Can you hear me now? Good!

One of my lamest things lately is in regards to my cell phone. While I love having it, it might make a little more sense to actually have a phone that works, right?!? One whose battery holds a charge for more than 20 minutes??? Yep, that were some of my super wise thoughts as I was anticipating leaving town. So, I finally found a deal and bought a phone, but of course with the whole 'Hurricane Ike' minor detail, I am nervous about buying it and having it sent to my house - what if the whole mail system is taken out and my phone that I am going to NEED on vacation will be stuck in no man's land! So I, thinking I'm quite the genious, decide to send it to my in-law's house...that way I'll have it for sure when we're in Utah, right?!?

My plan worked out perfectly...EXCEPT for the fact that the week before we left (and had no power at home, thus no home phone) - my cell phone decides to completely die...making me completely unreachable! Steve would take it and charge it at work, only to have it last long enough to maybe check one voicemail and then the battery would fizzle out and leave me stranded once again! It really was quite funny!!!

Okay, so really, this is a post about nothing. Only about my gratitude for having a working cell phone (and working home phones) that I can use to actually communicate with those I love once again! Isn't it funny how quickly we come to think of these things as necessities instead of optional things in our lives! I don't use my cell all that often, but I really do love the convenience of it! :) So there you are...if you're anticipating a major catastrophe, be sure your cell phone is in good working order!

Hummmmmm....

Ahhhh, the glorious hum of electricity!

Just as we were getting into the car to head off to the airport for our flight back home, I got a call from our sweet neighbor informing us that our power had just been restored! I don't know if I've ever gotten better news...ever! So we came home to a cooled house, power working and we've never been more happy to be home! :)

So, now we're home and back to normal life...it seems like forever since it's been that way! Garrett's been out of school for over 2 weeks, and is very excited to go back tomorrow! We were hesitant to schedule our trip a few months ago, thinking that he'd miss a whole week and miss his picture day and everything...but it ends up that his school was cancelled the whole time and he didn't miss a single day - he was pretty excited about that! So, now I have to adjust all over again to having him gone all day! I think it's going to be harder to let him go now than it was for the first day of school...now I know what I'm in for and I'm missing him already! :)

We made it...

Sorry for the lapse in posting. We have been w/o power for far longer than I ever expected! Not that I can complain...we had a trip planned before Ike was ever even a thought in those open Atlantic waters...and escaped good ol' ravaged TX as soon as the cool front started to leave- good timing, huh?!? So we are now enjoying the benefits of electricity and cooler weather once more! :)

Ike was really something! I don't even know how to describe it...but let me just say, that it is very humbling to see what wind alone can do to a neighborhood (or even a country!) - my bro-in-law lost power way up in Ohio due to Ike! So crazy! We got through the storm pretty well. I had no idea what to expect, so we all slept in our closet that night and I have to admit...it was pretty quiet in there! We felt really safe and secure! I woke Steve up a couple of times to go peek out the windows with me and it is crazy to see the trees in your yard bending completely to the ground! I always knew what hurricanes were...but I could never fathom the power behind it all until I saw it first-hand! And this was just a category 2 hurricane...I can't even imagine a 3 or 4!!! It was amazing and frightening all at the same time! My biggest regret was that I didn't go out during the eye. I woke up because it was so eerily quiet, but the kids in the closest with us were stirring on and off during the whole eye...and I didn't want to risk waking them and then us all being up for the rest of the night in a tiny little closet! But I know that I will regret that forever...when do you get that chance to experience that eery calm - hopefully not often! :)

We had the expected damage...our little trees in our front yard completely knocked over and such...but we also had a big tree come down in our backyard. We are just so grateful that it blew opposite of our house and landed on the fence instead of our roof! Steve and a bunch of guys from church came and worked their magic with the chainsaw and got it taken care of easily! The only problem now is, Steve is convinced that he 'needs' a chainsaw! He had so much fun out cleaning the wreckage...that he is wanting to buy yet another power tool to add to our collection! And let me just add that he openly admitted that the remaining 5 large trees in our backyard would be in serious jeopardy if he were to get one though...I can just see him bored at home one day and would be just itching to try out his new saw...and our perfect backyard shade trees would be toast! We'll have to see about that! Steve also, on his exciting, chainsaw-yielding work party, came into contact with some serious poison ivy or poison oak or something and is pretty miserable about now...but at least that will give me a few extra weeks to push the importance of keeping our shade trees! :) Poor guy!

Anyway, I didn't mean to write so much...I really just wanted to check in and let everyone know that we were still alive and kicking! :) I'll write more regularly when we get back home and when they ever decide to turn back on our power! Seriously, this coming Thursday is the latest report! That's two weeks w/o power in the heat of a Texas summer! Luckily that cold-front lasted almost a week...and I have never been more grateful for anything in my life!

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Ike!

Wow! Never a dull moment when there's a big ol' powerful hurricane that seems dead set on correcting its path until it is headed straight towards you! It looks like we're going to meet Ike head on...according to the constant coverage via our great weathermen who definitely earn their money during these crazy hurricane seasons! Garrett loves to turn on the TV and 'track Ike' right along with them. He is so interested in it all...hopefully he feels the same 48 hours from now!

So here's the scoop, for those of you whom I haven't talked to today! Ike is headed towards the West end of Galveston Island. There are many places that are being evacuated...but we are not among them. And I have to admit, after Rita 3 years ago...I'm quite happy to get ready and hunker down here in my own home! Forget the stand-still traffic on the HOT HOT HOT roads...we will just wait it out here. We're not in any flood zones and we've prepared all we can for the winds. We'll ride out the storm and then depending on our power outage situation, we'll decide whether we'll evacuate then to seek cooler surroundings! So any of you within driving distance...watch out, we might just show up on your doorstep, begging to share in your A/C!

We're praying for all of you out there who are 'hunkering down' and are bracing yourselves for Ike! Good luck, stay safe and we'll see you all when things calm down!

Are you kidding me???

Today, as we are getting out of the car after school - yes it is still so hot that I drive the 1/2 mile to pick him up, but that's the besides the point! I hear Garrett say this as I am opening Ethan's door to get him out of his carseat, "Mom, can I get a phone?" WHAT!?! The kid doesn't even talk on the regular phone and already he's asking for a cell phone? This was so out of character that I KNEW I must have heard him wrong! So out comes my baffled "WHAT did you say???" He repeats, "Can I get a phone" but this time he follows it up with "you know, so I can put it here in my phone pocket?" Seriously, his backpack is more equipped for anything techy than any of my bags or purses or television set. Of course, being probably the lamest family when it comes to anything techy, that's not too surprising! But really, when your kindergartner is wearing the same-sized backpack as a highschooler, I guess these things are bound to come up! Besides the crazy size issue - those packs are so big on those little kindergarten bodies!!! But, it gets kids thinking that they need the ipod for their nifty ipod holder and a cell phone for their great little phone pocket! Maybe I should start telling him that those are hotwheel car holders or g.i. joe pockets instead or a special compartment for his granola bars! How long do you think I could fool him??? Probably not long, huh?!?

Slippery When Wet!

Whenever Ethan is done eating...instead of wiping him up with a cloth or wipey or something of that nature, I take him over to the sink and rinse him off - hands, face, arms, whatever needs washing...this kid can get messy! A simple wipe-down just will not do! He has never minded the post-meal dousing, so all in all, it's been a great little system...until now! His new favorite thing is to grab onto the faucet and make the water spray all over the kitchen! He giggles with delight and tightens his grip so that sometimes, it is almost impossible to get his cute little hands off so that the spraying will stop! Oh well, nothing like an indoor water park during the still sweltering summer days! Luckily, if I can remember to keep the water flow low...the spray manages to stay in the sink and maybe on the nearby counters...it's not nearly as magnificent of a water display, but it keeps my clean up a bit more manageable! :)

play-by-play

Tonight during dinner, we're having our usual craziness...which really translates to: we eat while Garrett chatters away about everything and nothing all at the same time. Seriously, that kid can talk!!! We tried tonight to have a more structured conversation mixed with more actual eating...but it didn't work out too well! Our meals are always peppered with comments like "3 more bites before you can finish your story" or " finish your beans before you say another word" or things of that nature! It really is cute...that kid loves to talk...but I'm always ready for him to eat so we can move on with the rest of our night!

Tonight was no exception....Steve and I had finished our perfectly balanced and very nutritious meal (hahaha!!!) and were ready to start cleaning up and finding something else for Ethan to eat who had cleaned everything off his tray and was signing more like a madman!!! Steve took over the Ethan part of things and was headed towards the fridge to get a peach to slice up for our little fruit-lover when this is what we hear from the table "There he is. He opens the fridge. He takes out a...a...it's a peach! He's getting a peach for Ethan!" Nothing like having your every move announced by your 5 year old like he's an olympic announcer announcing the play-by-play! It definitely took the peach slicing to a whole new level! Needless to say, dinner time at our house is always very exciting!