PMS

I am sitting here at my machine eating a giant pickle my brother from New York mailed me and a nest of crinkled dove wrappers on the desk. I noticed that my last blog had a twinge of pms in it. For all of you who experienced my "mood" yesterday, sorry, it was the lovely PMS. Now sometimes this "thing" just creeps up on me and whispers in my ear, "go to the refrigerator", "Curl up in a blanket and hide". Yesterdays little friend just took me for a ride. Don't you hate it when feel you have no control? I tell my hubby, its the day, and he instantly knows to back away slowly and reminds the kids its a lets make mom happy day and takes them out to Burger King. I did show some motherly love to my little buddy who beggged me to take him on a long bike ride. I thought the air would make me feel better. But I have to say that I never crunched over so many bumpy acorns in my life. "Isn't this fun mommy?" my little 4 year old speed demon would call back to me? "Yes, Sweetie, --chug chug---huff huff--but lets not do that hill a fifth time again ok?" I am back home, with hot pad and hubby making dinner. I guess there are perks to this nightmare they call the "visitor".

We may not have electricity but we have always had power.

At sacrament meeting this morning you could see families in jeans and yellow tee shirts with helping hand logos. We have a continual commitment to help other. The calamities came and With our name of our church on our shirt.The lord established a means so people could see that there was helping hands already in place to alleviate the suffering.. The whole meeting was in yellow with the exception of a few. Me being one- I apparently did not get the memo to come to church in jeans and a tee shirt. I felt a Little uncomfortable about that. I fell out side of the loop . It hurt a little. I have lost myself over the past few days. But I know from experience that losing yourself in service, you find yourselves.. Brett picked up our shirts and got instructions of where to go serve. He will go cut down trees and heavy lifting. I am a different circumstance with small children. Our work will have to be helping those around our neighborhood however we can. We may feel like that our efforts to help are insignificant. But the lord and those we serve, know the rue value of our efforts. My kids do want to serve. This is especially hard for me because I would love to be the one with the chainsaw and hauling large trees. Hard labor makes me happy. I am going to have to think of a way that with imaginary chain saws I can cut down some of the barriers with friends.. Haul heavy hurt feelings and place them in a pile and just leave them there. How can I make a difference? I had a sad heart at church.. I have been yearning to help- why did I feel as though I did not belong?

I am very grateful for the service we held, a few ward business and to see what needed to be done. The sacrament came and I was holding on to braed. I will make him strong and want to serve. and Dev also. President Barrow spoke- I am glad he did, I needed it . He said that many have been without electricity and still are but what we never lost was our POWER. What a strong statement. I do have power. the power to help, power from God. I need to rely on my own strengths and His power. I served 21 people dinner the other night from my ward who had their power turned on a few hours before. Having the lights come on and seeing for the first time all of the work you have to do, you just don't want to make dinner. I was that way a few days before. This makes me happy. I do have power and I pray it will shine enough for others to see.

Our closing hymn was Because I have been given much.
http://www.celestial-visions.com/wav/because.wav click
"Because I have been given much, I too must give;
Because of thy great bounty, Lord, each day I live.
I shall divide my gifts from thee, with every brother that I see
who has the need of help from me.

Because I have been sheltered , fed by thy good care
I cannot see anther's lack and I not share.
My glowing fire, my loaf of bread. My roofs safe shelter overhead.
That he too may be comforted.


Because I have been blessed by thy great love, dear Lord.
I'll share thy love again, according to Thy word.
I shall give love to those in need; I'll show that love by word and deed:
Thus shall my thanks be thanks in deed."

I had a hard time singing since my throat closed with emotion. I was filled with the spirit.
Our ward family and our family worldwide, there is a continual commitment to help others. I was clear- I knew where I needed to serve right away.

My thoughts on Ike

We are one of the very few who have a pockets of power in our neighborhood. Some have turned off again so I am going to post while I can. I thought of posting the pictures I took but then I decided you have probably seen your share of photos. I decided to list the things I liked and disliked about Ike.
My best moments of Ike
Holding my boys at night. Prayer. The quiet after the storm. Sitting on my porch and watching the children play games from my childhood. Knowing that if I lost everything except my family I would be ok. cuddling. having my hubby home from work. no conference calls. Good neighbors who pull together. Grilling. My church family. Inspired order. Loved ones voices of concern. text messaging. A breeze. deodorant. cool showers. air conditioned cars. Generator and gas. not being a pioneer in Texas. a stocked pantry. family within 1 tank of gas. insurance. spending time just looking at the sky. family. The sound of the Popsicle truck. laughing.
Things I didn't like:
Seeing my children worry. Incredibly loud wind. The unknown. opening the door to see the damage. No communication. broken generator. sleepless nights. The HEAT! sweat. humidity. no power. the heat! throwing away contents of 2 refrig and freezers. Bad news. Finding drenched squirrels clutched to the ground. debris. no flush mandate. Full to capacity sewers. Mosquitoes. fallen trees. holes in roofs. Seeing others pain. deductibles. long gas lines. not knowing when this all will end.

Ike

Target, Yes, it is open and I actually bought something here. My hubby accidentally sawed over the extention cord. oops. You see those little boxes hanging from the preparedness Aisle? well, if you are coming here to shop, you might get a keychain flashlight.

Ike

Another Aisle completely out was toilet paper. I had a thought while there. Since we probably will be sustaining hurricane force winds for 24 hours, how is my dog going to go? It is not like I can open the door and let her out. She won't even go if the sprinklers are on nearby.

I am sure you are thinking, why am I shopping, Actually, I am not that crazy, I just thought I would get some reminders of this day. The lines were out of this world.

This was the line at Home depot, JUST TO GET IN!!! I tried to pan out as far as I could, the line wrapped around the building. Police at entrance and exit. I talked to a girl who was about at the middle, she had been in that line for about 2 hours. I am so glad I am prepared. Yikes.

Ike

Last night we had a plywood block party. We cut and placed boards to the homes in the culdesac. We have such great neighbors and you certainly need them in times like these. Our little neighbor boy was supposed to have his birthday tommarow during the hurricane so we gathered together some dinner and she brought out the cake and we celebrated in the middle of the street. I don't think he will forget this birthday any time soon. During the preparations, I went and checked my email. I had to post this from Braedens soccer coach. "Im sure we are all watching Ike in the Gulf and the game has already been canceled for Sat. Im open to having practice today. I figure worst case the kids get to run around and have some fun today. Let me know if you will be at practice today...." Soccer was definitly not on the forefront of my mind. The kids did have fun running around but there were tears from some of the little ones who do not understand and are afraid. "Why are you boarding the windows?" Do you tell them that in case the wind shatters them or something could hit it? Every answer was different. Devin on the other hand had already read books on hurricanes and tornadoes and proceeded to give advice. I pulled him aside and told him that maybe that was not such a good idea. Sometimes not knowing is ok. Here is out house almost boarded. Ok, don't look at the trimming. We hope that Ike will take care of that for us :-) Some views on our street and around the community.

Almost done. Ok, don't look at the trimming. We are hoping that Ike will take care of that one :-)

some views around my culdesac

The bread aisle. You see that at the very end is food. It is all ding dongs and twinkies. So if you are not prepared, you will eat junk.

Ike

This morning I woke up and turned on the news to see the projected path for Ike. Brett and I sat over breakfast talking about things we needed to do today to prepare. Ok, we need to dismantle the trampoline, swing set and get the outdoor furniture in. Do we need to get boards? I know all of my neighbors have them and some are already up on their windows. Where are the candles and the flashlights? Maybe we ought to buy some tarps in case we have some roof damage. What about those loads of laundry I should finish before there is no power? I should fill some water containers and put them in the freezer so we will have more ice. Should we leave? I mean it is still 95 degrees and without air conditioning it will be sooooo muggy. On the other hand what a pain it was to evacuate last time. Oh, shoot, I forgot we are out of dog food. I know it will be a mess going to the store. In the background we hear the weather channel telling us that this storm should not be treated lightly. My brain is in hurricane mode and at the same time I am putting Devins backpack on and sending on his bike with his friends for school. That was such a strange feeling, Preparing for the worst and seeing your child riding off and giggling with his friends on the way to school. School is not dismissed until tomorrow. Ok, I have a hair appointment today that I have been waiting for a long time. I decide to go. I am feeling pretty odd going to do this as I pass lines of cars waiting for gas and police almost at every corner. Once I am in there, I am glad. Just my little escape for the day. I think, well, if I don't have power for a few days or whatever, at least my hair will look good. lol. I know that sounds prissy. Off to home depot. I call my friend from there-"what are you crazy?!" she cried. Once inside I say, yes, yes, I am. All of this for a tarp. There are cars lined up throughout the parking lot to get the wood for their homes. I call my hubby. "Are you sure you only want me to get a TARP?" you start to get caught up in every ones craziness and panic. I am back in my car and reassess my preparations. I feel pretty good we feel prepared. On the way home, I could not help but to stop by and pick up some glow sticks and pop rocks for the kids. You have to be prepared right?

Back to Preschool

"I don't want to go to preschool mom, I have a new teacher and not Miss Susan. "
Mom, "What if I take you to get a donut on the way, would that be ok?"

Yeah, I am a happy boy now!

Still not sure about going in the builing.
Braeden is extremely shy when meeting a new teacher and this time was no exception. His arms were like vice grips around my neck, he was making sure that I stayed with him. I stayed for a few songs and then it was time. The teacher pried him from me and off I went. I stayed around the corner and had someone spy on him for me. " He is standing in the corner", "He is sitting close to the group", "He is in the group but not singing, but still frowning" Ok, I know he is going to be ok. Still, I feel a little sad knowing he is scared. He has the same kids in his class from last year so I know he has ready made good friends. I walked in the building to pick him up and there he was with a smile on his face and could not wait to tell me about the fun day he had with his new teacher. Whew!

Labor day at Holly lake

We had so much fun this weekend. We visited Grams and Gramps at Holly Lake for our holiday. The kids always like to go play a round or two of miniture golf and have slushies in the clubhouse when they come here. We took rides in the golf cart around the lake to look for deer. They have so much fun steering, it makes them feel so grown up. Of course we ate a ton of good food and played games on end. The kids could not stop talking about the bingo game. I think I should look into getting one of those. It was a big hit! We spent Monday on the lake. As I am writing Braeden says"when it bumps around, I like to jump. I go sooo fast!" Both of the boys liked to go as fast as the engine could take them. We also spent some time in the canoe. Ok, I think waverunners is the way to go. They each took their turn rowing and trying to rock the boat. No smooth sailing with boys, it always has to be an adventure! I found out there were muscles I have not used in a long time from waterskiing. I can barely walk today and just brushing my hair hurts. I think a workout is in order. We ended the day with Pizza and we snoozed as soon as we started home in the car. Sorry Brett. We hit the rainstorms from Gustov on our way back to Houston and we were glad to come home to sunny clear skies. Thank you for a great weekend Grams and Gramps!

I got my Wolf!

I got my wolf! Devin earned his wolf a gold
and two silver arrows, his bb gun beltloop,
and archery beltloop. When the Scout Master
asked him about how he earned these he told
him and when he asked him how many targets
he hit, he said "Well, actually I didn't hit any."
I guess it is the trying that counts. I think he
should get a medal for being so honest. :-)
He made a smore tie holder and ate a ton of
chocolate, marshmellows and graham crackers.
Now on to more belt loops and arrows!