Really?

We found out that our house was wrapped yesterday. (again) I heard that toliet paper was a scarce commodity...and they wasted it on our trees. Somebody must be really bored.

And an update...Our house still does not have power and will be out until next week.

Our "Ike" Vacation

It looks like we might be around Mansfield for a few more days. I called my neighbor and she said that there are so many lines down around us and Centerpoint has not been out to repair anything yet. I feel so bad for them, but they are all cooking for each other, being kind and sharing generator plugs, and bringing back ice from an ice sculpting company to pass around. Yes, the last resort is a ice sculpting company. She said also that food and gas were hard to get and it would be better just to stay until things were back to normal. Of course, there is no way..no how...I would go back without power. BUT, praise God he has sent a cool front for all those without a/c and they actually had to sleep under many blankets to keep warm from the cool of the night.

What is so strange is UPS and Fedex resumed delivering on Monday. It is so strange that some things seem so normal, but other things are very much quite the opposite.

In the meantime, Jonathan does not have to go back until we have power at the house so it kind of feels like a vacation that we did not plan for. His boss is allowing him to work from Dallas even though the office is opening up tomorrow.

Jack ended up with the beginnings of two ear infections and Keegan a sinus infection. I am very grateful we were able to come up here and get them healthy!

Loving the A/C!

YIKES IKE!!!
We survived Hurricane Ike, but I could not survive the lack of power. Plus Jack's cold was not getting any better and wanted to be close to a doctor. We headed up to Mansfield this afternoon since who knows when we will get it back.

So I know one thing: Hurricanes in the night without power are very scary. I think I underestimated the power of this storm and next time I will get out of dodge if at all possible. We stayed up the whole night on guard listening to the strong gusts....not sure I could sleep anyway.

Our house suffered no damage, so we were very grateful for that. Jonathan's sister's house has a big whole in the roof and water damage upstairs. When we went for a walk the afternoon after, we realized how lucky we were. There were lots of trees down...some in houses, and some on cars.







The house behind our back fence had a giant pine tree fall sideways into their neighbor's yard. It could have very well fallen on our house. Thank you Lord for your protection!
*This is the best pic that I could get, but this pine tree is HUGE and is the entire length of a yard and a half.



The damage in our neighborhood and surrounding areas is so sad, but my heart goes out to all the people who lost their homes and families that lost loved ones.

YIKES IKE!

We decided to stay put instead of getting in the throng of traffic out of the city. Our area was not a mandatory evacuation. Besides, we are north and nothing much will happen here. (I hope) I do anticipate losing electricity for a good 24 hours, because all you have to do is get a small storm and it goes out. We have been watching the news on and off for a the last day and a half and they are pleading for people to evacuate in Galveston and surrounding low lying areas. BUT still, BUT STILL....people are deciding to brave the storm. Are they crazy? One woman is turning her garage into a booze party and inviting her neighbors. One man is finding a spiritual connection with the hurricane and staying although he knows he might die....but that is okay with him. "One with nature" is his swan song. The coast guard are already rescuing people who are stuck in the surge waters, and it has not even rained yet. It is estimated that 40% of the residents in Galveston decided to stay. Lord, help them in their stupidity to not heed the warnings. I am praying that people do leave when there is still time left.

I think we will be up most of the night listening to the weather, and I would be lying if I was not a little amped up to see it in action. The strength of this storm is something that I have never been apart of but I am relieved to be at arms length to Ike.

The 2am Sprinkler

Last night on every hour, Keegan kept getting up. I evidently was sleeping really sound, because I missed the the first three times that Jonathan got out of bed to take care of Keegan. Around the fourth time, I woke up and I asked what was wrong. He said that he wasn't sure, but we just needed to let him cry it out. After a good ten minutes his cry sounded strange and Jonathan headed upstairs to see what was going on. He came back down and said, "Keegan just took his diaper off and he peed on everything." I knew this moment would happen at some point, but was inwardly hoping it wouldn't.

At 2am we decided to look for duck tape and the only thing we could find was painter's tape. As we were searching for some tape... Jonathan mentioned that the first time he got up around 11pm his diaper was off, but he just put a fresh one back on and put him back in bed not thinking he would do it again. Of course, I probably looked at him with the eyes only a sleepy, cranky wife can give that spoke a million words that he could almost audibly hear. (sorry babe!) So with horns growing out of my head and steam coming out of my ears, we headed up stairs and wrapped the tape around his diaper (a few times). After the job was complete, Keegan looked up at us as if he was satisfied with his new blue addition on his diaper and said..."That's niiiice...oh...niiiice."

I could not help but smile, and boy did I need some comical relief.

Summer Vacation

We stepped back into the Hill Country this summer with Jonathan's family and visited River Inn Resort. The weather was nice the entire time and never got really hot. I used to live for summer's to lay out, but now I much prefer to lay out under a tree, read a book on a breezy day. The one hot commodity that River Inn Resort has is a flume that dumps you out in the river. When the crowd left after the busy weekend, we took a day and had it all for ourselves.







Laura and I got out there a few times and tried to not hold on, but only kept our arms up just long enough for a picture. Brad, I know you are laughing right now, because you thought it was not that fast. Okay..I am a weanie.


This has to be may favorite picture of my father in law.


Brad and his princess who preferred this little boat.

Past that, my beautiful niece Brianna opted to not get in the water too much.



This was Keegan's first fishing experience. We got him a Lighting McQueen fishing pole and instead of a hook it had a red plastic circle. Jonathan thought it was quite lame because it did not have an actual hook. I think temporarily he forgot Keegan was 2 an that he might be missing an eye after this vacation. Keegan thought it was so fun to cast it in (or actually throw it in) and then run the opposite direction from the river, dragging the red circle behind him. Okay, so we have a little more to teach him about fishing...but at least it is a start. Jonathan finally agreed that a hook would have been a bad idea. :)



The Hill Country is calling me back...

Lovebugs.: Do and Die

It is Lovebug season and I am tired of them getting in my hair, congregating with the mosquitoes in my backyard, and flying into our house. For some reason, they are in love with our backyard. It keeps Keegan busy chasing them around and yelling, "BEE FLY!" Anything that is a bug and flies is named this....we are working on it! I am ready for their season to end and go back to where they live the other parts of the year when they are not bugging us.

Anyhow, I looked up the love bug to find out how long I will have to deal with them and this is what I found out.

"The adult lovebug feeds on the nectar of flowering plants. Upon reaching maturity the lovebug spends almost the entirety of its life copulating with its mate, hence its numerous romantic nicknames. The male and female attach themselves at the rear of the abdomen and remain that way at all times, even in flight. In fact, after mating, the male dies and is dragged around by the female until she lays her eggs. Females lay up to 350 eggs in debris, and about 20 days later the eggs hatch into larvae. The larvae may live for months before passing into adulthood"

On a funny note, those poor females. Not only are they carrying around 350 eggs...they are carrying around their dead mate. Can a girl get a break...seriously? You know they are cursing Eve with the rest of us. And those males...they never get to learn from their mistakes of being lured into the lovefest.

On a serious note, can you imagine how many people can relate? I am glad my husband actually talks back and listens to me, but I am sure there are some people they could compare their marriage to that of a lovebug. But sometimes I think...am I dead weight my husband carries around? Am I doing my part to keep marriage interesting and not lifeless? Do I conserve enough energy at the end of the day to laugh and have a conversation with my hubby when he gets home from work? Do I listen to his day enough? Do I encourage him? Do I a pray for him enough?

Maybe something to think about....interesting how God can use something so annoying to teach us a life lesson.