IKE

So I know that my out of town friends want all the gory Ike details about how we weathered the storm...so heres my official IKE POST!

We were very lucky in the grand scheme of all the devastation that the Houston area has suffered.  We never had a loss of power, cable or water services.  We had no damage to our home or property.  We have pretty much come out on the other side of Ike unscathed suffering only a few minor inconveniences.  Schools have been closed since Friday (scheduled to reopen here in Katy next Monday 22).  Because of this the children have come down with some pretty severe cases of cabin fever!  Even though we have power and cable TV still in tact, Cami has found other things to busy herself.  She has constructed every puzzle in our possession, our floors and tables at various points over the last couple of days have been littered with completed puzzles that she refused to deconstruct (although Aidan has no problem with deconstruction much to her dismay!).  She has roamed the house with a clip board and pencil copying every bit of print within her eye line of site...accumulating pages and pages of lists of random words.  She has played babies, barbies, pet shop and potato head, made a trip a day to Gramma's house and ridden her bike in circles inside and outside.  

Aidan on the other hand is much more content to watch TV, lounge and wait for an invitation to play from Cami.  He too has looked forward to his daily visit with Gramma...shes more fun, has better toys and better snacks :)  In all of the madness he has also taken to securing his valuables.  He has a bag and a box that he has been carrying around from room to room...even toted "his stuff" across the street to Gramma's house.  The bag is full of underpants and the box has his Spiderman lunchbox (with tech decks and random toys inside), his pirate halloween costume, his bunny and his blankie...you know, the necessities!

As for Ian and I, our main challenge has been gathering those basic things that we need on a daily basis for ourselves and the kids.  Prior to the storm we consumed most of our refrigerated and frozen foods in case we lost power and refrigeration.  Local stores are slowly reopening, but most are poorly stocked as far as dairy, produce and meats.  The kids are big milk drinkers and fruit eaters so this has been particularly difficult. However, round of applause to my super hunter gatherer of a husband who managed to track down two half gallons of organic milk, a dozen eggs, strawberries and bananas keeping his promise to never let his family go without!  Gas is the next challenge.  Fuel stations have also been reopening, but the long lines are a bit of a chore.  The good news is that the more Im out and about, the more it seems that Katy is on its way to quickly getting back to normal.  I predict that by this weekend, with the exception of some cleanup and debris around our town, we will be back to (or close to) business as usual.  We really do have wonderful neighbors, friends and community that are all looking out for each other.

It seems that when things are uncertain and thrown out of whack we look to the things that are constant in our lives for comfort- for those "constants" I am thankful.  Im especially thankful for my husband who always makes sure we are number one on his list, my parents who have been such a part of ours and the children's lives since the day the moved down here and my dear friends for the sanity saving play dates and girl time.  You are all my treasures and Id be up a creek without a paddle without you!