Mayeaux Family's Life Journey

"It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas"

2008-12-11T13:04:00.002-06:00

Wow!! I can't believe that we were blessed with such an awesome covering of SNOW this morning!!This morning we woke up to a beautiful sight of snow falling from the sky! Not a view we get that often here in New Orleans!It was beautiful for as long as it lasted!Haha I believe the last time it snowed it was Christmas day 2004! What a special treat! Today I had my post-op visit, so Mrs. Kelly,, a friend of ours from church came to babysit the children.She took the kids outside to play in the winter wonderland! They had a blast!Here are a few pics that Kelly took!

My Precious Ones!!

2008-11-19T16:13:00.000-06:00

"I'm BackTo The Land Of The Living!"

2008-11-19T15:40:00.002-06:00

I am finally feeling good enough to update the blog! Sorry it has been so long!
Well my surgery was October 22 at7:30 am. Rick said that the surgery didn't end till almost 11am. It was the right call the Dr. Bethea made by going ahead and doing the major surgery rather than something non-invasive. Don't want to gross too many people out....but it was a mess in there! If you would like to know details , just ask! There was a few minor complications, but overall everything went fine. My hospital stay was 5 days. I really only remember the last day and a half! LOL The rest was quite a fog!I am definitely rejoicing in the wonder and glory of our God throughout all of this! Finally after so many years of emotional and physical pain I am healed!!Praise God! I am truly thankful for everything I have had to go through to get to this place! A place that after almost 10years of infertility the Lord blessed me with 3 perfect precious gifts...Emma Faye, Ava Grace & Ray Anthony! When the world said not a chance...God said yes!! I am thankful and humbled to have been chosen by God to be able to give my testimony to present day miracles! Again the Doctors said they cannot understand how I was able to conceive and carry three children from those mangled body parts!Dr. Bethea himself said that "there has to be a higher power for that to have taken place"! We all know the answer to that! That is only through God's grace! On October 22 I gladly surrendered those mangled body parts. I now am looking forward to a life free from pain! No more having to hide my pain, I can now honestly tell you I feel GREAT and really mean it!How AWESOME is that?

My parents and my sister Darlin came to help out for two weeks! Rick and I could not have done it without them! I don't have enough words or quite frankly money to ever be able to thank them for all that they did for us! To sacrifice their time and their busy lives ...to stop and help us! THANK YOU GUYS!!!Darlin your the greatest Aunt and Sister EVER!!Someday ,somehow I will be able to serve you as well!

"EMMA FAYE IS 5 TODAY"

2008-10-15T10:47:00.002-05:00

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It is very hard to belive that 5 years ago today the Lord blessed Rick and I with our hearts desire....a baby!!! Our sweet Precious baby girl is now 5 years old!!!Wow!! What an awesome gift the Lord has given to us! We are truly honored that he has chosen us to be parents!! We will be celebrating with a cake and presents on Saturday when MoeMoe and PoePoe & Aunt Darlin arrive! So Pics of course willcome soon!

"WELL WE WENT ON DOWN TO THE AUDUBON ZOO"

2008-10-15T09:59:00.002-05:00

Saturday Rick and I took the children to the zoo! This zoo trip was quite different than others being that they weren't too interested in seeing a lot of the animals!!HA HA They were more interested in all of the other things our zoo has to offer!They climbed on anything they could legally climb on! They played in both play areas, climbed and rolled down "Monkey Hill"! They ate Roman Candy, played like monkeys climbing up 350 year old oak trees!!But I guess that is the benefits of a membership!!HA HA You enjoy ALL of What the Zoo has to offer us!!HA HA

"GEAUX WARRIORS"

2008-10-15T08:49:00.002-05:00

This past Friday night we went to watch our nephew Eric play football! So We packed up the kiddo's and headed North to Amite, La to see the Warriors play the Tigers of Independence,La! The family was super excited to see our family who lives on the north shore! When we arrived at the stadium for the game Uncle Will was waiting for us With the tickets!! So while Rick went to find a parking spot, Will escorted the tribe into the stadium to meet up with the rest of the family. Ray was so excited to see the football players! Will was laughing so hard because Ray kept saying over and over again:"football"..."see football"! He also kept singing the L.S.U. fight song! HA HA He was a little confused being that both teams were purple and gold!!HA HA
Once we met up with the rest of the family, the children were really quite good! No regular "Mayeaux Family Issues"! HA HA Ava had a blast as well. She of course was interested in what she calls the "cheer girrrs"! Otherwise to you and me we call them cheerleaders! She was also fascinated by the halftime show with the bands and as she callls them the "dancin girrrs"!HA HA She actually befriended a lady that had pom poms! Somehow she convinced the nice lady to let her wave those pom poms!! She actually was trying to follow the routine from the stands!!! Super cute and a Super funny site to behold! Every time they would turn ...she would turn etc. She was quite serious about each movement...so focused!!HA HA The game was GREAT! The Mighty Warriors did taste victory in a 35-7win over the Tigers! We all certainly enjoyed seeing Eric play and Seeing our other nephew Brandon participate in the pre-game as a member of the JROTC! With all of that fun we were looking forward to that 53 minute ride back home! How wonderful it was going to be to have 3 beautiful children pass out due to stimulation overload!!HA HA But as you know this would not be a Mayeaux story without an incident!!!HA HA
After the game we wanted to stop and get a little snack and some drinks for the way home. With all of the drive-thru's in Amite so busy due to the game letting out, we decided to make the exectutive decision to go down the road to Hammond and stop there. Sounded good to us! Well we decided to stop at a McDonald's. Upon pulling into the Micky D's we see that the drive-thru line is rather busy...but how long can it take? It's fast food right? Well...43 minutes later we were making our order & 15 minues later we were trying to get our oder when the car in front of us broke down and had to be pushed out of the drive-thru. This was the first time I had ever seen someone walk up to the drive -thru window!!HA HA After getting everyone settled, we were headed off back to Norco!! A few minutes into the ride, we hear Ava from the backseat say "UH OH"! Not good folks!!!Little miss Ava Grace had a reaction to the red hot dog she ate earlier at the game..and threw-up everywhere!! So with no exit in site, we pull over the family truckster to "clean up"! While trying to take care of this mess Miss Emma Faye now decides that this would be a perfect opportunity to need to "go Pee"! HA HA Can It get anymore interesting? HA HA This is "The Mayeaux's"!Hold on tight , believe it or not...there's more!!Finally on the road after our Pitt stop, we were so excited to finally be on our way home! Not for long folks...all of a sudden all traffic comes to a complete halt. There was an accident with a car fire!!So finally we did arrive at our destination of Norco around 11:30 or so!! Needless to say we had three sleeping beauties upon our arrival to the Mayeaux estate! Enjoy the pics!

The Invisible Mother......

2008-10-15T08:14:00.002-05:00

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I was sent this as an e-mail from my sister-in-law Charmin. I loved it's message and thought I would share...Enjoy!!!

The Invisible Mother......

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the
way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and
ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm
on the phone?' Obviously, not.

No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor,
or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at
all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of
hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? & Can you
open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a
clock to ask, 'What time is it?'; I'm a satellite guide to answer,
'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around
5:30, please.'

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of
a friend from England .

Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on
and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking
around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to
compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic,
when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said,
' I brought you this.'

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her
inscription:

'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are
building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would
discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after
which I could pattern my work:

No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of
their names.

These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see
finished.

They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes
of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the
cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny
bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why
are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will
be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman
replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was
almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte . I
see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake
you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are
building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will
become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a
disease that is erasing my life.

It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the
antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As
one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see
finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could
ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing
to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my daughter to tell the
friend she's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets
up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand
bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the
table.'
That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want
her to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to
her friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot see if we're
doing it right.

And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only
at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the
world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

What GREAT friends

2008-10-09T14:36:00.003-05:00

The children and I had a GREAT play date yesterday with Janine & Lila! I gathered up all of my little Mayeaux's for a surprise adventure! Along the way, I gave the girls "clues" about where our surprise location was & clues to the identity of our surprise guests! They had so much fun with this! Emma said "Momma this is a GREAT Mystery"..."Just like Scooby Doo"! "Me & Ava are the mystery team"!LOL They had a blast!Just as we pulled into our surprise location...so did our surprise guests! It worked our quite nicely for my game!LOL
Our play date location was The Louisiana Children's Museum! The kids were so excited to see Janine (aka..Dr. J) and Lila! So off we went to explore this uncharted territory! The Museum , although nice...is not quite what I had in mind. Most of the exhibits are geared for older children...so one day it will be nice to visit again when the children are actually able to understand what the exhibit is referring to! And quite frankly I wasn't very thrilled with all of the "hands on" stuff! I'm usually not a germ-a-phobia type momma but.....Ray pretty much tried to put his mouth around every piece of pretend food in the cafe or the little grocery store. Not to mention the digging in the bubble mess!I have a feeling we will be seeing Janine next week ...not for a play date but a doctor visit!LOL For those of you who do not know, Janine is not only a great friend but she is also our children's pediatrician! Between she and I we did try to clean them up along the way!LOL
Overall the children and Janine and I had a wonderful time ! The Children enjoyed each others company as well! Ray absolutely LOVED the Mr. Rogers exhibit! I Literally had to carry him away from that. LOL Ava Loved the story time. The book that was read was one of The Wizard Of Oz stories featuring TOTO! So it was worth the price of admission for her just to be read to about The Wizard Of Oz...her favorite movie! Emma enjoyed herself throughout the museum! Upon Leaving the museum I could see that I had three very tired little Mayeaux's on my hands! All three were asleep before I got to the interstate to head back home!!!QUIET drive back home!!
Thank you Janine & Lila for a wonderful play date!!We had so much fun with you guys!!!

2008-09-26T13:24:00.002-05:00

Fun @ Mickey D's

2008-09-26T13:18:00.002-05:00

The Mayeaux's enjoying the Beautiful Weather

2008-09-26T13:11:00.001-05:00

I Haven't Been Well Lately :(

2008-09-26T12:40:00.002-05:00

OK I guess I need to get everyone up to date on my health issues! After suffering with pain and some serious "Issues" Shall we say ...in the female health category,I am scheduled for a major surgery on October 22 at 7:30 a.m. I will be having a hysterectomy.Due to my complicated issues I am not a candidate for a non-invasive procedure. The doctors will be going through my already existing Cesarean section scar.So I will be in the hospital for 3-4 days!The recovery is around 6weeks! As all of you know life here is already quite interesting! So things are going to get a little more bumpy for a while! LOL
I'm not at all sad about the decision for this surgery. Quite frankly I am embracing it as a NEW start for me ! I have been dealing with these sort of issues, endometriosis, severe scarring and pain since I was 14 years old! Through God's awesome grace he has brought me through almost 10 years of infertility to be blessed to have 3 beautiful children. I am truly blessed to have been chosen by God to be able to go through these trials in order to be a real voice for his wondrous love for his children! For him to be able to use his work and healing of me to be a living testimony of his present day miracles is overwhelming! Every tear I have shed over the years, the loss of our first child,although sad...all of it was worth it to be able to be what I always wanted to be... a mother! Who am I now to be selfish about my mangled body parts, when he has blessed me so abundantly! He made these parts, he used them for his gifting us with our hearts desire.And now I gratefully give them back! I am excited to finally be able to walk tall and proud when someone asks me "how are you"? I will be able to tell them without any uncertainty....I'm Fine! And really mean it! I have hidden my pain for years! For the Lord to give me complete freedom in this area is going to be awesome!
I am thankful to the Lord for also providing a way for my parents and my sister Darlin to come down here and help out with those little miracles I now have! What a blessing! I will of course keep everyone updated with my progress!

2008-09-26T12:34:00.001-05:00

It's Been A While!! Sorry

2008-09-26T11:58:00.002-05:00

Hey guys! I know it has been a while since I last blogged. Since our visit to Nanny Faye's house life has been quite an adventure!Let's see where should I begin?
We had to evacuate for Hurricane Gustav....Praise God we did not have any damage!Just a lot of clean-up and inconvenience due to lack of electricity! But overall we were satisfied with the outcome of the storm for our family and for of church family as well! I will post a slide show of our shelter from the storm. We left Norco, around 4 a.m on the Saturday before the storm. Our Parrish was in a mandatory evacuation as of noon on Saturday. So our little head start was great planning on Rick's part! About an hour or so after we left is when most of the traffic tie-ups occurred! We arrived at our first destination of McKinney, Texas on Saturday afternoon! My Ex- Brother-In-Law Cary had invited Rick and I to stay at his house! How kind was that? He was so generous to us ! We stayed there until after the storm had passed. We moved over to Benbrook , Texas to my sister Darlin's house later in the week! It was such a nice thing for she and her husband Joey to invite us in to invade there life for a few days! When you invite the Mayeaux tribe for an evacuation....you get a lot more than you expected!!!LOL Thank you Darlin and Joey your hospitality was above and beyond "our" expectations! Rick drove back to Norco on the Friday after the storm to clean up and check things out. While he was still here at home we did get our electricity back on the Sunday afternoon.So being that things were better we of course came home! Only to be visited from our "Other " little storm IKE! For Ike we did loose electricity for around 13 hours or so. But things of course could have been much worse!

What Fun We Had @ Nanny Faye's

2008-08-11T18:05:00.002-05:00

We spent our Sunday afternoon at Faye & Allen's house on the North shore.Faye is Rick's sister. We had such a GREAT time! After a wonderful lunch of Bar-B-Que Ribs,sweet potatoes,pork&beans, potato salad & dirty rice! What a feast! I think Ava ate her weight in sweet potatoes and Emma was in heaven with the potato salad and the dirty rice! After lunch we did go swimming!The girls were a little apprehensive at first,but eventually Emma was swimming like a fish and Ava finally left the ladder!
It was so nice to sit and visit with my brother and sister -in-law.

The Mayeaux's Go to The Mississippi Gulf Coast!

2008-08-11T08:57:00.002-05:00

This past Friday was supposed to be an overnight romantic getaway, but in usual Mayeaux fashion...things went shall we say not according to the plans! The reason for going to the Gulf Coast was for Rick's job .So he actually HAD to go! So on to plan B! Plan B was to actually take the whole tribe on this adventure. How often does a free room on the coast come your way? To answer that....LIKE NEVER!! So we were going to take advantage of the gift! We left for the coast around 3:30p.m. With all of the craziness getting everything ready for when Rick arrived home I forgot the most important thing for a Momma to remember! To actually take and make the children go potty before we left! So needless to say we literally get 3 miles from the house and Ava says she has to potty! Well for those of you who know where we live can understand my plight in this situation! For those of you who don't here it is in a nut shell...We live surrounded by water. Within 3 miles of the house there is no longer any shall we say proper "PEE PEE" spots! We were driving between Norco & Destrehan which is basically "The Swamp"!So for a 3 year old to now be told "To hold it", didn't really work in our favor! So we had to stop and "clean up"the first crime scene of our trip! While I was taking care of business with little miss Ava Grace, Rick was going to fill up the family truckster with gas. Of course we should have known it wouldn't be that easy right?The gas station could not accept credit/debit cards due to bad weather!!WHAT??? You heard me right..CASH ONLY! Who carries that much money now a days to go fill up their car/van? So off to another station! So with all of our extra stops we didn't arrive in Bay St.Louis until 5:30! Rick needed to be changed and downstairs for 6:00! Even with all of the craziness the kids were so excited,and Rick did get downstairs on time!The kids and I had the best time enjoying the view from the high rise, jumping on the beds(o.k. I did let them do that a little! Sometimes ya gotta just let them be kids!)and waiting for Ray's bed and our dinner to arrive! After dinner and a bath we all were super excited to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony!!After a little trouble receiving the channel, we were awed by so many things watching the ceremony! The kids were so into it,I was amazed how it captured their attention! For my sake all kiddo's were off to dreamland around 8:30, and momma enjoyed a nice relaxing, hot bath! How wonderful that the lord gave us all that we wanted! The next morning off we went for our day of adventure! We ate breakfast at a Cracker Barrel and went for an impromptu walk along the beach! We know that we were a little over dressed for the beach but....When in Rome...Right? We had so much fun with the kids. And I have to say they were quite the troopers! Enjoy the new pics!!

Help Me Momma!!! I Need A Wipe!!!!

2008-08-06T11:25:00.002-05:00

O.K. So you all who just love our Ava stories here's one for you!So the other day was crazy! Not crazy in your typical Mayeaux fashion, just crazy in general! We had a lot of things going on! Too many to list, but you get the picture...Chaos!!LOL Although this is rather personal I will just tell it like it was! With being the mother of three very busy kiddo's one rarely gets ANY alone time to even go to the bathroom,nonetheless it is NEVER by yourself!You pretty much have a potty party everyday!So during one of these shall I say potty parties Ava disappeared. Now I know all of you are gasping at this moment...the thought of Ava alone anywhere is enough to contact some sort of authorities!LOL So,as we are all finishing up in the bathroom, I hear Ava screaming to me "HELP ME MOMMA..I NEED A WIPE"!"OH NO PLEASE HELP ME"!Knowing what my child is capable of I grab my cell phone(so that I can call Dr.J if needed) and run towards the screams! Upon my arrival to the screaming child,I now see Ava has pushed the butcher block table up to the fridge, climbed on top, and retrieved a black sharpie and shall we say the rest is an interesting piece of our family's Quilt Of Memories!!!I am posting the evidence for you ..photos of the scene of the crime and the results of the perpetrator

The Mayeaux's Do the CAREWALK!!

2008-08-06T11:05:00.002-05:00

Our Covenant Group was a part of the last CAREWALK in Lakeview last Sunday! We brought the wagon and hit the streets with our Binders and off we went! After the CAREWALK we enjoyed a picnic at Metairie Playground! Needless to say, we all had a great time and enjoyed ourselves fellowshipping with the others in the group!

BATHTIME @ THE MAYEAUX'S!!

2008-08-06T10:54:00.003-05:00

Always expect the unexpected here at the Mayeaux's house! Even bathtime isn't Normal! LOL Those of you that really know us completly understand that last quote!!LOL Well here is the little story that goes along with these pics!Ava & Ray were taking a bath when all of a sudden there was a third party in the tub!Well letsjust say EVERYONE got a bath!LOL

"KINGDOM BUILDERS " VBS 2008

2008-08-06T10:18:00.003-05:00

This year was the first year that Emma was able to attend V.B.S.! She was so excited! I worked the nursery along with my helpers Ava& Ray, while Emma Attended her class. The name of her class was "Nails" being that this years theme was based on a construction theme.Her teachers were Ms.Tori Masson& Ms.Carly Collins! Emma did so well! Although some of the Scripture verses were rather long , she did her best to remember them in her own words!It was such a joy to see her so excited about learning about the Lord! Of course in typical V.B.S. fashion there were puppets!! And for Ava& Ray that was the main attraction!They loved the puppets! Jessica worked so hard with the puppet team and made that aspect of the crusade so memorable for the little ones! The other "draw" to Ava Grace was/is Pastor Peter! LOL Pastor Peter was one of the members of the drama team. He played the role of a"GRAMPA"! Go figure...It must have been quite a stretch for him! LOL Well anyway.all through the worship time Ava and Pastor Peter danced together, worshiped together,and according to Ava...He is my best friend! LOL Ray also loved Pastor Peter. He now Calls him "GRAMPA"! I think he actually thinks that is his name due to the drama! It is rather cute! Although the getting everyone ready so early,and the chaos that comes with that, it was all well worth it!! Enjoy these pics of the event!

THE ZOOMOBILE CAME TO NORCO

2008-07-14T01:12:00.000-05:00

Storyland & Snow-Balls Sunday

2008-07-14T00:32:00.002-05:00

On Sunday we spent the morning doing chores, and the afternoon having fun with the kids! We chose for our outing with the kids this weekend:A visit to Storyland in City Park and a Special Snow-Ball treat on the way home! Well let me just say, The kids and Rick & I had a BLAST!!For all of you who don't know Storyland is a little play adventure area inside city park!Some of our float makers here in NOLA has helped Mother Goose stories come to life through adorable exhibits!The kids can climb & play on them, interact with some of the story characters!In general just have a !great time!Enjoy a few pics:

HAPPY 44TH BIRTHDAY RICK!

2008-07-14T00:03:00.002-05:00

July 12Th was Rick's 44Th birthday! The kids and I got him an L.S.U. watch, and a couple of other things he needed! We spent the morning at church! Pastor Jeff presented a wonderful message!We are so blessed with our staff! After church we went to lunch at Jack Dempsey's! Rick's friend Sammy is part owner of that rest.and it as usual was so yummy!!!Everyone had a great time and it was fun to visit with Sammy for a little while! Once our bellies were full, we made our way home.We made sure we went the long way home if you know what I mean: With 3 kiddo's 4 and under anytime you can actually get them to take a nap together is priceless! Once the tribe arrived back at the homestead the usual craziness was back in action!!Gotta love it! The girlie's and I made Rick's favorite cake!Oh yes,the girls were so helpful!! They actually LOVE to help all the time in the kitchen.The cake came out GREAT!No extra crunchy things i.e.egg shells!LOL The girls were so proud! Rick enjoyed his birthday cake!

July 4th @"The Collins'"

2008-07-13T23:01:00.002-05:00

We were so fortunate to be invited to Keith & Gina's for a wonderful celebration of our country's independence!! What an awesome group of people the Lord put together to celebrate this gift that we have been given as Americans...FREEDOM!! So many people take for granted this day July4th! To some it is a day to dress in red, white and blue,grill some food,an excuse to maybe drink too much adult beverages,or even just a three day weekend! But this day was given to us to be able to freely make our own choices because of others great sacrifice! What a parallel to our gift of freedom in Christ Jesus! Someone died that we may have freedom from our sin, and no condemnation!That someone was/is JESUS CHRIST!Sometimes people just don't understand what it took so that we may boast in Jesus Christ, worship God with our whole heart out in the open, to not be ashamed of the gospel or hide our Christianity! We take for granted these privileges!! I am Thankful to all of the men and women that have gone before me and the ones today that serve or have served me and their country in a selfless manner!I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN CHRISTIAN!!
I also need to also take a little time to remember my Father-In-Law and his sacrifice to our country for serving in the Pacific during WW2! How we do miss him here on earth,but his legacy of service to our country will live on in our freedom! That my children will enjoy freedom in part due to his service in the Navy! I take pride in having known him, loved him,and to have the last name Mayeaux! What a feeling it must have been in his heart when he actually saw our flag "OLD GLORY" being raised on D-Day from his ship! He tasted and saw freedom on that day more than any of us could have imagined! Thank you very personally& lovingly to RAYMOND JAMES MAYEAUX!
Pastor Keith & Gina very warmly opened there home to all of us! Gina made a beautiful and delicious flag cake, Keith grilled chicken,hamburgers, hot dogs,and smoked a wonderful brisket! Everyone else brought side dishes and desserts! We had so much food and it all was yummy!Gina served as our very own Lady Liberty and led the way for our parade throughout the neighborhood! With a boom box filled with patriotic melodies we marched ,rode bikes, pulled decorated wagons, played drums,rode scooters and Seth had the best float of all...Mr.Steve Joubert's neck!LOL
We had a blast meandering through the neighborhood showing our American Pride!
Here are a few pics of all of our festivities!!!

Happy BirthdayDaddy!!!

2008-07-13T22:43:00.002-05:00

July 1st was my Daddy's Birthday! I just have to say that I do have the best Daddy in the world! My Dad has sacrificed so much for all of us for so many years! He is a TRUE prayer warrior for all of us as well!I thank God everyday for placing him in my life and for giving my Daddy the passion and desire to not only be a better christian ,a better husband to my precious Momma, but to continue to be the daddy that I need in my life!Thank you Lord for Ray Anthony Eues,my precious earthly father!

SORRY THAT IT HAS BEEN A WHILE :(

2008-07-13T22:29:00.002-05:00

Sorry guys that it has been a while since i have blogged! I wont go into a long story but I have have a really tough go lately with my health! So please forgive me and if I have missed any milestones please forgive me for that as well! Now with that out of the way I will try to post a few pics of what we Mayeaux's have been up to! I will try to be a little more regular now with the blogging! I love you guys and thank you for all of your support & encouragement during this time of my health issues!

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA"

2008-06-30T17:03:00.003-05:00

Today is June 30th and it is my Mommas birthday!!What a wonderful day this is to celebrate the Lord's gift to me: My precious Momma! I am truly thankful to the Lord for giving the perfect mother for me. Caring and purely giving, Strict when I was younger,and to me really the best confidant and friend anyone could wish for! Momma, this day is your holiday,a day for all of us to be thankful for and a day to celebrate YOU! I Love you Momma. I pray that this day finds you with a little less back pain and that you can truly feel the love from all of us here in NOLA!
The girls & Ray made you a cake and sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you! They also made you some lovely artwork!!!

Saturday with the Mayeaux's

2008-06-30T16:56:00.003-05:00

After church on Saturday we took the kids to the Aquarium! We all had so much fun!Here are a few pics:

"MR. AND MRS.ADAM HUSTY" JUNE 15,2008

2008-06-26T12:25:00.002-05:00

Our whole purpose for being in Houston was of course for Adam &Kerridan's wedding. The day of the wedding we stayed home to make it easier to be prepared and ready for the festivities! We got to see the transformation of our very beautiful Kerri in becoming a bride! Or as Ava put it when she saw Kerri walk down the isle was"GASP...MOMMA KERRI IS NOW A BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS, I CAN'T EVEN ALIEVE(believe)IT""LOOK AT HER MOMMA A REAL LIVE PRINCESS"! Before Kerri left the house Ava's big concern was that she didn't break her crown!Ava's new concern was whether or not that beautiful princess would talk to her!
The ceremony was beautiful. Adam and Kerri exchanged their vows right at sunset!How beautiful it was to see that brilliant light behind them as they became man & wife! The children did remarkably well! There were no Mayeaux incidents!!Wow! Everyone had a great time!!Enjoy the pics

"HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" THE MAYEAUX'S ARE COMMING

2008-06-26T10:41:00.004-05:00

Well we packed up the "Family Truckster" and headed to Houston, Texas for Adam & Kerri's wedding! We did squeeze in a little bit of sightseeing while we were there!
Let me of course preface this next portion of our trip with a little back story....
A week or so before the trip the kiddo's and I went to pick up Rick from work. Along the ride the girls saw a sign or something somewhere with a rocket on it. Ava started the conversation with this statement "I WANNA GO TO THE MOON ON A ROCKET". Emma's reply was:"YOU CAN'T AVA, ROCKETS AREN'T REAL! THEY ARE JUST PRETEND ON T.V.". My response to them was to try and explain in their terms how rockets are real and about space, landing on the moon,etc. When I then tried to explain to them that their Uncle Rick works for a company that works with NASA. Well somehow they thought or got out of the conversation that Uncle Rick works for NASA and he was going to be taking them to the moon!!!LOL I'm not sure where the wires got crossed here but from that moment on, in their heads when we got to Houston, they were going to the moon!LOL
Seriously they were so excited to go to C.C's house!So naturally after, Charmin heard this story, she spoke with Uncle Rick and he took the girls to NASA to see a real live Saturn rocket! They were so excited!! It really was funny, they were following Uncle Rick all around the exhibit like little ducks! Or like groupies to a rock star!! He in a way has become quite a hero in our house! The girls were easily distracted from their questions to Uncle Rick about their "moon trip" when they heard about the longhorn cattle right outside! Why there are longhorn cattle at NASA I don't know and quite frankly I didn't bother asking because my children were truly in awe. Rockets & animals in the same place! Uncle Rick or should I say "UNCLE BUZZ LIGHT YEAR" will always be their HERO!!!
Enjoy the pics of all of the family fun before the wedding!!!Thanks C.C.& Uncle Buzz for letting us invade your space!! We love you guys!!

"Car Wash" Mayeaux Style!!!!!!

2008-06-10T10:33:00.002-05:00

Rick and the girls washed the van on Sunday!What a treat for the girls! Needless to say they enjoyed it and had a blast!!!

MOE MOE WE CAN FIX YOUR BO BO KNEES???

2008-06-10T10:18:00.005-05:00

In the Mayeaux household Band-Aids are a very important part of the healing process!!! So when Moe Moe arrived with her Bo Bo knees the girlie's decided to "Fix" them!! Words cannot describe what took place so I will let the pics speak for themselves

MOE MOE & POE POE COME TO VISIT US IN NOLA!!!

2008-06-10T10:15:00.001-05:00

My parents came fora visit the week after the women's retreat!! We all had such a great time with Moe Moe & Poe Poe! While they were here we went to eat at R&O's for lunch after church and it was GREAT as usual!!! We also did a little shopping at the mall. I n which the kids had an awesome time!! We also celebrated Ava's 3rd birthday!
Ava wanted a "Real Wizard Of Oz Party"!! Well trying to find anything Wizard of Oz was next to impossible!!!So I had to make her cake! It was quite a quest that momma and I went on to try and find some decorations for the cake! Here are some pics of the joyous occasion!!!!How do you like the cake???

EMMA'S SURGERY!!!

2008-06-10T09:41:00.002-05:00

The Monday after the retreat Emma had her surgery!! Tara Ryan came to the house around 5am to watch Ava& Ray for us! Once we got to the hospital things did move rather quickly! She had so much fun with all of the "Special" toys and stickers! She also enjoyed watching the video they ran on the hospital channel about what it is like to have surgery!! She was very brave and did all that was asked of her! Her total time of her surgery was37 minutes! She woke up right away in recovery and asked for some juice! By the time we got back into her room upstairs she had already consumed half of the required juice needed. Within the hour of returning to her room we were signing the discharge papers!! As we were getting into the car Emma wanted to know why we were leaving! She told us "WE CAN'T LEAVE!!!THEY NEED TO FIX MY BO BO EARS AND THROAT!" She didn't remember the surgery!! Praise God!!We stopped and got her a shake for the way home!! She was quite the trooper!! She did AWESOME!!!

IT HAS BEEN AWHILE!!!!

2008-06-10T08:19:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! I am so sorry that I haven't been able to post for a while!!!Not only have we been super busy, but I have been experiencing some extreme health issues as well!!! Thank you so much for your grace in this area! I am now going to try and update you from where I left off last which was the women's retreat!!! What an awesome time was had by all! We women were so blessed by the teachings, stirred by the spirit, and worshiped the lord purely with our whole hearts! All of us were challenged to examine our lives , to remove hindrances, and to begin to leave a legacy that is worthy!! I was so moved! I am so thankful for all of my time of fellowship with all of the women, but especially with the women from my covenant group! The lord allowed for us to become better knitted together as a true family of women. To be able to share with one another things from our past and for our present needs! I am so excited to see what the lord has in store for me and my ladies in Christ!

2008-05-16T20:04:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is our long awaited women's retreat. This is the first women's retreat since before Katrina! I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for me in any way. May that be in the form of correction, encouragement,worship or any or all of these areas. I am willing and wanting to meet with our Holy Father in a mighty way! I am so honored and blessed already that the Lord made this possible for me! My heart is open and ready for the Lord to fill! I will let you guys know how everything goes later!

"AVA'S NEW HAIRCUT"

2008-05-15T20:38:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pics of Ava's new haircut!! She was a very good girl and sat very still for Missy!She is such a big girl!!

"GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS"

2008-05-13T09:56:00.002-05:00

This morning the girlie's decided to get in touch with there feminine side! WOW!! Take a look at Emma's fingernails! Now that is technique!!!LOL Thanks MOE MOE for the FRUIT LOOP NAIL POLISH & CHAP STICK!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

2008-05-11T20:42:00.002-05:00

Happy Mothers Day to everyone!!I have received the best gift of all which was my hearts desire....Children!!! I am truly honored that the Lord has chosen me to be a mother! I am very proud to wear that badge! Although life can be challenging in this role as a mother and a wife, I would not change a thing!I AM A BLESSED WOMAN!!
Today was a great day!Here are some pics of us outside playing. I tried to get a pic of me with all three kiddo's but it just wouldn't work!LOL!! Enjoy!!!

"MY NAME IS CHARLIE"

2008-05-08T23:55:00.002-05:00

So one of Ava Grace's favorite movies now a days (besides Wizard of Oz)is Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory! Between the two movies, I have now started to hear their songs in my dreams!!LOL! Rick is actually singing those tunes out loud!Anyway, she has now started to act out the scenes of these movies. It is so cute. The only thing is to try and remember who she is at that moment.Well today she was Charlie, Emma was the blueberry(Ava's favorite part of the movie), Ray was an Oompa Loompa,and I was Charlie's momma. Copper I'm not sure why, was Mr. Slugworth!LOL! She really gets into her character!Well after about an hour I thought she had moved on to other characters and movies.I began calling them for their exciting lunch of hot dogs! Emma & Ray both come running into the kitchen, but where is Ava? I went into the living room to see if I could find her. As I entered the living room I noticed her on the couch. I said "AVA your lunch is ready", Just then she looked at me and said "MY NAME IS CHARLIE,NOT AVA!" So , Charlie then joined the other children for lunch! Later on in the day my friend Tara came by to watch the kids for us. When I returned from my meeting I found all of them playing in the backyard and Tara was now Grandpa Joe and Ava didn't make a move without Him!!!So I'm not sure who she will be tomorrow ,but she definitely keeps us on our toes!!What is your favorite Wonka moment from the movie? I would love to share that with the kids!

Aubrey's First Birthday Party"

2008-05-06T23:35:00.005-05:00

On Ava's actual birthday we went to our Niece Abby's daughters first birthday party! We will be doing a small birthday party for Ava at the end of May!Abby was so sweet and had a special cupcake and #3 candle for her! Everyone sang happy birthday to Ava too! She was so excited! Thanks Abby for thinking about Ava!We love you so much!Here are a few pics of the occasion!

"RYAN COVENANT GROUP NIGHT OUT"

2008-05-06T23:02:00.004-05:00

The Mayeaux Tribe had a blast this past Sunday with our covenant group!We started off bowling and then off to Le Madeline for dinner!What AWESOME time we had fellowshipping with one another. Rick and the girls did the bowling while I kept an eye on Ray and the bumper lane with all of the kiddo's.Ray had such a great time going from person to person and constantly saying "BALL"?, "BALL"? He loves sports and balls. So he was wanting to chase down the lanes for every ones ball. He is just so cute! He spent the whole time at the bowling alley wearing Daniel's hat backwards! He is such a "BALLER"!LOL!Emma and Ava LOVED bowling! We will have to go back. Surprisingly Emma was quite coordinated! She did great with waiting her turn and being patient. Speaking of being patient, Ava's technique was interesting! She would walk up to the line , swing the ball(brief pause so that I can say, honestly I was a little nervous giving her a weighted ball and actually telling her to toss it down a lane, my concern was not for her, but for others!)LOL! So where was I... Ah,yes , she would walk up to the line, swing the ball so forcefully and then just SLAM IT TO THE GROUND! Which made for quite an interesting approach to the pins! The ball literally moved so slow down the lane that as Ava was watching the ball, she actually laid down on the lane to continue to watch!LOL!It did eventually knock down two pins!! They had so much fun playing with The Mackey Children, and just being out of the house! After bowling we went to eat!What a great time of fellowship we had!

"FAMILY DAY @ DR. CECOLA'S OFFICE"

2008-05-06T21:53:00.004-05:00

Well we were off to see Dr. Cecola on Monday the 28th! My friend Jacque watched Ray for us which was quite a blessing! Thanks Jacque!!We arrived at the very busy Dr. Cecola's office to find Daddy waiting for us!!Yey, Daddy!! Momma was so excited to have you there!So anyway,with the office being so busy it was quite loud! There was a little area with a Lego table and a play tool bench for the kiddies to enjoy! Needless to say the Mayeaux children were not shy, and proceeded to play.They were having a ball while I was filling out all of the necessary paperwork. Slowly all of the other children came over and started playing as well. Emma was introducing herself to each of the children and getting upset if the child was too shy to say their name!She would just say out loud "why won't she tell me her name"? While Emma was being "MISS MANNERS", Ava was letting everyone know that she is now 3 years old, and insisted upon lifting up her dress , and sitting with her legs wide open! When I asked her why she was doing this she replied "CAUSE ITS COMFY COZY"! Whatever! You gotta choose your battles and that wasn't one I was wanting to get into! So finally we here those golden words"EMMA & AVA MAYEAUX"? Promptly those precious little Mayeaux children went to the back for our visit with "DR.COLA"!Ava was first, She did great!We asked the Dr.about why would Ava need to be shoving her finger up her nose constantly?Keeping in the forefront of our minds was the last time we saw "DR.COLA" he had just removed a popcorn kernel from Ava's nostril!So as he is laughing about "The Kernel" , he looks in her nose and discovers that she had a massive sinus infection in which he was going to put her on another antibiotic!Yey,More meds!!Can you hear my sarcasm here?Other than that he wouldn't need to see her until around 4 months from now. She is hearing so much better! It really is amazing!!!Now it was Emma's turn, upon getting some history on Emma, he examined her and immediately asked us if we had time for him to do a hearing test on her. Emma did get a little nervous before the hearing test. Rick was trying to explain to her how things were going to go, so that eased her mind a little. I went in with her for her testing in which she of course she failed miserably!!Dr. Cecola came back in to tell us the results and let us know that she is so blocked with fluid that her hearing is extremely compromised. He recommend for her to also have surgery A.S.A.P.
She will need to have her Adenoids removed and to also have tubes put in. At first she didn't understand what he said.So when he left the room we explained to her that she would be having the same surgery as Ava! Upon hearing this Emma squealed with delight and told Ava, "AVA CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE IT! WERE GONNA BE TUBE TWINS"!! And in typical Ava fashion her only response was"WHERES MY SUCKER AND STICKER"?To be continued:Emma's surgery is scheduled for May19th!

'I KNOW IT HAS BEEN A WHILE" SORRY!!!!

2008-05-06T10:50:00.002-05:00

O.K. for all of you guys having Blog withdrawl, I am sorry that I haven't been able to post in the past week because I have been so busy with the kiddo's!! I Have a weeks worth of blogging to catch up on, so I will try my best to get it done as soon as possible!! So for now Darlin, here are a couple of "Bones"!LOL!!!

"BIRDIES HERES YOUR NEW FOOD"

2008-04-28T10:13:00.008-05:00

The girls craft project last week was to paint a bird feeder! They were so excited getting all of their materials ready for the big paint party! Things started off pretty good and clean... but then they got a little more excited about painting and soon the paint brushes were no longer needed for little miss Ava Grace, she decided that fingers of course would do a much better job!!! So the three colors we had to paint the bird feeder was cream, black and gold! In my mind I was thinking ...Oh, how cute it was going to be , our own tribute to The New Orleans Saints! My bubble was soon popped when I looked over to realize that our lovely bird feeder was now a beautiful shade of battleship grey!!!But in a Mommas eyes it was and is the most beautiful bird feeder I have ever seen! Come on look at that blending technique, ya can't get any better that that!!LOL!

The Spillway Opening

2008-04-24T10:22:00.002-05:00

Here are some pics of the opening of the spillway!!! This is actually not very far from the house!

"New Play Equipment For The Backyard"

2008-04-24T09:56:00.003-05:00

Thanks again to Uncle Mark and Aunt Cecile for Giving us some gently used play equipment for the backyard!!! They love climbing on the new cube and playing in the sandbox!!! Here are a few pics!!

"WAGON TIME"

2008-04-19T16:07:00.002-05:00

Here are some pics of Rick & the girls putting the wagon together!!!ENJOY!!! Sorry these were a little late!

"Ear Infections Again"!!

2008-04-19T11:41:00.002-05:00

Well Friday brought another visit to Janine for Emma& Ray! Both were not doing very well. In Emma's Words, "I FELL LIKE SOMEONE OR SOMETHING IS STOMPING IN MY EARS UP CEMENT STEPS WITH BIG SHOES WAKING EVERYBODY UP"! So with that being said, off to Dr. J. we went! Upon examining the kids,Emma and Ray have Ear infections!!This ear infection made for Emma's sixth one in a year! So she will be coming along for the visit to Dr. Cecola on the 28th of this month!So I am sure more news is to come due to this latest result!! I'll keep you guys posted!!

"NEW HAIR FOR EMMA & RAY"

2008-04-19T11:04:00.003-05:00

While Ava was having surgery, Emma & Ray were getting a few adjustments made to them as well! Emma for quite awhile now has been begging us to let her cut her hair for "LOCKS OF LOVE"! She has seen a program on T.V. about children at St. Jude Hospital that are going through treatments for Cancer. She was so affected by the children and their stories! She was so sad for the children epically the girls that loose their hair due to the treatments. Her concern for them is so precious! The only thing she has wanted to do since that was to grow her hair the necessary 10 inches needed to be able to give a donation to"LOCKS OF LOVE"! They then take that donation and turn it into a human hair wig for children to have while going through their Cancer treatments! She was so excited to finally have had enough for her donation! Missy, our niece is a hairstylist, so she had all of the necessary things for the donation! So with our permission Emma was granted her wish to be able to help out another child! Missy also gave Ray his first "BIG BOY" haircut!! They both look so cute! Emma is so proud of accomplishing her goal! What an awesome heart of gold she has!! I pray that continues throughout her life!! Here are a few pics! ENJOY!

"SO DID YA KNOW AVA HAD A POPCORN KERNEL UP HER NOSE"!

2008-04-19T09:37:00.002-05:00

On Wednesday we were up and ready to go very early! We were supposed to be at the hospital for 7:ooa.m. Things seemed to be a little rushed as usual to actually get out of the door. Once we were in the Family Truckster and headed to Children's Hospital we realized we weren't going to make it there on time due to the stopped traffic on the I-10! I Called the short stay unit and told them of the delay and they told me that things were very busy there and it would be just fine! We arrived at the Hospital about 7:10 a.m. Things did move pretty quickly in the beginning! I have to say they really have the stuff together! As an observer you can see everyone has their job and are doing their job to the best of their ability! No complaining could be heard! EVERYONE was so nice and just so attentive to Ava! She wasn't nervous at all! Anything and everything they told her to do she did without a whimper!! I was so proud of her! She really is quite the trooper!! Once she was given a room, she was given a change of clothes of course!She loved it. It was covered with all sorts of fish, etc. After her change a child care specialist came in to gift Ava with some really cool toys! It was all sorts of cool hospital stuff for her to play with ! She had a ball! I guess I should tell you that we did have to wait quite a while before her surgery! She didn't seem to mind though! She kept herself very busy! First Dr. Cecola or as she calls him "DR.COLA"! Not to be confused with his brother, "DR. PEPPER"! LOL!He came in and explained to all of us about her procedure. I have to pause here for a second just to say how wonderful he his! He is so personable. And he really seems to care for each of his patients! Rick and I like him a lot! Thanks Dr. J. For a wonderful referral! Anyway after Dr. Cecola left we were joined by the anesthesiologist. He introduced himself to all of us and explained to Ava how she was just going to take a little rest and when she woke up , we would be there! He was very nice as well! There was a little more downtime after we met with the doctors, so Ava made the best of the situation by adopting the closet in the room for "HER HOUSE"! She would climb inside and close the door , then have us knock and every time she was someone new! For instance she was Dorothy and inside was OZ, She was Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory was behind the door! She was so cute! After a while of playing ,the nurse came in and brought Ava some Versed! I really do wish I could have a vat of that "goofy juice" as they call it at the hospital! It really did relax Ava and she was quite calm! After about thirty minutes or so "MR.MACK", a very nice gentleman came to escort us down to the surgery area! Once in the surgery area the only complaint Ava had was that she was cold! She just kept singing "I SLEEPY, I SLEEPY" over and over! After about only 10 minutes Dr. Cecola And Ms. Jennifer(the surgical nurse) came in and carried Ava into surgery! She went so willingly, no confrontation at all! The whole process took exactly 44 minutes. That is from them putting her to sleep, the surgery,and her waking up in recovery!! After the surgery we were told that Dr. Cecola would come find us in the family waiting area to discuss her surgery. So when he was finished he open the doors and the first thing he says to us rather loudly I might add is "SO DID YA KNOW THAT AVA HAD A POPCORN KERNEL STUCK IN HER NOSE"? At that moment the only thing I could think of was"WELL, DID YA REMOVE THAT FOR US"? The whole waiting are is chuckling at this point, but then it was down to business. He stated that her ears were so full of very thick fluid, it was almost jelly like. He did say that he had never quite seen this in someone so young! Dr. Cecola also said that her adenoids were also very large and infected as well.That was confirmation for all of us that the surgery was indeed necessary!We were able to go in the back to be with Ava as she was waking up. She did great, she was asking for something to drink,and was not complaining at all!She was a little nervous for the little boy next to her who was screaming quite a bit! It was making her as she said"MOMMA HE MAKIN ME SAD"! She was more concerned about that little boy, than what just happened to her! After about an hour in her room upstairs and one Popsicle later we were able to leave! She of course had to leave in the hospital gown!! Typical Ava!!!Rick and I are just truly blessed!! Thank you heavenly father for not only the gift of Ava but for her healing!!Thank you Father for her wonderful attitude and your comforting hand on her through this time! What an AWESOME God we serve!!!

"BUT I LOVE HER SO MUCH"!

2008-04-18T21:46:00.003-05:00

The Tuesday night before Ava's Surgery was Quite an adventure in it's self!Rick went and served at Alpha while I stayed back at the house to get things ready to bring Emma &Ray to Missy for around 10:00p.m.She had to work late, so that is why we were bringing them so late! All was going well, I had everything ready for when Rick got home, we were ready to go!!We dropped Emma & Ray and as we were leaving Ava had a complete meltdown! She has never , as far as she can remember,spent a night away from Emma! She was so sad,and just couldn't understand what was going on. I felt so bad for her! She just kept crying "I NEED EMMA, I JUST LOVE HER SO MUCH"!I am glad to see that they truly do love each other! But on the other hand, she didn't cry at all for Ray!I guess that may have something to do with the fact that he beat her up in the tub earlier that evening! Lets just say, he actually sent Ava running and screaming!! Ava running and screaming? Yes I know I had to do a double take myself just to make sure it really was her!!LOL>She was pretty upset so I tried snuggling with her until she fell asleep which wasn't til after midnight!!! I think I actually fell asleep before her!

"Follow The Yellow Brick Road "

2008-04-18T20:33:00.003-05:00

So before Ava's Big surgery day, I wanted to get a few things we needed from Wal-Mart! While we were there I wanted to get Ava some new "jammas" as she calls them and a new prize /DVD for her to watch when she came home!So when I asked her what DVD would she like to have, and without hesitation she screamed out"WIZARD OF OZ, MOMMA"!Upon looking though all of the titles Wal-Mart has to offer, we didn't see Wizard Of Oz anywhere!!So off Daddy went to find a friendly sales associate! When Daddy came back with "MR.FRANK",he told us that he had just seen a copy in between two t.v.'s so he went to search for it! Well to our Surprise Mr. Frank came back with the DVD in his hands!! Ava was beyond excited!! I have never seen her so happy!She was singing and dancing through Wal-Mart! She was telling everyone she saw about her Wizard Of Oz DVD! Things were going GREAT, until....(This is a Mayeaux story so you know that something has to go, shall we say...Interesting!LOL) Rick notices that the DVD seems to be opened.Upon further investigation, it has indeed been opened and #1 of the2 DVD set is missing! And of course the DVD that is missing is the actual movie DVD! So trying to be as calm and loving as possible Rick tries to explain to Ava that he has to take the DVD back to Mr. Frank so that they can look for the missing DVD. Well in that moment lets just say: "ATTENTION WAL-MART SHOPPERS:A BREAKDOWN IS NOW OCCURRING IN THE CENTER AISLE NEAR THE BABY DEPARTMENT""THE LOUD PIERCING SIREN YOU ARE HEARING IS NOT AN EMERGENCY ALARM""IT IS JUST THE SOUND OF A PRECIOUS TWO YEAR OLD WHO HAS JUST HAD HER HEART BROKEN"! Of course in typical Mayeaux fashion, the original DVD is nowhere to be found AND none of the Wal-Mart stores in our immediate area have a copy either!!! What are we going to do? A lovely woman "hearing" our plight recommended for us to try a Blockbuster Video Store that is down the street from Wal-Mart! Why surely they will have it right? So in order to get Ava to leave the store, we explain that we will be going to a store nearby to get the movie for her! Well don'tcha just know it "I'M SORRY MAM, WE DON'T HAVE ANY IN STOCK RIGHT NOW! WOULD YOU LIKE FOR ME TO ORDER YOU ONE"? As I am smiling at this very nice salesman I am thinking "ARE YOU KIDDING ME, YOU ARE A MOVIE STORE"! But I am actually able to calmly verbalize, "CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHERE I CAN GET ONE TODAY"? So the young man suggests BEST BUY in Metairie! So off we go in the family truckster down the YELLOW BRICK ROAD (O.K. just the 3-10) to Best Buy! On the way into town Ava of course fell asleep. Emma & I got out to go on our adventure quest into the Best Buy! Row by row we go , looking and looking,then all of a sudden Emma yells loudly,"HERE IT IS MOMMA"! "AVA IS GONNA BE SO HAPPY"! So after our purchase of our very own NEEDLE IN THE HAYSTACK, back to Norco we went! I placed the DVD on Ava's lap so that when she woke up she would be surprised, and she was! We have now seen Wizard Of Oz at least a dozen times, including the beloved BONUS FEATURES!! I guess we've gotten back all of that time & money in just pure enjoyment! Ya can't beat that, Right?

"WEE"!!! THANKS AUNT CECILE!!

2008-04-14T20:42:00.001-05:00

Ray just loves his new swing from Aunt Cecile! Rick put the swing up on Sunday! He laughs the whole time he's on it! Enjoy the ride with Ray though these pics!

'SEE YA LATER ALIGATOR"

2008-04-13T11:06:00.005-05:00

On the way home with our wagon take a look at the Aligator we came accross! WOW !! The pleasures of living in Louisiana!!It was getting a little angry with us and started to arch its back and tail! I hope you can see it!

THIS JUST IN: The Mayeaux's Now Have A Wagon!!!

2008-04-13T09:59:00.004-05:00

After church yesterday we went and ate"HINEESE" as Ava calls it or to you and I we call it Chinese! LOL. After they ate their fill of broccoli, chicken, noodles, crab rangoon, and of course the famous Chinese Ice Cream! LOL. We were off to find The Mayeaux Family Wagon!!!So off to LAJOUET Toy Store on Airline Drive!The kids were so excited to FINALLY get their wagon! Upon browsing through all of our wagon choices we didn't see the wagon that we wanted! We wanted a wagon that we saw online! We wanted it to have straps, and a storage area and large wheels for easy turning! Are we asking too much?I asked the lovely saleslady for assistance! She knew the wagon we were speaking of , so off to the back she went!! After what seemed like an eternity of the sales lady being gone we allowed the children to go and play with a few of the toys in the store! O.K. I know what you are thinking,"BIG MISTAKE", Their gonna want to take those toys home too! Well let's just say Ava Fell in LOVE with All of the babies for sale! Especially the babies that had price tags of $30 or more! Along with two of these babies she fell in love with this $85 double stroller for those babies! Emma was of course distracted by the huge display of assorted sizes and varieties of animals! Ray is yelling "ZE-BA"his new favorite word(ZEBRA)! He is also loving playing with a ball of course and some crazy hats Rick is trying on him!! So eventually the lovely sales lady comes back and lets us know she has our wagon!!!CAN I GET A PRAISE GOD!!! Yey!! We finally have our wagon,and it wasn't a fortune!! Thank you , MOE MOE & POE POE!! So now the big issue at hand was to get the children out of there with just purchasing the wagon! The two younger ones were fine with that, we told Ava that she could pick out something a little more reasonable at Wal-Mart later that day! She said "O.K. MOMMA,LETS GO"! This was going better than I thought it would! Ray just was distracted with some fruit snacks from the diaper bag and he was good to go! Next was Emma, Well that didn't go as well as the other two! She wanted to purchase a family of plastic style tigers. As she was pleading her case "SHE NEEDED THOSE TIGERS & THEY NEEDED HER TO CARE FOR THEM,SHE NEEDED A MOMMA,DADDY &BABY TIGER"!After MANY QUIET TEARS, she was very quiet in her pleading , in which I appreciated,we told her that if we purchased the family of tigers she would not be able to get a prize from Wal-Mart! She stated she was fine with that and off to the front of the store we went to get our wagon! After purchasing the wagon to the van we go so proud of our new purchase when we realize, "HEY HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET THIS THING HOME" We have all the kiddo's and their car seats inside the van, "UH OH"! Well after a couple of yards of rope later, and with the wagon now strapped to the top of our"FAMILY TRUCKSTER" off to Norco we went! The Girls were so excited to have the wagon! We will be putting it together so that we can take it for our first stroll thought he neighborhood!!

"UH OH,RAY'S AT IT AGAIN"!

2008-04-11T23:32:00.002-05:00

SO TODAY WAS A BUSY DAY AS USUAL EXCEPT FOR SOME REASON RIP VAN WINKLE HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!!FOR THE THIRD DAY NOW THE CHILDREN HAVE NOT RESTED IN THE AFTERNOON FOR THEIR NAP TIME!! YES FOLKS THIS INCLUDES OUR PRECIOUS RAY ANTHONY! IF HE SLEEPS FOR A HALF HOUR OR SO I AM LUCKY! ANYWAY I WAS TRYING TO GET THE CHILDREN FED FOR LUNCH AND WHILE DOING SO I WAS TALKING TO MOMMA ON THE PHONE. THE GIRLS WERE "PLAYING" AND RAY WAS IN HIS PLAYPEN. JUST AS I WAS FINISHING UP MY CONVERSATION EMMA COMES ALONG AND SAYS "MOMMA IT STINKS IN THE LIVING ROOM"! I GAVE HER ATTENTION LONG ENOUGH TO SAY THAT I WOULD BE RIGHT THERE.I COULD SMELL THIS AWFUL SMELL SO I TOLD MOMMA I WOULD TALK WITH HER LATER,RAY MUST HAVE A REALLY BAD DIAPER! OH, IF IT WOULD HAVE ONLY BEEN THAT EASY! AS I GOT CLOSER INTO THE LIVING ROOM THE STENCH WAS OVERWHELMING!!AS I LOOKED TO RAY, I SEE HIS DIAPER IS OFF AND IN FRONT OF THE PLAYPEN! IT GETS BETTER FOLKS!! AS I LOOK INTO THE PLAYPEN AT RAY AT FIRST I'M NOT QUITE SURE WHAT IS ALL OVER HIM! I REALLY DON'T THINK I WANTED IT TO REGISTER THAT WHAT I WAS ACTUALLY SEEING WAS POOP ALL OVER HIM!! WHEN I TELL YOU ALL OVER HIM , I MEAN UP HIS NOSE, IN HIS EARS, BETWEEN HIS TOES, YOU GETTIN THE PICTURE? THEN AS I LOOK IN THE PLAYPEN IT IS ALSO ON EVERY TOY,BOOK,AND EVEN THE MESH!! I WAS SO GROSSED OUT! OLD CHERIE, BEFORE BABIES WOULD HAVE BEEN THROWING UP! BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD! HE PROVIDE THAT MOMMY SHIELD OF PROTECTION DURING THESE GROSS TIMES!WE MOMMAS ARE ABLE TO DO THE THINGS WE NEVER THOUGHT WE COULD! THEN WE TEMPORARILY FORGET ABOUT IT TO STILL SHOW LOVE FOR THEM!!AFTER RAYS SCRUB DOWN AND A PRAYER FOR WHAT HE MAY HAVE INJESTED, THINGS WERE NOW BACK TO NORMAL!AVA WAS CLIMBING ON THE ENTERTAINMENT CENTER & EMMA WAS PRETENDING THAT SHE WAS A VET TREATING A WOUNDED TIGER IN THE JUNGLE WHO HAD A THORN IN HIS PAW! LOL YEP, NORMAL WHAT IS THAT ANYWAY?

"ICED BROWN SUGAR SHORTBREAD COOKIES"

2008-04-11T11:13:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we again attempted to make a new cookie! Well of course in Mayeaux cookie style we had an incident! Everything seemed to be going well until the phone rang! I should not have left the room , because when I came back, well,Flour was everywhere! But overall the actual being able to help was much better! You can see in the photos that everyone was able to participate!! The cookies were good as well!

"THOSE ARE SOME PRECIOUS CHILDREN"

2008-04-10T23:41:00.001-05:00

COURTNEY THIS IS FOR YOU!!

2008-04-10T09:55:00.001-05:00

POCAHONTAS INSPIRED US TO MAKE A DREAM CATCHER! THANKS TO THE BONUS FEATURES!!!

2008-04-10T08:40:00.005-05:00

I thought you guys might like to see our craft we made yesterday! I should preface this with the fact that Emma & Ava LOVE to watch "THE BONUS FEATURES" on our DVD'S! I think sometimes they actually enjoy the bonus features more than the movie!! We watched POCAHONTAS yesterday! And as usual when it was over, the excitement was abounding when "THE BONUS FEATURES" were played! While watching the extras there was a crafting segment that showed two crafts!Once the girls saw the "DREAMCATCHER" craft, it was GAME ON! I went throughout the house and gathered all of the materialswe would need! The girls were very excited to make their "DREAMCATCHER"! It really was a cute craft for them. They were really able to "HELP"!Now if they only would sleep long enough to be able to have a dream for it to catch!LOL And If that dream could actually take place in the room with the "DREAMCATCHER" would be priceless!!LOL Enjoy the pics!!

"Rip Van Winkle" Was Spotted In The Mayeaux's House! Or Was It Ava?

2008-04-08T09:25:00.003-05:00

As most of you guys know we haven't been getting too much sleep here in The Mayeaux House! It has truly been a struggle for the whole house to "REST"! Last night we went to Covenant Group!Which was an awesome time of discussion and prayer! We discussed the message from this weekend on "OUR HINDRANCES"!We had to be time sensitive because Sophie(who watches the children) had testing this week! So Dennis suggested that we go get the kids and come back to fellowship! Well we did and the kids had a "GREAT" time playing with everyone! Ava has fallen in love with Miss Lauren! Look out Mrs. Gwen I think you have some competition!LOL Ray was lovin playing with the guys and taking their hats and putting them on his head! That boy just loves him some hats! And of course his favorite hat was Mr. Burtis' L.S.U. Hat!! He would throw down Mr. Gus & Mr. Daniels hat and run over to Mr. Burtis and say "HAT"! He had such a wonderful time! Emma was enjoying playing with Veronica! They were playing with "Big V's" stuffed puppy and just running around in general! Well I have to say when we left we weren't even out of the neighborhood yet and the kiddo's were dropping like flies!!!LOL How AWESOME is the Lord that he chose this night to "CALM THE STORM" of the sleep battles!! Thank you God!!! When we got home we calmly put the kiddo's in bed! And yes we did put them in bed in there clothes not their P.J's! I wasn't gonna mess with this gift !!!LOL Well they "ALL" slept through the night till around 6 or so when Emma & Ava came into our bed! Then they both fell asleep again! Around 7:15 or so Ray woke up and Emma soon followed! Ava on the other hand, slept until 9 o'clock! Yes I said 9 o'clock!!! WOW!! Thank you Lord for the gift of rest!!!!

"PLAYDOH TIME"

2008-04-06T14:10:00.003-05:00

After the Cookie experience I felt a little bad that the kids didn't really get to participate! So this morning I decided to give it another try on doing a family project! We decided to make homemade playdoh! It actually went great! the kids enjoyed it! Emma was just a little confused! She asked me "UM MOMMA WHY ARE WE USING FOOD INGREDIENTS TO MAKE PLAYDOH"? I am excited that she was paying such close attention! I explained to her that you can use these ingredients for all kinds of things! She was so excited to be able to make something that she could also play with! Ava of course was interested in making a monster, Ray was more interested in eating it, and Emma wanted me to make "Bambi in a thicket"! WHATEVER! With all that said they had a blast & the recipe is so easy and cheap! Enjoy the pics of the playdoh time!

YUMMY! PEANUT BUTTER MIDDLES!!!

2008-04-05T19:25:00.003-05:00

So today The Mayeaux's wanted to do something fun!So I decided that we would bake cookies.So I looked in our plethora of cookbooks and came across a very interesting cookie! Peanut Butter Middles. A chocolate cookie with a peanut butter middle similar to a Reese's candy!How yummy would that be? So upon reading about the cookie, the woman stated that "her grandchildren love to make these cookies with her"!So how can we go wrong, a actual kid friendly recipe! Well add a couple of Mayeaux's in the mix, and things will definitely turn interesting! As usual with any recipe you of course mix the dry ingredients first in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. In doing this I let Emma & Ava "help" mix the ingredients! Things were going really well with the girls "taking turns" pouring the ingredients in their proper bowls.So here comes the big moment when you combine the two types of ingredients together! So I pour some of the dry mixture in the into the bowl with the wet! Before I could even place the bowl down, One of my "HELPERS" decided to turn on the mixer "FULL FORCE"! This of course sends "POWDER" everywhere! I do mean everywhere! I even had it up my nose!LOL After cleaning up the mess, I decide to "ALLOW" the Helpers to continue! So for the next stage you take that chocolate mixture and roll it into little balls,40,to be exact! How fun would this be? This couldn't go wrong , right? Well the girls fully enjoyed the rolling process a little too much! Ava just kept eating the dough and licking her hands! While Emma was trying to roll the dough into balls, but she was rolling too hard and it just became chocolate smear! I don't think I need to explain what this all looked like, just use your imaginations!!LOL So at this point Daddy took the girls out of the kitchen, and on to other things! So this left me alone doing our children friendly cookie recipe! I sat there and rolled all 40 chocolate balls! The next step was the peanut butter middle mixture. After mixing that up I had to roll 40 peanut middles as well! To make along story short you then take a chocolate ball and cover the peanut middle and of course roll it again!!! I swear it didn't seem this complicated when I read it! So for the final stage Rick and the girls came back into the kitchen! So my "HELPERS"were all anxious and ready to be of some assistance! The final stage consists of placing the cookie on the pan, dipping a glass in sugar and then pressing the cookie down a bit. As I started doing this Ava started getting upset and screamed " NO NO MOMMY, YOU MAKIN THE COOKIES DIRTY"! The girls enjoyed helping with the last stage and were very proud of their cookies! So it did make the whole experience worth it, just seeing their smiles while watching their cookies bake. After about 3 hours of cookie making I have to say the cookies taste awesome!! If anyone wants to dare and try it I will give you the recipe!

2008-04-04T21:04:00.002-05:00

With everything that is going on right now in my life, I have to be confident in Christ and who HE is! Only in HIM can my Hope be found! I love this worship song! To me it expresses my heart right now!

In Christ Alone (My Hope is Found)

Words and music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease.
My comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless Babe!
This gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones He came to save.
‘Til on the cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid; here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay, light of the world by darkness slain;
Then, bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand;
‘Til He returns or calls me home, here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.

Update On The Tribe!!!

2008-04-04T16:13:00.003-05:00

I Took the kids today back to Dr. J. She says that Emma & Ray still have fluid in their ears, but it is clear! So Praise God! We are finally on the road to recovery after 4 weeks!! Janine also said that she feels as though they are all suffering with severe allergies right now! So she wrote RX'S for Allegra,Singulair and a new creme for Emma's Eczema! She also gave me samples of Z Cough for them as well! I spoke with her regarding the other sleep issues and Emma's wetting the bed . She Feels as though the children are experiencing a reaction to the cough and cold medicine that they have been on these past couple of weeks! The reaction is called "REBOUNDING". It takes place a few hours after the medicine is administered! So with removing that medicine "SHOULD" help in these areas! So "THERE IS LIGHT AT THE END OF THIS TUNNEL"!

2008-04-03T09:14:00.002-05:00

O.K. I am now gonna take a little time to let off some steam! I am SO TIRED! I am going on week 4 of all three of the children being sick! We have had difficult times of getting them to go to sleep,and all of the other fun things that come along with children being sick! Each day I pray for a better day but unfortunately the days seem to be getting longer and harder right now! It might have something to do with the fact that I am not resting enough either! Ava's going to sleep is getting worse also! She just absolutely refuses to go to sleep! It doesn't matter if it is for nap time or bedtime! She just doesn't want to go to sleep! In the afternoon it has been a three hour or so fight to try and get her to rest! Even with that she still doesn't fall asleep! At night for bedtime, lets just say that if she is asleep by 11 that is early! Once she does fall asleep , she is waking up at around 4 or 4:30 wanting to watch t.v. and be up for the day! During these struggles with Ava, we have also started having "wetting the bed" issues with Emma! No joke, she has wet the bed EVERY night for almost 4 weeks! Needless to say I also have a literal MOUNTAIN of laundry! I am sorry for this rant but I thought if you guys knew what was going on you could pray specifically for these issues. I am praying for strength and alertness during this time and for me not to experience any seizure activity due to the lack of rest! It is very hard for me to go to sleep and then wake up every 45 min or so ! So just lift up our precious family for some much needed rest! Rick has been such a trooper , he tries to help with them during the night as well , but he of course needs his rest to be able to go to work and do his job well! I wish I could just go put on my "SUPERMOM" costume, and laundry would be done, dinner fixed, the house clean, be able to play with the children,get them to rest, and still have a little extra time for me! But that is only in make believe! So I will now end my little pitty party with this latest blog and just GET OVER IT & MOVE ON! So DONE!!! I'm Better now! Thanks for your prayers and listening!

"IS THIS A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME"

2008-04-02T11:16:00.002-05:00

Hopefully the above photo is not offensive to anyone! If it is get over it because I need it to help you get a visual of last nights "Situation"! With that said, last night Rick went and worked Alpha,so that left me with the kiddos! After their bath time & dinner I started to do my usual"getting them in bed routines"! This consists of 2 sippy cups for the girlie's and Ray still takes a bottle just at bedtime,putting in the movie of choice for Emma & Ava. Before putting Ray into his bed for the night I changed his diaper of course .But before I could get his p.j. pants back on, I heard screaming from the girls room! So I quickly put Ray down in his bed to go and see what all of the commotion was about! Don't get alarmed folks, "I just forgot to press play on the DVD"! Yes, I'm sure you guys all felt the earth stop at that moment too!!LOL So I go into the kitchen to get Rays milk bottle , when I hear him giggling so hard it is making me laugh as I am going into his room! What is he laughing about you say? Well I walked into the room only to see that he has taken off his diaper, he is now in the position of the above photo, and laughing hysterically as he his peeing on the floor through the slates of his bed! LOL I know that I maybe should have been a little more upset with him , but I just couldn't stop laughing myself!! So from now on I guess I need to remember To make sure Ray has pants on at ALL times!

Update On Ava Grace's ENT Visit!

2008-04-01T14:52:00.003-05:00

Alright guys,Ava and I went to her ENT(Dr. Cecola) this morning! And Of Course in Mayeaux Style there was an "INCIDENT"! Life is just so full of "LITTLE INCIDENTS" these days! Ava was so excited about going to the doctor! This morning she couldn't wait to get dressed, brush her teeth,and get in the car! We get to Dr. Cecola's office and she is still very excited!She reads magazines, plays with toys, we of course go on a required Field trip to the restroom! (A must in any building, any situation) Then finally we hear "Miss Ava Mayeaux"! She yells "THAT'S ME MOMMA","IT'S MY TURN"! She was so excited! I was excited too to see her so calm! Mrs.Gloria brought us back to the exam room and showed Ava "The Princess Chair" For her to sit in. Ava jumped up on the seat at sat very tall and said,"I'm A BIG GIRL U KNOW"! Mrs. Gloria said,"I SEE THAT"! Mrs. Gloria let "Princess Ava"know that if she continued to be a big girl, she would be rewarded at the end of the visit with stickers & a sucker! Well needless to say "Princess Ava" was delighted! After Mrs. Gloria left the room Ava Began to act odd! All of a sudden she became EXTREMELY clingy and rather whiny!If I only knew what was to follow< I would have been a little more prepared!! Dr. Cecola walked in, introduced himself! To those of you who know Matt Mason from church, he looks similar, but taller! Not very intimidating at all! Very friendly! As Dr. Cecola begins to ask "PRINCESS AVA" a question, she proceeds to turn beet red,and SCREAMS uncontrollably! She is so upset that she actually throws up everywhere!! The only thing I could do was to keep apologising!He remained calm and sought some more help (wet rags)! They waited for "PRINCESS AVA" to calm down a bit. When he finally got the opportunity to check her, he did see that ,as he put it"her ears are horrible"! After a few questions from Dr. Cecola, and upon my answers to those questions he came to the conclusion that She would need surgery for tubes in her ears and to remove her adenoids! I called Children's Hospital to make the appointment! She is set up for her surgery for Wednesday April 16th! I pray that this will help "OUR LITTLE PRINCESS AVA" to not be in any more pain, and to allow for her to REST! The doctor stated that he feels as though she is just used to pain now! That is why she doesn't really complain!
To add a little something extra to the story I will let you guys in on Emma's reaction to the news! While I was driving Ava and I back home, Rick decided to tell Emma about Ava's upcoming surgery!When hearing the news she grew tears in her eyes! When Rick was trying to reassure her that this was the best thing for Ava, Emma became even more concerned. Rick asked her why she was so sad and Emma replied: "DAD,I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO LAUGH AT AVA WITH THOSE TUBES COMING OUT OF HER EARS", "SHE'S GONNA LOOK FUNNY"! Well, since that statement I went online to show Emma the type of tubes that will be placed in Ava's ears! So Emma is now satisfied that no one will see Ava's tubes and laugh at her! Gotta Love the fact that Emma feels so close to Ava!

PLAYTIME

2008-03-31T13:13:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pics of the kids playing in the backyard this morning!

"Have No Fear, The Mayeaux Family Is Here"

2008-03-31T12:02:00.003-05:00

We "The Mayeaux Family" NEVER have a dull moment!! This past Sunday was no exception! I went to Sunday Church at the theatre since I worked the nursery on Saturday!The Message of course was AWESOME! Thanks Pastor Peter! Upon returning home Rick wanted to cut the grass, but the Lawnmower was broken.So off to retrieve a mower from Uncle Will on the Westbank! Rick took Emma with him, while the other two sleeping precious angels stayed with me. Well here is were it gets interesting,so hold on! We have some friends that live here in Norco also. Aaron & Kelly watched Copper for us when Rick and I went for our AWESOME weekend. Anyway I get a phone call from Kelly letting me know that they were watching Nic & Stephs dog "FRED" this weekend! She was calling me to ask to keep an eye out for Fred, because he had escaped from their yard. After hearing of Fred's plight, Ava Grace made the suggestion of "HOW BOUT WE HELP GET FRED"? So , I called Kelly and told her that The Mayeaux's are on the way to help in the search! A little bit if backround here about this dog: Fred belongs to a good friend of mine Stephanie!The girls call her NEE NEE! So the girls KNOW Fred!Emma plays with an imaginary Fred sometimes! When they saw UNDERDOG they actually thought it Was Fred! So this search was personal! I pack up my two fellow search team members and off we went. We went street by street from the River Road to Airline Hwy. We asked people in their yard , on bicycles, anyone! We went a looked in the park, everywhere!! During this time we have the windows open and Ava is doing her famous call "FRED, OH,FRED, WHERE ARE YOU?" "FRED< COME HERE TO ME NOW"! Needless to say we also had Ray in the back trying to repeat"Fred"! His basically came out "ED"! But I have to say it was a family effort!We rallyed back at Aaron & Kelly's only to find out, NO FRED SIGHTINGS! So we all venture out once again for our search for "UNDERDOG"! At this point Emma& Rick are now back and are a part of the search! So with so many of us searching Aaron decides to try and look at Nic & Steph's house hoping to find Fred there, while Rick and I continue to search the neighborhood! As I am driving around, Ava decides she is finished looking for Fred and she wants to "GO HOME AND MAKE PUP CAKES"! Before all of the excitement we were supposed to be making cupcakes, So her mind shifted to the cupcakes instead of Fred! So I told her that we would make one more trip to look for Fred! I was going rather slow when I thought I saw a glimpse of Fred's red collar! So I stopped the car and called for Fred. Fred stopped for a moment and then went to run off again! I sternly yelled "DOWN FRED"! With that Fred stopped and I now had "The Package" in my hands!! YEY!!!WE FOUND FRED! Ava was so excited!Fred too!!LOL So after returning Fred SAFE & SOUND, we went home and made our "PUP CAKES", and they were fabulous!!

WELL THE MAYEAUX'S HAD A VISIT FROM THE DUST BUNNIES!!

2008-03-26T08:40:00.003-05:00

Yesterday evening we had experienced Ray's First mischievous moment! With all of them being on antibiotics , needless to say the diaper fairy has been pretty busy! So after one of my many visits to the changing table, I wanted to get the new offer to the diaper fairy as soon as possible, so I finished up with Ray , grabbed up our offering and off I went! Not realizing just how curious Ray is I put him down while I went to the kitchen. Ray used his tippy toes to reach into the basket filled with all of our diaper changing goodies, and grabbed the powder.I of course forgot to close it back up properly(my Bad). He squeezed out powder everywhere laughing and humming the whole time! I was wondering what he was doing that was making him so excited! When I turned back into the hallway I could not believe my eyes! Ray, the hallway, his rocket car, his toy chest, copper, lets just say EVERYTHING was covered in lovely smelling baby powder! IT looked as though the house was a crime scene and the fingerprint team was here ACTIVELY searching for prints! I didn't know weather to scream or laugh! He was just enjoying his moment of mischief! I am still wiping up the dust bunnies, or because of copper walking all through it we had little paw prints everywhere! Ava said "LOOK MOMMA, A CLUE"! So instead of Blues Clues we had White Clues!!LOL So never be too busy that you forget to close the powder!!!! That's what I learned !! Each and everyday brings just one more colorful piece of fabric to my family's quilt of wonderful memories! Oh, the stories I have to tell to the kids when they are older!

Ava Grace Is So Strong!!

2008-03-24T16:29:00.003-05:00

I brought Ava for her third and final injection today! She was so BRAVE & STRONG! She just sat there again! She just kept saying "THAT TICKLES"! I kept telling her it was alright if she wanted to cry! But, she still stayed strong!
I was able to get her Apt. with the ENT. for next Thurs the 3rd!So we will see what he says! I am still feeling queasy when I eat and am a little light headed! No jokes please!!lol I will keep everyone updated on Ava! In more ways than just her ears, I'm sure!!But I have to say that she is "MY BRAVE LITTLE HERO"!

"OH EGGIES WHERE ARE YOU"

2008-03-24T14:44:00.002-05:00

Easter Sunday was such a beautiful day ! Rick went to church all by himself since we are all still "sick"! We were invited to an Easter Egg Lunch & Hunt at Ralph's House! After consulting with Janine(Dr. J.)She said that it would be alright for the children to go. So off we went! I felt o.k. about going because the kids are on antibiotics and there wouldn't be too many people there. They had been caged up for so long, they did go a little wild. They were so excited to see & play with Brett and Baby Ella. They had a Blast! Aunt Cecile packed up special Easter Bunny Lunch bags for them! Which was a hit! If they returned their luchbag back to Aunt Cecile, they were given a special prize!! What a GREAT trick to get the kiddo's to pick up after themselves! Then off to the races they went! The Easter Egg hunt was quite a treat. Ava of course was the first kid out. They had so many eggs! Thank you Easter Bunny for thinking about everyone! Ava just kept yelling "OH EGGIES WHERE ARE YOU"? "I LOOKIE FOR YOU EGGIES"! She is such a character! Ray ,on the other hand,found his first Easter egg. He loved that Easter Egg so much that he chose not to hunt for anymore! He was just satisfied with that one egg!!LOL We all laughed so hard. Everyone was trying to encourage him to go and seek others.But NO, that one yellow egg was special! Emma & Brett did the all so famous pairs hunting technique! Never in my life have I seen two precious children sharing and helping each other find eggs! It was really sweet. After all the hustle & bustle of the egg hunt we of course had to "UNVEIL" what was inside the eggs! At this moment is when it hit Ava. When she saw me open up one of her eggs and candy popped out she said "OH NO MOMMA,THEY GOT PRIZES INSIDE"? Needless to say , Ava began opening her own eggs!LOL!
We all had such a great time! When we went to leave and enjoy our "SUGAR SHOCK", Aunt Cecile brought out even more parting gifts! The girls each received Squeeze'n'Brush paint set and Ray was given a really nice outfit! She is so great to us!!The children of course all had a meltdown because we are such cruel parents,and wanted to take them home for a bath and sleep! What wrong with us , A BATH,SLEEP, Who needs that stuff anyway? LOL After bathing and getting their drugs all of the little kiddies were are snuggled up in there beds and sleeping before 9:oo! So what did the lucky parents do to celebrate? PASSED OUT!!!!LOL

HAPPY EASTER

2008-03-23T11:15:00.002-05:00

Thank you God for given me the gift of your son, to die on a cross for me and my sins! Thank you God for his Resurrection!! May we all have a Blessed Easter Day and may we ALL to to ponder exactly what Easter is all about! Not just bunnies, candy, baskets, eggs and egg hunts! IT IS ONLY ABOUT THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!

So, Has You Microwave Caught On Fire?

2008-03-23T10:29:00.002-05:00

So here is one quick story that happened on Wednesday. I guess I should preface this story by saying that we have had to apply "Safety" Helpers or "locks" to many area of our home because of our very own resident "curious George" a.k.a. Ava Grace Mayeaux! Two of those helpers are in the kitchen. One is a bungee cord that is wrapped around the handles of our refrigerator,and the other is a lock on the top of the door to our pantry! With this being said, I shall clue you in to a day in the life of me: I prepared sippy cups for all three children and a little snack for them as well. I put the bungee cord on the refrigerator, and I placed the lock back on the pantry! I did double check this! We then went in the living room to begin watching "underdog"!Ray starts crying a little when I realize that he needs a diaper change. Upon coming back in the living room with ray ,Ava walks in and says "MOMMA I'M MAKIN POPCORN FOR THE MOVIE"! Finding this rather odd, since everything is locked up, I ran into the kitchen! Upon entering the kitchen I look to where the microwave is and literally see FLAMES, yes I said flames coming out of the top and the sides of the microwave! So I scream for everyone to get out of the kitchen!I get a dish towel and sop it full of water, use one of the girls play mop handles open the door of the microwave and smother the flames! Smoke was everywhere! While all of this is going on, Emma is screaming that she is going to die & we need to "EXIT THE BUILDING" like she saw on T.V. She kept insisting that we needed to STOP, DROP,&ROLL! I was trying to explain to her that although there was some smoke, the fire was gone and we were safe! When I was finally able to calm her down I went to investigate the scene of the crime. I don't watch C.S.I. for nothin! At the scene of the crime was a dining room chair pulled up to the kitchen counter and not popcorn in the microwave but a bag of "potato pearls" (freeze dried potato's).The bag is completely made of aluminum, hence the fire/ flames. When interviewing my suspect Ava, I came to realize how she retrieved the fire hazard to begin with. She pulled the chair to the counter, climbed on the counter top, stood on her tippy toes, unlatched the lock, grabbed the potato's and Viola' , presto FIRE!! Unbelievably the microwave is still usable thank god! The moral of this story is "NOTHING IS EVER SAFE"!!Although this could could have not ended so well, I thank God that Ava came and told us she was making popcorn! Thank you Lord for always protecting us and giving us wisdom in ALL circumstances!!!

I Didn't Get The Tag # On The Truck That Hit Me!!!!!!

2008-03-23T09:17:00.003-05:00

Friday night I started feeling as though I was getting a migrane . I took my medicine tried to relax, when Ava came running out of her bedroom complaining about a stomach ache! Not being very sympathetic we told her to go back to bed! Well lets just say that from now on I might pay a little more attention to the "my stomach aches" comment! Needless to stay she thew up everywhere! I felt so bad!The whole time she was throwing up she kept saying "I told you", "I'm sorry Momma"! Poor thing!Don't feel too bad for her,because right after theincident she was flipping around, jumping on the couch, being the usual Ava! With me still feeling bad myself I thought that I should try to go lie down! Lets just say the bathroom became my friend for about 24hrs or so!It was horrible! I actually felt like I had been hit by a truck! I didn't really sleep and to make matters worse everytime I would go throw up in the toilet, the toilet seat would hit me in the head!! The same head with the migrane!!!Yesterday evening I did start to feel a little bit better. Rick made me some toast.I was able to finally keep it down ! I was also feeling well enough to watch "The Ten Comandments"! An Easter tradition in our family!! So I guess today we will be going to the Easter Egg Hunt after all! I will post some thoughts on the egg hunt adventure tomorrow, and of course some pics as well!!

UPDATE ON SICKNESS

2008-03-21T14:44:00.002-05:00

Well after going to the doctor yesterday we found out that all 3 children have ear infections! This is Ava's 4th ear infection this year! With that being said,Dr. J has now refered us to an ENT, to discuss further options for Ava!It seems as though there will be some sort of surgery in our near future! If it will make her well, "BRING IT ON"! I just want her out of pain. She has also had severe reactions to the antibiotics she has been on for these infections that are very unpleasent! So this time the doctor has opted to do a series of injections. 3 to be exact. She had 1 yesterday wich was horrible, and 1 today which she just stayed still and sat there and said or did nothing.She will have another on monday because of the holiday.I will of course keep you updated on her progress!

"The Mayeaux Family Sick Train "

2008-03-19T11:27:00.002-05:00

This has been a challenging couple of weeks with the kids all being sick! Now that I am sick, what is a momma to do? How can you take care of them when you can't take care of yourself? It just makes the whole situation miserable!!! We do have another Dr. Appt. @10:30 tomorrow morning! Please Pray that Dr. J is able to help us!

POOR COPPER!!

2008-03-18T11:39:00.003-05:00

Here is just a couple of funny pics of Copper! We always tease the kids about "Cooking" Them! Family Joke !The Kids know it is a joke!! We run around the house trying to decide as Ava says who is "NICE & MEATY" well the other day I called their bluff!! They said "LET'S COOK COPPER", So I "DID"! Boy this Gumbo pot sure does get around!!LOL.

Where have all the wagons gone?

2008-03-18T11:32:00.002-05:00

O.K. Here is my latest "HAY STACKING" issue! We thought it would be so simple to go out and buy the kids a wagon! You know , a regular wagon like when we were all kids! Well, lets just say that #1 wagons are quite expensive now adays! #2 You cannot find wagons just anywhere! No Joke Rick and I and the kids were out and about for most of the day Sunday"LOOKING" for a wagon! Everyone was either"OUT" of them or "Don't carry them"! What is this world coming to when you can't go and purchase a wagon for your family! Just a little rant! I will give a wagon update when or if we actually find/purchase one!

Courtney & Cherie's NOLA Adventure 3/15/2008

2008-03-18T10:09:00.002-05:00

Courtney and I had a great day Saturday! We started out by going to church.What a sermon Matt preached! After church Courtney wanted seafood for lunch. So after a quick tour to ride by the Church's rebuild site and a quick drive by MOE MOE'S old house, we went to R & O's in bucktown! It was SO GOOD!!! We started off with a Crawfish Pie app. Then followed it up with Shrimp PoBoys of course! We were stuffed ! Well Actually I was Stuffed and Courtney was still contemplating Bread Pudding! LOL. After filling up on seafood we went to paint pottery! What a blast we had! I painted a cross for Courtney with a Fleur Des Lis on it and a Tile / Trivet that was free with a purchase! Gotta do it because it is FREE! So I just used it as a remembrance of Rick & I's Wedding! Courtney Did a Platter for Cookies of course! She was a little nervous at first but she quickly got the hang of it! I wrote her last name in the center, but she did the rest! She did an awesome job! She also did a FREE trivet! On the way home Courtney just had to stop for a traditional New Orleans Snowball!! She was in heaven!What a GREAT time she and I had! I wanted it to last forever! Thank you Rick for staying home with the sick kiddos so that we could go out and have such an AWESOME time ! I LOVE YOU COURTNEY RAE!!!!

Courtney Came to visit us in NOLA! 3/13/2008

2008-03-18T09:09:00.002-05:00

Hey guys sorry it has been a while since I posted any new bits but we have been very busy with sick kiddos and a visit from my niece Courtney! On the 12th I had to bring all 3 children to the doctor for what they thought was really bad colds,but now it is full blown flu. The doctor told me about a strong over the counter medicine and to wait it out! After a night of no one really sleeping we woke up the next day bright and early to prepare to go get Courtney at the airport! We were all so excited to have Courtney visit but I also felt bad about bringing her into my house of germs!The kids throughout the day were getting more and more sick. Especially Ray. He really looked sick! On the way home from the airport we stopped to get a few things for dinner and to pick up some icing for Emma's "birthday" party! I know you are all saying "isn't Emma's birthday in October"? Why yes it is! We just had so much going on that she was never able to have her Nemo cake and wear her Nemo dress!The weekend of her original party was the weekend of The Mayeaux Family Pig Roast! So anyway she was satisfied to have her "Very UN Birthday" like in Alice in Wonderland! Here are a few pics of the special occasion! Notice how sick Ray looks he wound up having a 104.6 temp that evening! SCARY!!! Enjoy the show!!!

"HEY RAY,WHAT DO YOU SAY"?

2008-03-11T09:03:00.002-05:00

Poor Ray isn't feeling very well! Stuffy Green nose, coughing and sneezing! But here are some pics for all of Ray's Fan Club! When he is feeling a little better we will take some more!

"DRESS UP TIME"

2008-03-11T08:36:00.006-05:00

The girls were at it again!!! They love to play dress up! This time I let them try on the dresses I wore in Angels wedding in 1981 and the dress I wore to scotts wedding in 1982 or 1983! They had so much fun! Of course they had to wear make up as well !!Enjoy These pics!

2008-03-10T16:25:00.001-05:00

2008-03-10T16:00:00.003-05:00

Well today has been qutie a struggle to get the kids back in a routine! No naps for the bigger ones and Ray just took about a half hour nap! I am trying to be at all places and be the best Momma I can be but sometimes its hard! I pray that tomorrow will be better than today! I know that this too shall pass!I truly, truly, love them but I have to say it is challenging! Maybe I needed a little more time of relaxation!LOL But there is good news... No rain today!!!!Yey!!
As a sidenote to our beautiful sunshine, one of Ava's favorite songs to sing is "You are my sunshine"! I sing a few words then she finishes the verse! And might I say she is "Loud And Proud"! LOL I'm not sure where she gets that Loud singing from?LOL So you see even through there are rough times, the Lord does provide us times of "sunshine"!

Our Romantic Weekend"

2008-03-09T18:01:00.019-05:00

What a GREAT time Rick and I had on our little romantic getaway! We started off Saturday with dropping off Copper in the morning at Aaron & Kelly's and then on to church.Then lunch at MickeyD's with the kids! We dropped the kids off at Tiger & Sallys around 3:30. While getting the kiddos settled in Ava started yelling at us "BYE BYE MOMMA &DADDY" "SEE YOU LATER". She then proceeded to walk to the door and opened it while saying "BYE BYE NOW"! I guess she was ready for her little escape as well! Our room was beautiful!! A nice kingsized featherbed with lots of feather pillows! I am so glad we were not allergic to downfeathers!LOL A really nice mini fridge/bar with some lovley $3 pringles and a $2.75 snickers(regular size, not even kingsize) A can of coke was $2.95! Needless to say we stayed away from that!I'll post some pisc so that yall' can see how nice it was! The one thing we found rather odd was the phone that was on the wall next to the toilet! I of course took a pic of that! LOL We had a beautiful view of downtown, the river and in typical new orleans fashion there just so happened to be a parade going by! NO JOKE! We walked to the French Quarter for dinner at the Acme Oyster House! It was wonderful we had 1 dozen raw oysters, 1 dozen chargrilled oysters and shared a small platter of fried shrimp and fried oysters! We were stuffed!!We really needed the walk back to the hotel!LOL We really must have enjoyed our night of uninterupted sleep because we didn't wake up until almost 10 o'clock! After checkout time we went back to the Quarter for some Cafe AuLait & Beingets at the famous Cafe Du Monde! What an awesome time we had! We walked around the Quarter and the French Market for a little while.. We found this precious lady that hand makes rag dolls. So I had to pick up a little something for the girls! Espically since Ava LOVES Raggedy Ann!Well everyone is now all back home and back to real life again! But I give thanks to the Lord for providing the time, money, childcare, dogcare and everything it took for us to be able to take the time for ourselves!

Rain Again This time With Hail!!

2008-03-07T09:06:00.002-06:00

Last night we had covenant group! What an awesome time we had discussing the message from Saturday! We had such a great time opening up and sharing about our faith through trials!And about self examination!What a Great group of people that the lord has blessed us with! To be in a room full of people who are willing to be so transparent is wonderful! To also know that we are human and just because we are saved doesn't mean that we still can't suffer trials. From these trials we also recieve Greater blessings from our lord! In time we grow to appreciate the trials that are placed before us and are encouraged in our growth from them!And by God's grace I suffer no codemnation!PRAISE GOD!

2008-03-06T16:21:00.002-06:00

At this moment I just need to vent! Today has been just a very challenging day for me! Ava has just been awful today! I just don't know what to do anymore! I can't be in all places at all times! She is just so fast and shall I say creative in her mischievousness! We have just about every incident that could take place in one day! So unfortunately I now have her strapped into her highchair!I know this is just a season for both of us But Lord please give me the strength and patience it takes to raise this special miracle!!! She does bring me to my knees though! Maybe that's why she is the way she is. So that I have to stop and pray and ask for the Lords guidance! Sorry about the rant!!LOL

2008-03-06T11:56:00.006-06:00

This morning was so funny! We have a pretty large gumbo pot that Ray has taking quite a liking to! He was just as content as can be sitting inside the pot and laughing and playing! So of course I had to take some Photos!!!Enjoy!!

"THE MAYEAUX'S HAVE BEEN MARRIED 14YEARS!"

2008-03-05T00:19:00.003-06:00

I cannot believe that it has been 14 years already! WOW! So much has happened in the past 14years! Some Good,some bad and some very ugly! But God was there through it all! By His grace we are still here together and have these precious babies living among us and one baby that we will meet in heaven! What an awesome God we serve!I can turly say that "I AM BLESSED"! I cannot wait to see what the next 14 years will be!

"POOR AVA GRACE"

2008-03-03T22:42:00.004-06:00

I took the kiddos to the doctor today and of course Ava has an ear infection! I knew something wasn't quite right! Always trust your gut! Well, she is now on meds of course!Hopefully she will be better before Saturday! It is raining so bad here! Lots of lightning& thunder! Very similar to a couple of weeks ago when the tornado alarms sounded and I had to "DUCK & COVER" in the hallway with the kids and the dog. While trying to explain to them the reason they needed to listen to mommy, I explained that the reason for the sirens going off is because of a possible sighting for tornados!Making sure that they were understanding what tornados were, I referenced "The Wizard of Oz"(one of their favorite movies). The girls did really well with listening to me and being still ! Once I heard the alarm for the all clear I told the girls that it was o.k. to now leave the hall. Once I did that the girls flew out of the hall, climbed on the kitchen counter& started looking out of the windows! I of course was trying to get them down & to calm down when Ava said these priceless words: "BUT MOMMA I NO SEE DEM FLYING MONKIES! WHERE"S DA WITCH?" She thought we had gone over the rainbow with the "TORMADO"!LOL Kids they are priceless!

2008-03-03T09:24:00.003-06:00

This weekend I wasn't feeling very well so Rick and the girls went to church Saturday while I stayed home with Ray. Sunday started off a little lazy and in the afternoon we went to visit Sally& Paul(Tiger)Goodmann. They will be watching the children this Saturday and Sunday! They actually volunteered! Ava was all excited because Mrs. Sally said they were going to pop popcorn and make Quesadilla's! Two of her most favorite things! Then Mrs. Sally said that they could watch The Wizard of Oz!! I think Avanow wants to live with them!!When we went to leave she kept saying "I Love Mrs.Sallys house"!All three of the kidsdid very well with Sally and Tiger. This will be the first time they will be spending the night with anyone other than family. I think I am more botherd by it than they are! LOL

2008-03-01T10:14:00.004-06:00

Friday we stayed home and played! Ray's new thing is when he wakes up to start calling "MOMMA"! It's cute but now having 3 kiddos doing it all at once is a little overwhelming!! How did Our parents do it with 6 kids!! I just keep thinking "WOW"! Emma is now in this stage of constanly asking us "Tell me about when I was a baby"? I keep thinking "Aren't you still a baby"? She is so interested in her past which was so long ago don't ya know! Lets see @ 4years or so!!LOL She is so funny! Ava has now decided that at the age of 2 1/2 that she would like to be a "CLING ON"! She is constantly wanting "UP MOMMA"! Or she wants to "I SNUGGLE WHICH YOU"?She is so precious! I guess I need to take as much of that in as I can because they are growing up so fast!!Where does the time go?

What a Sportsman!

2008-02-29T08:56:00.001-06:00

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"Baby Boot Camp"

2008-02-29T08:06:00.003-06:00

Thursday my friends Shelli & Jenn came over for a little while! It was nice to somewhat have an army to help with the "BABY BOOT CAMP" of naptime! Yes we are still struggling in that category!! Any suggestions are welcome!Please pray for a quick resolution!

Pay no attention to the Sparkley Purple Bag ! LOL

2008-02-29T08:03:00.004-06:00

So if yall're wondering what Ray was doing duing the show, here it is! I think the pic. speaks for itself!! LOL

YEY AUNT CECILE!!

2008-02-29T07:48:00.005-06:00

Wednesday was so much fun! We spent the day at Aunt Cecile's & Uncle Marks House! Aunt Cecile treated me to a roast beef po-boy, and the kiddos to some tasty chicken nuggets! It was so nice to sit and chat with Cecile. She's the best!!!"Love Her" We stayed there most of the day! And of course we came home bearing gifts!! When Rick came home the girls put on one of there many "shows" for us! Emma a.k.a. "POP TART" & Avaa.k.a. "SPRINKLES"were spot on for their rendition of "TWINKLE,TWINKLE,LITTLE STAR", And of course every ones favorite encore of "CAILLOU"! It was an amazing show! Look out American Idol!!! I'm not meaning to brag, BUT, although loud, they do seem to sing on key! It's weird!

ALPHA IS BACK !!

2008-02-29T07:28:00.005-06:00

Hey guys I know it has been a couple of days since the last blog so here it the updates!!!(Courtney) Well on Tuesday the Mayeaux's went and served at the church for the ALPHA course!We had a great time! It was great to serve this time sort of behind the scenes rather than as table facilitators! The kids had a wonderful time jumping on the spacewalk and eating pizza and of course learning about Jesus and the bible!Just click on the photo to find out more information regarding The Alpha Course!