya's birthday was on the same day. I don't know what Eric and I were thinking but we decided she could invite a few friends and we would take them to Libby Lu to get all dressed up. We got Austin on the bus and got Aliyah to Grandma's so it would just be Mya's special day. We went and picked up all the little girls she had invited and went to the mall. The girls were so excited! Then we got to Libby Lu and they said they could not fit us in right then. I guess I should have called about that. We got a little nervous when they said they could not get us in for two hours but we took the girls on a carousel ride, to the play area and to Chick-Fil-A which seem to fill our time adequately. We finally got our turn and look out world. There was more glitter flying around than I have seen since making Valentines day cards in the first grade! Mya was insistent on being Hannah Montana and getting the wig. We tried to convince her otherwise because I think the little girls' hair is so cute all done up. I secretly also wanted to see if they could tame the curly cow licked locks that I struggle with every morning. But I will have to just make a guess that they would have struggled too. The girls had a great time and I have lots of pictures to email their parents. That night Eric asked if we could go see "The Dark Knight" to get some of his manhood back. We also celebrated her birthday with the rest of the family on Sunday. My parents came over for cake and ice cream. She got all the things she asked for which included a jewelry box from my Mom, jewelry, a princess book, a fake camera (she explained to me that she did not want a real one because she was not old enough for that yet!), a headband and a little stuffed puppy with its very own carrier. Her friends gave her a play vacuum (I wish it worked for real because she has gone over the carpets about 346 times already with it!) a magnetic princess book (can never go wrong with that!) and jasmine doll and horse which has been everywhere with us since (well every where that she thought she could get away with anyway). She is a very sweet girl who is always thinking of others and loves to be my little shadow. I cannot believe she starts preschool this year and Kindergarten next year. Maybe Aliyah will stay little forever?!?! I love you Mya!

Update to the post: Chrisie Grandma and Grandpa Walt's gift arrived today! Wow, Mya will be busy for weeks! It was a dress up trunk filled to the brim with dress up clothes and a ballerina Barbie. So far she has been a princess, a fairy, a ballerina, a balerina fairy, and a ballerina fairy princess (that's a four year girl for you!)! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa...You know her so well! It helped that she knew exactly what she wanted when you called to ask. The child knows what she likes that is for sure.

I love this shot of Annabelle (my niece). She is getting sprayed with the glitter hairspray.

Ok no fainting for real

Okay so here is the long awaited "real" second post from the Bascom family instead of just a title. I just look at how cute everyone elses' post are and am not sure I can measure up. I am not a very graceful or witty writer so here goes my attempt at a blog that will probably be a little sub par but hey, something is better than nothing. This summer has been a very fun summer for our family. We have had Girls Camp for me, Eric and I's 7th anniversary, Austin's birthday, a very fun "Kid Free" get away with our friends Chris and Sarah to Fort Lauderdale (AWESOME TRIP), cabin building in Mississippi, Mya's birthday and mine still to come. Here are a few pics of the summer. Sorry I am not a better poster...I will practice. Hope my three or four readers enjoy~


This is Penelope, my cousin Rachel and me making jewelry under Rachel's careful and experienced direction.Here are the kids (minus Aliyah) on Austin's Birthday. They are enjoying the cake I really messed up! They don't seem to mind. We also took Austin and a couple of friends to the movie Kung Fu Panda and to eat all the Pizza their little stomachs could hold at Ci Ci's Pizza. I must admit Eric and I ate all the cinnamon rolls our stomachs could hold!

Eric and the kids at LSU by the statue of Mike the Tiger. We took the kids there for a little day and they thought it was AWESOME that they go to "go to college". We even ate lunch in the student union and feed the ducks/turtles at the LSU lakes. We had a great time.

Our wonderful friends Chris and Sarah initiated this trip to Southern Florida. We had such and relaxing and fun week. We love them and miss them!


Still best friends even after seven years. I have to say even better friends than we were seven years ago!

Chrisie Grandma sent the girls Fourth of July dresses and Austin a Dinosaur stencil book. Here are the dresses. Mya wanted to wear hers right away and everyday until Sunday. I luckily got it off of her so it would be clean for church.

This is from earlier in the summer but it was Mya's first season in soccer. She had a great coach (Austin)!

Eric was one of the coaches for Austin's team.

Well here's my second post. I hope you have all enjoyed it. I will post more regularly that way I can post more pictures of each event! Pictures of the cabin and the birthdays still to come.

No Fainting Please!