Making Memories

This summer Joey and I decided it was time to escape reality and go on a family vacation. We found a beautiful spot on Lake Ouachita where we stayed for a week. It was beautiful. My only complaint was how quickly time went by. The kids LOVED the lake. My mom and dad came with us and brought the boat. The kids got to ride on a tube, dive off side of the boat to swim in the lake and even drive the boat.

A New Chapter...

This week has been total nuts for me personally, professionally and now as a parent. For a number of weeks we've been concerned over Grace and the unbelievable number of times she has caught strep throat this year. Just after Christmas we had a REALLY bad Friday where BOTH kids woke up yaking (this is our not so vulgar way of saying puke). While at the doctor's office we quickly found out that Ethan had yet another ear infection and Grace had yet another case of strep (this makes six times in a year - four of which have happened since August; that's once a month for those who are counting). We questioned the doctor about the often recurrence of strep in Grace. After a quick review of her chart the doctor said Grace needed to see a specialist and would probably need her tonsils removed. It's like deja vu for me - I think I was close to the same age when I lived this same story. While still at doctor's office she popped back in and said that we should make a double appointment because Ethan has had nine ear infections over the past year.

Today was our appointment. Both kids met the doctor and Ethan was also seen by an audiologist. It was pretty clear that both kids would have to have surgery. In February, Ethan will have tubes put in his ears and his adenoids removed. Exactly one month later, Grace will have her tonsils and her adenoids removed. As a parent I was a bit overwhelmed at the news. It took a while to process everything. What I hated most wasn't the news about surgery but the news the doctor said about Ethan. At this point Ethan has a slight loss of hearing in his left ear. There's a good chance he can still get it back but we will not know until after the surgery is complete and some times has passed. Needless to say, it will be a rough couple of months for us. I'm sure both kids will be fine - I'm excited to know we could possibly eliminate the two major headaches in their lives. I guess we'll see how it goes...I'll keep you posted.

Halloween Pictures

Better late than never! Our little one's survived Halloween - but barely! Grace decided to attempt a reenactment of Halloween when she was two. Just before leaving she decided not to wear her costume. She wanted nothing to do with it. The only costume she would consider was a princess dress, which was not an option since we weren't at home. In the end she did finally cave (as you can see) and we had a wonderful night. Grace dressed as Dorothy from Wizard of Oz and Ethan was her sidekick, a Munchkin from the Lollipop Guiled.

My Lessons Learned From Hurricane Ike

This will probably be my last post on the hurricane but I have a few thoughts I wanted to jot down so it’s documented for Grace when she’s my age and preparing her children for something like this. My goal over the last week was to make sure Grace was not scared. I’ve tried to shield her from the total chaos and mess that surrounds us.

Lesson One: Hurricanes are kind of like camping at your house…as long as you have a gas stove/oven. Over the past week we’ve eaten just about every good thing we could find in our freezer. I thought I’d post our menu from the week. It’s sad, you go into a grocery store and there’s not a can of soup on the shelf but there are plenty of raw ingredients. I think we live in a society where no one knows how to cook only how to prepare food. There are a lot of families who are still hungry and running low on food. It is extremely difficult to keep any kind of food when you don’t have any way of keeping it cool. We mostly lived out of a cooler while the power was out (again – a lot like camping). Joey was smart enough to go buy ice before the storm. We kept it in our freezer until the power went out.

Friday (day before the storm hit) – I'm not sure that we even ate this night...life was crazy trying to prepare for the unknown.
Saturday – Homemade Biscuits & Sausage Gravy (from scratch); Rib Eye Steaks with Fire Roasted Corn and Ranch Style Beans
Sunday – Grilled pizza – again homemade and delicious
Monday – Ordered food in from a local restaurant that was finally opened!
Tuesday – Fried fish that my dad caught
Wednesday – Prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans

Lesson Two: They tell you when hurricane season starts that the first 72 hours are your responsibility. This means you must have enough food and water for at least three days. Three days is a really long time when you’re worried about supplies. With two kids in the house we spent a great deal of time rationing milk and making sure water was not wasted.

Lesson Three: Filling up your gas tank before the storm is REALLY smart! The gas lines around town are crazy and for some reason we have these nuts who think they need to top off their tanks every day. People sit in line hours waiting for a small amount of gas. On the other hand we have vehicles that bring with them every gas can they can find.

Lesson Four: The hummmm or should I say HUMMMMMM of a generator is really freaking loud!

Lesson Five: To a four year old this:

Looks like this:

Lesson Six: This was one of my favorite days... No electricity. No distractions. Just me and my family having fun in the rain.