Ready Or Not!

If you know Southeast Texas you know that when it comes to hurricanes it's not a matter of if but when the hurricane will strike.  We survived Hurricane Ike in 2008 (the link takes you to my posts from 2008--just scroll through to Sept. 2008 until you see some posts about the hurricane).  We only had to endure two weeks without power.  Yes, it was somewhat uncomfortable, but definitely doable.   We learned a few things that year showing us that we weren't as prepared as we thought. 

So, for the first time ever, our family attended the annual Hurricane Preparedness Workshop here in Houston, TX.  Why did it take us so long to get there?  I can give two reasons:  (1) Our schedules never allowed us to attend before and (2) Our teenage boys took advantage of the Boy Scout Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge workshop (something that would have never been on our radar in previous years). 

One of five t-shirts that we "caught" throughout the day

My husband was quite fascinated with barometric pressure and why it's so significant in hurricane development.  While listening to some of the presentations, my oldest was interested in the actual position of Director of the National Hurricane Center, who spoke to us today.  There was a time when his dream job was to be the director of the NHC.  When he was younger weather (hurricanes in particular) were quite fascinating to him.  

Our middle child was thrilled to get "stabbed" in the neck with a piece of glass as he allowed them to create mock emergency situations.  We quickly learned that even the sight of "fake" blood makes him nauseaus.

Can you see the "wound" on his neck?

I learned all about the Wonder Oven and even purchased one of my own.  I'm sure it'll be one of those things I learn how to cook with as I work on a particular provident living plan coming up in Unit #4 of my class ;-).

We also learned how to make an A/C unit with a bag of ice, an old cooler, a fan, PVC pipe, and a battery.  It really was quite chilly to stand next to it.  

You can't see them, but our boys are participating in the Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge Workshop

Taking a break at the Emergency Response Team Ambulance

While we didn't win any of the 30 giveaway prizes (we never win anything), we walked away with a trunk full of reusable bags that were loaded with information, first aid kits, rain gauges, snacks, ponchos, flashlights, T-shirts . . . and the list goes on!  

We felt uplifted and reenergized to get better prepared for emergencies.  This was definitely a family activity that "involved the mind" and helped us "develop skill" together. 

We finished the night by eating dinner and just hanging out with my twin brother and his family.  We enjoyed outdoor recreation, playing video games, and just catching up.  It made for a long, productive, and fun Saturday for us.

Our youngest with her two cousins

WRA, REL200, Post 5

First day of...

WINTER...???!!!!

Never mind that our high today is 78 degrees.

I don't think we'll be having a White Christmas this year ;\

...Not that I was ever hoping for one.

Summer Weather

I went to the bathroom.

When I came back out I saw her like this:


She's notorious for changing her clothes several times a day, but never into her swimsuit. She got this on all by herself!

Okay, so maybe it's warm for December (75 degrees)....should we be thinking about swimming too?

Hurricane Aidan

That would be the perfect day. When they name a Hurricane after my son. He does comment on some of the names they pick...Hermine? Igor? What kind of names are those? Aidan would be so much better. Course, then he complains that "his hurricane" wouldn't amount to much because it would form at the beginning of the season. Oh darn. Yep, I worry about those things too...all the time.

Sure enough, Aidan's been at it again all summer. Now that we've hit the peak of Hurricane season he's really anxious. Not sure if it's because activity seems to increase at this time of year or because he's sad that Hurricane Season is half over and therefore all the excitement goes away. Right now he's keeping a close eye on Hurricane Igor. But he keeps a close eye on every Tropical Storm although he missed Hermine because we were out of town. That one just kind of snuck up on us.

While I admire his love for knowledge sometimes it gets a little uncomfortable for me when he says "I need some action!" Hermine dropped a lot of rain on us but that of course wasn't enough for him.

Every year he understands more and it's gotten to the point where I'm not familiar with all the technical jargon that he uses when he's giving me the forecast. He introduced me to Stormpulse.com this morning. That website is a goldmine for him. It has EVERY recorded Tropical Storm in history. He's been studying up on his Weather history with that website.

I asked him the other day "If he wanted to go anywhere in the USA, where would you like to go?" And I really meant anywhere. You'd think he'd mention Disneyworld or Disneyland or some place like that. Maybe I hoped for him to mention Yellowstone, Washington or The Beach. Nope. He immediately screamed "The Weather Channel!" Caught me off guard. Unfortunately they don't do tours in their facility. So, then he said "The National Hurricane Center!" Again--not prepared for that response either. That one does tours but you have to be 12 years old. He melted and complained that he would have to wait another 2 1/2 yrs. before he could visit! It was the end of the world for just a moment...

Anybody else know of any other places that Aidan can visit?

Into the Blue

Aidan checked the weather this morning and kept saying "We barely sneaked into the blue!" It was so funny to listen to him declare how cold it was going to be this week (5o degrees...so cold down here) He says cold, I say "PERFECT!"And, we were all so excited to declare that it was COLD enough to enjoy our first cups of hot chocolate of the season!

I know, your northern folks are probably laughing at us, but down here, it's a big deal when it starts to cool off! Now is when Southeast Texas becomes the perfect place to be!

The Weatherman...for real

Anybody who knows Aidan knows that he's THE Weatherman. He still gets up early every morning to check the Weather Channel (been doing that since Hurricane Katrina). I have to say that though we are thankful for a quiet Hurricane Season this year, Aidan has been rather bored with it...can't we have just one Hurricane come close so he can feel the excitement just a little bit??

For a long time now we figured this border-line obsessive interest would be replaced with something else and he would move on. But, that just isn't happening so we decided to jump in and make it even more exciting for him. Jaren did some searching and asking around and planned an eventful Friday for Aidan. A day to get out of school early and go meet the "real guy." The two of them went to visit a local TV Station where Aidan was able to have some quality one-on-one time with a REAL Meteorologist. Not even sure that saying "he was in heaven" quite describes it. He learned so much there, I couldn't even begin to regurgitate everything he told me once they got back. If I recall, he was speechless...still on Cloud 9 at that point!The infamous "Green Screen" that Aidan can tell you all about.
Future in Broadcasting??While he will earn some Cub Scout Awards because of this, I'm not sure Aidan really cares (or even realized that he could get something for loving weather so much).

Right now, Aidan has his mind made up that he's going to Texas A&M to become a Meteorologist when he grows up! Course, I think he might be a bit biased because that's where THIS Meteorologist went.

Stay posted as our 8-yr. old Meteorologist gets older...

The Morning After...

This is what was left in the morning after last night's snowfall. After a huge mug of hot chocolate Aidan wanted a piece of the snow. He ran outsid to play in what was left. It doesn't take much snow for him to be happy.

He enjoyed wiping the snow from the car.Someone down the street managed to build a pretty decent snowman. From the looks of it, they must have rolled up every piece of snow on their front lawn. Man, they were determined.And the boys were anxious to head to school in their winter apparel. They don't get to wear it often!Made for a fun morning.

Let it Snow??

Never thought I'd be blogging about this...
But, the boys thought it OH SO COOL that is was actually "snowing" today.

If you can conceivably call this snow. You CAN see the TINY snowflakes.(Not sure if this is a picture of falling snow or of my ugly patio)

Hunter was outside eating it as it fell onto the grill cover out back.

This proves that not everything in Texas is big!

Then again, as the night went on, the flakes got bigger...Three hours later...the snow stopped and left this nice blanket for the night. Not bad for Texas.

Lake Livingston Lodge v. Hurricane Ike

Yes, Ike has and come and gone but I know there was some family out there who was concerned about how my parents' property was effected by the hurricane. We were up there this past weekend enjoying General Conference together and I was able to get a hold of some photos.

The backyard. A single pine tree caused most of the damage. It landed on the gazebo that was over the hot tub. Though the gazebo was completely destroyed, the hot tub remains in tack and still very much usable. This same tree also found the trampoline and destroyed it as well. I understand that my parents didn't waste any time replacing it. In fact, we helped get the new one put up while visiting. This is now their third trampoline (it's been replaced before).We believe that the debris from the falling pine tree took out this window (it's been covered and taped with duct tape).Just a picture showing one of the trees that fell. The waves brought in a lot of debris from the lake. So, we helped clean that up. These are pictures of the nearby marina. Unless you know how the marina is supposed to look you may have a hard time understanding what happened. Andy, you'd understand. Basically, the entire marina was blown several hundred feet (I'm not really sure how far) until it hit the shore. If you notice, there's no way those boats are getting out. The arrow says the marina is to your left (should be quite a ways to your left). However, when it got blown in, it now sits directly behind the sign.

Anyway, for those who were interested in how mom and dad faired in the storm. Nothing too major. They've worked hard and have gotten it mostly cleaned up despite some setbacks. If you want to hear all the stories, you'll have to ask them about it sometime. It would take too much to write it all down here.

In the end, there's a lot more sunshine that hits their property now.

Back to School...again

After almost two weeks of no school due to power outtages at the campuses the day has FINALLY come for the boys to head to school. We've been waiting for this day to come since Ike! We were all going stir crazy! The re-opening of school has been postponed so many times. Honestly, I was afraid it would happen again as I know that there are some schools in our district still without electricity (as well as many residences). I know Hunter was VERY anxious to get back to Kindergarten. Though Aidan is still adjusting to 2nd grade, "anything is better than being BORED all the time!" Sorry Aidan, that I couldn't keep you entertained better these past two weeks.

Funny, I was much more organized this morning than I was on the first day of school back in August.

Maybe NOW Robyn and I can get used to being home together. We still haven't gotten used to it because of various disruptions (illnesses and then Hurricane Ike). So, we'll try this again.

We've Weathered the Storm

After almost ten days of living with no power, it came on late this afternoon!! A big "THANK YOU" to all those workers who have been working around the clock to get the power up and running! Gotta tell ya, if the weather wouldn't have gone back up to "HOT" it probably wouldn't have been so bad. I was getting so used to not having power!

So, here I am finally able to give you the 4-1-1 on Hurricane Ike from our neck of the woods. Like always, I do lists--the easiest way for me to organize my thoughts! The top things that caught my attention during and after the hurricane.

1. The Sounds of Hurricane Ike...This is EARLY Saturday morning (at appr. 3:45am) on Sept. 13th. Yeah, we didn't get much sleep with these scary sounds whipping around and echoing in our big living room! It was much louder and scarier standing in that room at the time. Even now I find it hard to listen to this "audio" clip...I just remember how it felt being there. Right off a "Halloween Sounds" album (remember those??).

What you are mostly hearing is the strong winds pelting the rain up against our big window. And to think we were going to sleep together as a family in that room! Power ceased in our home at exactly 1:13am (Fort time). The only sleep we got was when the EYE of the storm passed over us between 4-6am. I hear there were some folks outside dancing in the streets during that time period. Apparently it's a "neat" experience to "feel" the eye of a hurricane!

2. Sat. afternoon...here's what Ike left in "our backyard" or rather our front yard:

Nothing too major, just LOTS of branches with one major one! Our poor tree is just losing branches right and left.

3. On Tuesday we took a walk to conserve gas as it was a precious commodity to many people in the area. We didn't want to get caught in the "I NEED GAS" lines that stretched out for a long time! There were few gas stations open and even they would run out of gas quickly. People would wait in line for the next shipment of gas. We walked over to Wal-Mart as they had finally re-opened once getting power. But, inside was kind of eerie. Here's what we found...or rather didn't find:

The produce section

The cold and frozen foods sectionThere was nothing there that needed to be kept cold (no produce, meats, bakery, frozen goods...no MILK!) Just empty shelves and baskets. I tried to tell ya that sometimes Wal-Mart just isn't stocked!

4. The generators!!! Throughout the ten days of no power we were fortunate to have a generator to power our fridge and chest freezer everyday even if it was for only a few hours. We borrowed four different generators from friends and neighbors. You'll have to ask me about how we came to get those generators...only literal answers to our prayers brought them to us. I'll admit that generators are a "good thing" but I'm sure glad to rid myself of all the NOISE they make (remember our windows were always open)! My ears would be ringing constantly!

5. We finally got to meet our back neighbors! Hey, if losing sections of fence is what it takes to meet them, it was worth it. They are good people. And, we got some D batteries and a few hours of their generator after we met.

6. A nice size branch breaking off the tree makes a great play gym! 7. Clean-up was a whole family experience! That was fun and totally worth it! 8. By Saturday night (Sept. 20th) I asked myself if it was possible for it to be too HOT too sleep at night. But, I shouldn't complain--it was only 86 degrees at the hottest in the house. It could've been hotter (like with hurricane Rita in '05).

9. I never thought I'd be so excited to do chores again when my power came back on.

10. I'm often gave myself a pat on the back for being mostly prepared for this storm. We had what we needed.

11. We had sacrament meeting in the dark yesterday. Yeah, playing piano with only a flashlight for lighting is a rather interesting experience! And, even a hurricane can't stop the Stake Presidency from reorganizing our Bishopric. Life goes on...

12. The boys haven't been to school since Sept. 11th. So, it's been a challenage to keep us all sane as we wait for school to "open" again. They are supposed to return this Thurs. the 25th.

I documented this first hurricane for us in my journal. So, I can relive it whenever I want...why would I ever want to!!

Hurricane Ike Update

To all those out of the area...

Ike has come and gone and we are actually enjoying beautiful weather at the moment. Our home is still "all together". We lost a few big branches out front--yeah, from our one and only tree. And, a few parts of our back fence came down. Other than that, we are just dealing with no power. My sister (who lives 2 min. north of us) does have power has helped out a bit in letting us hang out here, do laundry, check e-mail, update my blog, and give us a nice, hot meal. But, we are still without power.

We've been able to borrow a generator these past two days to keep our fridge and freezer at least cold.

Jaren returned to work today. They are running the minimum with generators so he's taking a few hours to do paperwork.

So, we are surviving just fine down here. Whenever I think that life's just miserable I remember Galveston and other areas and all they are going through--okay, I have need to complain.

I am thankful to have a home and running water. And, we have gas!! So, we can cook on our stove and take hot showers!

When we get power at our home (I'm at my sister's home now) I will post some pictures and the likes!


Thankfully the weather has cooled off and things have become more tolerable. So, we made it through our first hurricane. It has definitely been a new adventure for us!

Our very own meteorologist...

NOTE: This hurricane on the horizon has stirred up a lot of commotion down here in southeast Texas. We as a family are staying put. We do not live in a potential flood area and we do not live in any major evacuation zones. However, any thoughts and prayers on our behalf (and all Texans for that matter) are certainly appreciated. School has been cancelled and Jaren will not be reporting to work tomorrow. The roads, stores and gas stations are crazy as people prepare/evacuate. Some neighbors have boarded up their windows. We're sticking around as everyone in this household (except me) experience their first hurricane! Not that Robyn will remember it. Now, onto the actual post...

Hurricane Ike

Since Hurricane season began in June, this has become a daily ritual...must check The Weather to see the latest disturbances in the Atlantic Ocean. This is an obsession for Aidan. Ever since he followed all the happenings of Hurricane Katrina and Rita in 2005, Hurricanes have been his passion!! As he's gotten older, his interest in them has gotten more profound. And, since moving to Houston he's really kept a good eye on hurricanes more than volcanoes or earthquakes because hurricanes happen right in our backyard. It's normal for him to check out a documentary video from the libary about ANY hurricane (or earthquake, tornado, storm, tsunami...basically any natural disaster). Whenever we go anywhere that has cable/satellite we absolutely MUST watch The Weather Channel...all day long!

Since school started, Aidan gets up a few minutes early so that he has time to check the weather on the internet. We don't have TV so the internet is our source for such vital information. With him as my meteorlogist, I don't need to check the weather for the updates. I just ask Aidan. He's usually pretty accurate! Sometimes we have to clarify the technical jargon. But, for the most part he understands what's going on.

Though he loves to learn about them I have to tell you that he's absolutely afraid of them. Whenever we do have a big storm, Aidan prepares by burying himself under some blankets, crying a little bit and promptly going to sleep. So, at least his knowledge of them has not made him complacent. He DOES understand the negative impact that they could have.

With Hurricane Ike knocking on our door, Aidan has made it his duty to make sure we, as a family, are prepared and aware of where it is, how strong it is, when it will "hit us" and how we should deal with it.

This video is only a glimpse at what goes on EVERY morning at 7am. To all our friends and family not in the path of Hurricane Ike, I thought you would find this interesting enough (sorry it's so long). I tried to capture his dramatic moments...of course, there weren't near as many on the morning that I try to video him. Go figure... (NOTE: He's not really talking to anyone specific, even when he does say my name...I'm not there!)

PS It's too funny for Hunter knowing that the plane they use to study Hurricanes is called the Hurricane Hunter. How fitting...