Enough Already

I was just telling a friend last night that I hardly ever do these tags and here I am doing back to back tags!! What a liar I am. But I just couldn't resist this one. What you're supposed to do is open your picture files, open the 6th file and the 6th picture, and blog about what was going on in that picture. Well, I went to the file and this is what it was....

This was taken the day before Halloween in 2006 (as you can tell by the date on the picture, duh). We lived in Oregon at the time, Austin was 2 (soon to be 3), I was pregnant with Cali and we were a little late getting our pumpkin turned into a Jack 'O Lantern. Austin had a GREAT time digging all the gunk out of that big old pumpkin. I remember we even went to pick the pumpkin right from the patch. We rode on a wagon out into the field and let Austin have whichever one he wanted. Of course he chose this one, it was almost as big as he was. I let the boys do the dirty work while I played photographer, as I tend to choose to do....anything to not be in the pictures. ;)

That was a great Halloween!!!

Tagged

I was tagged by a couple different people for this one, so I guess I'll fulfill my assignment.

Here are the rules...

1. Link the person who tagged you. (Like I said, I was tagged by a couple, so I'm not linking)

2. Mention these rules on your blog.

3. Tell about 6 quirks of yours.

4. Tag fellow bloggers to do the same.

5. Leave a comment to let them know they were tagged.

6 Quirks is tough when you're as quirky as I am...I'll try to narrow them down. ;)

1. First and foremost I really dislike being late. I get that horrible knot in my stomach and sweat, like I'm nervous for some reason. Especially for church. I'm usually seated and got the kids settled before anything begins...I just can't handle being rushed.

2. I really can't stand clutter. I'm doing a lot better now, as you can tell from my cluttered house, but I used to be quite psychotic about it. I had a place for everything and everything was in its place. Maybe it was because we lived in a trailer that was the size of a cracker jack box and if something wasn't put away then the whole place was a disaster. I have a MUCH bigger house now (too big if you ask me) and two kids that aren't so crazy about cleaning up their own clutter. (and the messy husband with piles all around doesn't help either) I've become much more relaxed about it, but I still don't like it!

3. Weird, I know, but I can't handle a cupboard, drawer, door, window, etc. being even slightly left open. If it's a cupboard then I have to arrange things so it will close all the way. If it's a drawer, same thing...and I've even passed that one on to Austin!! He'll fix his clothes so his drawers close all the way. What have I done??

4. I can't stand hearing people chew. Maybe I'm just controlling like my father (hahaha) or maybe I was just raised to chew with my mouth closed and I expect others to do the same. Whatever the reason, it's like nails on a chalkboard to me....and Marcus does it ALL THE TIME!

5. I'm a stickler for respect/politeness. My kids are even becoming little politeness freaks themselves. Just the other day we were driving in the car with 3 extra kids in the car for a little trip to the park. The little girl asked Austin for a book to which he replied, "you didn't say please. you don't say please or thank you very much, do you?" My little 4 year old has been nagged a little too much by his mother about saying please, thank you, excuse me, i'm sorry...is that a bad thing?

6. Though I'm doing much better at choosing my battles, I get a little bugged when my kids clothes don't match. Don't judge me!!! When Marcus gets them dressed, he'll let Austin pick out his own clothes (that never match) and pick Cali's to be miss-matched on purpose, just to bust my chops. Most of the time, especially on saturdays and sunday afternoons, I just let it slide. Who cares, right? But when we are actually going into public I change their clothes right before we leave so he can't do anything about it.

I'm not tagging anyone, but if you think you'd like to share your quirks with the blogging world, go for it!!!

Yes, I'm a dork. Whether those are quirks or not I don't care. It's my post and that's what I want to share. Do you really think I'd share my worst quirks....or maybe those are. You'll never know!!! moooaaaaaa!!!!

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!!! ;)