What To Do??

The question this week is... what do you do with that pesky 4 year old who cannot settle down for a nap, but really, really needs one?

He falls asleep in the car for 2 minutes, but when I try to bring him in asleep and lay him down, he is back up needing to go potty, get a drink, and the usual nonsense. End of nap!!

His behavior is awful in the afternoon and evening with no nap. So now what?

Overheard

Dad to young son carrying nerf dartgun: "Take your toys upstairs to your room."

Young son whining: "It's too dark!!"

Dad: "That's okay. You've got a gun."

Library Book Bags

The kids have wanted their very own library book bags for some time now, but I wanted to make sure that they had something that was uniquely theirs. I thought about getting canvas bags from Michael's or Hobby Lobby and letting them decorate, but those bags are just so YUCK!!

So today when I saw these plans at one of my favorite blogs, I thought AHA! Perfect.

Soon I will be checking out some fitting fabric and hopefully creating bags for my two book lovers that suit them well.

Link To Elizabeth Foss Site

For some reason my link wasn't working to the Elizabeth Foss Serendipity site so try this one instead.

Then click on any of the letters for the stories.

Storytelling

My children have found a new game that they like to play. While bored in the car or while eating meals, they tell stories. Mostly Katie does the storytelling.

The stories are what they have called "Michael stories". Some of you reading this may be thinking that they have to do with Elizabeth Foss' creation of Mrs. Applebee and Michael stories. These are wonderful stories that go through the alphabet and incorporate the flower fairies and the saints all in one.

Nope. Instead their stories revolve around this Michael. For some reason they are absolutely enchanted by him, and have managed to come up with many (at least 15 or more) stories about Michael and his adventures. I am thinking we will have to write them down for Mikey, so that he will know how much his little friends love him.

Hurricane Ike and Austin

Ike decided that we needed to take a little vacation to Austin, so while we were there we saw some of the sites.

First up was a trip to Zilker Park, which was really quite nice, but it was a hot day.

The second day was a trip to the Capitol. The kids did really well, through what was I am sure a very boring morning, but they were later rewarded with an afternoon at the pool.

Inside the rotunda.

Daddy and Katie dress up.

Monday we took a trip out to the zoo, which is really just a wildlife sanctuary for rescued animals. Although it was really small, it had some fabulous opportunities to see animals very close. The lions and tigers were really only a few short feet away.

This guy really wanted out, and the kids found him unbelievably funny!

Nicholas' favorite animal. We could have just gone to a farm.

Returning from Austin

We made it back in no time from Austin today to find surprisingly not a whole lot of damage. Damage started far north of the city, but it was here and there. Going through the city we didn't see much other than billboards torn down, and big trees uprooted. Some windows were blown out, but not many. As we got closer to home there was more damage, but still didn't seem to be too severe. More businesses down here are still closed and boarded up, and a lot more trees and fences were down. You could collect enough pinecones from the fir trees to fill a house up.

Our house has really minimal damage. A fence board down. The rest of the fence is wobbly and needs repair, and a piece of siding came off. Everything else is fine.

We also found this little treasure in the backyard. Dinner anyone??

Not exactly sure where he came from. It is possible he was merely lifted from the lake/ retention pond across the street. Or he could have been air lifted from further away. Either way the kids found it fascinating to see a fish in their yard.

And in terms of the other fish...aka Sweetie and Cutie. They managed to survive 72 hours without power, without food for a week. And something like 90 mile an hour winds. We were amazed to see them happily swimming in their tanks on our kitchen island.

Water is safe again. Power is on here. And things are getting back to normal. Ballet starts again on Monday. The school district is out indefinately. Mike is out of work until at least Monday. So we will be continuing our vacation at home.

Oh and the birthday boy, the big one that is, celebrated today with lunch at McDonald's in Hempstead, and we will probably have spaghetti for dinner here. No cake since we don't have grocery stores fully stocked yet, and I don't have eggs to make one. So the full celebration is temporarily postponed.

Hurricane Ike

We are safe and sound and think our house is too. Hopefully we will have more updates soon. Our city website is telling us to stay away until Monday and that there is no power in areas and water needs to be boiled. We will probably stay here for a few more days, at least until we hear about the power issue.

Living With a Doll

It is official! We are living with a Gingerbread Doll!!

Katie auditioned a couple weeks ago for the Nutcracker with her ballet studio, and got the call on Friday that she had a part.

Saturday we went to the cast meeting, where she got her part, and she is going to be a gingerbread doll. We are currently unsure of exactly what that entails. It is not the ginger children that come out of Mother Ginger's skirt, but rumor is she will be one of the toy dolls that Drosselmeier entertains the children with at the party in the first act. She is very excited as are we.

More details will be coming later as to the dates and times of the shows she will be in. There are 14 performances, of which I believe she does half.

YAY, Katie!!

Hi Ho Cherry-o Marathon

What is the record for the longest game of Hi Ho Cherry-o??

Today we must have topped it, playing for what must have been a half hour before someone won.

Another One Bites the Dust

Nicholas had a fever with no other symptoms Monday through Wednesday of last weekend, and then it turned into a sore throat kind of coughing. Now he seems fine.

I came down Thursday with a severe headache and by Friday afternoon had the fever and sore throat. The sore throat is still lingering.

Mike started yesterday, with the same sore throat, mild fever.

Yesterday, Katie sneezed all day, and then at night said her head hurt. Today it was a fever of 101.

All 4 up, and all 4 down. Now hoping we haven't passed it on to anyone else.

Being Optimistic

Whoever says there are NO change of seasons in Texas is wrong!

First of all there is the hot season. Weather is sunny and warm, but not intolerable.

Then we have the humid season. This comes after the hot season, making it very hot and humid so that every time you go outside, you come in drenching wet. No need for a shower here.

Then there is our current season...the mosquito season. This comes with hot, humid, rainy weather. It provides for ample time inside with one's family. Don't bother going outside, unless you want to donate a pint of blood. Better yet, just don't go outside and donate your blood to a blood bank where it would actually go to good use.

The final season of course is the nice weather season. This comes with beautiful sunny days, where you can go outside and not feel exhausted, eaten, or drenched.

Since we are in the mosquito season right now, I am looking optimistically towards the nice weather season that comes next.

After a Long Day at the Water Park

Pictures self-explanatory

More Sea World

Waiting for Shamu

That is one big whale

Nicholas readily fed the hungry sea lions the disgusting fish.

I'm hungry!!!!

Edouard Update

Seems during the night he went a little east of us, which is good news. All is well!

Looks like just a rainy and windy day here in Texas, but since Mike is off, we can spend the day together.

Girl Going Swimming or Weird Sea Creature??

You decide.

Sea World San Antonio 2008

We recently made a trip to San Antonio with some wonderful friends from Illinois. We met them there last Tuesday afternoon, and then drove back to our house in Houston with them following on Thursday night.

On Tuesday Mike and I took the kids to the Children's Museum.

This totally reminded me of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

And since blogger won't let me upload any more photos right now, this is all you get.

What Nicholas Does These Days

And some pictures for those of you who can't tell what my son is obsessed with lately.

Eduoard?? Watching and Waiting

For all of you concerned as to our plans for Eduoard, we are planning to stay here for now. It is supposed to be here starting tonight and then all day tomorrow. Rain and winds up to 60 mph are forecasted. But really not that bad I don't think. By Thursday we are supposed to be dry and sunny.

Looking outside now at the crystal blue sky, and the stagnant air that is oh so humid, you can see why in 1900 Galvestonians had no clue that something big was on the way. It truly is a beautiful albeit humid day.

So pray that our power stays on, and that this thing doesn't strengthen and all should be well.

On the menu tonight:
Sirloin steak, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and some variety of the summer fruit stashed in the fridge. Then banana chocolate chip muffins for dessert.
(Should the power go out, I wouldn't want the steak to go to waste, and the rotting bananas need to be turned into something delectable today.)

Please Look Below Skirt Post

I was working on this post prior to my skirt posting and since I didn't publish until today, it was put below my previous post.

Enjoy!