I remember I was so excited at the idea of having one kid at home, still young and taking good long naps. The thought of being able to get SO much done during the day and still having time to play with Andrew, and be prepared when the kids got home from school to sit down and talk with them about their day and work on homework with them.
It was a great plan I had!!
But, we all know what happens when I plan!
Andrew did good with those GREAT four hour naps...for about a week and a half. It is over now. Now, it takes forever to get him to take a nap (or go to bed at night for that matter). He beats his headboard against the wall. He beats his feet against the wall. He beats his HEAD against the wall. I hear him turn into Mozart on his LeapFrog piano. He gets up and beats his ENTIRE body against his door. I tried to go tuck him back in, I tried to lay down with him. Really, the only thing that works is to let him beat the wall with everything, practice his piano and beat the door until he finally gives up and goes to his bed and falls asleep.
I am now really lucky if he sleeps for two hours. I SHOULD sleep or relax during that time, but OH the state of my house!!! I try and try to get this house clean and settled, but I feel like for every one step forward I take two steps back. I spend the day taking the phone from Andrew over and over. Getting him out of drawers - ALL THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE. He pulls everything out of the kitchen cabinets, drawers, the coffee table (he loves remotes), the bookshelves. He climbs on the couch and jumps up and down. He climbs on the table and jumps up and down. He chases the cat until the cat turns on him! Then he goes for the dogfood. Then it is back to the phone.
When did my SEVENTEEN month old turn into a toddler starting his terrible twos?
Just typing my typical day with him is exhausting.
Now I know why my house STAYS in its current state! :)
But, he is SO CUTE and sweet.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Oh...The Joys of School
Isaac and Bryce's bus aide got off the bus before them today. I knew there was trouble! She asked me to talk to the boys because they were both saying bad words and handed me an index card. On one side it said "Isaac shit" on the other side "Bryce SOB"
Isaac was in tears, Bryce could not even repeat what he said. He said "I said stupid, but I apologized!" I asked if that was all he said and he said "no, I can't remember what Dax told me to say" If any of the kids would actually repeat what they said, bad or not, it would be Bryce! The fact that he can't remember is a good sign that they did actually repeat something they were told to repeat.
Isaac said that Dax whispered to him to yell the word across the bus. The aide said that they both shouted it so loud that even the bus driver heard them.
I know they did not learn these words here. I am not the type of parent to say my kids are perfect or don't get in trouble - because I know the truth. I can HONESTLY say that they had to have been told to say those words by someone else. Since they both, at the same time, said Dax told them to say it - I am thinking Dax is a troublemaker!!!
I will be talking to the bus driver tomorrow morning.
Isaac was in tears, Bryce could not even repeat what he said. He said "I said stupid, but I apologized!" I asked if that was all he said and he said "no, I can't remember what Dax told me to say" If any of the kids would actually repeat what they said, bad or not, it would be Bryce! The fact that he can't remember is a good sign that they did actually repeat something they were told to repeat.
Isaac said that Dax whispered to him to yell the word across the bus. The aide said that they both shouted it so loud that even the bus driver heard them.
I know they did not learn these words here. I am not the type of parent to say my kids are perfect or don't get in trouble - because I know the truth. I can HONESTLY say that they had to have been told to say those words by someone else. Since they both, at the same time, said Dax told them to say it - I am thinking Dax is a troublemaker!!!
I will be talking to the bus driver tomorrow morning.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Hurricane Vacuum
I just saw an advertisement for an Oreck vacuum that says it has the equivalent cleaning ability as a category 2 hurricane. I recently sat through a category 2 hurricane, and I saw absolutely NOTHING clean about it!
HMMMM, not sure that is a good selling point to me!
HMMMM, not sure that is a good selling point to me!
A Mousey Situation
I posted previously about our "country living". I was leary of Daddy putting down glue traps before he went out of town for the week, because I did not want to have to pick up dead (or not quite dead) mice while he was gone.
He put out six traps. As of last night, there have been two casualties. I am NOT going to look for the other four (I don't know exactly where they are, just know there are two more in the garage and two in the storage room attached to the garage).
I made him check the traps before he left (at 4:30 this morning). He will be home Friday morning. His first job when he gets home will be throwing away the used traps and putting new ones out!
He put out six traps. As of last night, there have been two casualties. I am NOT going to look for the other four (I don't know exactly where they are, just know there are two more in the garage and two in the storage room attached to the garage).
I made him check the traps before he left (at 4:30 this morning). He will be home Friday morning. His first job when he gets home will be throwing away the used traps and putting new ones out!
Lecture From Caleb
Caleb was lecturing me on how important it is NOT to have lights on (let me add here that EVERY morning I have to go through bedrooms after the boys leave and turn their lights off), because it "burns too much fossil fuel." While I am glad he cares about the environment and all, he MISSED HIS BUS while lecturing me!
Oh, and for the record, this weekend we changed out 24 of the lights in the house to compact flourescent light bulbs. The rest will be done soon - but they are EXPENSIVE!!
After I confirmed that he HAD missed the bus, I explained what it means to have compact flourescent bulbs compared to regular bulbs. Maybe I won't get anymore lectures.
I am off to take Caleb to school now!
Update @ 9:25 am: Just went to put some clothes away in Caleb and Isaac's room. Guess who left THEIR light on this morning!! I know he was the last one out because he came out after I put the other two on their bus!!
Oh, and for the record, this weekend we changed out 24 of the lights in the house to compact flourescent light bulbs. The rest will be done soon - but they are EXPENSIVE!!
After I confirmed that he HAD missed the bus, I explained what it means to have compact flourescent bulbs compared to regular bulbs. Maybe I won't get anymore lectures.
I am off to take Caleb to school now!
Update @ 9:25 am: Just went to put some clothes away in Caleb and Isaac's room. Guess who left THEIR light on this morning!! I know he was the last one out because he came out after I put the other two on their bus!!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Maybe NOT So Country Girl
I have always wanted to live in the country. As long as I can remember. Now, that I am kinda in the country, I am rethinking it.
We live in a subdivision, but we are as "in the country" as you can be while still being in a city. We are on the "outskirts" of town. We have a pasture behind us with horses. The couple of neighborhoods right here all have large lots.
We have mice. Luckily they are OUTSIDE (so far). They are in our garage (which is a finished carport that is WIRED for garage doors, but do not have them yet). We have seen them in trashbags that were not in the trashcan, we have seen them running along the wall by the door into the house.
We have snakes. Paul found a garter snake by our trashcan (maybe cause of the mice, but I don't know if garter snakes eat mice).
We have LOTS of bugs and spiders.
I want the country MINUS the mice, snakes and bugs!!! Is that too much to ask for?
Caleb got upset today while we were at the store getting mice traps. He asked if he could keep the first mouse we caught as a pet. I told him no, the mouse would be dead. He did not like that. He said lots of people have mice as pets and that you can buy them. I explained that WE will NEVER own a mouse and that wild mice carry disease. He still wanted them freed, but he was not AS upset.
This girl is not into these things. As far as I am concerned ALL snakes are poisonous, all mice bite and have diseases and bugs....well they are annoying and nasty!!!
So, maybe I am NOT a country girl after all!!
We live in a subdivision, but we are as "in the country" as you can be while still being in a city. We are on the "outskirts" of town. We have a pasture behind us with horses. The couple of neighborhoods right here all have large lots.
We have mice. Luckily they are OUTSIDE (so far). They are in our garage (which is a finished carport that is WIRED for garage doors, but do not have them yet). We have seen them in trashbags that were not in the trashcan, we have seen them running along the wall by the door into the house.
We have snakes. Paul found a garter snake by our trashcan (maybe cause of the mice, but I don't know if garter snakes eat mice).
We have LOTS of bugs and spiders.
I want the country MINUS the mice, snakes and bugs!!! Is that too much to ask for?
Caleb got upset today while we were at the store getting mice traps. He asked if he could keep the first mouse we caught as a pet. I told him no, the mouse would be dead. He did not like that. He said lots of people have mice as pets and that you can buy them. I explained that WE will NEVER own a mouse and that wild mice carry disease. He still wanted them freed, but he was not AS upset.
This girl is not into these things. As far as I am concerned ALL snakes are poisonous, all mice bite and have diseases and bugs....well they are annoying and nasty!!!
So, maybe I am NOT a country girl after all!!
NO TRAINING WHEELS
Thursday evening, Isaac and Bryce both became very adament about having their training wheels taken off. We told them they had to wait until this weekend. We figured since Isaac was older, we would remove his first. Daddy prepared himself for what we thought would be a long challenge.
We were wrong.
Daddy held the back of the bike up and down the driveway for probably less than 30 minutes. After that, he was on his own. Today, he looks like he has been riding without them forever!
Bryce's have not been taken off, yet. Probably tonight. He is REALLY nagging us about it!
We were wrong.
Daddy held the back of the bike up and down the driveway for probably less than 30 minutes. After that, he was on his own. Today, he looks like he has been riding without them forever!
Bryce's have not been taken off, yet. Probably tonight. He is REALLY nagging us about it!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Takes So Little!!
We just got our first electric bill. This will give you a glimpse in my life - I am SO excited about our electric bill. In Arkansas, our electric bill usually ranged from $100-$300 a month (we had gas for cooking and heating). Our bill for one month here (yes, our electricity was out for almost a week)....DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....
$67!!!!!!
So, figure about $20 a week.
Just as in Arkansas, our cooking and heating, including water are gas. If anything we use more electricity because it is hotter here, so we use more ac.
I told you, it takes very little to make me excited - especially when it is about SAVING MONEY!!
$67!!!!!!
So, figure about $20 a week.
Just as in Arkansas, our cooking and heating, including water are gas. If anything we use more electricity because it is hotter here, so we use more ac.
I told you, it takes very little to make me excited - especially when it is about SAVING MONEY!!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Growth Spurt?
Andrew was awakened this morning about 30 minutes early, about 7am (his brothers woke up early - wired and LOUD). He went to bed on time last night. Before 9 this morning, I found him ASLEEP!
Monkey's New Treat
I had some bananas that were getting overly ripe, so decided to throw together some banana bread. My oven has three racks in it and it has never really been a problem until the bread. I rose into the top rack. When I pulled it out, it was not cooking right and I thought I had ruined it. So, it was not my best batch ever! But, it was Monkey's first time to have banana bread (wow - it HAS been a long time since I made it!!).
He LOVES it as much or more than bananas. I think he ate the majority of the loaf of bread!
He LOVES it as much or more than bananas. I think he ate the majority of the loaf of bread!
I LOVE This Neighborhood!!
When we look for houses (whether it was in AR or here) schools and neighborhoods are our first concern. We narrow down the city we want to live in (based on the school district) and then work hard to find what we think will be a good neighborhood for the kids. In AR, we found a good neighborhood. The problem, which we did not take into account, was the road. WE figured that the fact there was a huge 90 degree turn in front of our house, traffic would be slow through there. Well, Paul was hit head on on this curve. It did not slow people down. It just made me nervous about the boys playing outside. I felt like I had to stand over them at all times.
As hard as it is, I try to give them a little space. They need to learn that I will not always be standing over them and they need to learn to make the right decisions, even if I am not there to tell them the right choice. This is not always easy in today's world, but I still feel as though they need the chance to be boys.
That is why I LOVE our new neighborhood. Both sides of the street are lined with sidewalks, all around the neighborhood. There are kids EVERYWHERE, of all ages. I feel comfortable letting them go outside and play with me staying inside cooking, cleaning, or whatever. I have let Caleb ride around the neighborhood (the neighborhood is basically a circle) with friends. It is not just that their are sidewalks and lots of kids, but people drive slowly through the neighborhood. They just about all have kids and they WATCH for other kids. There is not any traffic other than the people that live in the neighborhood. There is only one entrance/exit, so there are not people cutting through the neighborhood.
Don't get me wrong, I am ALWAYS watching the boys. THEY just don't know it. When they get a little too "brave" and decide to ride their bikes in the street or go further than they are supposed to, I go out and "remind" them of their boundaries. The boys are LOVING their new freedom though, and so am I. I don't feel like they have to stay inside all the time anymore and their bikes have been used more in the last month than they have since they got them at Christmas!
Everyone is very friendly too. The kids all play together, no matter the age. We have kids that come over and ask if the kids can come out ranging from Caleb's age up to eighth graders. They don't mind playing here or close to here. They understand that our kids are not as old and do not have as big of boundaries as they do. And these kids don't JUST play with Caleb. They play with ALL of the boys.
Best of all, all the neighbors watch out for each other. That is one of the FIRST things we were told when we moved in, and from what I have seen, seems true. After the hurricane we had several people come and check on us.
I am glad we tried SO hard to get a place in this neighborhood. We just had such a peaceful feeling when we came through here looking.
As hard as it is, I try to give them a little space. They need to learn that I will not always be standing over them and they need to learn to make the right decisions, even if I am not there to tell them the right choice. This is not always easy in today's world, but I still feel as though they need the chance to be boys.
That is why I LOVE our new neighborhood. Both sides of the street are lined with sidewalks, all around the neighborhood. There are kids EVERYWHERE, of all ages. I feel comfortable letting them go outside and play with me staying inside cooking, cleaning, or whatever. I have let Caleb ride around the neighborhood (the neighborhood is basically a circle) with friends. It is not just that their are sidewalks and lots of kids, but people drive slowly through the neighborhood. They just about all have kids and they WATCH for other kids. There is not any traffic other than the people that live in the neighborhood. There is only one entrance/exit, so there are not people cutting through the neighborhood.
Don't get me wrong, I am ALWAYS watching the boys. THEY just don't know it. When they get a little too "brave" and decide to ride their bikes in the street or go further than they are supposed to, I go out and "remind" them of their boundaries. The boys are LOVING their new freedom though, and so am I. I don't feel like they have to stay inside all the time anymore and their bikes have been used more in the last month than they have since they got them at Christmas!
Everyone is very friendly too. The kids all play together, no matter the age. We have kids that come over and ask if the kids can come out ranging from Caleb's age up to eighth graders. They don't mind playing here or close to here. They understand that our kids are not as old and do not have as big of boundaries as they do. And these kids don't JUST play with Caleb. They play with ALL of the boys.
Best of all, all the neighbors watch out for each other. That is one of the FIRST things we were told when we moved in, and from what I have seen, seems true. After the hurricane we had several people come and check on us.
I am glad we tried SO hard to get a place in this neighborhood. We just had such a peaceful feeling when we came through here looking.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Favorite Vacation Spot....Gone
Paul and my favorite vacation ever was when we went to Port Bolivar/Crystal Beach many many years ago. We went with my parents, grandmother, uncle and my cousin, LeAn and her family. It was the first time we met LeAn, Shaw and Dalton, and it was one of the last times I saw my Uncle before he passed away.
We stayed in a beach house and although we were there with a huge part of family, we spent a lot of time just Paul and I and Caleb (he was the only one we had at the time!!). We had a blast. It was Caleb's first trip to the beach.
If you haven't heard, it all but got wiped off the map from Ike. This picture might give you an idea of what it looks like now:
Mom says that Gilchrist is the end of the peninsula with the newer houses.
It apparently took a direct hit from Ike's 110mph winds. It amazes me that you can see that COMPLETE devestation, yet there is one house standing (which LOOKS unharmed but I am sure there is water damage, among other damage). This picture is Gilchrist on Bolivar Penninsula. The article I read said Crystal Beach was an even grimmer sight.
This is a video taken by the Coast Guard of Crystal Beach after Ike:
And another video of Crystal Beach by 129th Rescue Wing:
We stayed in a beach house and although we were there with a huge part of family, we spent a lot of time just Paul and I and Caleb (he was the only one we had at the time!!). We had a blast. It was Caleb's first trip to the beach.
If you haven't heard, it all but got wiped off the map from Ike. This picture might give you an idea of what it looks like now:
Mom says that Gilchrist is the end of the peninsula with the newer houses.
It apparently took a direct hit from Ike's 110mph winds. It amazes me that you can see that COMPLETE devestation, yet there is one house standing (which LOOKS unharmed but I am sure there is water damage, among other damage). This picture is Gilchrist on Bolivar Penninsula. The article I read said Crystal Beach was an even grimmer sight.
This is a video taken by the Coast Guard of Crystal Beach after Ike:
And another video of Crystal Beach by 129th Rescue Wing:
The Never-Ending Move
I feel like we have been moving for four months....
Oh wait...we have!
We went back to AR this weekend to move the rest of our stuff out of the house there. It was sad to move the rest of our stuff out and know someone else was moving in, but it is also nice to know that there will be no more trips to Arkansas for moving.
It was a VERY quick trip. We got there Friday night, wasted two hours Saturday morning with Uhaul, and got everything loaded and we were gone before noon. We were trying to beat Ike.
We did pretty good (although there was definently lots of wind) until about 40 minutes from the LA border. As soon as we got to Lake Village, AR, the winds got REALLY strong. The lake there made you feel as though you should be on it surfing. From there on, we had very strong winds the rest of the way. We tried to stay behind trucks as much as possible (helped with the wind and the gas mileage).
I feel like everytime I get the house about settled we bring MORE in. Everything that came back with us went straight to the garage storage and the attic. The mess is all about gone now, but still stuff to do!!
I am ready for life to CALM DOWN!!!
Oh wait...we have!
We went back to AR this weekend to move the rest of our stuff out of the house there. It was sad to move the rest of our stuff out and know someone else was moving in, but it is also nice to know that there will be no more trips to Arkansas for moving.
It was a VERY quick trip. We got there Friday night, wasted two hours Saturday morning with Uhaul, and got everything loaded and we were gone before noon. We were trying to beat Ike.
We did pretty good (although there was definently lots of wind) until about 40 minutes from the LA border. As soon as we got to Lake Village, AR, the winds got REALLY strong. The lake there made you feel as though you should be on it surfing. From there on, we had very strong winds the rest of the way. We tried to stay behind trucks as much as possible (helped with the wind and the gas mileage).
I feel like everytime I get the house about settled we bring MORE in. Everything that came back with us went straight to the garage storage and the attic. The mess is all about gone now, but still stuff to do!!
I am ready for life to CALM DOWN!!!
Friday, September 12, 2008
September 11, 2001
The boys came home yesterday discussing the happenings of September 11, 2001. While I VIVIDLY remember this day, remember being paralyzed at work watching this happen on tv, with a child at daycare and 7 months pregnant with another, and a husband that was on an airplane headed for South Dakota (me having NO idea where his layovers were, what plane he was on and at that point they were not saying which planes were hijacked, and being VERY new to the traveling husband game at this point). BELIEVE ME - I REMEMBER!!! I was very careful NOT to let Caleb watch the tv and they have not really watched anything since. It is replayed over and over this time of year.
Caleb came home and said that his teacher said that she did not want to hear anyone talking about WHAT happened to the Twin Towers. That if the students had questions, to ask their parents. She wanted the parents to choose what the students learn about it. They discussed it some, Caleb knew that two planes hit the Twin Towers, that one plane hit the Pentegon and that one plane was headed to the White House, but "crashed in a meadow." He knew that it was "stupid, bad guys from Iraq" that did this.
Isaac comes home and says "On September 11, 2001, two airplanes flew into the Twin Towers and they collapsed and killed lots of people." It sounded like a well-rehearsed speech.
I am SO mixed on this. On whether or not a first grade teacher should be telling her students about this. I DO appreciate the way Caleb's teacher handled it, leaving it up to the parents. BUT, whether we want to accept the fact or not, it is history. It will be (if not already) in History books. The kids WILL be taught about it. I DOUBT they will be taught in first grade, doesn't even sound like in fourth grade, but it wil be taught.
I took the oppurtunity to discuss what happened with Caleb and Isaac last night. Bryce obviously had not heard about it, so I did not want to bring it up to him. Caleb said he had heard about the Twin Towers, but thought they were fake. I explained that the Twin Towers are used in lots of stories and movies that ARE NOT real, but that the towers themselves WERE real. I explained about the men that hi-jacked the planes, about the heroes that took over the hijackers and kept them from being able to wreck into the White House, by crashing into the "meadow."
Isaac just listened. I don't know exactly how much he got from it. It was obviously past time for it to be explained to Caleb. He knows there is a war going on. He actually just earlier this week asked what a suicide bomber was. I was able to use that when explaining the hijackers. Now that he knows about the Twin Towers, he knows WHY we are at war. He appreciates the fact that there are men and women fighting to save our country and keep people like the suicide bombers and hijackers from hurting more people.
My babies are growing up too fast. I know I am just wanting to protect them forever, that is why I don't want them seeing things like that, but realistically this is the world they are growing up, and I guess they need to understand and learn how to live in this world and cope with things like this.
Sometimes being a parent SUCKS!!!
Caleb came home and said that his teacher said that she did not want to hear anyone talking about WHAT happened to the Twin Towers. That if the students had questions, to ask their parents. She wanted the parents to choose what the students learn about it. They discussed it some, Caleb knew that two planes hit the Twin Towers, that one plane hit the Pentegon and that one plane was headed to the White House, but "crashed in a meadow." He knew that it was "stupid, bad guys from Iraq" that did this.
Isaac comes home and says "On September 11, 2001, two airplanes flew into the Twin Towers and they collapsed and killed lots of people." It sounded like a well-rehearsed speech.
I am SO mixed on this. On whether or not a first grade teacher should be telling her students about this. I DO appreciate the way Caleb's teacher handled it, leaving it up to the parents. BUT, whether we want to accept the fact or not, it is history. It will be (if not already) in History books. The kids WILL be taught about it. I DOUBT they will be taught in first grade, doesn't even sound like in fourth grade, but it wil be taught.
I took the oppurtunity to discuss what happened with Caleb and Isaac last night. Bryce obviously had not heard about it, so I did not want to bring it up to him. Caleb said he had heard about the Twin Towers, but thought they were fake. I explained that the Twin Towers are used in lots of stories and movies that ARE NOT real, but that the towers themselves WERE real. I explained about the men that hi-jacked the planes, about the heroes that took over the hijackers and kept them from being able to wreck into the White House, by crashing into the "meadow."
Isaac just listened. I don't know exactly how much he got from it. It was obviously past time for it to be explained to Caleb. He knows there is a war going on. He actually just earlier this week asked what a suicide bomber was. I was able to use that when explaining the hijackers. Now that he knows about the Twin Towers, he knows WHY we are at war. He appreciates the fact that there are men and women fighting to save our country and keep people like the suicide bombers and hijackers from hurting more people.
My babies are growing up too fast. I know I am just wanting to protect them forever, that is why I don't want them seeing things like that, but realistically this is the world they are growing up, and I guess they need to understand and learn how to live in this world and cope with things like this.
Sometimes being a parent SUCKS!!!
Hurricane Ike
This morning, as I put the kids on the bus, the bus driver informed me that school may be cancelled. As of when she was picking up Bryce and Isaac, the schools were NOT letting the busses unload.
Louisiana is under Hurricane and Tropical Storm warnings. We woke up to high winds and rain. What do you expect when the storm takes up the entire Gulf of Mexico. It is going to be felt by LOTS of people.
We will be on the road this weekend, going to get the rest of the stuff from our other house. We just have some stuff in the attic and garage, but we are leasing the house to some friends, so we are trying to get all of our stuff out. Let's hope we can stay out of most of the bad weather!!
Let's also hope our electricity stays on and we don't come home tomorrow to a nasty refrigerator. The power has been going off and flickering since about 5 this morning. Power is still a sticky situation from Gustav - our area is not yet fully recovered from it.
The boys spent the morning argueing if the weather was from a hurricane. I explained it should not affect us quite like the last one because it won't be a direct hit, but it was in fact caused by another hurricane.
Louisiana is under Hurricane and Tropical Storm warnings. We woke up to high winds and rain. What do you expect when the storm takes up the entire Gulf of Mexico. It is going to be felt by LOTS of people.
We will be on the road this weekend, going to get the rest of the stuff from our other house. We just have some stuff in the attic and garage, but we are leasing the house to some friends, so we are trying to get all of our stuff out. Let's hope we can stay out of most of the bad weather!!
Let's also hope our electricity stays on and we don't come home tomorrow to a nasty refrigerator. The power has been going off and flickering since about 5 this morning. Power is still a sticky situation from Gustav - our area is not yet fully recovered from it.
The boys spent the morning argueing if the weather was from a hurricane. I explained it should not affect us quite like the last one because it won't be a direct hit, but it was in fact caused by another hurricane.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Ike
I am sitting here reading about Ike. It is not going to hit us, but doesn't mean it won't affect us. But, I do have friends and family (not on the coast) that could be strongly affected.
One thing I have learned in the week and a half following Gustav, though it has stopped being shown on the national news, our area is far from over it. We still have like 40+% of the state without electricity. If you drive around there is blue tarps on roofs ALL OVER. There are trees lining roads (that have been cut up and are awaiting trucks to pick them up). All week last week, there was no "normal" television. It was news 24 hours a day ALL week. Hurricane news.
Katrina was such a different devestation from the flooding that it is STILL being shown/talked about. I read today that there were 25 deaths from Gustav in Louisiana. From what I have heard on the news, few of those are from the hurricane itself. There was a death DURING the hurricane that was a person who was at a "hurricane party" that decided to leave. They were drunk. You should not drive drunk EVER, but really, in the MIDDLE of a hurricane? The majority of the deaths, though, were from AFTER the storm. From clean-up. People cutting down trees and not knowing what they are doing. Trees fall on people. Trees also don't always fall DURING the storm. But the wind blows them and they lean. They only lean so long before they fall. Not really something you would think of!
This has been such a learning experience, and all I can say is that we are blessed!! My prayers are with all in Ike's line of fire - from the coast and beyond!
One thing I have learned in the week and a half following Gustav, though it has stopped being shown on the national news, our area is far from over it. We still have like 40+% of the state without electricity. If you drive around there is blue tarps on roofs ALL OVER. There are trees lining roads (that have been cut up and are awaiting trucks to pick them up). All week last week, there was no "normal" television. It was news 24 hours a day ALL week. Hurricane news.
Katrina was such a different devestation from the flooding that it is STILL being shown/talked about. I read today that there were 25 deaths from Gustav in Louisiana. From what I have heard on the news, few of those are from the hurricane itself. There was a death DURING the hurricane that was a person who was at a "hurricane party" that decided to leave. They were drunk. You should not drive drunk EVER, but really, in the MIDDLE of a hurricane? The majority of the deaths, though, were from AFTER the storm. From clean-up. People cutting down trees and not knowing what they are doing. Trees fall on people. Trees also don't always fall DURING the storm. But the wind blows them and they lean. They only lean so long before they fall. Not really something you would think of!
This has been such a learning experience, and all I can say is that we are blessed!! My prayers are with all in Ike's line of fire - from the coast and beyond!
Hurricane Season Shoes
Thanks Emily, this is great.
Emily seems to think that I should buy these, just in case. I can walk in the before the hurricane and swim in them after?
Emily seems to think that I should buy these, just in case. I can walk in the before the hurricane and swim in them after?
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Homeschooling is Sounding VERY Good Today!!!
I finally got to talk to someone with the school bus company. They said that the sub yesterday was from out of town. I told her I did not care where the driver was from, but they are responsible for the driver as long as said driver is driving THEIR bus. Caleb said the driver was saying that if the kids talked or got up she would call the police. The bus super. said that threatening was unacceptable (well, DUH) and that yelling was even MORE unacceptable (again, DUH!!!). She said that she would call the ladies boss and that she would not be driving the bus again. She also gave me HER cell # and said if there were any more problems to call her directly.
If I EVER find out that lady drives Caleb's bus again, the kids will be pulled from the bus, no matter how bad the schools need the kids on the bus. And then I will go to the schools superintendent!
Then, I get a call from the school nurse saying Isaac is running a fever and complaining of a headache and that he is sluggish. She said I needed to pick him up and he could not return to school until he is fever-free for 24 hours. I wake up Andrew (took me an hour and a half to get him to go to sleep) and go get Isaac. He barely felt warm and was acting fine.
When we got home I took his temperature. 98.5. I called the school. Of course, the nurse has left. I ask if I can find out what his temperature was. She came back on and said it was 99.1 but that Isaac's "skin was flush and it was obvious he just did not feel well. He was very sluggish for his teacher."
Seriously? I woke up Andrew after all that to get him to sleep because he had a 99.1 temperature? Isaac is VERY hot-natured. It does not take much for him to get hot, flush and sweaty. He said his head was hurting, but he is acting FINE. I told him he could not play outside tonight and he says "I will be fine tonight." HMMMMM! Amazing how he KNOWS that!
I asked if he seriously had to miss a day of school for a 99.1 temp. The secretary said he could return tomorrow if he never ran a fever and was feeling okay.
Isaac just came out to me from laying in his bed for 10 minutes or so, to tell me that his head feels "great" now and he doesn't need to lay down he needs to play. WOW!!! Miracle fast recovery!
If I EVER find out that lady drives Caleb's bus again, the kids will be pulled from the bus, no matter how bad the schools need the kids on the bus. And then I will go to the schools superintendent!
Then, I get a call from the school nurse saying Isaac is running a fever and complaining of a headache and that he is sluggish. She said I needed to pick him up and he could not return to school until he is fever-free for 24 hours. I wake up Andrew (took me an hour and a half to get him to go to sleep) and go get Isaac. He barely felt warm and was acting fine.
When we got home I took his temperature. 98.5. I called the school. Of course, the nurse has left. I ask if I can find out what his temperature was. She came back on and said it was 99.1 but that Isaac's "skin was flush and it was obvious he just did not feel well. He was very sluggish for his teacher."
Seriously? I woke up Andrew after all that to get him to sleep because he had a 99.1 temperature? Isaac is VERY hot-natured. It does not take much for him to get hot, flush and sweaty. He said his head was hurting, but he is acting FINE. I told him he could not play outside tonight and he says "I will be fine tonight." HMMMMM! Amazing how he KNOWS that!
I asked if he seriously had to miss a day of school for a 99.1 temp. The secretary said he could return tomorrow if he never ran a fever and was feeling okay.
Isaac just came out to me from laying in his bed for 10 minutes or so, to tell me that his head feels "great" now and he doesn't need to lay down he needs to play. WOW!!! Miracle fast recovery!
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Bus Drama
Ever since the first week or two that Caleb rode the school he has yet to be dropped off the way he is supposed to be after school. He had a new driver and the guy always passed the house. Then he would have to circle the neighborhood a second time to drop Caleb off. Caleb should be the first in our subdivision to be dropped off, and is always last and has to tell the bus driver that he missed his house.
Today, Mama had her breaking point (so did Caleb). When I saw the bus driving by, I stepped out on the porch to see if they would stop just past the house. The driver stopped about three houses down and opened the doors. I heard yelling, but was not sure where it was coming from. Caleb never got off the bus.
When the bus finally circled back around and Caleb was dropped off, he came in in tears. He said the bus driver yelled at him and told him he was a trouble maker because he did not tellher where his stop was. I asked if she was yelling when she stopped three houses down from the house and he said yes. I listened to the bus driver yelling at Caleb from three houses away!
I was not happy when I found out it was for sure the bus driver yelling. Caleb said he was not allowed to talk on the bus at all and was not allowed to get up. He sits in the back of the bus. How is he supposed to tell her it is her stop. AND, he offered to walk home from the house she stopped at, she would not let him off.
WHY is he supposed to tell the bus drivers everyday which stop is his? Shouldn't they know that by now? They have papers on the bus with all the addresses, why aren't they using that?
I called the bus company when he got home. I am waiting on a call back. I guess I will be calling again at 8 am!!
The one kid we had that was nervous about bullies on the school bus, who knew the bully would be the bus driver?
Today, Mama had her breaking point (so did Caleb). When I saw the bus driving by, I stepped out on the porch to see if they would stop just past the house. The driver stopped about three houses down and opened the doors. I heard yelling, but was not sure where it was coming from. Caleb never got off the bus.
When the bus finally circled back around and Caleb was dropped off, he came in in tears. He said the bus driver yelled at him and told him he was a trouble maker because he did not tellher where his stop was. I asked if she was yelling when she stopped three houses down from the house and he said yes. I listened to the bus driver yelling at Caleb from three houses away!
I was not happy when I found out it was for sure the bus driver yelling. Caleb said he was not allowed to talk on the bus at all and was not allowed to get up. He sits in the back of the bus. How is he supposed to tell her it is her stop. AND, he offered to walk home from the house she stopped at, she would not let him off.
WHY is he supposed to tell the bus drivers everyday which stop is his? Shouldn't they know that by now? They have papers on the bus with all the addresses, why aren't they using that?
I called the bus company when he got home. I am waiting on a call back. I guess I will be calling again at 8 am!!
The one kid we had that was nervous about bullies on the school bus, who knew the bully would be the bus driver?
When Will Things Calm Down?
We finally get electricity back and start trying to get things back on track and we get sick. Sunday night, Paul and I both started feeling bad. We both started feeling stuffy, throat hurting, etc.
It has only gotten worse. We are going through tissues like crazy. Paul took all kinds of meds yesterday, with little relieve.
Caleb said he could not sleep last night. Hope he isn't getting sick.
Bryce woke up this morning with asthma problems.
I think all the rain and weather change, etc. is messing with us all!!
I just want to finish getting my house in order!
It has only gotten worse. We are going through tissues like crazy. Paul took all kinds of meds yesterday, with little relieve.
Caleb said he could not sleep last night. Hope he isn't getting sick.
Bryce woke up this morning with asthma problems.
I think all the rain and weather change, etc. is messing with us all!!
I just want to finish getting my house in order!
Monday, September 08, 2008
Thirsty Lizard
This lizard was not a lucky one. He died before we moved in, the boys found him, a "little" stiff. Of course, Daddy had to bring him in to gross me out and then play with him. Maybe he was trying to re-hydrate him.
Andrew's First Toad Experience
We have toads and lizards everywhere here. Even the occasional mouse in our trash outside, since we have a pasture behind us. If you go outside at night especially you are bound to find several lizards on our house. Last week, Daddy found a toad in the garage and put it in the driveway for Andrew to see.
laughing at the toad jumping over his feet
Trying to grab him
This weekend while we were working on our landscaping, Daddy was pulling cannas out of the ground and found a lizard. It jumped on his arm. All the boys were watching it and wanting to hold it. The lizard had a mind of his own and jumped on Isaac's nose. Isaac jumped and the lizard fell off his face, but jumped on his leg and ran up it. Everyone was getting a good laugh, including (especially) Isaac.
Sometimes when I am outside and see all the lizards on the house, I feel like I should pull up a chair and discuss car insurance. HAHA
Last week while we were on generator, our alarm system got to where it was continuously beeping because the battery was dying. It finally died, but late that night we heard a beeping sound again. We went out to investigate and right outside our bedroom door, in the hall, was a toad. We have NO idea how he got in the house, but he did. (The beeping noise was the smoke detector dying).
laughing at the toad jumping over his feet
Trying to grab him
This weekend while we were working on our landscaping, Daddy was pulling cannas out of the ground and found a lizard. It jumped on his arm. All the boys were watching it and wanting to hold it. The lizard had a mind of his own and jumped on Isaac's nose. Isaac jumped and the lizard fell off his face, but jumped on his leg and ran up it. Everyone was getting a good laugh, including (especially) Isaac.
Sometimes when I am outside and see all the lizards on the house, I feel like I should pull up a chair and discuss car insurance. HAHA
Last week while we were on generator, our alarm system got to where it was continuously beeping because the battery was dying. It finally died, but late that night we heard a beeping sound again. We went out to investigate and right outside our bedroom door, in the hall, was a toad. We have NO idea how he got in the house, but he did. (The beeping noise was the smoke detector dying).
Hurricane Photos
Here are some pictures of the hurricane damage. This is just a small sampling and some of the lighter damage. We did not venture out this day to the worst hit spots (we were actually out looking for gas). We have seen some of the worse hit spots and it is bad, still. Clean-up, as far as trees being cut up and debris being cleaned is going pretty quick, but since noone has electricity and most everything was closed last week, not really much else to do!
This is what happens when older brothers get bored sitting in the house so long!!
This is the same plant as the two pictures below, taken the day before the hurricane hit.
After the storm - they are broken and shredded
We lost some completely, these are the elephant ears the boys are holding onto in the above picture
One of our rose bushes blew over
The wind shredded our plants
Before the hurricane, you could not see those white pipes
These concrete blocks were stacked, the wind blew them over
Our new best friend, during a storm anyway (VERY loud, annoying best friend). This is our generator that gives at least a little electricity.
Damage around town:
Our subdivision beginnig to flood. Notice the sign behind the tree and how it is leaning over.
THIS is why they don't bury underground (this is a local cemetary)
Too close for comfort for this house!
Debris on road
Highway flooded
The road outside our subdivision
Trees down over railroad tracks
Tree down across street
This lake used to be a baseball field
One of the MANY houses that flooded (with many the water was MUCH higher)
Uprooted tree at our library
Fallen tree
Flooding on the road outside our subdivision
Red sky at night....sailors delight
This is what happens when older brothers get bored sitting in the house so long!!
This is the same plant as the two pictures below, taken the day before the hurricane hit.
After the storm - they are broken and shredded
We lost some completely, these are the elephant ears the boys are holding onto in the above picture
One of our rose bushes blew over
The wind shredded our plants
Before the hurricane, you could not see those white pipes
These concrete blocks were stacked, the wind blew them over
Our new best friend, during a storm anyway (VERY loud, annoying best friend). This is our generator that gives at least a little electricity.
Damage around town:
Our subdivision beginnig to flood. Notice the sign behind the tree and how it is leaning over.
THIS is why they don't bury underground (this is a local cemetary)
Too close for comfort for this house!
Debris on road
Highway flooded
The road outside our subdivision
Trees down over railroad tracks
Tree down across street
This lake used to be a baseball field
One of the MANY houses that flooded (with many the water was MUCH higher)
Uprooted tree at our library
Fallen tree
Flooding on the road outside our subdivision
Red sky at night....sailors delight
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Update
Slowly, life is getting back to normal. Cable, internet and phone came back on today - YAY!!!! Friday we went to Walmart to try and get food. We knew they were only letting a certain number of people in at a time, but we wanted to try close to home and we were prepared to drive to Mississippi if needed. We had to wait 10 or 15 minutes to get in, which wasn't too bad. Basically, anything that was supposed to be cold, they were not selling. They were putting out milk (whole and 2% - no lactose free for AJ). The National Guard was there. It was ODD walking around the store with men walking around with huge guns in their hands!
The National Guard is still at Walmart and the line to get in is still long. Still lots of people without electricity. I think as of this morning, Entergy was 65% online for the state, 45% online for our parish. Things are still a mess and recovery will take time. Although, we are very surprised the number of people who had trees fall on or around their house (BIG TREES) that have already cut the trees up (anyone need firewood??) and put them out for the debris trucks to pick up. The gas station lines have finally disappeared and the police are no longer having to sit and direct the lines.
Yesterday we drove to Baton Rouge and went to Sams. We were able to find meat - YAY!!! This morning we were able to get Andrew some milk (he hasn't had any since Tuesday morning), and some more meat.
Andrew is FINALLY sleeping. He did not nap well with no electricity. We use fans when we sleep...when we don't have fans, sleeping doesn't go well. When you are talking about napping without fans, and three older brothers are home being noisy, well sleeping is a hard thing to do. So the boy who usually takes a 4+ hour nap was taking a 45 minute nap on a good day. And, sleeping his normal amount at night.
I have some video of the hurricane and some pictures of the damage that I will try to get on here this week.
The National Guard is still at Walmart and the line to get in is still long. Still lots of people without electricity. I think as of this morning, Entergy was 65% online for the state, 45% online for our parish. Things are still a mess and recovery will take time. Although, we are very surprised the number of people who had trees fall on or around their house (BIG TREES) that have already cut the trees up (anyone need firewood??) and put them out for the debris trucks to pick up. The gas station lines have finally disappeared and the police are no longer having to sit and direct the lines.
Yesterday we drove to Baton Rouge and went to Sams. We were able to find meat - YAY!!! This morning we were able to get Andrew some milk (he hasn't had any since Tuesday morning), and some more meat.
Andrew is FINALLY sleeping. He did not nap well with no electricity. We use fans when we sleep...when we don't have fans, sleeping doesn't go well. When you are talking about napping without fans, and three older brothers are home being noisy, well sleeping is a hard thing to do. So the boy who usually takes a 4+ hour nap was taking a 45 minute nap on a good day. And, sleeping his normal amount at night.
I have some video of the hurricane and some pictures of the damage that I will try to get on here this week.
Hurricance Gustav Hits
This was typed on Wednesday evening. Internet did not come back on until today.
We are alive and well (as well as we could be, considering). Hurricane Gustav hit us as a Category II hurricane, and we were here for every wind gust and rain drop!
This storm went down in history as the worst, strongest storm to EVER hit the Baton Rouge area. That is so our luck. We live here for TWO WEEKS and the strongest storm ever decides to blow through!
Monday:
We woke up to some stronger than normal winds, but not too strong. We just waited. Obviously, we did not want to go anywhere, knowing what was coming. So, we enjoyed as much electricity as we could. The winds gradually picked up for a while and then quickly started getting strong. And then there was the rain, too. Since there was no lightening or thunder, it was easy to think of it as just a rain shower with winds, for a while. There was never a time I was concerned for US, but there were a few times I was concerned for our house. Before we even reached hurricane strength winds we lost cable/internet/phone. We later found out that the cables-cables went down on the road right outside our neighborhood.
I got concerned about our house a couple of times. We watched a neighbors shingles flying off their roof. Watching things like this does not make you feel good about what YOUR OWN roof is doing! Also, there was a while in the worst of the storm where the east side of our house was REALLY getting pounded. The windows were bowing and rain was coming in them. Our back door had rain coming in the doorknob, deadbolt and windows, as well as under the door (it was not flooding – literally blowing in the door). The door was deadbolted, but the wind was so strong that it was pushing the door and we were feeling the wind coming in. Watching our landscaping was terrifying. Not because we were worried about losing it (which we obviously did not want to happen) but because, again, when you watch things getting destroyed like that you really wonder what is happening to your house that you CANNOT see.
We had sustained winds of up to 68 mph and gust over 95 mph. It is an amazing sight to watch. You watch tree tops (and elephant ears) begin spinning like a helicopter blades. If you look at our elephant ears, they are completely shredded. We watched (and got video of) a plastic dog kennel that went flying across the street. It broke in two in the air and barely hit the ground before it was getting thrown somewhere else. It hit houses, cars, fences, etc before it disappeared. We watched tree branches and plants flying. A small tree in the pasture behind us snapped in half (and again – became like a helicopter blade). I was in awww.
Hurricane Aftermath:
Tuesday, early afternoon, we decided we would go look for gas. We had four five gallon gas cans for the generator. After hearing it could be weeks before we got electricity back (that is right, WEEKS), we decided we ought to try to find something because we were down to about 30 hours of gas for the generator. We have been rationing the gas. We run the generator (which has the refrigerator, a window unit, fans for the bedrooms and miscellaneous things as we need them) for a couple of hours and turn it off for around 4 hours. Our main goal is to keep the stuff in the refrigerator/freezer, cold.
Tuesday we got pounded with LOTS of rain. Looking at the radar, we had a red band just stuck on top of us. We got over 9 feet of water JUST YESTERDAY. We really thought we were going to have to use our flood insurance (which we were told we did not need). The house was fine, but it was definently reassuring to know we had it!
So, we go to look for gas. We go to pull out and see that about 2 houses down there was water about half way up the mailboxes. So we went the other way. We took the Jeep – thank goodness! We went to make the circle of our neighborhood (there is only one way in and out of the neighborhood), and went through five or six pretty high water spots throughout the neighborhood. We got to the entrance and started to go out. The water was to the bottom of the stop sign. Paul drove through it because he was already in it and could not stop. We decided we were NOT going to go anywhere. The water at the entrance was about 4 feet high. It went OVER the hood of Paul’s Jeep.
The damage in the neighborhood was amazing, I guess because ours was so minimal, I was surprised at what I saw. There were fences torn apart and thrown around. Trees down. Landscape destroyed. Shingles gone and all over the roads, water everywhere. Porta-potty’s flipped over and thrown across the street and houses down (there are still a few houses being built in our neighborhood).
Tuesday evening when the waters finally went down, we ventured out again. The damage to the city was even more amazing than our neighborhood. There were houses half under water. Trees down EVERYWHERE! Power lines, transformers and poles down everywhere. Water everywhere. Electricity NO WHERE!!!!
The road right outside of our neighborhood, you can turn two ways on. We went out one end and tried coming home on the other end. It was under water and had power lines sitting in the water. We had to turn around and go around town and in the other end of the road. Seeing powerlines down on the street in water does not make you feel good about getting electricity soon.
Here are some tidbits of info about us right now:
We have not had electricity in 3 days and there is NO end in sight. This is one of the biggest problem the state faces right now. The two electric companies in our city both had 100% of their customers without electricity. 40% of the STATES transmission lines are down. Without transmission lines, the distribution lines (which are also down) are pointless. Let this kind of put things in perspective for you. Yesterday, the hospital here in town had their generator break down. Ambulances from Philidelphia (the Baton Rouge area as of yesterday still had 900 patients that needed to be evacuated from hospitals with no air conditioning and failing generators) came and evacuated from hospitals here to hospitals in NEW ORLEANS. The electric companies are telling us to expect at LEAST 2 weeks to get power back. We live on the outskirts of town. They will obviously take care of electric IN town to get stores, gas stations, SCHOOLS, etc back on track. As of today, there was still 94% of customers without electricity.
We have a curfew. 6pm to 6am. If you do not have a legitimate reason to be out, you get arrested. There is NOTHING open. Roads are still flooded (as of today), trees still lay in roads. Powerlines are still over the roads in many places. There is no reason for anyone to be out.
Cell service is iffy at best. Usually you have to continuously dial numbers 10+ times until a call goes through. If you are ever in a situation like this….texting goes through much easier than calls. We can rarely use the internet on our phone or check our emails.
We went out again today to try and find gas. It took half the day, but we got gas. It is not that our cars need it, it is that our generator needs it. That is the story everywhere. Noone has power so we are in a gas crisis.
It is easy to watch from somewhere else and get an idea of the devestation in places like this. I watched from another state during Katrina. It was heart-breaking, and movie-like. It could get easy to watch clips and feel as though you are watching a movie and kind of disconnect from the human side of the devestation. It is eye-opening to be IN the devestation. It is like living in a third-world country right now. You take advantage of running to the gas station or the corner store when you need food or gas. To get gas – we waited in line for over 2 hours today. If you can find a store that is open – they are probably operating with a generator and they are only letting 3 or 4 people in at a time. More major lines. If you go to get the free water, ice, tarps, MRE’s from FEMA – you have to be prepared to wait 8-10+ hours. They are putting these supplies directly in your car. So, you have to have a full tank of gas to sit in the lines. If you don’t, you have to wait in line for gas (there are only a handful of gas stations even open. Most don’t have electricity for their pumps to pump the gas), then sit in line for FEMA assistance. Every gas station had police organizing lines and keeping the peace.
I am not saying it is not worth the wait or meaning to sound unappreciative of what we DO have. I am trying to draw a picture of what is going on. It will be quite a while before we can run to the store for a gallon of milk and it not be an all day thing. When we left this morning for gas, we left at 8:15 and got home at 12:30. It was all driving looking for gas and then sitting and waiting for gas. We saw people who ran out of gas in line for gas and were pushing their car to stay in the line.
I have to say I am thankful for going through this POST Katrina. I won’t say they have done a perfect job, but compared to what I SAW with Katrina….miles ahead!!!! There are still kinks that need to be worked out. But overall, they have done a great job. People followed the mandatory evacuations. They were much more organized this time and did not mean that people had to leave animals behind. That is why we did not see the chaos and rescues we saw with Katrina (and the levees did not break this time). The strict curfews helped. The state was much more prepared for this storm than they were for Katrina. Most of the deaths in the state from the storm were things like carbon-monoxide poisoning from people running their generators in the house, or people cutting trees down and the trees fell on them, things like that. While these are horrible and tragic, it is much less tragedy than three years ago. The fact that it was almost 3 years to the day that Katrina hit, really hit home with people and made them take it that much more serious.
It is easy to get blue after the storm. I have told many people and stick by it, the aftermath of the storm is SO much worse than the storm itself. It started raining Sunday. It has rained everyday since. No sun. We have no electricity. The kids can’t go to school and are bored crazy. They can’t go outside because it is raining, thundering, lightening and there have been tornado warnings all around us. The last couple of days have been somewhat cool, because of the rain. Tomorrow the sun should be coming out and it will be getting in the 90’s again. We can’t run our window unit all day (means using more gas for generator) and the window unit is only in our bedroom. The humidity level has GOT to be about 300%. Things in the house are feeling damp and we always feel sticky and nasty! We can’t go anywhere in the car because we might need the gas in the cars for the generator. Bugs. Lots of bugs. Mosquitos will only be getting worse. It is just a miserable situation, and as I said – we are better off than many. I bought food for through this week. Supply is running low. I am down to half a loaf of bread. No milk for Andrew. About half a gallon of regular milk. A hot meal would be GREAT (one NOT fixed on the stovetop).
All of this complaining said. I am thankful. Very thankful. Our house faired great. We were planning on taking out some landscaping anyway – this just helped us decide what needs to be taken out. Our family is okay. We were fortunate enough to have the funds to go to the store on a moments notice (okay, four stores) to spend the $1000+ on the generator, gas and window unit). We were not evacuated. We do not have water in our house. We know where our property stands. Many people cannot even go back to their parish until Friday at the earliest, and are being asked to come back, look and leave again. We have water. We are able to shower, cook, use the bathrooms – many others aren’t. We did not have a tree land in our house (a co-worker of Paul’s did), our chimney did not blow off (another co-workers of Paul did).
The situation SUCKS, but we are blessed and lucky.
The boys throughout all of this were awesome (a little annoying, but hey…). After the near missed with the tornadoes this spring, they took it serious. The hurricane has been the talk of the town since beginning of last week. They discuss it at school. They hear us discussing it. They ran around town with us looking for generators and air conditioners and getting lots of canned and no-cook foods. They sat in the car for many hours today looking for and waiting for gas. This has not been easy on them, especially with all the other changes and stressed they have experienced the last couple of months (better yet, the last year). They asked several times a day toward the end of last week and over the weekend “is this the day the hurricane comes?” The hurricane came. They looked out the window and saw what was happening and went back to playing. Monday night, bedtime was pretty rough. Every night since the hurricane has been rough. They have been great!!
I know this is a long post, but this has consumed our life for two weeks. I do want to thank everyone for their calls and texts of concern and encouragement (and even all the calls and text saying we should run).
We are alive and well (as well as we could be, considering). Hurricane Gustav hit us as a Category II hurricane, and we were here for every wind gust and rain drop!
This storm went down in history as the worst, strongest storm to EVER hit the Baton Rouge area. That is so our luck. We live here for TWO WEEKS and the strongest storm ever decides to blow through!
Monday:
We woke up to some stronger than normal winds, but not too strong. We just waited. Obviously, we did not want to go anywhere, knowing what was coming. So, we enjoyed as much electricity as we could. The winds gradually picked up for a while and then quickly started getting strong. And then there was the rain, too. Since there was no lightening or thunder, it was easy to think of it as just a rain shower with winds, for a while. There was never a time I was concerned for US, but there were a few times I was concerned for our house. Before we even reached hurricane strength winds we lost cable/internet/phone. We later found out that the cables-cables went down on the road right outside our neighborhood.
I got concerned about our house a couple of times. We watched a neighbors shingles flying off their roof. Watching things like this does not make you feel good about what YOUR OWN roof is doing! Also, there was a while in the worst of the storm where the east side of our house was REALLY getting pounded. The windows were bowing and rain was coming in them. Our back door had rain coming in the doorknob, deadbolt and windows, as well as under the door (it was not flooding – literally blowing in the door). The door was deadbolted, but the wind was so strong that it was pushing the door and we were feeling the wind coming in. Watching our landscaping was terrifying. Not because we were worried about losing it (which we obviously did not want to happen) but because, again, when you watch things getting destroyed like that you really wonder what is happening to your house that you CANNOT see.
We had sustained winds of up to 68 mph and gust over 95 mph. It is an amazing sight to watch. You watch tree tops (and elephant ears) begin spinning like a helicopter blades. If you look at our elephant ears, they are completely shredded. We watched (and got video of) a plastic dog kennel that went flying across the street. It broke in two in the air and barely hit the ground before it was getting thrown somewhere else. It hit houses, cars, fences, etc before it disappeared. We watched tree branches and plants flying. A small tree in the pasture behind us snapped in half (and again – became like a helicopter blade). I was in awww.
Hurricane Aftermath:
Tuesday, early afternoon, we decided we would go look for gas. We had four five gallon gas cans for the generator. After hearing it could be weeks before we got electricity back (that is right, WEEKS), we decided we ought to try to find something because we were down to about 30 hours of gas for the generator. We have been rationing the gas. We run the generator (which has the refrigerator, a window unit, fans for the bedrooms and miscellaneous things as we need them) for a couple of hours and turn it off for around 4 hours. Our main goal is to keep the stuff in the refrigerator/freezer, cold.
Tuesday we got pounded with LOTS of rain. Looking at the radar, we had a red band just stuck on top of us. We got over 9 feet of water JUST YESTERDAY. We really thought we were going to have to use our flood insurance (which we were told we did not need). The house was fine, but it was definently reassuring to know we had it!
So, we go to look for gas. We go to pull out and see that about 2 houses down there was water about half way up the mailboxes. So we went the other way. We took the Jeep – thank goodness! We went to make the circle of our neighborhood (there is only one way in and out of the neighborhood), and went through five or six pretty high water spots throughout the neighborhood. We got to the entrance and started to go out. The water was to the bottom of the stop sign. Paul drove through it because he was already in it and could not stop. We decided we were NOT going to go anywhere. The water at the entrance was about 4 feet high. It went OVER the hood of Paul’s Jeep.
The damage in the neighborhood was amazing, I guess because ours was so minimal, I was surprised at what I saw. There were fences torn apart and thrown around. Trees down. Landscape destroyed. Shingles gone and all over the roads, water everywhere. Porta-potty’s flipped over and thrown across the street and houses down (there are still a few houses being built in our neighborhood).
Tuesday evening when the waters finally went down, we ventured out again. The damage to the city was even more amazing than our neighborhood. There were houses half under water. Trees down EVERYWHERE! Power lines, transformers and poles down everywhere. Water everywhere. Electricity NO WHERE!!!!
The road right outside of our neighborhood, you can turn two ways on. We went out one end and tried coming home on the other end. It was under water and had power lines sitting in the water. We had to turn around and go around town and in the other end of the road. Seeing powerlines down on the street in water does not make you feel good about getting electricity soon.
Here are some tidbits of info about us right now:
We have not had electricity in 3 days and there is NO end in sight. This is one of the biggest problem the state faces right now. The two electric companies in our city both had 100% of their customers without electricity. 40% of the STATES transmission lines are down. Without transmission lines, the distribution lines (which are also down) are pointless. Let this kind of put things in perspective for you. Yesterday, the hospital here in town had their generator break down. Ambulances from Philidelphia (the Baton Rouge area as of yesterday still had 900 patients that needed to be evacuated from hospitals with no air conditioning and failing generators) came and evacuated from hospitals here to hospitals in NEW ORLEANS. The electric companies are telling us to expect at LEAST 2 weeks to get power back. We live on the outskirts of town. They will obviously take care of electric IN town to get stores, gas stations, SCHOOLS, etc back on track. As of today, there was still 94% of customers without electricity.
We have a curfew. 6pm to 6am. If you do not have a legitimate reason to be out, you get arrested. There is NOTHING open. Roads are still flooded (as of today), trees still lay in roads. Powerlines are still over the roads in many places. There is no reason for anyone to be out.
Cell service is iffy at best. Usually you have to continuously dial numbers 10+ times until a call goes through. If you are ever in a situation like this….texting goes through much easier than calls. We can rarely use the internet on our phone or check our emails.
We went out again today to try and find gas. It took half the day, but we got gas. It is not that our cars need it, it is that our generator needs it. That is the story everywhere. Noone has power so we are in a gas crisis.
It is easy to watch from somewhere else and get an idea of the devestation in places like this. I watched from another state during Katrina. It was heart-breaking, and movie-like. It could get easy to watch clips and feel as though you are watching a movie and kind of disconnect from the human side of the devestation. It is eye-opening to be IN the devestation. It is like living in a third-world country right now. You take advantage of running to the gas station or the corner store when you need food or gas. To get gas – we waited in line for over 2 hours today. If you can find a store that is open – they are probably operating with a generator and they are only letting 3 or 4 people in at a time. More major lines. If you go to get the free water, ice, tarps, MRE’s from FEMA – you have to be prepared to wait 8-10+ hours. They are putting these supplies directly in your car. So, you have to have a full tank of gas to sit in the lines. If you don’t, you have to wait in line for gas (there are only a handful of gas stations even open. Most don’t have electricity for their pumps to pump the gas), then sit in line for FEMA assistance. Every gas station had police organizing lines and keeping the peace.
I am not saying it is not worth the wait or meaning to sound unappreciative of what we DO have. I am trying to draw a picture of what is going on. It will be quite a while before we can run to the store for a gallon of milk and it not be an all day thing. When we left this morning for gas, we left at 8:15 and got home at 12:30. It was all driving looking for gas and then sitting and waiting for gas. We saw people who ran out of gas in line for gas and were pushing their car to stay in the line.
I have to say I am thankful for going through this POST Katrina. I won’t say they have done a perfect job, but compared to what I SAW with Katrina….miles ahead!!!! There are still kinks that need to be worked out. But overall, they have done a great job. People followed the mandatory evacuations. They were much more organized this time and did not mean that people had to leave animals behind. That is why we did not see the chaos and rescues we saw with Katrina (and the levees did not break this time). The strict curfews helped. The state was much more prepared for this storm than they were for Katrina. Most of the deaths in the state from the storm were things like carbon-monoxide poisoning from people running their generators in the house, or people cutting trees down and the trees fell on them, things like that. While these are horrible and tragic, it is much less tragedy than three years ago. The fact that it was almost 3 years to the day that Katrina hit, really hit home with people and made them take it that much more serious.
It is easy to get blue after the storm. I have told many people and stick by it, the aftermath of the storm is SO much worse than the storm itself. It started raining Sunday. It has rained everyday since. No sun. We have no electricity. The kids can’t go to school and are bored crazy. They can’t go outside because it is raining, thundering, lightening and there have been tornado warnings all around us. The last couple of days have been somewhat cool, because of the rain. Tomorrow the sun should be coming out and it will be getting in the 90’s again. We can’t run our window unit all day (means using more gas for generator) and the window unit is only in our bedroom. The humidity level has GOT to be about 300%. Things in the house are feeling damp and we always feel sticky and nasty! We can’t go anywhere in the car because we might need the gas in the cars for the generator. Bugs. Lots of bugs. Mosquitos will only be getting worse. It is just a miserable situation, and as I said – we are better off than many. I bought food for through this week. Supply is running low. I am down to half a loaf of bread. No milk for Andrew. About half a gallon of regular milk. A hot meal would be GREAT (one NOT fixed on the stovetop).
All of this complaining said. I am thankful. Very thankful. Our house faired great. We were planning on taking out some landscaping anyway – this just helped us decide what needs to be taken out. Our family is okay. We were fortunate enough to have the funds to go to the store on a moments notice (okay, four stores) to spend the $1000+ on the generator, gas and window unit). We were not evacuated. We do not have water in our house. We know where our property stands. Many people cannot even go back to their parish until Friday at the earliest, and are being asked to come back, look and leave again. We have water. We are able to shower, cook, use the bathrooms – many others aren’t. We did not have a tree land in our house (a co-worker of Paul’s did), our chimney did not blow off (another co-workers of Paul did).
The situation SUCKS, but we are blessed and lucky.
The boys throughout all of this were awesome (a little annoying, but hey…). After the near missed with the tornadoes this spring, they took it serious. The hurricane has been the talk of the town since beginning of last week. They discuss it at school. They hear us discussing it. They ran around town with us looking for generators and air conditioners and getting lots of canned and no-cook foods. They sat in the car for many hours today looking for and waiting for gas. This has not been easy on them, especially with all the other changes and stressed they have experienced the last couple of months (better yet, the last year). They asked several times a day toward the end of last week and over the weekend “is this the day the hurricane comes?” The hurricane came. They looked out the window and saw what was happening and went back to playing. Monday night, bedtime was pretty rough. Every night since the hurricane has been rough. They have been great!!
I know this is a long post, but this has consumed our life for two weeks. I do want to thank everyone for their calls and texts of concern and encouragement (and even all the calls and text saying we should run).
Monday, September 01, 2008
Update
The hurricane eye has not yet made landfall and it has been reduced to a Cat 2. They are now saying our area will not get winds as high as they were predicting (70+mph). The wind has just now started getting really strong and it has just started raining. It rained pretty strong for a while last night, but stopped. We stayed right on the edge of the rain, apparently.
There are no holes in the rain bans now, so we will be getting constant rain now for probably the rest of the week. They are telling us we could get up to 10-15 ft this week.
There are no holes in the rain bans now, so we will be getting constant rain now for probably the rest of the week. They are telling us we could get up to 10-15 ft this week.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
HERE WE GO!!!
We have had a tornado warning already. The wind just picked up and it started POURING! By 6 in the morning we should have at least 40 mph winds. From the last we heard the eye should hit us around 3 or 4 tomorrow afternoon, so we from this point on will be getting worse and worse.
To Those Concerned...
For those of you that have sent text, called, IM, etc. If it makes you feel any better, we took the kids to the park (after staying home all day yesterday to finish preparing) and to eat some Mexican for lunch. Our town is hopping. It seems as though most people are staying put. There is lots of preperations being taken care of at businesses and houses and everyone is very busy, but if they have not left yet, there window of oppurtunity is about out....
We are glued to the news. We are finally getting some info as to what to expect where we are (most of the info we have been getting is for coastal areas). It sounds like WE should expect the worst Monday night into Tuesday. The boys school has closed Tuesday and Wednesday, so we will enjoy....I mean, HAVE....a extra long holiday weekend (with little to no fun). I will continue to try to keep everyone updated on what is going on and how we are fairing.
We are glued to the news. We are finally getting some info as to what to expect where we are (most of the info we have been getting is for coastal areas). It sounds like WE should expect the worst Monday night into Tuesday. The boys school has closed Tuesday and Wednesday, so we will enjoy....I mean, HAVE....a extra long holiday weekend (with little to no fun). I will continue to try to keep everyone updated on what is going on and how we are fairing.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Catching Up....At Some Point
So, my plan was to catch up on the blog this week. I have been WAY too busy with hurricane preperations! Also, I was trying to get the corporate house cleaned and keys turned in. We officially only have TWO houses now, instead of THREE!!
Hurricane preperations are much more time consuming (and financially consuming for the first one) than I EVER would have anticipated. And I never thought I would spend our long Labor Day weekend preparing for a hurricane. But, this is our life now, right?
I went to a gas station this morning just up the road from the house. I pulled in and there were cars everywhere, but the pumps had bags over them and signs that said they were out of gas. I walked in and the cashier was looking out the window and nodding her head. There was a gas truck out pumping gas into the ground. I asked if all of those people were waiting for gas. She said they all followed the gas truck in and they were all sitting there waiting. Paul went back later for some goodies for all of us. There were no cars getting gas, but a maintanance truck that had some stuff pulled out of the ground. The attendent told Paul that right after the truck filled their tanks their pumps went out. So, although they HAVE gas, they can't PUMP gas.
LSU had their first game of the year...HERE! They moved it up to this morning instead of this evening, but still...we have evacuations going on. I-10 is bad enough with just day to day traffic. You throw in a big game (which they won BIGTIME) and some major evacuations, and, well, we chose to stay in today!!
The storm is already much stronger than they anticipated. They were anticipating a 2 or 3 at this point and it is at a 4 working up to a 5. We are on the edge of who is getting evacuated and noone in our neighborhood has left - which makes us feel better about staying. We spent the day getting EVERYTHING that was in our "garage" into our little storage room off the garage. It is stuffed with everything from tools to bikes/scooter/wagons to gasoline, to trash, to generators. The smell...NASTY!!
At this point I feel as though we are as prepared as we can possibly be. I am ready to get it over with. For some unknown reason, Isaac's teacher is letting the kids watch the news about the hurricane. I am very mixed on this. As of Friday, Isaac knew as much about the storm as we did. All of the boys are talking about it a lot. After all of the tornados and flooding this spring, they definently take it serious now, but don't seem overly apprehensive about it. Tomorrow may begin another story. I think we are supposed to start getting some wind and rain tomorrow afternoon/evening but the worst is supposed to be late Monday into Tuesday.
Caleb's biggest concern is school Tuesday. His principal announced to the kids that school was open Tuesday. I keep explaining that if the hurricane is here, there will NOT be school. And, if for some idiotic reason there is school, he would NOT be going!! Most of the colleges and universities have already announced they will be closed - along with coastal schools - but places further north won't announce until probably Monday evening.
Mom is getting a good laugh (although she is worried crazy) about the fact that I was her child that was deathly afraid of thunderstorms and here I am about to sit out a hurricane. While I have "outgrown" the fear of thunderstorms, and actually grown to enjoy them (and even sat out some tornados in our bathroom alone with the four boys), I - at this point - am not overly nervous (although frequently second guessing if this is the right thing to do). We are glued to the television and the Jeep is gassed up if we need to run. We plan to take it because it can go through higher water! Part of why we chose to buy here (other than the schools) was because it got us further away from the coast and the river. Hopefully that will all work in our favor.
If I have internet during the storm, I will try to blog through it. It helped calm the boys when I did that with the tornadoes because they sat and watched the computer instead of concentrating on what was happening outside.
I will keep you all updated as we go through this journey!!
Hurricane preperations are much more time consuming (and financially consuming for the first one) than I EVER would have anticipated. And I never thought I would spend our long Labor Day weekend preparing for a hurricane. But, this is our life now, right?
I went to a gas station this morning just up the road from the house. I pulled in and there were cars everywhere, but the pumps had bags over them and signs that said they were out of gas. I walked in and the cashier was looking out the window and nodding her head. There was a gas truck out pumping gas into the ground. I asked if all of those people were waiting for gas. She said they all followed the gas truck in and they were all sitting there waiting. Paul went back later for some goodies for all of us. There were no cars getting gas, but a maintanance truck that had some stuff pulled out of the ground. The attendent told Paul that right after the truck filled their tanks their pumps went out. So, although they HAVE gas, they can't PUMP gas.
LSU had their first game of the year...HERE! They moved it up to this morning instead of this evening, but still...we have evacuations going on. I-10 is bad enough with just day to day traffic. You throw in a big game (which they won BIGTIME) and some major evacuations, and, well, we chose to stay in today!!
The storm is already much stronger than they anticipated. They were anticipating a 2 or 3 at this point and it is at a 4 working up to a 5. We are on the edge of who is getting evacuated and noone in our neighborhood has left - which makes us feel better about staying. We spent the day getting EVERYTHING that was in our "garage" into our little storage room off the garage. It is stuffed with everything from tools to bikes/scooter/wagons to gasoline, to trash, to generators. The smell...NASTY!!
At this point I feel as though we are as prepared as we can possibly be. I am ready to get it over with. For some unknown reason, Isaac's teacher is letting the kids watch the news about the hurricane. I am very mixed on this. As of Friday, Isaac knew as much about the storm as we did. All of the boys are talking about it a lot. After all of the tornados and flooding this spring, they definently take it serious now, but don't seem overly apprehensive about it. Tomorrow may begin another story. I think we are supposed to start getting some wind and rain tomorrow afternoon/evening but the worst is supposed to be late Monday into Tuesday.
Caleb's biggest concern is school Tuesday. His principal announced to the kids that school was open Tuesday. I keep explaining that if the hurricane is here, there will NOT be school. And, if for some idiotic reason there is school, he would NOT be going!! Most of the colleges and universities have already announced they will be closed - along with coastal schools - but places further north won't announce until probably Monday evening.
Mom is getting a good laugh (although she is worried crazy) about the fact that I was her child that was deathly afraid of thunderstorms and here I am about to sit out a hurricane. While I have "outgrown" the fear of thunderstorms, and actually grown to enjoy them (and even sat out some tornados in our bathroom alone with the four boys), I - at this point - am not overly nervous (although frequently second guessing if this is the right thing to do). We are glued to the television and the Jeep is gassed up if we need to run. We plan to take it because it can go through higher water! Part of why we chose to buy here (other than the schools) was because it got us further away from the coast and the river. Hopefully that will all work in our favor.
If I have internet during the storm, I will try to blog through it. It helped calm the boys when I did that with the tornadoes because they sat and watched the computer instead of concentrating on what was happening outside.
I will keep you all updated as we go through this journey!!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Hello!!!!!
We are still alive!! I am going through some major internet - and BLOGGING - withdraw!! You never know how much you depend on the internet until you don't have it! I use it as a phone book, I get my news from it, my weather - which is kinda important right now - I also use it for pre-shopping for big ticket items, which unfortunately this week, we have made several of!!
I am at the corporate house cleaning it before we turn the key in. Internet, phone, cable, etc should be on tomorrow at the new house. I don't know how long we will have it, the way things are looking right now with weather though.
Yesterday they announced that Gustav was going to hit the Gulf as a pretty major hurricane (they are saying Cat. 3 or 4 hurricane). Looking at the projected tracks last night, it appears to be making a beeline for US! If it stays on the tracks they are predicting (with a LOT of uncertainity as normal with these things), Baton Rouge is likely to take a direct hit. There are watches from Destin, Florida to Houston, TX. If it makes it to the gulf, we are in for some nasty weather WHEREEVER it actually makes landfall.
We spend HOURS last night looking for a generator. We had to buy a lawnmower this week, plus the normal stuff you have to buy when you move (trashcans, cleaning supplies, etc), so I was not planning on buying one until next month. Mother nature changed our minds. We have heard through several people that if our electricity (through a coop) goes out, we should expect it to be out for at least days. The first three stores we went into last night, we watched as people (smartly) protected their generator as they stood in line to purchase the LAST one. That is right...every store we watched the last generator being purchased. It was to the point where Paul was letting me out, I was running in the store and he would get the kids and come. We were so close everytime. We had a Lowe's and a Sears left to go to. I went running into Lowe's and there was ONE generator sitting on the floor. My butt was GLUED to the sucker! Paul came in, looked at the generator displays and saw a cheaper one that was just like the one I was sitting on. An employee came over to get a fork lift and I asked if they had anymore of the cheaper one (while my butt is still glued to the one on the floor). He said he thought there was ONE left. Paul went with him, I stayed on the generator until I KNEW we had one! There were three left overhead, and there were already two people waiting. If we had been one minute later....
Paul texted me that we were safe when he was sure we had one. I saw a man looking for a rolling cart, and I graciously gave him the cart I was holding and told him I had been saving that generator (that my butt was glued too) just for him. He was VERY appreciative.
All of that to say, we have a generator. We have a window air conditioner. We have extension cords. We have a weather radio and we have laptops (as long as we have internet access!!). If we do NOT get hit by this storm, we are now prepared. This was all stuff we planned on getting soon, just not a week and a half after moving in!!
Oh, by the way, even though we are not in a flood area and were told we did not need flood insurance, we spent the less than $1 a day on the most coverage we could get. So we are even ready for that!
People here do not kid around with this stuff anymore. They heard "storm possibly heading our way" and generators were GONE! I am sure air conditioners will be gone early this morning (there were only a few left at 9 last night). Luckily, the Lowes we went to was by a mall and not by neighborhoods. I think that is why all the other stores were out so quick.
In other news, the house is "unpacked" but we still have a lot of settling to do. It helps to have all of the boxes gone. We have a "garage" but it does not have doors. It was a carport and the previous owners finsihed it out, except for the doors. He made a breeze-way through it though so we will have to get double garage doors for the front and a single door for the back. When we unloaded we loaded all of the boxes in the "garage". That would have been great, but Faye paid us a visit. Even though it did not rain IN the garage (it did a times but most of the boxes would have been fine) the humidity was so high that everything in the boxes was feeling wet. So, I had to move them all inside and unpack QUICKLY. Again, Mother Nature can be very encouraging!!
Caleb still hates school, although we are losing the "beginning-of-the-year" attitude that we have EVERY year. He has lots of homework every night (except Friday) and does not get to talk much at school.
Isaac LOVES school. He is doing great, although he too has homework everynight, so he is adjusting to that. He is actually enjoying homework though because he LOVES the one on one time with it.
Bryce still hates school in the morning and likes it in the afternoon (sound familiar). He is not a morning person (sound familiar) and does not do well with us making him get up. He has made several friends already. He has also gotten in trouble several times already. He has quite the "imagination" (HMMM, meaning he lies a lot and says he is "playing" or "forgot" when you catch him). He mentioned something yesterday night about visiting the principal (after coming home with frowny faces on his behaviour chart). I asked if he was sent to the principal and he said "Yes to see what she does. That is where bad kids go". Then when we pushed if he went because he was in trouble he said he had never been. Sounds fishy to me!!
This Monday I made them start riding the bus. I was really back and forth on whether or not to let them. Isaac and Bryce were excited, Caleb was really nervous. He says bullies ride buses. Because we have spent so much time in the car this summer (bi-weekly trips to Arkansas, looking at houses, back and forth to school, etc) Andrew has grown to HATE the car (boy, he is in the WRONG family). I was spending almost 2 hours a day SITTING in lines at schools to drop off/pick up kids. Andrew was spending those two hours a day SCREAMING!! Not crying, just top-of-his-lungs SCREAMING. This was not making for good evenings for ANYONE. So, after hearing that Isaac and Bryce's bus had an aide on it, so the bus driver was not the only adult, that the school's had a zero-tolerance with kids causing problems on the buses, and that the kids got picked up and dropped off at the end of our driveway, I decided we were giving buses a try. So far, no problems! Caleb is not loving it, but he said it was fine and he would ride it. The other two are enjoying it. They get water to drink on the way home and snacks (what more could a five and six year old ask for)! Andrew is much happier, which is making MAMA MUCH HAPPIER (amazing what a 1 year old squeal for hours a day can do to your sanity)!
Daddy is traveling in a couple of weeks for a week. This will be his second time gone in over three months! Not bad! And they are Monday-Thursday or Friday trips. It is so nice having him home helping with dinner and homework.
Well, I will try to catch up over the next few days. Internet should be on early tomorrow. I have pictures, videos, stories etc. to come.
I am at the corporate house cleaning it before we turn the key in. Internet, phone, cable, etc should be on tomorrow at the new house. I don't know how long we will have it, the way things are looking right now with weather though.
Yesterday they announced that Gustav was going to hit the Gulf as a pretty major hurricane (they are saying Cat. 3 or 4 hurricane). Looking at the projected tracks last night, it appears to be making a beeline for US! If it stays on the tracks they are predicting (with a LOT of uncertainity as normal with these things), Baton Rouge is likely to take a direct hit. There are watches from Destin, Florida to Houston, TX. If it makes it to the gulf, we are in for some nasty weather WHEREEVER it actually makes landfall.
We spend HOURS last night looking for a generator. We had to buy a lawnmower this week, plus the normal stuff you have to buy when you move (trashcans, cleaning supplies, etc), so I was not planning on buying one until next month. Mother nature changed our minds. We have heard through several people that if our electricity (through a coop) goes out, we should expect it to be out for at least days. The first three stores we went into last night, we watched as people (smartly) protected their generator as they stood in line to purchase the LAST one. That is right...every store we watched the last generator being purchased. It was to the point where Paul was letting me out, I was running in the store and he would get the kids and come. We were so close everytime. We had a Lowe's and a Sears left to go to. I went running into Lowe's and there was ONE generator sitting on the floor. My butt was GLUED to the sucker! Paul came in, looked at the generator displays and saw a cheaper one that was just like the one I was sitting on. An employee came over to get a fork lift and I asked if they had anymore of the cheaper one (while my butt is still glued to the one on the floor). He said he thought there was ONE left. Paul went with him, I stayed on the generator until I KNEW we had one! There were three left overhead, and there were already two people waiting. If we had been one minute later....
Paul texted me that we were safe when he was sure we had one. I saw a man looking for a rolling cart, and I graciously gave him the cart I was holding and told him I had been saving that generator (that my butt was glued too) just for him. He was VERY appreciative.
All of that to say, we have a generator. We have a window air conditioner. We have extension cords. We have a weather radio and we have laptops (as long as we have internet access!!). If we do NOT get hit by this storm, we are now prepared. This was all stuff we planned on getting soon, just not a week and a half after moving in!!
Oh, by the way, even though we are not in a flood area and were told we did not need flood insurance, we spent the less than $1 a day on the most coverage we could get. So we are even ready for that!
People here do not kid around with this stuff anymore. They heard "storm possibly heading our way" and generators were GONE! I am sure air conditioners will be gone early this morning (there were only a few left at 9 last night). Luckily, the Lowes we went to was by a mall and not by neighborhoods. I think that is why all the other stores were out so quick.
In other news, the house is "unpacked" but we still have a lot of settling to do. It helps to have all of the boxes gone. We have a "garage" but it does not have doors. It was a carport and the previous owners finsihed it out, except for the doors. He made a breeze-way through it though so we will have to get double garage doors for the front and a single door for the back. When we unloaded we loaded all of the boxes in the "garage". That would have been great, but Faye paid us a visit. Even though it did not rain IN the garage (it did a times but most of the boxes would have been fine) the humidity was so high that everything in the boxes was feeling wet. So, I had to move them all inside and unpack QUICKLY. Again, Mother Nature can be very encouraging!!
Caleb still hates school, although we are losing the "beginning-of-the-year" attitude that we have EVERY year. He has lots of homework every night (except Friday) and does not get to talk much at school.
Isaac LOVES school. He is doing great, although he too has homework everynight, so he is adjusting to that. He is actually enjoying homework though because he LOVES the one on one time with it.
Bryce still hates school in the morning and likes it in the afternoon (sound familiar). He is not a morning person (sound familiar) and does not do well with us making him get up. He has made several friends already. He has also gotten in trouble several times already. He has quite the "imagination" (HMMM, meaning he lies a lot and says he is "playing" or "forgot" when you catch him). He mentioned something yesterday night about visiting the principal (after coming home with frowny faces on his behaviour chart). I asked if he was sent to the principal and he said "Yes to see what she does. That is where bad kids go". Then when we pushed if he went because he was in trouble he said he had never been. Sounds fishy to me!!
This Monday I made them start riding the bus. I was really back and forth on whether or not to let them. Isaac and Bryce were excited, Caleb was really nervous. He says bullies ride buses. Because we have spent so much time in the car this summer (bi-weekly trips to Arkansas, looking at houses, back and forth to school, etc) Andrew has grown to HATE the car (boy, he is in the WRONG family). I was spending almost 2 hours a day SITTING in lines at schools to drop off/pick up kids. Andrew was spending those two hours a day SCREAMING!! Not crying, just top-of-his-lungs SCREAMING. This was not making for good evenings for ANYONE. So, after hearing that Isaac and Bryce's bus had an aide on it, so the bus driver was not the only adult, that the school's had a zero-tolerance with kids causing problems on the buses, and that the kids got picked up and dropped off at the end of our driveway, I decided we were giving buses a try. So far, no problems! Caleb is not loving it, but he said it was fine and he would ride it. The other two are enjoying it. They get water to drink on the way home and snacks (what more could a five and six year old ask for)! Andrew is much happier, which is making MAMA MUCH HAPPIER (amazing what a 1 year old squeal for hours a day can do to your sanity)!
Daddy is traveling in a couple of weeks for a week. This will be his second time gone in over three months! Not bad! And they are Monday-Thursday or Friday trips. It is so nice having him home helping with dinner and homework.
Well, I will try to catch up over the next few days. Internet should be on early tomorrow. I have pictures, videos, stories etc. to come.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Closing Day!!
Today is closing day.
We were not sure if it would actually be today! But it all worked out and today is the day. I am leaving in about 15 minutes to go get kids from school and head to Baton Rouge.
I will try and post more tonight (between packing). We are going to Arkansas tomorrow and moving Saturday and Sunday - so I won't be blogging this weekend.
Next time I am on here, we will have....
TWO.....
HOUSES.....
:(
We were not sure if it would actually be today! But it all worked out and today is the day. I am leaving in about 15 minutes to go get kids from school and head to Baton Rouge.
I will try and post more tonight (between packing). We are going to Arkansas tomorrow and moving Saturday and Sunday - so I won't be blogging this weekend.
Next time I am on here, we will have....
TWO.....
HOUSES.....
:(
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
SO Behind
I PLANNED on catching up the blog today - Bryce's first day of school....one kid at home....
We all know what happens when I plan.
I got to drive to Beaumont instead.
Dropped the kids off at school. Drove to Beaumont to go to the bank (that is right, ALL the way to Beaumont just to go to the bank!), got back just in time to pick kids up. Went to do a final walk-through on the house, to the store to pick up something quick for dinner.
13 hours in the car...and AJ was NOT happy!!
I will try to do some catching up tomorrow (no promises though).
We all know what happens when I plan.
I got to drive to Beaumont instead.
Dropped the kids off at school. Drove to Beaumont to go to the bank (that is right, ALL the way to Beaumont just to go to the bank!), got back just in time to pick kids up. Went to do a final walk-through on the house, to the store to pick up something quick for dinner.
13 hours in the car...and AJ was NOT happy!!
I will try to do some catching up tomorrow (no promises though).
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Smart-A**
This morning I was getting on to Caleb for something and he said Bryce told him to do it. I asked if Bryce told him to jump off a bridge would he do it.
"It depends, is there water under the bridge?"
"It depends, is there water under the bridge?"
Thursday, August 07, 2008
House Inspection/Update
Last week we had the house inspection done. We had a GREAT inspector, very thorough with his work - to the point of checking to see if EVERY outlet in the house worked. To top it all off, we had a very professional report THAT NIGHT!! He sent us an email with a username and password so we could access it online and then also mailed the report. There were minor things on the list, that was it. There was a gas smell that the gas company is coming tomorrow to look at. The only thing that sucks is that the owners told us they were going to touch-up paint the house. It is a relocation and State Farm owns the house. Now they are saying they are not doing anything cosmetic to the house - including painting. They also won't let us in early just to paint because it is a liability. So, I get to patch holes (they have huge sheetrock screws/anchors still in the wall throughout the house) and paint with furniture in the house. YUCK!
The good news is there is a chance we could close as early as Tuesday. It was sent to underwriting yesterday. It usually takes 48-72 hours. If they have everything they need, we could possibly close the day the title company gets it or the next day. Everyone knows the situation with us and they are all working hard to get us in asap!
Keep your fingers crossed!
The good news is there is a chance we could close as early as Tuesday. It was sent to underwriting yesterday. It usually takes 48-72 hours. If they have everything they need, we could possibly close the day the title company gets it or the next day. Everyone knows the situation with us and they are all working hard to get us in asap!
Keep your fingers crossed!
The Poor Tree
The kids were hard at play for a couple of hours this evening with the little girl next door. They were pulling acorns out of the tree and then throwing them over the fence. They were happy. They were playing. NOONE was complaining. So, the tree got taken advantage of for a little peace for me! :)
Sorry tree.
On another note, Bryce gave the little girl some flowers this evening, and they are getting along VERY well. This is why I did not want the kids making a bunch of friends this summer - now they have to move away from their friend again.
They also spent a lot of time asking about the oldest son, that is autistic. Tomorrow we will have to have a talk about what autism is. They were not at all rude and the mother tried to explain things to them, but it is a difficult thing to explain to kids and they were not trying to pay too close attention. They kept asking why he doesn't talk. Caleb several times went and gave him some toys - which he took and played with. He went up to the mother and asked if he wanted to go play. She explained that he usually prefers to play by himself, but if he wanted to play he would go out and play with them - which he did for a little bit. The boys were very polite about their curiosity - which made me very proud of them!
Ants Everywhere!
Andrew was playing in the back this evening. He was sitting playing with a toy and when he got up and started walking to me he was picking at his arm. I went to look and he had a couple of ants on him. I picked them all off and next time I saw him his arm looked like this:
It was just the one arm, but I guess he was sitting next to an ant pile. They are horrible here - inside and out. Our catfood is kept in a plastic container. They some how managed to get inside the container. Paul went to feed the cat and more ants than food came out. We have sugar ants in the kitchen and ants upstairs. I had to take all of AJ's clothes out of the closet (his clothes were on a bottom rod) because they had ants all in them. They have put out ant poison and sprayed outside, but I honestly think it may be making them worse INSIDE.
You could tell it was bothering AJ - he was picking at his arm a lot. He would try and pick off each swollen bite. But he never cried or squealed. Just calmly walked to me while trying to wipe and pick off ants. This is one time I wish he HAD screamed!!!
It was just the one arm, but I guess he was sitting next to an ant pile. They are horrible here - inside and out. Our catfood is kept in a plastic container. They some how managed to get inside the container. Paul went to feed the cat and more ants than food came out. We have sugar ants in the kitchen and ants upstairs. I had to take all of AJ's clothes out of the closet (his clothes were on a bottom rod) because they had ants all in them. They have put out ant poison and sprayed outside, but I honestly think it may be making them worse INSIDE.
You could tell it was bothering AJ - he was picking at his arm a lot. He would try and pick off each swollen bite. But he never cried or squealed. Just calmly walked to me while trying to wipe and pick off ants. This is one time I wish he HAD screamed!!!
AJ Potty's More
This post was from last week - I forgot to post it though.
"AJ peepeed in the potty!" That is our song! He did again this morning. He still likes to sit on it, but he seems to prefer to stand up to pee. He will sit on the potty for quite a while, stand up, pee and then sit back down on the potty. Unfortunately for him, he is WAY too short for the toilet so he can't stand and use the potty. But, I found this:
That is right, a potty training urinal - it even flushes!!
Seriously, I am not pushing him on the potty training too hard. He isn't even 16 months. But, I LOVE that he is SO excited about the potty. I don't think as long as he is showing interest, no matter what his age, I should do anything but encourage him.
We got him some underwear - he LOVES wearing them. He has always preferred nudity over clothing, so underwear instead of a diaper is as close as he can get to nude!
"AJ peepeed in the potty!" That is our song! He did again this morning. He still likes to sit on it, but he seems to prefer to stand up to pee. He will sit on the potty for quite a while, stand up, pee and then sit back down on the potty. Unfortunately for him, he is WAY too short for the toilet so he can't stand and use the potty. But, I found this:
That is right, a potty training urinal - it even flushes!!
Seriously, I am not pushing him on the potty training too hard. He isn't even 16 months. But, I LOVE that he is SO excited about the potty. I don't think as long as he is showing interest, no matter what his age, I should do anything but encourage him.
We got him some underwear - he LOVES wearing them. He has always preferred nudity over clothing, so underwear instead of a diaper is as close as he can get to nude!
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
It's a Small World...
We got new neighbors. Being in corporate housing you don't know what to expect when new people are moving in. The people that were there (we are in a duplex - so this is the attached unit)were three or four guys that come home in the evening and smoke and drink. They were nice enough - we spoke to them a few times, but we always felt like we were disturbing them. Not that anyone was doing anything, but come on, I live with five guys. Frequently, to be heard you have to be LOUDER than they are - so it makes for a loud house.
So, our new neighbors moved in while we were in Arkansas last weekend. Monday, after running errands, I met the mother. It is a family - Dad, Mom, a seven year old boy, five year old girl and 18 month old boy (named DREW!!). The seven year old is autistic, so the boys don't really get to play with him, but the little girl - WOW she can talk (and very loud). Andrew and Drew actually play well together (they both suck the thumb on the same hand - SO cute). What is really ironic is that they are from Maumelle, Arkansas - which is where Paul worked (hence, the small world).
I don't feel as bad about the noise level over on our side now, but still would LOVE it to be quieter!!
So, our new neighbors moved in while we were in Arkansas last weekend. Monday, after running errands, I met the mother. It is a family - Dad, Mom, a seven year old boy, five year old girl and 18 month old boy (named DREW!!). The seven year old is autistic, so the boys don't really get to play with him, but the little girl - WOW she can talk (and very loud). Andrew and Drew actually play well together (they both suck the thumb on the same hand - SO cute). What is really ironic is that they are from Maumelle, Arkansas - which is where Paul worked (hence, the small world).
I don't feel as bad about the noise level over on our side now, but still would LOVE it to be quieter!!
Do You Ever....
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Guess what I feel like?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Do you ever feel like a broken record?
Guess what I feel like?
Dance Party
Since Drew-Drew is so into dancing, I got him two Fisher Price cds last week - Disco Dance Party and Giddy Up - Country Sing Along. He loves listening to music, especially fast paced songs (like disco).
The disco cd has the hokey pokey on it. I sit on the floor and make his body parts do what the song says. He LOVES it. By half way through the song the first time, he was shaking it all about on his own. I think he could possibly have a favorite song now.
He also loves our Brian Kinder cd, that is one of Bryce's favorite (along with Jack Johnson's soundtrack to Curious George).
The boy has some rhythm in his blood!! I swear he is going to be playing the harmonica professionally by the time he is five. He still loves playing it with Daddy.
The disco cd has the hokey pokey on it. I sit on the floor and make his body parts do what the song says. He LOVES it. By half way through the song the first time, he was shaking it all about on his own. I think he could possibly have a favorite song now.
He also loves our Brian Kinder cd, that is one of Bryce's favorite (along with Jack Johnson's soundtrack to Curious George).
The boy has some rhythm in his blood!! I swear he is going to be playing the harmonica professionally by the time he is five. He still loves playing it with Daddy.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
TS Edouard
Good afternoon from us here in Louisiana where it is a breezy (WINDY) 78 degrees. That is right - 78 degrees in AUGUST!!! It is raining, we are getting the edge of TS Edouard but it is nice and comfy sitting on the back porch!
I will be happy if we never come any closer to a hurricane!
I will be happy if we never come any closer to a hurricane!
Monday, August 04, 2008
School/House Update
I talked to a guy on the school board here to see if the boys would be able to start school Monday, even if we had not closed. Because it is the number one school in the state, there are a lot of people that try to get their kids in, so it was obvious that he did not like doing this. After explaining exactly what the situation was, and that we had not sold our house (he wanted us to bring proof that we were moving from Arkansas - like paperwork from the sell of our house). I told him that we had not sold our house, but that we were buying a house anyway. I also had to explain that I don't have the boys final report cards (the school did not send them even though I gave them a self-addressed, stamped envelope like they told me to. Basically, I have NOTHING that they really want other than birth certificates and social security cards. I don't even have shot records and I don't have a fax machine (Daddy is out of town this week).
He told me to come in in the morning and he would look over the purchase agreement and report cards and ok a temporary enrollment for the boys. He agreed that it would not be in the boys best interest to miss the first week. He also pointed out that if we have to start the boys in another school, it would probably mean a different uniform (YES--a MAN thinking like this!!), and did not think that would be fair for us.
So, the boys will be starting schools Monday. I will be driving 35 to 45 minutes (depending on traffic) four times a day.
OUCH!!!
YUCK!!!
That hurts and sucks to say!
PLEASE let us close at least on time!!
He told me to come in in the morning and he would look over the purchase agreement and report cards and ok a temporary enrollment for the boys. He agreed that it would not be in the boys best interest to miss the first week. He also pointed out that if we have to start the boys in another school, it would probably mean a different uniform (YES--a MAN thinking like this!!), and did not think that would be fair for us.
So, the boys will be starting schools Monday. I will be driving 35 to 45 minutes (depending on traffic) four times a day.
OUCH!!!
YUCK!!!
That hurts and sucks to say!
PLEASE let us close at least on time!!
Bryce Goes to the Dr.
Bryce went to the dr today for his five year old check-up, so that I was sure he was ready for enrollment. He weighs 38 pounds. Pretty impressive for him! He is just over 36 1/2 inches tall. Right at average for heigth and about 25% for weight - long and skinny!
We did not think he had to have shots, but turns out he had to have four. Two in his leg and one in each arm. He did great! Not a tear - just a couple of flinches! I think that is his stubborness coming out because his brothers kept talking about how he did not cry when he got his flu shot and what a "big boy" he is about shots. Again, one of those times when it is great to have competitive kids.
He is in great shape and ready to start school!
We did not think he had to have shots, but turns out he had to have four. Two in his leg and one in each arm. He did great! Not a tear - just a couple of flinches! I think that is his stubborness coming out because his brothers kept talking about how he did not cry when he got his flu shot and what a "big boy" he is about shots. Again, one of those times when it is great to have competitive kids.
He is in great shape and ready to start school!
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Trouble Brewing
I had heard last week that there was a storm brewing off the coast of Africa (which is where the storms that turn in to hurricanes that hit here). There was talk about whether or not it would turn into a hurricane.
I watch this now for obvious reasons - the fact that it now has the potential to directly effect us, but there is another reason at the moment. Paul talked to our realtor Friday about the fact that the homeowners insurance person she gave me to call was taking a little longer to get us some quotes. It is VERY important that we get this quickly, because we are trying to close on the house so quickly. She said that if there is a potential for a hurricane, they will stall writing insurance and if it gets in the gulf, they suspend writing policies.
Friday, things looked okay. I got online a while ago and looked at the news because it appeared that a bad storm had gone through Louisiana and Mississippi. On our way home there were branches down all over the place. Instead of finding info on that, I found where Tropical Depression 5 turned into Tropical Storm Eduardo today. It formed pretty close to Louisiana at the mouth of the Mississippi. It appears that it is headed to Texas - with the possibility of becoming a hurricane, BUT keep your fingers crossed that we will get our insurance in place BEFORE hand, otherwise we might not close on time! :(
I watch this now for obvious reasons - the fact that it now has the potential to directly effect us, but there is another reason at the moment. Paul talked to our realtor Friday about the fact that the homeowners insurance person she gave me to call was taking a little longer to get us some quotes. It is VERY important that we get this quickly, because we are trying to close on the house so quickly. She said that if there is a potential for a hurricane, they will stall writing insurance and if it gets in the gulf, they suspend writing policies.
Friday, things looked okay. I got online a while ago and looked at the news because it appeared that a bad storm had gone through Louisiana and Mississippi. On our way home there were branches down all over the place. Instead of finding info on that, I found where Tropical Depression 5 turned into Tropical Storm Eduardo today. It formed pretty close to Louisiana at the mouth of the Mississippi. It appears that it is headed to Texas - with the possibility of becoming a hurricane, BUT keep your fingers crossed that we will get our insurance in place BEFORE hand, otherwise we might not close on time! :(
Trip to Arkansas
We had a last minute trip to Arkansas this weekend. We knew we would not make it down again to do the mowing, etc until we go to move. On top of that, when we DO go move, we will only have Saturday and Sunday to load and unload everything (plus 14 hours of driving).
I spent about 8 hours Saturday and about 3 hours this morning packing. I have the kitchen about 95% done. That is where I spent the most time - wrapping and packing everything. Andrew's room is done, Bryce's is done, Caleb and Isaac's is done. There bathroom is also done. Our bedroom is done, bathroom/closet still has a little more to do. Then there is the utility room. The garage....OH MY!!! We did not even touch it - so that will be a nightmare!
Tonight when we got home, we had corn on the cob with our dinner. Andrew LOVED the corn on the cob. He kept trying to eat the ends, so I had to hold it for him, but he liked eating it off the cob.
Another busy weekend. We are SO ready to have things calm down and get back to "normal".
I spent about 8 hours Saturday and about 3 hours this morning packing. I have the kitchen about 95% done. That is where I spent the most time - wrapping and packing everything. Andrew's room is done, Bryce's is done, Caleb and Isaac's is done. There bathroom is also done. Our bedroom is done, bathroom/closet still has a little more to do. Then there is the utility room. The garage....OH MY!!! We did not even touch it - so that will be a nightmare!
Tonight when we got home, we had corn on the cob with our dinner. Andrew LOVED the corn on the cob. He kept trying to eat the ends, so I had to hold it for him, but he liked eating it off the cob.
Another busy weekend. We are SO ready to have things calm down and get back to "normal".
Friday, August 01, 2008
Daddy's Little Wingman
Daddy spent last weekend putting a rack and some trail lights on his Jeep. One evening he had to run to Walmart for some parts. He took Andrew with him and made some joking comments about how I had better hope they come home because Andrew is such a GREAT wingman!
When they got inside Paul stopped close to the flowers to buckle Andrew in the cart. Andrew started making his grunting noises at pointing at them. Paul took him up to it and Andrew picked out some roses for me. They are gorgeous.
By the way, if he wasn't a good wingman before the flowers....Paul said that Andrew held the roses while they were getting what they needed and he was getting lots of "oohhs and aaahhhs" from ladies at the store.
When they got inside Paul stopped close to the flowers to buckle Andrew in the cart. Andrew started making his grunting noises at pointing at them. Paul took him up to it and Andrew picked out some roses for me. They are gorgeous.
By the way, if he wasn't a good wingman before the flowers....Paul said that Andrew held the roses while they were getting what they needed and he was getting lots of "oohhs and aaahhhs" from ladies at the store.
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