Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Top 5 Lists inspired by Ike
1. generators
2. grills
3. lawn chairs
4. gas cans
5. toddlers who normally wear nice clothes running around in nothing but a diaper
Top 5 things to do while waiting in line for gas after Ike:
1. put on makeup (b/c there is no light in your house to do it before you leave)
2. pluck your eyebrows
3. plan the rest of your life
4. listen to the radio (it's your only contact with the rest of the world)
5. pray that there is still gas left by the time that you get to the pump
Top 5 things to do when the sun goes down and you have no electricity b/c of Ike:
1. search the house for a flashlight b/c no matter how hard you try to keep all of the flashlights in one specific place there is never one there! (Maybe only those who have young children can relate to this one.)
2. talk about the plan for the next day...Who is going to sit in the 2 hour line for gas? Which meat needs to be grilled before it goes bad?
3. play Yahtzee by flashlight
4. go to sleep early
5. call friends/family on your landline non-portable phone to see who has electricity
Friday, September 19, 2008
Hurricane Ike
While Cliff and our friend Mark boarded up our house, the boys were playing on their swingset oblivious to most of the commotion around them.
Here are the boys as we leave for the church:
At our church, the boys played with other kids and we all ate dinner that the Red Cross provided. We had electricity all night because there was a huge generator outside. Cliff and our Pastor entertained us with some music...Cliff on guitar and our Pastor on harmonica.
There were two main rooms at the church that we used....one for sleeping and one for eating/talking/watching the news stations. At 9:00 p.m., we put the boys down for bed. They didn't wake up until 7:00 a.m. the next morning. The worst of the hurricane was basically over by that point!!! I, however, stayed in the eating/talking room most of the night. My friend Jennifer and I couldn't sleep much. We would sleep for an hour or maybe two and then get up and talk or watch the news. For the most part, the hurricane did not sound that loud in the "sleeping" room. However, it was very loud in the other room. You could feel the building shaking in the "awake" room. I was not nearly as scared as I thought I was going to be. I will say that if a Category 4 or 5 hurricane is ever headed in my direction, I will evacuate for sure! A category 2 or 3 was big enough for me! Once it was daylight, I started taking some pictures outside. This picture was taken while hurricane force winds were still blowing.
The swingset made it!!!! Cliff must have done an AWESOME job building it!!! It's amazing to think that some houses had roofs torn off and siding torn off, but our fort/swingset stood strong!! (Notice pieces of our fence laying on the ground around the fort.)
Shingles missing from our roof:
We are very thankful for our minor damage. Our neighbor had a 4 ft. x 8ft. hole in their house! The siding was torn off. You could see straight into their attic. Here are some other pictures from around Mont Belvieu:
(Yes, the brick was literally blown off of this building.)
(This is a cinderblock garage that belongs to the car wash business in town. They put their vehicles in it thinking they would be safe there during the storm!! Oooppss! You can't tell in this picture, but one of the vehicles that got smashed was an antique car.)
(This is a church on Eagle Drive.)
(Many power lines were down in our area.)
(Many vehicles were smashed by trees.)
Some good things actually did come out of this storm. First of all, we met and got to know many of our neighbors. When you spend all day everyday outside in front of your house grilling or attending to your generator, you get to know everyone on the street pretty well. Cameron and Kaden met the girls across the street from us. They played together for 3 straight days going back and forth from our house to their house. They had lots of fun!!
Another positive note is that Cameron and Kaden have acquired some new vocabulary. They have learned first-hand what these terms mean: hurricane, "boarding up", evacuate, electricity, power, generator. (I know, I know...I'm such a speech therapist.) In the picture below, Kaden is very prepared for the darkness in our house by wearing his miner's hat.
I am VERY thankful to report that we were only without power for one week. We survived!! We played outside ALOT, we played board games, we talked, we grilled outside with friends, etc. It makes you realize how much time you "waste" with things that use electricity. However, I am glad to be able to use my washer and dryer again. I am also glad that I can walk into my closet or walk through the house at night without taking a flashlight with me. Maybe we'll start having an "Ike Night" once a week...no electricity allowed.
(Coming Soon: Top 5 Lists inspired by Ike)
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Kaden vs. mosquitos
I took him to the doctor and he gave us some prescription strength cream to put on mosquito bites. This past week he got another mosquito bite...can you guess which ear the mosquito bit??
We put the cream the doctor gave us on it and it was better by the next day. Poor Kaden! Mosquitos love him, but he doesn't love mosquitos!!!!
Monday, August 25, 2008
First Day of Kindergarten!!!!
Then we took some more pictures when we got to school:
This is Cameron's teacher:
Cameron LOVES her...and mommy does, too! She does alot of "extras" that most teachers don't do. She even called Cameron last night (the night before school started) and told him that she couldn't wait to see him in the morning and that she is so excited that he is in her class. She is a mommy's Dream Kindergarten Teacher!!! I am so excited for Cameron!!!
Cameron in his classroom on the first day of school:Cameron at the end of the day lining up to go home:
He had a GREAT day and is looking forward to more fun at school!Riding bikes!!!
Aunt Connie convinced Cameron to ride his bike without his training wheels!!!! He did really well for his first time!
Patio and Tropical Storm
We also survived our first Tropical Storm at the beginning of this month.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Kaden's 2-year Pictures
I can't believe that my baby is two and that my oldest baby is going to Kindergarten in a couple of weeks!!!