Hurricane Ike - 3 of 5 - The Damage...

The first 5 pictures are of damage in Galveston and other areas of Houston. The rest of the pictures, I took.














Charles stayed in our house to see if we would have any damage. We have so many trees around our house. I was afraid that some of the trees would fall on the house. Praise God, that didn't happen. We did have a large tree fall in the back yard and miss the house by inches. The dog was totally freaked out by everything! She went outside, saw the tree down and her ears went back like something was wrong......walked back inside and went to the front door and puked. Bless her heart! Dogs have anxiety, too! I took some pictures of some damage up at my Mom's place and then some damage in our neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods. I took all of these pictures and wouldn't have believed some of them if I hadn't seen them with my own two eyes! I did hear that three people in my neighborhood died from trees falling on their homes. I am so very thankful that we didn't even have any damage to our home.

Hurricane Ike - 2 of 5 - The Storm

I took a video of the actual Hurricane from my Mom's front porch from Lake Livingston. I don't know how high the winds were, but at one point could feel the whole house shake. I do remember in the middle of the night, thinking that I heard what sounded like a train and got the kids into her center closet in case it was a tornado.

In talking to my brother in Indiana, they got the storm later and he actually had 75 mph winds up there. He had trees down and lost power for about a week! My nephew in Ohio lost power because of the storm and their power crews were down here in Texas.

WOW....

Hurricane Ike - 1 of 5 - The Adventure Begins...

I sat down and organized my thoughts about how to share about the Hurricane Adventure experience. This first one is about me and the kids leaving to go an hour north to my Mom's house to escape. I took a picture of the clock as we left on Thursday night. We did about 5 miles an hour for about 3 hours! A lot of people had gas cans strapped to the top of their cars. We saw a convoy of about 15 different ambulances with their lights on. I kept thinking that there must have been a horrible accident up ahead, but found out later that they were transporting critically ill patients from Galveston and Houston. Johnny serenaded us with his guitar playing and it really calmed my nerves! I got to drive and listen to 'Dust in the Wind', 'Freebird', and 'Stairway to Heaven'............I love to hear him play!

Praise you in this storm......Casting Crowns

Before I share my experience of Hurricane Ike, I wanted to share this song....

No matter what kind of storm we face in our lives, whether a literal storm, a financial storm, an emotional storm, a relationship storm, God never leaves our side. Sometimes He does take away the storm, but sometimes He goes through the storm with us..............no matter what, He never leaves our side.....

A Hurricane named Ike

Well........it's Wednesday evening and I am making a list of what to take with me if we leave because of the Hurricane that seems to be headed right for us. Who even knows, though. This morning when I left for work at 6:30 it was headed for Corpus Christi. Now, it seems to be headed more toward this area. I will take photo albums, my computers, antique quilts, important papers, and jewelry. My main concern is if the winds are 100 miles per hour or greater and the damage that can cause in itself. I have huge pine trees all around and my street floods! So, based on the above facts, this time tomorrow, I may be on the road north. I got more gas today instead of waiting until tomorrow. If you don't see a new entry for several days, you will know that where I am will have no internet connection and no electricity.......stay tuned.

Little Boys in the hall...

Yesterday, I was walking down the hall of one of the schools that I work at and a little boy needed both of his shoes tied. He looked like he was in the first grade or so. I asked if I could tie them for him. He said, "sure". As I tied that baby's shoes, I talked to him and he talked to me. He was just precious. I put my arm around him and wished him a wonderful day......made me smile the rest of the day.

Then today at a different school, I was walking down the hall and saw a little boy with red eyes. I stopped and put my arm around him and asked what was wrong. He was on the playground and accidentally bumped another child. The other child started to cry. I reassured him that everything was ok, gave him a hug and kissed his head and sent him on his way.

It Is Well With My Soul

They played this video tonight at church. What a powerful story about the gentleman that wrote it! Hopefully, no matter what is going on in our lives, that we can truly say....."it is well with my soul".

Little Girl Praying

They played this video tonight at church...........too funny!!!

Jimmy Stewart in "Harvey"

I started this movie this morning. Jimmy Stewart is delightful!

The Palin Pick.....

You know..........I didn't know what to think when John McCain picked a relatively "unknown".....Now, after hearing her.............I just plain like her!

I like her confidence, her values, her connection with real people, her sensitivity to children with special needs, because I work with children with special needs. I just like her.

I usually don't use this blog site to express my political views, but you know what? This is my blog site and I can express anything I like....hee hee.

I am proud to be a conservative republican!..........so there!

The Maltese Falcon

Johnny and I started this movie this afternoon. He and I like Bogart movies!

Mama Mia

I went to see Mama Mia with my sister last night. I think that this may possibly be my favorite movie of all time. People in the audience sang out loud, clapped, cried and really got into this movie. It was so entertaining! I just loved it!

First Day of School...

Today was Johnny's first day of high school and Amy's first day being a junior in high school! Man, where has the time gone? My babies are all grown up!

Images from the Olympics

I have been collecting some of my favorite images from the Olympics. I really got into the Olympics this time. I think it is because I was fascinated with China with it's rich history, breathtaking country side and interesting people. I hope you like these images that I have put together. I am pleased with the way it turned out.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Bonneville

Rented this movie this weekend. I watched it by myself. It was a great movie....

A Great Day for Fishing...

The kids went to a really great park today to try their hands at fishing. They were there about 3 hours and sadly didn't catch anything, but had a great time. What a beautiful day!

Marching Band performance

Last night we got to see all of Johnny's hard work this summer. For the month of August, he had band camp 6 days a week, and 11 hours a day. They sound fantastic! The song is called, "Urban Energy"...........GREAT JOB!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Downtown

I went back to work on Monday, so Charles took the week off and yesterday took the kids to the Chase building downtown. There is an observation deck on the 60th floor out of the 75 floors. It is the tallest building in Texas. I remember going there about 20 years ago when it was the Texas Commerce Bank Building. They also walked the downtown tunnel system. They enjoyed it.

Olympic Card Stack

Guest Speaker - Dennis Swanberg

Today we had a huge pep rally for the school district that I work for. Dennis Swanberg was our guest speaker. He was probably the funniest person that I have ever heard. My jaws were aching from laughing so hard.

Beijing Olympics: Rowing 2008

I enjoy watching this event.

On a rainy day...

Today was a rainy day. It poured. I slept late, made a huge breakfast for my family, watched the olympics and a show about the history of the gibson guitar with Johnny and baked cookies. I baked oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip cookies. Wish you could smell the fresh baked cookie smell in my house right now. I have two ovens and have used them to death since I have been in this house. I think I will go work on a quilt and get ready to go to church. I love rainy days......

Silje Nergaard - Be Still My Heart

I found this jazz singer from Norway. I really like her music.

Uncle Jeff

My brother flew in from Indiana. Last night, he sat down with Johnny and taught him some cool guitar tricks. It was so cool to see my brother and my son playing guitars together! It thrilled Johnny to death.

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Singing at the Astros Game

Amy got to sing the National Anthem at the Astros Game this week.

My favorite new commercial

Ok, am I the only one that thinks that this commercial is hysterical???

You and Me.....Olympic song......

This was such a pretty song. Wish I could understand what they people are saying at the end.

2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China

I watched 3 1/2 hours of the 4 1/2 hours of the opening ceremonies. I hate that I missed the first hour. Funny enough, I was eating Chinese food and didn't get home in time. Ha! What a spectacular display of art, graphics, Chinese history, music, design and creativity! It was truly breathtaking!!! What a fascinating country and culture.

The SMART car....

I saw this cute car this morning. I talked to the owner. It was a nice gentleman in his 60's or so and he told me that he loves it. It is called Smart by Mercedes Benz. He was on a waiting list for a whole year to get it. I looked it up and found this information:

The Smart ForTwo car is an ultra mini two seater, only 8.8 feet long and slightly over 5 feet wide. The gas powered engine boasts 33 miles per gallon for city driving, 41 miles per gallon for highway driving, and the base price for the Smart ForTwo car starts at $11, 590.

The Smart ForTwo comes in three models, and according to Mercedes-Benz, all three models come packed with standard safety features that you would only expect to find in a more high priced luxury car.

Singing to the puppies

Is this the sweetest or what???

Friends...

Yesterday some of our very closest friends came to see us from Gunter. We went out to eat, then we went to see Swing Vote and then went to Denny's until about 11:15 last night for coffee and shakes. I didn't want it to end. I miss them so much. It looks like they might be moving back to the Houston area. I sure hope so.
Here are 2 of the 5 girls. Maura is playing guitar hero and Mandelyn is playing the piano.

The day of the Storm...

Today, businesses here closed, and the Mayor encouraged everyone to stay home to prepare for the Tropical Storm, Eduard. We were anticipating 60-80 mile per hour winds, massive rain and down power lines, etc. Thankfully we never saw any high winds at all. We only lost power for about 20 minutes. We all just slept late, and Johnny and I played 2 games of chess. I am glad I video taped the rain, because I love the sound of the rain. Thankful that it was not a bad storm at all, at least not out where we are.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Getting Ready for Edouard

Went to the store this morning to get supplies in case the power goes out during the upcoming storm. I bought a hand held can opener, batteries for a little am/fm radio, more candles, and some food that doesn't require refrigeration. We are expecting a lot of wind and rain.