It passed! After watching/listening to all things Ike for several days before the storm, I'm glad to say it's now over. Gratefully for us nothing of consequence happened: a tree down in the back yard (it fell opposite the house), parts of the fence are down, we discoved some roof leaks, and we'll be out of electricity for two to six more days.
We spent most of yesterday cleaning up fallen branches and taking the plywood off the windows.
We kept the kids up late the night of the storm hoping they would wear themselves by the time it hit. It worked. Somehow that high winds (which worried me) didn't disturb their slumber. We tucked them safely in the hallway in the middle of the house and when they awoke the worst was over and when they woke up they just went into the boys' room to play Legos like any other day.
The water we were storing in the tub wasn't needed for drinking or washing (we didn't lose water service) so we used it instead to cool off at the end of the day...a little too cold for my taste but after working outside and being even hotter in the house, it was welcomed.
To help us sleep through the night we had spray bottles by the bed.
We're now at a friend's enjoying all the luxuries of modern life: TV, DVDs, an oven, lights, and AC. That equals happy children. Oh and undergarments and towels will be clean and dry soon. That equals happy husband.
We now have an empty fridge and my friend has a full one. It was time to clean it outways.
Our little family's life will be back to normal soon (school should start Wednesday), but for many here that were hit harder it will be a long time and there will be lots of service opportunity. Wer are so grateful to have been protected and prayed for.

Isaac's garden finally produced! (Small bowl usedf intentionally to made product appear larger.) Leah made some killer pico de gallo yesterday using a couple to add some TX heat. I don't know any other seven year olds making it; must be a testiment she belongs to me.

... to let you know what's going on down here as we get ready for tropical strom Ike. Our county (Fort Bend) is not under mandatory evacuation, in fact, no one I know in this area is leaving. They've been evacutating areas close to Galveston, which is already experiencing some flooding. We've moved everything from outside into the garage (or garbage can!) and Paul is just now finishing boarding up the last window: cave dwellers! It should hit Galveston sometime in the middle of the night and they're saying we could experience hurricane winds (75-100mph) for up to six hours. After bathing everyone tonight we'll clean out the tub and fill it with water; just in case the water shuts down it'll be nice to be able to flush the toilet, wash, etc. We're expecting the electricity to go off, we just don't know how long and are hoping it won't be days and days; it heats up pretty quickly down here without A/C. We're just hoping for the best for everyone down here and are really glad we don't live in an area that is expected to flood (I keep telling our neighbors that because they don't know how to swim and are in a state of panic).

Isaac's trying to finish his Wolf for Scouts before his birthday at the end of the month so last night he was in charge of dinner. His menu was corndogs, mac 'n' cheese, and carrots (only because I told him "no" to chip and beans as the main course, although that's what I had after they were all in bed...and no popcorn party for dinner, either). Everyone had one cold corn dog (he had two hot ones), noodles with butter (he made Leah happy by adding the cheese to her bowl only), and part of the requirement was doing the dishes as well. And Elizabeth sucked ranch off her token carrot during the meal. She may have eaten it later, I don't know.

We went to the doctor yesterday and now have a date for Leah's second eye surgery, which will be the day before halloween. I see a pirate costume in her near future, not a ballerina as she sees. Actually it probably wouldn't bother her. It was several months after her surgery in May that she told me some of her friends called her a monster. Her self-esteem is sky-high and just thought it was funny. She was actually more self concious during her swim meets doing the back stroke because the rope kept getting in her way. Since watching the Olympics she has daily practiced splits, handstands and the like. So much so, that Elizabeth has caught on and does the splits as soon as she spots anyone with camera in hand.

Benjamin has had two severe eczema breakouts in the last two months. He's had oral steroids twice and it has helped, but I had to change health plans in order to get him into a dermatologist before January! After he bathes he lays down on a blanket in front of the tv while I massage the cream into his skin. Can you believe he complains about it? I guess he doesn't care that others pay for a service like that.

Elizabeth is a treasure: happy and helpful. She inherited Grandma Hogan's pick-up-all-the-time-gene; a couple of nights ago I watched her: First she came to me and took my spoon away (luckily she didn't see me eating mint choco ice cream off it first) and put it in the kitchen. Then she came back in the living room and picked up Isaac's clothes he'd been wearing before bed and delivered them to the laundry. Next she gathered the wipes, a diaper, and the changing pad and brought it to Paul. She laid out the pad and positioned herself on it to be changed. Still not talking much, she let Paul finish the job before reaching out her hand and commanding, "Uh, uh." He gave her the diaper and she disposed of it properly. Then she came back for the wipes and pad and put them back on the shelf. Okay, she's not perfect, she did get into my make-up the other night when we both thought she was asleep. And she loves to find markers (green is her color of choice). However, as soon as she's done she leads me to the sink to be cleaned up.

Paul finished his internship and is back in school and teaching. We found out he worked for the wrong company, however, when someone at school told him her company gave all the interns laptops at the end of the summer. Thanks for telling me. I just got an email from him with a clue as to what a different company gave him today at an interview: "it has to do not with you but with "i" and when you see it you'll want to do a shuffle."

Having the three oldest in school is a big change from our summer days. I miss waking up each day and choosing together what we'll do (somedays it's just stay home and play with dad's shaving cream or read books for the locals store's reading club), but it is nice to not feel behind on everything (we all now have clean underwear...no picture, just believe me). And little Elizabeth keeps me busy, I mean company, when she's not sleeping.