Jill's Bunch of Js

We survived IKE!!!

IKE which was a category 2 hurricane (only 5 miles/hr away from a Cat 3) hit early morning on the 13th of September. Josh and I stayed up until about 3:30am on the 13th when we lost power. All night we could hear the windows rattling. There is some roof damage and with a leaky roof we had wet carpet but we are doing good. The landlord has an adjuster coming out tomorrow and so we shall see what kind of construction we are going to have to live with. We didn't have power for about 3 days so we were one of the lucky ones. Some places are still without power. The kids didn't noticed anything was wrong until they realized no TV. They didn't understand but stopped asking to watch their favorite shows after the 2nd day. JJ still says, "We have electricity" because he understands now about power. The kids had the funnest time at night because I had three little flash lights that they each got to keep in bed with them. The flash lights were the kind that you shake to make power. I am sure you all saw pictures of the worst hit areas but up in little Tomball it was very strange because on our street not one tree was down, but you turn the corner and trees are down every other house. We again got very lucky. I was talking with a lady from church and we both agree the trees that are up rooted aren't the scary ones. The ones that scare me are the ones the you here snap in half and then you here the thud from the top of the tree hitting the ground. This lady lost a few trees behind her house and heard the snap and then the thud of about 5 trees and she said she held her breath after each snap because she never knew if it was going to hit her house, not one hit her house. As you drive around there are still piles of trees and leaves and just all sorts of debris in front of people's house. The older neighborhoods are almost like walls of debris as you drive down the street. Since this lovely experience happened Josh and I have decided that if a strong Cat 3 hurricane comes this season towards us again I am out of here with the kids or we will at least stay at his parents house. This tiny house felt like the roof was going to blow off.

JJ - He didn't have school for over a week and missed therapy only once. But when he was able to go back to school he was so happy. He hasn't given me any problems about going to school and he asks me if he can go play with Ms. Molinar, his teacher. He is doing so good in school. He loves to show off and write his letters in upper and lower case. The sign says, "Happy Birthday Grandpa" We had some insurance problems so his therapy has been cancelled since Thursday so he is a little upset but I hope the the insurance will approve the hours again. He is also in love with Josh's Nintendo DS which is a hand held gaming system. He loves playing Super Mario Bros and getting pretty good at it.

Jadyn - WOW, she is growing up so fast. She still does her little jibber jabber but now every other word is making sense. She is able to tell me what she wants to eat or play with. She loves cookies and cheese. She also loves to color, our little modern artist. She waves to the bus and says bye-bye every morning to JJ when he leaves for school and when he gets home he hears Jadyn yell, "It's JJ!!!" Mommy still misses her naps, not one the entire month of Sept :(

Jaxson - Nemo, Nemo, Nemo. This is his favorite thing in the world. Jadyn and Jaxson have officially O.D.ed on Finding Nemo. Once it ends they are after me to start it all over again. He is growning up fast also. He brought a book to me the other day and told me all the different objects and animals in it, a bear, car, bus, banana, apple, ball, etc. He already, however, is the losing the cute factor when he throws fits. He is turning two in two months and he already has the temper tantrums down. He is still very tiny but is full of spit and vinegar. Don't mess with him he will let you know if he wants it or not so watch out.

Joshua - He worked 12 hour shifts for 2 straight weeks, 6 pm to 6 am. The Police Dept had officers sleep at the station during the hurricane and when it was safe to go out they had officers out patrolling before anything crazy could happen. Josh told me there was a little looting but with a curfew in affect for all of Harris county for the first few days which was 8 pm till 5 am and then after that from midnight until 5 am it helped with the crime. They pretty much dealt with people stealing generators. But once that curfew was lifted the crazy people where back out. Josh was just a babysitter of adults, because there are people out there that just can't control themselves.

Jill - I didn't have work for over a week. The office lost power and brought in a generator so that they could just keep the office going at limited capacity. The kids and I actually had a good time when the power was out, coloring, playing with play dough running around outside due to the fact that a massive cool front came in and cooled everything off for almost a week after the storm. A cool front of about 80 during the day and 60 at night. Josh was very concerned about me being alone at night so Josh's dad stayed with me a few nights and I stayed at his house a few nights also till things went back to normal.