Day 148

I know, I know, I am a dork! My odometer really hit 88,888. Doesn't really mean anything special other than I have less than 12,000 miles left on my warranty and I will get there before my car is paid off...oh well. Anyway, on to the real picture! You can see for yourself that Caleb is entertaining himself while I wait for the lunch meat. He had a few people around laughing, of course there are always some people who get annoyed that kids are allowed to touch things. Hey, at least he wasn't using it as a machine gun like he has in the past.

Day 147

If only it would last!!!! Here is Hannah trying to clean up the lunch she threw all over the kitchen floor.

Day 146

Ok, so these 2 pictures are not of my family. One is of Judge Roger Bridgwater. The other is Houston Mayor Bill White. Why am I using these two pictures? Bear with me while I explain. The last few weeks have been really frustrating. It doesn't have so much to do with hurricane Ike, but more around our on-going health issues plus some. Today is Sunday and a church day. Today I really didn't feel like going to church. I am weary and feel beaten down. That is the time I really NEED to go to church. I did manage to get up and get everyone dressed. We went and I just still didn't really feel like being there. Well, Sunday School was good and I was starting to feel glad I went. I went into the sanctuary and sat down. I saw Roger Bridgwater. He is a mentor of sorts. He was the Chairman of the Board of the high school I went to. I also did an internship in his law office my senior year. At one point he put his foot down with me and set me straight. When we started attending church, we joined his Sunday School class. I really admire him and his wife, they never fail to show how to live a Godly life by example. When I see him around church, I always make an effort to get over to him and say hi. Today, I was too busy wallowing in my own self pity over our situation and just didn't feel like getting up. I will say that was stupid and I am kicking myself for it. Today sitting next to my mentor and friend was Houston Mayor Bill White. I could have had a chance to meet him...stupid me. I missed an opportunity because I was in a mood. For those of you who do not live in the Greater Houston area, or live under a rock...Houston recently had a hurricane. Our church is a Red Cross staging area. I am not sure exactly what all that entails, but the website can explain if you are curious. The Mayor got up to thank the church and the city. He also said a few other things. It was actually pretty cool. For those who again do not live in or around Houston, I personally think he is one of the best Mayor's the city has had...then again, I am still kinda young. LOL He helped out the Louisiana people after Katrina. Then one month later, brought Houston through Rita. Now he is again dealing with another crisis named Ike. To date over 2 weeks after the storm there are still people without power. I have heard numerous new interviews with him over the last two weeks. He tells it like it is AND lets people know when he is NOT happy. He doesn't seem to play politics either. Anyway, enough about the Mayor of a city I technically don't live in. As for myself while singing songs and worshipping God, I started to feel my heart change. It was like the bricks were slowly being lifted off my shoulders. Pastor Gregg actually showed an amazing video and after hours of searching the internet, I can't find it. It really described me today, then it reminded me that God is always there. That is so true! Just in time! I really needed to be reminded of that today. I needed to remember that my Father God cares about what I am going through. My Father God understands! Thanks guys for understanding my need to break out from my 365 picture today and letting me share.

Day 145

Today was Samantha's first soccer game...yes, yesterday was the first practice. LOL I was amazed because she did awesome! I took off down the field with the ball a few times. Last time she played she seemed afraid to get in the middle of the action.

Samantha is the second from the right. They are lined up to say the Y pledge.

During one quarter Samantha played in the back of the field. I am not sure the name of the position, but she had to stay on the end near the goal. She really did do great, but got annoyed when the ball was down the field.

Day 144

Today was finally the first soccer practice for Samantha. It had been cancelled for a while because of Ike.

Day 143

I don't normally have a dirt hole in the backyard. That spot is where the trampoline was before IKE. That area was overgrown with weeds, so before putting the trampoline back I mowed. I put the blade on the lowest possible setting in an effort to be rid of some of the stuff. It worked and I got dirt! Well, the kids decided they didnt' want to put the trampoline back there. They wanted a dirt area to play in. So, there they have it! And yes, that is my 4 year old with a plumber's butt. LOL Oh and don't worry, I am not done reassembling the trampoline!

Day 142

So after spending 7+ hours at Texas Children's hospital and round trip over 4 hours in traffic, this is what you get. This picture also includes my mom and brother who are having the same traffic problems. Talk about an exhausting day!!!

Day 141

Have I mentioned Hannah loves baths? Well, she does and has been know to get in fully clothed with or without water. Tonight I caught her as she was putting her leg over. I told her to stop and come here so I could take off her clothes. That didn't work. In case I haven't mentioned it before she also loves shoes. I told her to come here so I could take off her shoes. She was NOT going to leave the bathroom. She wanted to make sure the water was for only her. She sat and then laid down right there next to the tub. When I was taking to long so I could take her picture, she started kicking her feet saying "SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOES", which is what is happening in this picture!

Day 140

First day of school take 2! Hannah and I were so happy to send everyone back to school this morning! The only downside was the swarm of mosquitos while they waited on the bus. They missed a total of 6 days of school due to Hurricane Ike.

Day 139

Finally back at our house and the clean up begins! Hannah really wanted to help.

Day 138

Hannah is finally ok after a long hard day. For those details go to her blog.

Day 137

We are back at my dad's house. The kids have been in bed over an hour and still not asleep! I also found out an hour ago that my house now has power AND water!!!!! We will be going home tomorrow.

Day 136

My little Bubby has a staph infection. Yesterday it looked like he had a few mosquito bites. Today two of them were gross and he had trouble walking from the pain. I left messages for the dermatologist, but didn't really want to wait for them to call back when he spiked a temp. I took him to his ped. Let's just say Caleb was not happy when the doctor drained both of them. He slept the rest of the day. He woke up around 8pm when I tried to move him to the airmattress. He feels better today. One looks much better, the other still has some draining to do. He is on antibiotics and a cream and can now walk...with a limp.

Day 135

Just a regular ole family reunion going on! LaNita brought her kids and niece and nephew over to shower today before they went to church. The kids had a great time with someone else to play with. Emily is staying the night over here tonight. Her and Samantha teamed up on EVERY adult to make this happen!

Here is Kelsey playing with Caleb and Hannah

Josh and Ethan were hiding behind the chair to play the gameboy.

Emily and Samantha took off to play alone in the room. Caleb tried to tag along. He is standing over the air vent, that is why is hair is flying.

Day 134

I want to say thanks for all the love! I saw lots of you were checking up on us! I appreciate all the texts too. I don't like IKE! We are all fine, we had some scary moments, but no major damage. We have learned there was major damage to power grids and we will be without power for a while. I posted pics from each day I missed in separate posts, so we are caught up.

Today was another day at Uncle Leonard's. There are 10 of us staying in a single wide mobile home. Luckily 4 are little kids. The girls are in love with Uncle Leonard's hunting beagles. Caleb found a frog and tried to give it a ride on the 4-wheeler. Marc and Josh are in heaven with a tv and Lord of the Rings.

Day 133

Upon hearing the news that our county suffered major damaged to the electric grids we spent the evening trying to decide what to do. I was ready to take the kids to Uncle Buster's in central Texas. Marc wasn't so sure. I wanted Marc close enough to be able to work when possible since he is on commission. Talking to my relatives in Central TX I learned my Uncle Leonard had power about 10 minutes away in a different county. So here we are!

Day 132

Another day with no power. It was cooler outside than inside at this point. Can you see the boredom in the kids faces??? This was after my run...yes, I was crazy enough to go for a run. I got tired of climbing downed trees so I just ended up running in the middle of the road. It wasn't like anyone was going anywhere anyway. Running makes me happy, so I was in a good mood for a while.

Day 131

I am back, but not really. Our house is going to be without power for a long time!! The first picture is taken after the winds died down enough to let the kids look at the limbs. There were 2 really big ones that were hanging and they were watching and waiting fot them to fall. The other one is taken later as they were trying to fight the boredom...in the dark.

Day 130

Grandpa and Mimi don't have a lot of tv's in their house. Not that that is a bad thing. The main tv is on the news of course. The other tv has a built in VCR, but no DVD player. After listening to Caleb cry about watching Pink Panter cartoons all day I finally dug out the laptop. I am not using it because there isn't wireless here. Someone does have it, but it is secured. Now we are just playing the waiting game. It is 4:40 now. We did have a quick gust of something a little while ago, but nothing like they are predicting. We did enjoy lunch out today...we haven't done that in a really long time. Tonight is good old hot dogs and chili...can't you see my mouth watering. LOL I am just not a hot dog person, but they were on sale. If you bought the ballparks, you got buns, chili, ketchup, mustard, pudding and something else all free. Sue you would love their meal deals! Off to "hunker down"

Day 129

Somehow in all my efforts at getting things ready for Ike, I managed to get two picture of Hannah. One was taken this morning. After I take a shower she will go "hide" in the shower. If I leave the soap in her reach she will lather herself up and rub shampoo in her hair. The other picture was taken while I was putting all of our pictures and important papers in a bin to take to a safer place. We will be leaving our house tomorrow and I have no idea what power/phone/internet will be like after tomorrow morning. I will continue to take pictures and if possible update the blog. Please say some prayer for us.

Day 128

I don't think much needs to be said about this picture. I am sure I will share more at a later date on Hannah's Blog

Day 127

Today Samantha sat down on the couch to read a book. Hannah wanted to read a book too. She crawled up in Marc's lap with a book to read.

Day 126

Hannah is really getting into spagetti. She is trying really hard to suck it in. She cracks up laughing anytime anyone else does.

Day 125

Today was an awesome day for our Church. After 5 months of worship in the gym, Fellowship Center, and Chapel we are all back together in the sanctuary. It is AMAZING! There are no squeaky seats, plenty of light (before it was either too dark or you were in the spotlight), the sound is great (before it was too loud in places, but you couldn't hear in others). The media team always does an awesome job with lighting, videos, and the other neat stuff. Of course the message is great too...as usual. Paster Gregg is a great Pastor and his message always speaks to me. I am sure you can guess what today's pictures are. Don't worry, I didn't go picture crazy and snap everything. I do wish I would have taken one of the ceiling though. I know I am lame, but if you ever stepped foot into HFBC in the past you would know there were these huge flying saucer looking things on the ceiling. You would have to see them to understand though. Those are now gone! The ceiling is much better now. Hard to describe how big of a difference it is though.

The first picture is taken on the steps to the stage. Samantha is mad because Josh shared his candy with Baylee. Baylee is Samantha's friend who went to church with us today. Hannah was not in the picture because she was asleep in my arms.

This picture is taken of Caleb, Josh, and Baylee in the balcony. Samantha was pouting too much to go up there. The picture is taken from the floor because I just didn't want to walk back up there carrying Hannah. I promise the kids are up there in the middle of the picture. LOL You can probably click on it to make it bigger. Hannah woke up and was not happy when I put her down to get all my stuff together. She was kind of confused too because this was not the church she remembered. LOL Now on to watching my Texans get beat by Pittsburg...of all teams. :(