Kidd Had a Kid!

 Despite postponing my trip due to the excessive snow in Fayetteville, I finally got to meet

Jesse Baker Covington!

Jesse sleeps a lot, so I enjoyed an afternoon of holding him while he slept.

James and Allison are great parents it is precious to watch them take care of Jesse.

One of the most exciting parts of the weekend was seeing that Jesse has red hair! That means I can claim him just a little...

I really enjoyed some good sister time over the weekend as well - especially our matching Razorback color sweaters!

NOLA - Education Style

At the end of January, MTR traveled to New Orleans for our Mid-Year Retreat. I insisted that we make a trip to Cafe Du Monde so we walked from our hotel our first night in town. I broke my diet a few occasions and this was definitely one of them. My face tells you how happy I was to have some carbs-

 We spent the majority of one day observing at two high achieving charter schools. Since Katrina a majority of the public schools in NOLA have become charter schools. Not all of them are as successful as the two we visited, but we were impressed and brought lots of ideas back.

 There was lots of time for bonding within our group. It was really refreshing to lunch together four days in a row because we are used to being spread across Memphis for lunch during the week.

 We had a game night where we learned how competitive Dr. Counts really is.

We spent one afternoon at Audobon Park where the 2nd Annual Secondary vs. Elementary/Staff kickball game was held.The secondary zebras took the game very seriously with coordinated outfits and an organized warm-up. Our preparation combined with skill and plenty of silliness gave us an 11-0 victory.

 The Elementary/Staff team just doesn't look quite crazy enough to win:

Our last evening in town we went to Mulates for dinner and dancing. Bill is at Mulates every Friday and Saturday night to teach guests how to do some Cajun dancing. We loved his lobster shirt.

 By the end of the night, Joel had gotten on stage to sing Amazing Grace and MTR had a Soul Train Line going. It was a VERY fun night!

I didn't get any pictures, but before we came back we spent a morning at the WWII D-Day museum. I definitely recommend the museum and the interactive movie across the street.

Got Squirrels?

There was a little leak at my parents house. To find it my dad cut a hole in the ceiling in the downstairs bathroom.

Fast-forward a few months. My mom goes into the bathroom and finds a baby squirrel, much like this one:

It has somehow gotten into the walls/ceiling and came through the hole. My mom shut it in the bathroom and got my dad. When he came in to catch it he finds it in the toilet. He went to find something to get it out of the toilet with and by the time he gets back it has drowned.

A few days later my mom is sitting in our Den and looks up to see another baby squirrel on the mantle. My parents open the door to the porch and try to get it out of the house, and they don't see it anymore so they assume it got out. A day or two later my mom is in the Den again and sees it run into the front hall. It goes up the stairs and one parent goes up the back stairs and the other up the front to capture it. My mom throws a blanket over it in the hallway and my dad picks it up with the blanket and takes it outside while it squeals.

Since these experiences my parents have taken a few precautions to eliminate squirrels from our house inside and outside of the walls.

1. They have covered the hole in the ceiling. Once they are sure the leak is fixed, it will be more permanently covered.

 2. They have a new decoration in the bathroom: A trap.

 3. They got some fox urine at an outdoor supply company and have put cotton balls with a little urine on them in the attic and crawlspaces. It is supposed to keep all animals away.

Thankfully it has been a month and there are no signs of squirrels at their house!