Hurricane Ike 2

Here did not get blown away and are still here. I must say that it was a new experience that I hope we do not have to go through again anytime soon. The girls thought that it was a lot of fun and did pretty well. We put a mattress in front of the window in the play room and put a blow up mattress in there for the girls. They were excited for the slumber party. Scott and I stayed in our room and put up a port a crib up for Ian. And then the winds and rain started. I have never heard wind so loud. We could feel it shaking the house. So we stayed awake most of the night wondering what each sound was. It seemed like at any moment, the wind would be too much for the garage door. The kids slept really well. Kennedy got up at about 4am and climbed into bed with us. She fell asleep pretty quickly, although I don't know how. The winds were really blowing hard. Morgan and Emersen slept until 6am and Ian wins the prize and slept until 6:30. By then I had given up hope for sleeping at all and got up. The sun came up shortly after that and we could see the damage. The house came through just fine. No window damage or roof damage and garage door held. The fence did not fare so well. Our wooden fence was blown over. We lost power about 10:30pm the night of the storm. We got off really lucky. May of our neighbors had roof damage. A couple of our trees were blown over as well but not bad enough that they couldn't be saved. We got power back at 4pm. We were really lucky. There are still over a million people without power. I kind of feel guilty that we are sitting in our air conditioned house while most of Houston in sweating it out. The girls have been out of school all week and we are waiting to see if they get to go back on monday. I think they are ready to get back to the normal way of life.

Scott's office didn't fare so well. His window got blown out and from what I hear it looks like a bomb went off in there. We are still waiting to see what comes of that. But for now, I am enjoying having him at home with me.

Hurricane Ike

Here we are waiting for our little friend to visit. For those of you who don't know, we are waiting for hurricane Ike to show his ugly little head. It has been very interesting to watch and wait as this storm has gotten closer and closer. We evacuated when the last hurricane threatened to hit Houston about 3 years ago and that was not a pleasant experience. We have decided to stay here and wait out the storm. If it looks like the power will be out for a while then we will go stay with one of Scott's sisters in San Antonio. Right now we are at the wait and see stage. School is canceled for tomorrow so I'm sure the girls will be happy about that. We are okay on all of our supplies so I think we will be fine. This morning I went out to get the last minute batteries and things but I think we are good. I am kind of excited to see what this storm brings. It is the first time I have ever seen anything of this magnitude. Ike will be at a Cat 3 when it hits so they say. It could get as bad as a Cat 4 but we'll have to wait and see. I will keep you posted as to what happens with the storm. Keep us in your prayers just in case this thing really packs a punch.

School Bus

It was a very exciting day today. The girls got up early and we headed to the bus stop and this is the only end of the bus that we saw. We missed out first bus. Sometimes mom's don't know everything. We had some tears when we realized we had been standing in the wrong place and the bus had left without 2 very excited girls. I told them not to worry because they would get to ride it home. And they sure did get to ride it home. They were pretty happy about it too. So was I. I have to say it sure took a lot of stress out of the day. I didn't have to drive in traffic or fight carpool lanes or crazy people who do it wrong. I got to stay at home. Ian actually got to take a nap in his bed this afternoon. I got dinner started. We left the house to get the girls and about a half a block from the stop my phone rang. The bus was early. I was there and back in about 5 minutes. This is amazing and why didn't I start this last year when I had the new baby. What was I thinking? (or not thinking) We'll see what they have to say about it on tuesday when they ride it to and from school.
The other big news is Kennedy got a stay at home cello today. She is so excited. For those of you who don't know, Kennedy plays the cello and has had to take it to and from school everyday for the last 2 years. It is a great set up with backpack cases and everything. It sure is cute watching them walk with them on. Anyway, she now doesn't have to do that everyday and she is so happy. She doesn't have to pack and unpack a cello at least twice a day. Yeah, Kennedy!!

First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day back to school. Needless to say Morgan and Kennedy were very excited. Morgan thinks that third grade is the best ever and Kennedy thinks she is wrong because second grade has to be the best. After school, we went for some ice-cream with some friends. It was a nice cool treat for a hot day and a good way to end the first day of school.

Kid grow too fast

I just think this is the cutest picture ever and I wanted to share it with you. I just can't believe how fast they grow. My babies are growing up way too fast. I wish I could slow things down for a day or two.

Kennedy turns 7.

July 26, Kennedy finally turned 7. We had a great day. She got to open her presents and Aunt Leslie we even here. We spent the day at the beach and I forgot to take my camera, but we still had a lot of fun.

She was very excited for everything, especially her cake.

There is just something about blowing the candles out of your own special order cake that just seems to make the day.

Then again, eating it isn't that bad either. Happy birthday sweetheart.

Swimming lessons

I finally caved and enrolled the girls in swim lessons this summer. They loved it. Emmy couldn't have been happier to swim with her teacher Anna everyday. She got to kick and put her face in the water.

Her favorite was jumping in the deep water all by herself and swimming back to the side on a noodle.
Kennedy learned a lot of new things. She got a lot stronger and learned to swim freestyle, back stroke, breast stroke and a little side stroke.
She especially liked swimming with the turtle shell on her back, even though she didn't need it.
Morgan did great in her class. She learned all her strokes and swam laps everyday. She also learned boat safety and floated with life jackets.

She also learned how to help get big people out of the water if they need help.
The best part about swim lessons was that Kennedy finally passed the swim test. We go to the YMCA and they have a water slide at their pool. In order to go on the slide you have to be able to swim a length of the pool all by yourself without touching the side or the bottom. Kennedy has been trying so hard for the last year and she finally did it. Way to go Kennedy!