mommy...

I was determined not to stay in the house all day today, so we got up and ready and headed to the park. Nice mommy. I even brought snacks and water. Good mommy. The kids played and I got to read my book. Happy mommy. We went out to lunch. Tired mommy. We got a milkshake with our meal AND ice cream cones after. Bad mommy.

While I was busy talking to a nice lady at the park, Eden helped herself and her brothers to the contents of my purse, which included the camera. I had no clue what they were up to until I downloaded the pictures. I guess I should be paying closer attention (OR maybe I will just invent a mild shock system for anyone who touches my purse besides moi! My mom used to get so mad when I got in her purse and I thought she was nuts. Oh mommy, I am so sorry. You were a good mommy and I was a naughty girl!)

We dined at Braum’s and we did have a reason to celebrate…we got to see Alex and Eliza and meet baby Lisa! The other day we were riding in the car and Landon said, "Mom, where's Alex?" He was so sad when I told him that he and Eliza moved away. We love the Wu's!

Looking at Eden and Carter with Lisa in these pictures made me think they would be great helpers with another one…if only their mom and dad had enough stamina to keep up.

It's 2 a.m...

Do you know where your kids are? Thought I did!

Do I consider this more proof of sleep walking?

Please oh PLEASE...

Let Damian get home safely, and almost as importantly
please make sure that he doesn't enjoy the ride too much.

After we sent Damian back home to work, the kids and I planned to take full advantage of our time here in Colleyville with electricity. We got our air conditioning fix this morning and spent the afternoon at the park with our cousins. The kids got some energy out and some sand in all those crevices sand should not be.

Note to self: take cute cousin pictures at the beginning of fun park outing, not the end.

How come no one in my circle of friends and family has clued me in on COSTA VIDA?

Seriously? It even knocked Café Rio down a few notches. Same style, but I liked the salad, dressing and tortillas better. Yum, oh yum come and getcha some! It even had surfing footage and a water wall that entertained the kids. All I needed was a little chocolate when I got home and I was set. Thanks Kris for treating us for dinner and introducing my taste buds to some serious satisfaction.

As I walking out to the car I saw this:

Then this:

And while I was fixing that this happened:

Whose kids are those anyways?

Disclaimer 1*: the rock was small, and when thrown did not leave a dent in either of the cars.

Disclaimer 2*: the light globe on top of the pole was already really loose before anyone scaled the pole.

**If my association with these children prevents my consumption of Costa Vida food or allows Costa Vida to refuse me service at any time in the future, then I claim no responsibility for them or their behavior. (I might know who their dad is though.)**

cHimP-LiKe...

We spent the day at the Ft. Worth Zoo. I am not sure about my kids, but my favorite animals were the chimps. How amazing is it that they are so human-like yet oh so hairy? They were putting on quite a show for us today.

Picture this:

3 adult chimp and 1 little chimp just chillin’. Then all of a sudden, little chimp starts acting majorly hyperactive, swinging and running chimp-like all over the habitat. Out steps big chimp #1 and grabs little chimp’s wrist, wrestles him to the ground and then sits on him. No joke; Big ol’ chimp bootie on little chimp for a full on 30 seconds! After that scenario repeats itself a couple of times, big chimp grabs little chimp and puts him in a certified WWF headlock and proceeds to tickle little chimp, who laughs all loud and chimp-like. Then, picture a game of ‘you can’t get past me!’ with little chimp laughing when he gets smashed against the wall and big chimp mocking little chimp with a noogie and a chimp-like victory dance. All this is followed by a hug, cuddle, and a little picking the bugs out of your hair and eating them because I love you.

Seriously, I saw it all. It reminded me so much of life at our house (well, we don’t eat the bugs we get off each other though) that it made me wonder. We had a great time. Perfect weather, great company, and me wondering just how sure I am that chimp life wouldn’t be better than my life. Just think. All the play and no responsibilities!? The hair would get kinda itchy though, and I bet they don’t feed them chocolate in there. Never mind.

** I shouldn’t be allowed to type on my computer past 11 p.m.**

This is what I should have written about the zoo. I love stealing from other people's blogs! Thanks, Jen!

• What was cool is that we even had Diego as our tour guide (see my Mom in her safari hat).

• My sit and stand stroller can easily push along 4 kids.
• Jeff and Ruth really are the cutest couple of the year!
• Jami and Ava couldn't stop dancing - especially at the penguin exhibit where they both had "Happy Feet" and Nolan joined in.
• Nolan loved the monkey's... probably because he acts like one half the time. With all of his grunts - I figured I could just leave him there at the zoo and he could quite possibly fit in.
  
• My Mom truly loves being a Mimi. I love watching her with her grand kids, and thinking about the joy that she must have gotten out of raising us. I try to remember that when I'm pulling my hair out in my current stage of life. I love how she's always there to help and assist... and puts aside any of her own plans, desires or wants just to be with the kids. It means a lot to me...
• Nolan actually held onto my Mom's hand for a while... the kid hates hand holding and LOVES to explore. After I was buckling Nolan in for the 50th time, Damian was like "Plip, there are like 6 adults here that can help look after him that you don't need to have him in the stroller all the time." I said, okay - watch this. I got Nolan out and he just took off... D was so great to tag behind him... and even take him into the bird atrium with him. It's the cutest thing to see your brothers with your kids.
• Jeff had fun taking the kids in the little underground dome thing to show them all the snake food - aka mice.
• Ava told us that penguins are now her favorite animal - kinda figured that after wanting to rewatch "Surf's Up" over and over... she loves her some Cody Maverick!
• Damian had Eden do a pull-up on a tree branch - so naturally Ava had to join in and do the same. I think she'd jump off a cliff if Eden or Carter did... she just adores her cousins!
• As we were leaving Ava and Damian were "racing" to the front of the zoo. It was so cute to see them together and cute to see Ava running her little bootie off!! She did pretty good, maybe she'll be a runner like her Daddy and like her Mom once was.
• Damian pointing out the crocodile that rides the short bus.

meet RUTH...

Night #2 without air conditioning was so not cool. No pun intended. We all woke up uncomfortable and sweaty, and by 10 am all of the kids’ hair was matted to their faces. When we heard it would most likely a week until our power was restored, we waved our white flag and loaded up the car for Damian's parents.

We left behind tons of work cleaning up around our house, but we knew it would be there when we got back and we knew Jeff and Ruth were still in town. We LOVE Ruth! She is down to earth, great with kids, helpful, thoughtful, intelligent, and perfect for Jeff! They are so cute together!

I got to take their engagement pictures. Engagement shoots are probably my favorite sittings because the couples are always so happy, and for lack of a better word it is intimate. Once they get comfortable, I get to see the chemistry between them and how they really interact. It is fun challenge for me to try to capture that with my camera, and to be honest I am a hopeless romantic so I just can’t get enough! (So Damian, if you are ever wondering why I come home from a photo shoot ready for a hot date, now you know.) Jeff and Ruth are so cute together! Did I say that already? I had so much fun spending time with them and couldn’t be happier for their upcoming marriage…in, um, two weeks!

Ike blew!

Amazing what the insulation of an interior closet will do! I slept like a baby until Carter woke me up at 3 am because he had to go to the bathroom. He went right back to sleep, but I found Damian pacing the floor looking worried. He said if any of the windows were going to blow it would be in the kids rooms, so he headed upstairs to barricade them with their mattresses. I sat in the hallway literally too scared to move, but wanting to follow my husband around like a puppy dog so he could protect me. I have never been in a storm like that, nor heard our house shake and rattle as it was pounded with sheets of rain and relentless gusts of 70-90 mph howling winds.

As the sun came up, and we realized the worst was over we were relieved to find that we were still standing with no major damage! As soon as the rain let up, we were anxious to get out and see how the rest of the neighborhood fared. To sum it up, we were so lucky! Several trees around our neighborhood snapped like toothpicks, although some of our nearby neighbors weren’t. We saw many houses damaged, and some even with trees through them. Even 70 miles from the coast, hurricane Ike left major damage in his path.

The power went out last night about 11 pm, and we along with 4 million other Houstonians are still in the dark. According to our battery powered radio, it could be up to a month to restore power to everyone. We are also being told that all water needs to be boiled because of a sewer back up into the water supply. Schools in our district will remain closed for a week, along with many other businesses who incurred damage. I am so grateful we had a little warning and were prepared, but nothing can quite prepare you to brace yourself for the heat and humidity when you are used to the comfort provided by air conditioning! Things could have been a LOT worse, so we will take a little sweat. We, along with all of Houston, are glad that Ike took a hike! So sorry to all those in the northeast who are now suffering his wrath.

Ike blows!

You could feel the panic and anxiety in the air today. Everyone is scrambling to prepare for Hurricane Ike. It has already hit Galveston basically wiped away the west beaches and is charted to come straight over us. Everyone within a 100 mile radius is stocking up on gas, batteries, food, water and ice. The stores are absolutely crazy, and their shelves are literally empty. (I found it humorous that almost everyone viewed large amounts of beer and alcohol as essentials in addition to the water and ice.) Most gas stations have run out of gas, and those left with it have cars waiting over an hour to fill up. The ATM’s have no cash. The hardware stores are completely sold out of their plywood and generators, and yards have been emptied as everything movable has been brought inside or thrown in backyard pools.

We are grateful that we have been taught by our church leaders to prepare for times like this, although it is hard not to become victims of panic like everyone else as we braced for the storm. However, as a gift to me and my family I had this incredible fatigue that knocked me out for a good 3 hour nap today. A gift because I know I would have been a mess stressing over what was about to happen. I am confident I would have been a nervous wreck!

These are some of the other things we did to prepare:

- filled all of our bathtubs and sinks with water (to use for toilet water or bathing)

- made sure both our cars had full tanks

- replenished our cash stash (what happened to the last one???)

- checked our battery supply, flashlights, and radio to make sure they worked

- took apart the trampoline

- took the canopy and swings off the swing set

- brought in all the pots, chairs, table, toys, grill, and our pink flamingo (joking)

- made sure all toilets were scrubbed (all toilets should be clean before any natural disaster, right?)

- verified we had all our important documents protected

- grilled all the meat we could and stuffed ourselves with ice cream (melted ice cream would be such a shame!)

- bought a shotgun (apparently we are of the mind: ‘you loot, we shoot’)

- set up our beds in the master closets (Eden was so excited!)

- cleaned our house from top to bottom (have you figured out I am a little OCD yet?)

- cleaned out our garage (see above, but actually Damian started this one)

- moved our furniture away from the big windows

- took pictures of all our belongings for insurance (I knew I cleaned for a reason)

- backed up all our documents and pictures onto external hard drives (I was solely thinking of not wanting to let down the readers of my blog)

Before we barricaded ourselves in for the night, we took a walk around the neighborhood. It was almost eerily quiet except for the wind that was already fiercely blowing. I tried to take some pictures that would show how strong the gusts already were.

(Darn good thing Damian doesn't have a blog!)

The kids wanted to fly a kite, but apparently dollar store Spiderman kites

aren’t made for hurricane force winds.

The final calm before the storm was this amazing sunset, which I did not edit at all!

Damian had to remind me several times that we have done all that we can to prepare, so we just need to relax and enjoy the hurricane. Yes, Damian was excited to ride the storm out, and had he not been afraid the windows would have blown out if he opened the door he would have gone outside at the height of it all to have the ‘real experience.’ We hunkered down as the wind howled, grateful we had a sturdy (hopefully) house to keep us warm and dry.