Our Hurrication

This week has been full. Full of good friends, good food, good drinks, good times, good laughter, good discussions and fun games. I don't even know where to begin.

Our kitchen has been at the center of the "Core". Isabela even helped me bake some Congo Bars. Here's what we've eaten:

Chicken and Mushroom Soup with Rice

Spaghetti

Guatamalan Black Beans, Plantains, and Chicken

Pork Tenderloin

Gumbo

Hamburgers

Homemade Chicken Enchiladas

Tamales

Everyday we tried to excersise to keep all those calories burned, but it didn't happen this weekend. We walked alot around the neighborhood having picnic lunches and did some P90X. Plyometrics is tomorrow morning. We have all (the girls and Stephen) vowed to get up at 6:30 and do it together. Friday we even braved the mall with 3 kids.

Thursday evening we played Apples to Apples--a "Core" appropriate game (apple core). We had some interesting words that have been repeated throughout the weekend--flying monkeys, profound zucchini, grass skirts. Play the game and you'll see.

Friday was poker, but I think we only lasted for 10 hands when we then ended up discussing politics. Basically, it was 5 against 1, trying to convince Brenda why she needed to vote for McCain. As you see in the picture, it got a little heated and you had to have the "can" to talk.

Saturday morning, after a Chick-Fil-A biscuit breakfast, the entire group showed up for Cavett's first soccer game. He did well, but I just don't think he was prepared for the pushing and shoving by the other team. I would say he cried about 75% of the time he was on the field, even while he was running after the ball. I will have to say the other team was quite aggressive and their coach was even more. Hopefully, next week will be better.

That evening, we had 2 other neighborhood couples over for burgers and ended up in the pool. It was great fun, but I ended up with a major ear issue. I have water in my left ear that I can't get out. It feels like I have a pillow over that ear and yes, I have tried pouring alcohol in it.

Today we are recovering, everybody checked in on their houses. Still no power and the Falcone's found a spot on their roof that is leaking. All the boys will go to work tomorrow and Cavett will return to school. Life is slowly but surely returning back to normal. But, we are still glad we have our housemates.

The Hill Shelter Expands

Today our shelter expanded to accommodate more hurricane victims. Anna, Mark and Baby Walker got back to Houston and still have no power. We are loving this time with the Core and will be sort of sad when the pwer comes back on. These are times we will cherish and look back on fondly.

On another note, here is one of the pictures we captured this evening after dinner. We caught Cavett and Isabela playing doctor with their shirts off!

The Grocery Store

Today Brenda so graciously offered to keep the kids while I went to the grocery store. It was great going by myself and it was the first time I had been since Ike came our way. As for the store, it was so strange to see empty shelves. But the weirdest thing of all were all the empty freezers. However, one item remained....

The Hill Shelter

We are now a refuge from the aftermath of Ike and couldn't be more excited about it! This afternoon Isabela was discharged from the hospital and after gathering some things at their house which has no power, they are here to stay at our house.

Cavett and I made a poster to welcome them. Cavett even drew of picture of himself and Isabela on it. Of course, his self portrait was in dark blue and Isabela was pink. We enjoyed a few toys, played outside with the neighbors, had dinner, a bath and storytime. It was a perfect evening. We couldn't be more at ease with these house guests. It's like they are family. Love you guys and we are so glad Isabela is better!

Aftermath--Views of the Neighborhood

This afternoon after nap, we ventured out around the neighborhood and to Stephen's office. The street behind us had some big trees fall. No houses damaged, but one did fall on a garage. All the downed trees look like hurricane winds and no tornados. They also have no electricity behind us. We went by the "yellow" park and the tennis court was obliterated. Stephen's office was fine. One tree was down, but another tree saved it from hitting the building. We also just happened to drive by HEB as it was opening at 5:00 PM. I couldn't believe the line! We feel so blessed.

If you read the earlier post from Sarah, she wanted to report that the plant was carried away. Masking tape doesn't trump hurricane force winds. Sorry.

Surviving Ike

Kendrick "slept like a baby," literally. He didn't wake up the entire night. He slept in the pack and play in our room. I woke up once or twice because the power had gone out and I was hot sleeping next to Cavett on our Tempurpedic mattress. Otherwise, I think Cavett would have slept through the whole thing too.

The power went out long about midnight and then came on at about 9 AM this morning. In the past 10 minutes it has flickered twice, but hasn't gone out again. As for property, the house looks fine. We did have a few bushes that were blown over and our pool is almost to overflowing. So, that means we got about 4" of rain. From what we are seeing on TV, the rest of Galveston and Houston did not fair as well.

Since we have power, we will be remaining in Houston.

Here Comes Ike

Tonight we spent a most memorable evening with several neighbors on the street. After dinner, we put Kendrick to bed and headed outside. The sky was breath taking--colorful at times, ominous at others and perfectly blue in between.

We played games of Red Light-Green Light, Simon Says, Red Rover and tickling. The kids also rode their scooters up and down the street without using much force in one direction. It was a steady breeze of at least 15 mph gusting to 50 or so. It still isn't raining, but we called it a night at about 9. We have about an hour before the rain should hit us and the lights have flickered 5 times now. Every now and then we hear a strange hum from the wind.

Both kids are in bed and we are "hunkering down." Hopefully, we will be able to post in the morning.

Funniest thing I've seen yet during Hurricane Ike

My good friend and fellow Sugar Landian, Sarah Crum emailed me today about what she saw at her apartment complex. It was so funny I had to share with all. She Facebooks and doesn't blog. Here's what she said...

"My my, have Cory and I had so many laughs this morning. Being native Louisianaians we have seen our fair share of tropical storms, hurricanes, tornados of varying intensities....so, the thought of a category 2 hurricane doesn't move us much. Now, there are many down sides to coming from LA, but we know how to do a few things well....cook, have a good time, and throw a hurricane party! But, I completely understand how it might evoke fear, panic and worry if you have not experienced one. The unknown has a way of doing this. Houston has not had to experience first hand too many hurricanes over the years, so I am told by native Houstonians who have lived here for the past 60 years....apparently at our apartment complex this is a first for many of our neighbors as well. We are not meaning to be offensive to anyone, but rather needed something to do while waiting for IKE, so we took a walk and this is what we found..."

"I guess on the memo from the apartment complex they didnt put down that taping the windshield of a car won't make a difference since it's made of safety glass and is designed not shatter into glass shards like a regular window."

"This is a neighbor who rather than taking their potted plant inside, decided to masking tape it to the railing of the balcony and post. Somehow I think that 100mph winds just might beat masking tape in a wrestling match...Guess they cared about it more than the satellite dish that they didn't remove either or bother to secure with the ever so strong masking tape."

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

All's not lost

Last night Stephen came home from work with a cake from Cupcake Cafe. Can I just say YUM! It's my favorite cake place. So since we had cake, I decided to invite our neighbors over for an impromtu party. We grilled, swam, ate cake and made plans for weathering the hurricane tonight. It was a great end to the day. (Notice the candle. It was all he could find.)

On top of that I logged in to blogger and checked one of my favorite sites--Natalie's Sentiments. I had randomly won her "I love NYC" giveaway! I am sooooo excited. This is actually the second giveaway that I have won from her and she swears that it is completely random. What luck! She's going shopping for me in NYC and I can't wait to see what she picks out for me.

As for today, we spent much of the morning outside mainly playing soccer. The day began with birthday pancakes on the birthday plate (since we didn't get to do that yesterday morning,) but we had a small mishap. As Cavett was recycling the coke cans to the garage, he dropped one and Kendrick got ahold of it. Unfortunately, his finger was in the hole when Cavett yanked it away. He has quite a cut that might have required one stitch, but Stephen decided that it wasn't necessary. We thought we got it bandaged up, so we headed out for a walk to the park. We got half way around and Kendrick had pulled the bandage off and was gushing blood again. We made it home and re-wrapped this time, putting a sock over his entire hand and taping it. It seems to have worked, but he had some difficulty eating at lunch. We also had some fun with the pool slide, now that it is inside.

An update on the hurricane: Some of our neighbors have boarded up. Maybe 1 out of 300 houses. It's not really strengthening, but holding steady. It should hit late tonight. We haven't had any rain yet and breezes are coming and going. The pictures we are seeing of Galveston/Kemah/Seabrook are unbelievable. They haven't had any rain yet either and they are already very flooded. This storm has a huge storm surge. More later after it has hit.

Another 7 years, another downer

As I sit here in my kitchen, I am listening to the news and watching the storm clouds gather. Just an hour ago there was blue sky with sweet puffy white clouds. Now, it's almost overcast. Hurricane Ike is headed our way.

As you may know, we were to have a Dent family reunion at my house this weekend. This would have involved all 3 of my siblings and their families, my Mom, and both of my Dad's siblings and their family. Wisely, all have made the decision to call it off and try for another time.

We, on the other hand, have decided to hunker down here. We don't have any tall trees; we shouldn't flood; we have a pool; it will just be a nasty storm. From the looks of the news, if we wanted to leave it is too late now anyway. The officials are giving mandatory evacuations for Galveston, up through the Houston Ship Channel and any low lying areas around Houston, especially near bayous. Traffic has gotten thick. We will not sit in a car 8 hours to go 45 miles, ever again (Hurricane Rita).

So, this morning, I spent my birthday battling everyone else at the grocery store. I had made a trip earlier in the week in hopes of not having to go later, but there were a few more things we might need. Of course, I got the cart that had a "gentle" pull to the left and of course Kendrick wanted to be held the entire time. So, just think about trying to steer that. After about an hour of grocery cart congestion, we made it to check-out. I wish I had had my camera with me. There were about 20 lanes--all open and all at least 3-4 carts deep. CRAZINESS!!!!

I made a few preparations outside, but can't do anything else until Stephen gets home. I have done all the wash, but none is folded. Guess that is the task for tonight. Cavett's school is cancelled for tomorrow. So, I guess we are as ready as we will ever be. For those of you who are concerned, we appreciate your prayers and we will keep in touch. I'm sure we will all be in our Master Bedroom or closet Friday night, just to be on the safe side. If the power goes out for an extremely long period of time, we may head North after the storm has passed.

Brenda and Isabela have decided not to stay with us. She took Isabela to the doctor this morning and they admitted her to the Children's Hospital. She has croup and they are concerned with her color, behavior and croup. They are awaiting word from cardiology about some tests they ran. Keep them in your prayers as well.

As for my birthday, like I said, it's not really my birthday unless there is a catastrope or some doom impending. Hate to be a downer, but that's how I am feeling right now. On a happier note, I think this is the most Happy Birthday messages I've gotten in a VERY long time. I thank each one of you who has called, emailed or texted.

Now for the funny--Cavett, of course. Last night at dinner Stephen asked Cavett what he thought we should do for Mommy's birthday. Cavett's reponse was "Let's go to Bounce U!" (where he had his birthday.) Stephen replied, "Do you think Mommy would have a good time there?" "Yeah, it's her favorite." Funny what they think. Also, this morning he waited for me patiently on the stairs while I was on the phone. When I was done he gave me a card. Here's what it said: "Mom, you taught me the most important thing of all." Open card: "Wipe Well. Also, some stuff about kindness and tolerance." As I was holding the card and giving him a sideways hug, he sneezed. On the card landed a huge booger! So, I guess it's not just rear ends.

I'll try and post again tonight or maybe tomorrow. Keep in touch and thanks again for all the birthday wishes.

Coast Guard Jesus

I know, I know you are wanting to see cake pictures. That is Stephen's job this weekend, as I had to leave yesterday at 7 AM to go to Pure Sound Youth Choir Camp in the Hill country of Texas. So, be patient you will see them soon.

For your enjoyment while you wait....

Last night the kids had a talent show. Some good, some bad, some wow, some funny. Here's one that was reprised from several years past. Use your imagination. Picture this. Two chairs. A blue towel drapped over them. Two kids behind flailing like they are drownding. "Jesus" comes to rescue the guys, pulling them out of the "water". Jesus says, "I always was a fisher of men." Maybe you have to be there, but these kids are funny. There are other takes on the theme, like Weatherman Jesus, Apperntice Jesus, Carpenter Jesus...etc.

Hopefully, New Orleans won't physically need a Coast Guard Jesus in the next few days.