Our Grand Return

We're finally back home! After leaving as evacuees before Ike hit on Thursday, Sept. 11th, it's been a long trip....very fun, but long. I'll try not to tell too much because I have TONS of pictures to share. There are even more coming from when I forgot my camera.

So, we left Thursday morning, the storm hit Friday night and lasted pretty much through Sunday afternoon. The winds did the most damage around our area, but after the winds blew through, the rains did their part too. There was some serious flooding, and after having wind damage, even more than there should have been. Our house is fine, Marcus' parent's house is fine, his brother's house is fine, but many houses are not. We feel very lucky to have a house to come home to.

Anyway, Monday and Tuesday after the storm were pretty much spent cleaning up at Marcus' parent's house. Marcus was a "real man" with his big, manly chainsaw!! We all pitched in and had a good time together cleaning up all the debris. We were especially lucky that the weather was so wonderful...it was in the 70's during the day and probably less than 60's at night. We did have a generator so we had lights and fans, but we didn't even have anything turned on at night, just opened the windows. Wednesday we were on a plane to Oregon and that afternoon I actually got to take a hot shower and wash my hair...Marcus didn't understand why that was so important!! Hello!! I had been taking cold baths/showers since Saturday and hadn't been able to wash my hair...yuck!! Here are some pictures from the aftermath of Ike. Pictures of Oregon to come.

This was one of two trees in the front yard of Marcus' parent's house (Marcus' tree).This was a huge oak tree out behind their house....WAS.This is just the front view. Where'd it go? This was the top of the tree after Marcus got a hold of it with the chainsawThis was the beginning of the pile of limbs we were cleaning up from the yard.My man at work.

This is the pile as it continued to grow...yes, it got even bigger before Marcus set fire to it.
Cali LOVES the tractor, but you can't really tell from the look on her face!This was in Crosby, not too far from our house...scary.
As we were driving through Crosby this was the scene of most of the town!!
I have more pictures, but my computer is acting up right now. We don't even have internet or tv right now...I'm using Marcus' work laptop (wireless is great!). Life is beginning to somewhat return to normal around the area. A lot of people are still without power so I feel extremely blessed that we do!! I did mention in my last post that we were in Oregon...I do have some pictures from that trip as well, but that will have to be the next post because of the dumb computer. So, more to come....stay tuned. ;)

Hurricane Ike Report

Yes, yes, yes....we're still alive and kickin'. We did end up evacuating, even after my tyrade about staying. Wednesday evening was my last post, but Thursday morning we were packed up and out the door before 9am!! I swore I was staying, that all would be fine, but the news reports were saying different. Marcus got up Thursday morning to get ready for work at about 6:30 and the eye of the hurricane was heading for Galveston, just south of houston. We didn't even hesitate....to grandmother's house we go.
Friday night, here comes Ike, there goes the electricity. Saturday was pretty rough, and Sunday the rain still hasn't stopped! My in-laws house was fine, just some trees down and some shingles blown away. We went back to our house sunday to check out how our house "weathered" the storm. Not a single scratch!! We are so blessed!
If you read my last post, you would have noticed that we were needing a little vacation...well, we're getting it. We are currently in Eugene, OR at our friends' house. Who would have thought things would have turned out this way? We'll be making the rounds to visit so many friends for the next couple of days....can't wait!!!
I'll be posting pictures from the storm and our trip asap. Just know we're safe and happy and the kids are having a blast too. More to come.

Here We Go Again...

Yes, another hurricane is bearing down upon us...ugh. We just got back from "evacuating" from Gustav and now Ike is making it's way towards the Texas coast. There have already been some "voluntary" evacuation orders for Galveston, which isn't too far from Houston. Luckily we live on the northeast side of Houston so I think we'll be alright. I also think that I've convinced Marcus that everything will be alright and that we should just stay here. (Plus I've made some plans to keep us busy with friends...teehee) Besides, what's a little wind and rain? Should be fun. I'll let y'all know how the weekend plays out.

Oh, I'd like to mention that Marcus and I are ready for a change of scenery, maybe something along the lines of a trip to Oregon...any donations would be much appreciated!!! ;)

School Daze

I know I should have "school days", but after this morning I feel like I'm in more of a daze. Two other mothers and I got together and decided that it would be a good idea to start our own little preschool for our preschoolers. Since none of us can afford to send our little ones to actual preschools around here, why not? The group includes all boys and one poor little girl, but she's a trooper. There's Austin (4.5), Mya (4), Dalton (3), Keegan (almost 3), and Garrett (almost 3) so there's a pretty good range of ages and definitely a range of personalities. (Oh, and btw, I teach sunbeams on Sundays too...Austin and Mya are in my class.) There are three of us moms involved, but only three of the kids belong to us. The two youngest are watched by the other two moms everyday. Today was the first day of "school" and it was here. Let me share...

Austin is a really good kid, most of the time. The poor guy is the oldest of the group and his other friends all just started kindergarten. Needless to say, he wasn't too excited when I told him that school was going to be at home this morning. He tested my patience the whole time! Luckily, he's sleeping right now....much needed nap time.

Mya is great! For being the only girl, and rather quiet, she holds her own. She did have one little breakdown, but I can't even remember what it was for because it lasted for a whole 15 seconds. She's a pretty smart kid and really wants to learn whatever I'm teaching...and she wants the boys to listen too, but that didn't happen much.

Dalton is the cutest kid in town! He's such a little fireball and does whatever Austin does...there's trouble. But, he is a leader in his own right which is impressive considering his size (he's a little guy). His favorite parts of the day were eating his apple slices and throwing the peel on my grass and singing the "apple and banana" song. What a crack up!!

Keegan has a rhythm all his own. He's SUPER smart, especially for being not quite 3 yet (Nov.), but he's definitely walking to the beat of his own drum. He was one of the boys that I watched for a week so I'm familiar with him, and I expected a tantrum (or two) but he just went right along with the flow. With one exception....he didn't want Austin to push him in our little car outside. There were a few tears but we worked it out by running a few races. (Oh, and Garrett starts with us next week.)

I do have to confess that I was a little under prepared! We decided to have it be a 3 hour block, 9-12, and I felt like I had plenty of things to do to fill up my 3 hours....close, but not quite. I didn't really think through that they would be done with their crafts so quickly. I either need to do harder, more involved crafts, or break things up just a little better. Live and Learn!! Next week will be GREAT! I felt like we covered a lot today, had a lot of fun, and I wore them out for their moms....my job here is done.

Now I have to figure out what to do for next week. *whew*

Hurricane Gustav????

I know that Big Bad Gustav did some damage in Louisiana, but it didn't even drip one droplet of rain on us here in Houston. Unfortunately, there was no way of knowing for sure where it was going to hit and how big it was going to be. But just this once, I wish my husband would have actually listened to me and not been so quick to run...er...evacuate. Having his dad work for the big electric company down here in the southern region doesn't help any either. They both got so worked up about this storm that we were packed and heading out the door before I could turn my head.

We had seen the reports of the impending hurricane and had seen the footage of it tearing through Jamaica and Cuba, but I still wasn't even nervous. We watched curiously Friday evening on the news of the possibilities of where it would be making landfall in the gulf of mexico, still not nervous. We watched most of the morning Saturday, had a leisurely breakfast, played and cleaned, even went swimming....not even close to being nervous. After lunch Marcus got a phone call from his dad telling us that we'd better head out because the storm could lurch to the west and devestate the gulf coast, so we did.

There was a lot of debate in our packing whether I should just take the kids or all of us go together, where should we go, how much should we take, what about all our food storage, etc??? I think I raised a stink about any little thing just to make Marcus give up and finally just let us stay, but it didn't work. Having been through this before, he was a little more nervous about waiting it out...hurricanes are just too unpredictable.

When we lived in Texas before moving to Oregon we had been through quite a bit. We watched as Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and then just a couple weeks later here comes Hurricane Rita. Rita made landfall within miles of our house, and there was no way of knowing before hand, but I had the "instinct" that we need to get out. We left our house on Tuesday and Rita hit Friday morning...I was glad I followed the prompting to leave, and to do it when I did.

I think having been through that the last time we lived down here really made Marcus MUCH more cautious. We left our house Saturday afternoon around 4pm. We headed to Marcus' parent's house to pick up my m-i-l so she wasn't left to fend for herself. We finally got out of there and on the road by about 8pm....we had a long night ahead of us! We made it to Marcus' uncle's house in Arkansas around 4:30am. Good times....Cali cried so much that I finally gave in and let her sleep in my lap, don't turn me in for not having her in her carseat!!!! Austin slept on the floor between the two captains chairs. Marcus lived on Monsters and sunflower seeds. Like I said, good times.

Cali found a friend. Marcus' cousin's little girl, Teyha.
This was the beautiful country view we enjoyed. This was their beautiful home.
Marcus' uncle has mules and took us on a wagon ride....super fun!
Marcus' cousin, Nanette, with her husband and two little girls....they LOVED Austin!!!
This was the older girl, Soleia....They became quick buddies. Too adorable!
"Can I have that camera??"
We did have a nice visit with family, and I did take some pictures of where we stayed. But with us, nothing can be normal. We were enjoying a fun time Monday afternoon when the call came from Marcus' dad that we needed to return home or wait a couple more days because the storm was headed straight for us....ugh. We packed up within 30 minutes and were back in the car by 3pm. We had a much better time in the car on the way back, but didn't make it home till 12:30am....at least it was to my own bed this time. ahhh...glad to be home.

Austin made him self comfy...can you blame him? That boy is OUT!!Me and my mil...she thinks she's SOOO funny.Even evacuating she's still cheesin'.Thanks Gustav for a fantastic Labor Day weekend!!! sheesh...