We're so excited to know that Lauchlin's sister, Katherine, will be the new assistant professor of art at Ole Miss next year! I think the official word came Tuesday, and she will be moving from her current abode in St. Louis back to Mississippi sometime next month. Her position is only for a year, but we'll be sure to enjoy her while she's here.
Above is a lovely picture of her "Katherine pose." It works well for a full-time professor, we think.
Olivia and her mom took a trip to Jackson to visit the Backyards & Beyond exhibition, which is only up for two more weeks. After closing time, they headed to Sam’s Club. Her mom is one of the 47 million members who contributes to the $37 billion dollars in sales spent there each year. Even though whether or not it was a good value is still to be determined, Olivia has probably made her last Jet Dry purchase for the decade.
Next year's contract for employees of the Vicksburg Warren School District was delivered with this memo attached requesting that all employees review and determine the information in their contracts was accurate. As Dr. Price proves the "You are your own worst proofreader" cliche, Olivia signs her contract, confident that she will not be transferring to the Vicksburg Schools Warren District next year.
Olivia is so happy to be able to put behind her fourth year of teaching!!! For those of you who remember junior high days/your first Spanish class and enjoy a good David Letterman Show, we have compiled a top 10 list of things that Olivia will not miss for the next two months....
10. Unwarrented, unfair insults 9. Coming home with tiny pieces of paper and paper clips in her pockets 8. Reading Graffiti...everywhere 7. Greeting adolescents who arrive fresh from gym class 6. Consuming 20-minute lunches 5. Hitting "Snooze" on the 5:30 a.m. wake-up alarm 4. Intercepting, Picking up, and Finding Paper balls 3. Listening to he phrase "Puedo ir al bano, por favor?" spoken in various degrees of fluent pronunciation 2. Seeing, hearing, or touching anything with an alligator, gata, or gator on it 1. WORKING!!!
So, Kristi Yamaguchi took home the trophy tonight on "Dancing with the Stars," which means our Monday and Tuesday nights just got really boring again. We will have to find another show to consume us for the two hours each night we watched people dance. We were happy with the outcome, though. Here is a clip of Kristi and her dance partner, Mark, performing the jive, our favorite dance they did all season. Before the dance is some recap stuff — in case you missed the season. Enjoy!
Wouldn't you be excited to receive this in the mail? Olivia thought she was one of the lucky people to have received her stimulus payment today. It arrived in thin, smaller-than-letter size packaging...just the thing to hold, say, a stimulus check. It was actually only a notice to say that her payment would be arriving later this week.
We're so excited about the upcoming addition to the Linares family! We missed the official announcement that was made at Victoria's first birthday party (Cortney said she and Fico gave her an "I'm a big sister" T-shirt). Baby # 2 will be here around Christmas, and we can't wait to meet the next dimple-cheeked bundle of joy.
Here is a picture of Cortney and Fico at a baby shower before Victoria was born.
Karen and Jimmy's house in Culkin will be the first abode where Eric Brown (our friend who works at The Vicksburg Post) and his new bride, Brooke, will live starting in January of 2009. The house is nearly 100 years old and needs some sprucing up before the soon-to-be Browns call it home.
Located on Mullens Drive, this house has been in Jimmy Mullen's family for a long time. We look forward to visiting the porch on days when we are not on our own!
This room was purple, but, of course, Eric wanted it BROWN. Kathleen Miles, renowned for her own decorating skills, joined our Tuesday night painting party.
What would a dream house be without a dream catcher?
Meanwhile in Bovina.....
Tom and Emily, our neighbors and friends who have lived about two blocks away from us until now, are moving more than seven miles away into a house they are currently renovating. We caught them in action when we went to look at the new digs they purchased this week.
Emily and Tom hope that painting the ceiling of their garage light blue will deter dirt-dobbers from the need to nest there. Time will tell...
Our friend, Karole Sessums, recently showed us an article her brother, Kevin Sessums, author of "Mississippi Sissy," wrote on Sarah Jessica Parker. The excitement here is two-fold. For one, we met him when he did a book-signing at the H.C. Porter Gallery downtown, where Olivia now works after school. Lauchlin also wrote an article about Kevin when his book was published. Here's a picture of Karole and Kevin. Also, we are very excited about "Sex & the City: The Movie." So, we thought we'd share the article he wrote.
We had great weather for our first weekend with the pool! Since it was Mother's Day weekend, Lauchlin's mom was in town. She brought May over to help us break-in the pool. We grilled out by the pool Saturday with Janie and the Spanglers. Olivia and May playing mermaids.
We had an unofficial changing of the seasons in our backyard Friday. The weather was hotter than it's been all year, so we decided we would finally take the tree stand off our Christmas tree that we ditched (lights and all) four months ago. We also bought a pool to ring in the approaching summer season. The pool was way bigger than we expected, even though the picture on the box indicates two adults and a bunch of overly happy kids can fit in it.No false advertising here. It did take us about five hours to fill it up, though. When it was finally full, we soaked in the freezing water for the rest of the evening. We are currently adding chemicals so we can spend the rest of the summer in it. Everyone's welcome to join us for a dip.
So, maybe it's cheating to post about the same person twice in a row. But, this kid is too cute to resist. We sent Victoria this dress for her first birthday and they received it the day before, which is perfect timing. Cortney put these pictures on her Facebook account, but we stole them to show everyone how cute she and the dress (made by family friend Julie Martin) are. She wore the dress on her birthday! We actually had it special ordered for Victoria. Check out Julie's Web site. It's on our list— to the left-- ZozoBugBaby.
This little cutie, Victoria Linares, is celebrating her first birthday today. This picture was taken when she was only a day or two old and still in the hospital. She's grown quite a bit since we last saw her (see below). And, we hate we're missing her birthday party this weekend. Her mom and dad, Cortney and Fico, are very proud of her.
Our friends, Derek and Elizabeth, have just joined the blogging world! It's a very exciting thing — especially since they now live in Jackson instead of three blocks away like they used to. We miss them terribly, but, at least now we can keep up with them on their blog. Welcome, fellow bloggers: Check out the Greys at www.derekandelizabethgrey.blogspot.com!
We spent a beautiful weekend in the country... specifically in Edwards, Mississippi. Sometimes, it's just great to get away. We tried to capture some of our favorite scenes from our little retreat.
On location...
In Vicksburg, this house would have a name...
Edwards is a no-nonsense town. Every establishment is clearly labeled...no need for catchy names!
Of course...you probably will not see anyone from this street at the Scripps National Spelling Bee!
Karen and Jimmy's cabin on their property which they have named "The Bois D'arcs"...
A tribute to a famous Civil War battle...
If you get too rowdy on Utica Street, you might end up here!
Last weekend, we wanted to usher in the warm weather by having a cookout with our neighbors, Ned and Mary Beth. So, for the first time since last summer, we attempted to bring out the grill for our burgers. But, one by one, the grill's legs fell off and the whole thing came apart. And, it's not the first — or even second — time we've had a grill crumble on us! It was about 20 minutes before our guests planned to arrive. We thought about making a cooking pit in the grass with what remained of the grill. Instead, Olivia went to Kroger and bought an already assembled grill. This time, we plan to be adults and take care of it. We'll see. You think this might have something to do with our lack of care? Nah!
This has been a week for birthdays! Tomorrow is the 4th birthday of Lauchlin's niece, Lydia. Since she now lives in Knoxville, we don't get to see her as much and she makes far fewer appearances on the blog than the other two nieces. Since it's almost Lydia's day to shine, shine she will. Here are some photos of that cute Fields kid.
Located on Mullens Drive, this house has been in Jimmy Mullen's family for a long time. We look forward to visiting the porch on days when we are not on our own!
This room was purple, but, of course, Eric wanted it BROWN. Kathleen Miles, renowned for her own decorating skills, joined our Tuesday night painting party. 
Here's a picture of Karole and Kevin.
Olivia and May playing mermaids.
May wore herself out swimming.
We also bought a pool to ring in the approaching summer season. The pool was way bigger than we expected, even though the picture on the box indicates two adults and a bunch of overly happy kids can fit in it.
No false advertising here.
It did take us about five hours to fill it up, though. When it was finally full, we soaked in the freezing water for the rest of the evening. We are currently adding chemicals so we can spend the rest of the summer in it. Everyone's welcome to join us for a dip.
This little cutie, Victoria Linares, is celebrating her first birthday today. This picture was taken when she was only a day or two old and still in the hospital. She's grown quite a bit since we last saw her (see below). And, we hate we're missing her birthday party this weekend. 
Her mom and dad, Cortney and Fico, are very proud of her. 
Check out the Greys at www.derekandelizabethgrey.blogspot.com!
It was about 20 minutes before our guests planned to arrive. We thought about making a cooking pit in the grass with what remained of the grill.
