Let's Laugh A Little

With all the doom and gloom lately we thought a little laughter was well overdue.  Here are just a few moments we've captured recently that make us smile and we hope you'll catch a laugh or two yourself.

Ike Update

We are back home, I am back at work and life as we knew it is resuming for us.  But that's not the case for many close to us. As family members and friends get in touch with each other after the storm, we are learning the extent of damage caused by Hurricane Ike.  My aunt and uncle, who live near Moody Gardens, had 8 feet of water and sewage in their one-story home, obviously losing everything.  Thank the Lord they decided not to stay on the island.  My cousin and her 2 small children are unable to live in their townhome because the structural integrity of the building has been compromised. My Mom's house had a few tree limbs downed but no additional damage. 

 

According to some friends of the family, Mema and Pepa's house has minimal damage, with just a half a foot of water in one of the first floor bedrooms and a little into the kitchen and they live one block from the beach!  Praise God they left the island because they may have made it through the storm but the aftermath may have proven to be more difficult to handle - there is still no water, gas, phone, or electricity on the island and the mosquitoes are swarming.  FEMA is paying for them to stay in a hotel in Austin until mid October.

Our friends, Heather and Todd, live on the water in Bayou Vista and came by to pick up their car tonight.  Their entire first level was completely washed away by the storm surge.  The walls are bare down to the studs, even the stairs are gone.  The Tiki Bar was found several houses down with multi-colored martini glasses still hanging in place.

While this is easy for us to say since we are not directly effected, we have to learn from this event and from these losses, that these "things" are not what are important.  We will always have memories we can share and the love of family and friends to keep us going.

The last report I heard said that a large percentage of the residents STAYED on the island during the storm.  What is amazing is they have reported only FIVE fatalities in the city of Galveston.  We have to give praise to God for all the blessings amidst the heartache and devastation. 

Hurricane Tikes - Evacuation Planning

First - try to exit the front door

If the door is congested with toddlers, try exiting a window

Then, two of us will hop onto our car and two of us will push

We'll head for safer shelter with Penny our Penguin

Once things settle, we'll blog to let our friends know we're okay

And when it's all over - we play!

Eye to Ike

Neighbor's Tree Damage

We met Ike last night.  He was not a very nice dude.  All was well until we lost electricity at 1AM Saturday morning.  We gathered our flashlights and moved ourselves into the guest room so we could be right next to the babies, just in case.  The winds started to pick up at about 2:30am and neither of us were able to sleep all night. The wind was whipping around the house and trees, causing the house to creak, and pelt the windows with rain. The eye wall hit us hard at about 6AM while we fed the babies by candlelight.  It was so dark outside we could not even see the trees out of the window.

Trees Down On The Road Behind Us

We tried to stay home until power came back on, but the air was so still and humid afterwards that, even with the windows open, we were all sweating like crazy and the babies were so cranky. So we packed up the car and loaded the babies to head to Austin to stay with my sister. Oh, how nice to have A/C and a warm meal.  My mema and pepa are in Austin as well and are unsure of the condition of their home.  My mom stayed in Texas City and had no damage to her home, except for a few fallen tree branches.    

A Neighbor's Fence Down

y-IKE-s!

We are all hunkering down and praying that Hurricane Ike will weaken in the gulf and pass us all quickly with little to no destruction. We are in the NW part of Houston and shouldn't experience too much other than high winds and some power outages. We have stocked up on water, propane, flash lights, food, ice, etc. and are feeling prepared to "rough it" for a couple of days if we have to.  If the power outages last longer, we'll go and stay with friends.

Most of Chris's family is from Galveston Island so we're praying for their safety and the safety of their homes. His Memaw & Pepaw live just a couple of blocks from the beach, behind the Seawall on the east end of Galveston. They have decided to stay and wait it out. This makes us nervous but all we can do is to pray and wait.

Max Wind Speeds Predicted For Our Zip Code Here

The Babies First Surfing Lesson

Misplaced The Cape

Well Supermommy officially needs Supernanny for it seems my super powers have gone out of the window in the past few weeks.  Somewhere in the midst of mobility and the word, "momma" came a burst of strong will to do wrong!  We don't have many rules at the age of 1 but the few that we do are broken more than a dozen times a day - by each baby!  And we now have the new found problem of biting.  I'm not talking innocent, "whoops, I was trying to teeth on your shoulder and bit you."  I''m talking - "get away from my toy, little brother!" grab the head, or arm, or face... then, CHOMP, biting!  So while we wait for Supernanny to show up at our door and whip us into shape - I'm trying timeouts in a corner or pack-n-play; yelling OUCH, THAT HURTS -WE DON'T BITE - which is received with a blank stare or smile; and pulling my hair out which is just leaving me looking more crazy than I already did.  We'll keep trying.

Weekly Family Roundtable

Cohen Gets Whipped

Try Burger Bites Instead, Noah

Will You Stop Biting For A Donut Hole? (Sophia & Finn Chew On It)

A Gust-A-Vin Weekend!

We're back from the beach and still dreaming of the island lifestyle - less the hurricane Gustav threats, that is. Our friends Jenn, Jason & Ansley from Austin met us down in Galveston and we stayed at a beach house together on the west end of the island. Here's a photo recap of some of the things that we did.

Clung To Our Babies At the Beach 

(so they wouldn't eat sand, shells, seaweed or the saltwater - yes, they tried it all!)

Ate Birthday Cupcakes Al Fresco at Sunrise (easy cleanup with the hose!)

Recruited Some Awesome UTMB Students to Babysit so the Parents Could Enjoy the Beach & Dinner Out!

Enjoyed a Quiet Sunset at the Waterman Restaurant

Ansley & Jenn Checked Out the Waves Gustav Was Creating on Monday