Bedtime during the hurricane 9/12/08

Good Night... Everyone is headed to bed after a beautiful sunset. The wind has started to blow, the clouds are making circles in the sky. We've worked hard to prepare for Ike to come visit...

As Clark says, what's that H-thing... Oh yeah, the hurricane. I heard him in his room talking outloud all by himself... Dear God, could you please make this hurricane not come. You didn't really make it, did you?!

Clark also thinks we should be headed to Monkey Business for Adam's birthday party. Not tonight, Clark. Our sleepover in the living room...
We put mattresses against the windows...
Our pantry is our safe place if we need to go to an interior place. The kids want Peanut to go with us, but I think she'll have to go to the laundry room.
We did laundry and unplugged everything we could...All the dishes are washed... (we may not have water or electricity)

We turned the thermostat to 70 to try and cool it off in case we lose power...Bathtubs are filled, including saran wrap coated with vaseline to help make sure the stopper works tight...

Ice has been emptied and put in the freezer.

Extra water and food was bought... but I was appalled by the one item the stores had run out of that I needed...chocolate covered almonds.

I ended up calling my neighbor, Kelly, who I knew still needed to go the store, and asked her to buy a huge bag of peanut M&M's so that I could make it through the storm. Apparently, I'm sharing them with Jason because he keeps eating them. :) I'm terrible and put them in this red bucket so that I don't have an M&M bag sitting on the counter for the kids to see.We did a few more things, including, of course, making sure everyone is clean now in case we lose power and electricity. But, the part that cracks me up is that I decided to straighten my hair... afterall, if I don't have electricity, how would I fix my hair. As if it even matters... if it's hot, my hair will be in a ponytail looking terrible. AND, I didn't even fix my hair most of this week anyways, I just threw it in a ponytail. BUT, it is the fact that I might not be able to fix it!!! Good night. I'm going to go try and get a good night sleep with my family!!

Does the hurricane have wind? 3pm 9/12/08

Not very much yet. I'm sure we'll have a ton later, but we decided to try it out for now to see what kind of wind we could find... you'll notice we had to hold the kites kinda close to get them to fly.
...and exercise the dog while we were at it... she's almost like a kite!?!


NOTE: We tried again at 6pm and although we could get the kites higher, the wind is not constant, so we still couldn't fly kites.

Getting ready for Hurricane Ike 9/12/08

We're trying to figure out the safest place for the kids during the hurricane. What's your vote?!

(We didn't really have room for the chairs in the garage, so we at least chained them down.)

How to lovingly forgive others.

I'll admit, this is horrible, but there is a YouTube Video above that is the song "I hate you (my friend)" from the movie "What happens in Vegas". This is my new favorite song. It is for those times you get frustrated with people and are praying for them so that you can know the right thing to do and forgive them, but in the meantime, you are just frustrated, so you sing "I hate you (my friend)... no one likes you, go away, get a clue." It makes me smile and want to forgive those who frustrate me.

I am not a person that cusses, but every once in a while, I find that praying, "God, please bless that b-tch" makes me feel better,too. So bad, but hey, if it gets me praying for the person and forgiving them, I figure it counts. I mean, really, He knows what they are like.

Trip to the Beach 8/18

We'd been meaning to go to the beach all summer. Last summer, we were going to go the week before school started, but we couldn't because a hurricane blew through. Details. This summer, we were going to go about 3 weeks ago, but a hurricane blew through. I mean, really, such details... I finally decided to just go on Monday since school was going to start in a week. The Leuschner family (Brad, Tammie, McKenzie, Austin, & Zachary) that I've been friends with forever told me that they were going to the beach for a week to stay with the Cooks (Jerian's family) at a beach house. So, we said, "Great. That's where we'll go."

I like to go in the afternoon so that I don't have to deal with sunscreen for the kids. Leave right after lunch, stay through dinner, then head home. So, we left here at 2pm, where it was pouring down rain. It was raining all through the drive there -- knowing we were crazy for attempting to go in the rain, but knowing that if we didn't try, we definitely would not get to go. If we did try, we might get rained out, but then it wouldn't be my fault for not trying.

So, we went and it rained a little, but we still got to swim in the ocean. It was very fun and we wished we could have stayed longer.

My Beach Bums!!

Clark picked up shells and lined them up on his arms. He was a little frustrated when they fell off.

Jason & I went on a long date while the kids were away.

So, after Jason & I dropped the kids off at the Goerlich's house, we spent some quality time together. We started out checking out Track 21. It is very cool! Notice I stayed in the lead the whole time. Jason couldn't get past me. Hah!! He had told me he wouldn't wait for me, but then, he couldn't get past me so it was funny. I finally let him have the last lap in front of me.

We also had a good time hanging out, talking about our goals, catching up, enjoying dinner alone.

Thanks Mari & Chris for helping us to remember to spend time without the kids!!!

Swimming with the Quadruplets!

Wow! I had the awesome privilige of taking Mari's kids to the pool to swim. Her air conditioner was out in August in Houston... it's hot here... and we were going to the pool. But, the AC man had not shown up by the time we were supposed to go.

Grant never wants to GO swimming... until we get there and he has fun & doesn't want to leave.

So, I brought Grant to Mari's house. I took Finn & Cohen with me and we went swimming. Well, I actually just held Finn & Cohen and splashed around helping them learn to enjoy the water, but it was at a swimming pool, so we'll call it swimming.

They were done after about an hour, so we went out to the car to load up. But, Mari drove up because Grant wanted to swim afterall. The AC guy was working at her place, so she was just going to drop Grant off.

But, we decided to switch all the kids and I got to go back with Sophia and Noah to swim for another hour. Grant was very happy with the decision because he was ready to swim.

The pool is only about 1 mile away in the neighborhood, but it was kinda funny when we got to the car afterwards... I was in the PT Cruiser that day... and realized that I needed to stuff 6 kids (2 in carseats into the cruiser) and myself into that tiny car. Hah! It really is a clown car. Everyone fit and was safely smooshed.

It was a good time.

My new best friends!

I'd been praying about which Bible Study to do since March. One day, when Clark and I went over to help with the quadruplets, I noticed Mari's Bible sitting out on her counter. I mentioned to her that I'd love to do a Bible Study with her. She took off and ran with that and invited several people on the block to her house on Thursday nights to do a Bible Study.

Mari, Vanessa, Colleen, Shannon, & I

We are all very busy moms and enjoy this little time away. I love these woman. I love how they make me feel "normal" in my busy life...

Mari - mom of quadruplets that turn 1 on 8/29/08.
Vanessa - mom of 4 kids, sells Arbonne, too.
Colleen - mom of 2 kids, working full time
Shannon - mom of 2 kids (only 1 year and 1 day apart)
& Me - mom of 4 kids, with a couple auto-immune diseases thrown in on the kids just for fun. (Just diabetes and food allergies, as you know)

One thing that really makes me laugh is that I did not want to have a Bible Study that took up my whole day. I wanted 1 hour -- in/out/done. But, we start at 7:30pm and rarely do I get home before 10:30pm... and even then, no one wants to go home. We drink some wine, have some snacks, chat, support each other, and study the Bible, too. What a winner!

The Olympics are On!!

The kids are getting to experience the Olympics for the first time that they remember... so for the first week, we had one big sleepover in my room. I let the kids fall asleep while watching the Olympics. After a week, that had to stop because the kids were getting tired from staying up too late. But, it was a fun time.

Getting Ready for Extra-Curricular Activities

Ok, I am feeling crazy. Here is our extracurricular schedule for the fall: (basically, 1 sport/kid + scouts + bible study)

Sunday Mornings - Every other month or so, Jason will go to church early to play the keyboard during church.

Monday 7:00pm-9:00pm - Kate, Grant, & Alyssa go to Bible Study Fellowship with Jason

Tuesday 5:30pm-6:30pm - Kate goes to Thompson Tumblers
6:00pm-7:00pm - Clark goes to soccer practice (playing with Fairfield Sports Assoc.)

Wednesday afterschool - Every other week, Kate, Grant, & Alyssa will stay for Good News Club at school
5:00pm-6:00pm - Alyssa does ballet/tap/jazz at Dance Central

Thursday afterschool - Every other week, Alyssa has Daisy Girls
Every other week, Kate has Girl Scouts

Thursday evenings - Every other week, Grant has Cub Scouts
7:30- whenever - I go to Bible Study

Friday afternoons 1pm-3pm I volunteer in the library at school.
I am also co-chairing the Sampson Elementary yearbook.

Saturdays - Clark has soccer games

Not set yet - 3 times/week, Grant has baseball. 1 practice, 1 game, and 1 practice/game. He's playing with Cy Fair Sports Assoc.

I think we are going to be a little busy. It's a good thing I limited it to one sport. Hah! Grant also plans on doing Basketball in the winter. Alyssa plans on doing soccer in the Spring. And, some of my kids have talked about doing swim team as the school year finishes out.

Did I mention that I love staying home and chilling?! Hmm...

VBS - Cy Fair Christian Church 7/14-7/18

I created this video for the PowerLab VBS we did at our church. Our VBS was at night time. It was a lot of fun. I had a lot of technical difficulties, so I didn't have much time to work on the quality of this video, still, I felt like it turned out decent. I used ProShow Gold to create it in.

This week, we also had fun sleepovers:


On Tuesday night, we had a blast with David & Madison Knight... we brought them back in time for VBS on Wednesday night.

(David's mom, Maggie Knight is in the picture with him.)


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Silly hair was the way to go this week!!

Then, on Thursday, we were able to have the Kidd kids sleep over. Ashley is 13, Coby is 10, Audrey & Christian are 3. We had a lot of fun. I wish I could have played more, but I was trying to work out my technical issues with creating the dvd. Still, for having 8 kids and a busy mom, the place ran amazingly well. We were so glad to have them all here. That night, the meal they served for volunteers included gluten free parts, so we were able to eat dinner there. Apparently, a kid at the table next to ours kept commenting on the bigillion kids that were at our table! Hah! I felt lucky to be with them all and know how excellent they all were!!

Saturday we did NOTHING. Sunday, we had a lot of cleaning to do!!!

Meanwhile... back at home July 4th

Jason & the kids enjoyed fireworks and XBOX & Wii while I was gone to Missouri!!

Apparently the kids were cold?! They said they were afraid they would get cold... Grant said he was fine.

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Lindsay's Wedding 7/3-7/6

Immediately after camp, we cleaned up clothes and Gichan & I flew to Missouri for Lindsay Mirakian's wedding. I used to babysit Lindsay when she was 1 year old. I also took some time to be a nanny for her family when they were in Germany and the regular nanny was on vacation. Our families are really close family friends, so I really wanted to go.

On the way there, Gichan and I decided to give up our seats on the airlines and fly in a couple of hours later. So, now Jason gets to take a vacation to go see his brother in August for free with the voucher I earned!!

We had a great time at the wedding, but man was I tired when I got home!!

New Japanese Friends come 6/28-7/3

Micah (pronounced Mee-ka), Jo-Jo, and Lucah came to visit. Micah made this awesome sushi dinner on the last day she was here!!

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They were in town visiting my parents and came to Houston to visit. Then, Jo-Jo, my Dad (we call him Gichan), and Grant went off to Church camp... I'll write about that next...

The rest of us stayed and played at water parks and games and such...Oh, and helped my friend Shannon Farrier who unfortunately lost her house due to a fire caused by lightning. See http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=6220516. With my mom & Micah's help, we packed up Coleman (Grant's age) for camp and made food for Clay. (He's 6, on the autism spectrum, and eats on a very specialized diet -- not gluten, dairy, rice, potatoes, etc. Since I now know how to cook like that, I did my best to help out.)

VBS @ Cypress Bible Church June 23-27

This week, we all went to Vacation Bible School at Cypress Bible Church. This is not the church we attend, but we do go to VBS there every year and the older 3 kids went to preschool there. The VBS is always unique and amazing. Penny, who was our neighbor until May of this year, but thankfully still runs the office, is in charge of music and is the one that got us going to this VBS. I decided to volunteer in an easy place... snacks... but quickly became the snack person in charge of food allergies. There were about 25 kids that had food allergies and I made sure they received a non-allergenic snack each day. This is a really fun week and I'm glad we went. After I catch up on this blog more, I'm sure I'll show more personality. Right now, I'm just trying to get things written down. :)

Kate's Church Camp June 15-20

Kate with McKenzie Leuschner & their beloved Misty & Christy from camp.

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Kate & I went to church camp for Sunday- Friday. Last year, she went without me, but this year, I went to help prepare her gluten-free meals. (It was a little overwhelming having to have 20 meals ready to go before the week began, but thankfully, Jason helped!!) She had a blast and didn't seem to mind eating different food too much. She said that reason she didn't mind was because she realizes that sometimes being different than others is better... she could be creating flowers like in this email...
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An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half Full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. 'I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.' The old woman smiled, 'Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this Beauty to grace the house.' Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

Summer 2008 began

Summer began and we had 2 weeks before any major events... it should have been a breeze... so we decided to mix things up and go to San Antonio. At least, the 5 of us did... Jason stayed home to work tons of hours "guilt-free" while we played. We spent most of the week with Nana -- she was so awesome -- she cooked allergy free for us and we enjoyed hanging out. We also saw Gchan, Uncle Quinn (& his girlfriend Lauren), Aunt Rachel, Cousin Kendall, and brief glimpses of Uncle Darrin, but didn't take any pictures.

New Blogger

Hi. I decided to create a blog today to try to keep friends and family updated on our lives. I am going to work on updating everyone with the summer events that have taken place so far and then continue with life going forward.

Wish me luck...