Some Hurricane Ike Pix

Life seems to be getting back to normal. A ton of our neighborhoods are without power, but we were fortunate enough to get it back on Tuesday. Is it sad I think parenting is twice as hard without a TV?!? Its really the only way I have to corral all kids into one spot so I can get things done. I've got to get more creative.

Anyway, here are a couple pix from Ike.

Jude- "What the heck happened to our front yard?!?"

Grandpa watching the eye of the storm.Our escape to the Texas hill country...Presley riding the tractor with Papa Mike.

My favorite quotes straight from Papa Mike's mouth 1) to the kids, "I CAN clean up faster than you can make a mess!!" (Umm, sorry Mike- I've tried- it's impossible) and 2) to Jesse after I returned home with the kids "Yeah, I had to hire four midget clowns to try to replicate the noise and activity level after Tracy and the kids left!"

I'm so glad I have a husband who can think straight during an impending natural disaster. I honestly didn't care too much about preparing for the aftermath. Once I finally realized the storm was coming straight at us, I got really scared, really fast for the safety of my kids and just wanted to be in a place where I felt they were safe. Luckily Jesse prepared the house and bought necessary supplies. He has spent the last four days cleaning up the yard and especially the e-coli, mud pit, algae greenhouse we called a pool at one point!

Oh, and did anyone else catch Geraldo Rivera broadcasting during the middle of the storm from Galveston beach? He basically couldn't stand up straight and kept getting whacked in the head from flying debris. Alice and Grandma Barbara couldn't get enough of him and thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. "Bring Back Geraldo!" was our cry to the TV throughout the storm. We crack ourselves up.