A crazy day

The 3rd first day of school was pretty wild yesterday. I am sure it was tough for anyone whose children had missed 12 days of school but b/c of several factors, ours was even nuttier than normal.

To start off, I have worried about Faith's allergy cough. On our way back to school, someone side-swiped me on 11th Street. Craig, who was in the middle of a meeting (in my dining room) had to come get Faith while Will and Lightning McQueen girl who hit me waited on the police. Actually, it hurt her car worse than mine. It should teach an Ultima driver to steer clear of the Big Black Expedition. I could have just let it go but she had to get her car fixed so she now has a $756 claim for 3 scratches that are not near as bad as the dents I have put in it.

While waiting on car drama, my BSF leader called to check on me, ask if I had a prayer request and how did my lesson go over the evacuation-vacation. I had to completely humble myself to tell her that I lost it, the lesson as well as my mind. It is somewhere between Tyler, Mt. Home or my messy house. I have no idea what it consists of except it is about Moses. I know about him but I am sure the homework was extremely detailed. I will just have to sit and listen.

I think my mood wore off on Will by the time we got home. He was so cranky so he and I had a battle of the wills all day. At dinner, he refused to eat anything but his fruit. And, dinner was good, if I say so myself. So, I began taking him to his room to stay in his bed for 2 minutes. He would cry and then I would go get him. Our convo went like this:

Me: Are you ready to get out?

W: Yes, Mommy (hands held out to me)

Me: Are you going to eat your meat?

W: No

Me: You have to eat, will you eat your dinner?

W: (blank stare)

Me: Are you ready Will?

W: I lode (love) you Mommy.

Me: I love you too, are you going to eat your meat?

I would put him back in his chair and after a few minutes, he would not eat so we would go back to his room over and over an over, about 10 times. By 7, he wanted his nuk. I said no, gave him a bath and put him to bed. Stubborn met stubborner and I really did not win. Needless to say, he was starving this morning. He did learn to say the word "ready" and before MDO this morning, he said, " I ready Mommy!"

For weeks, my eldest has worried about how she was going to make-up 12 days of school. She thought it might all have to come in homework. This is a pic of her smiling face when she only had 1 sheet and spelling words last night.
Claire is smiling b/c she just thinks she has homework and she mastered the sound letter Y makes. Where is Will? He is busy, throwing himself over the side of my rocker like a quarterback . .. .without a broken collarbone. I did not dare to let him continue to repeat the move in order to take a pic.

After dinner and Will's drama, I went to the grocery store, by myself. It was exciting b/c I saved a ton of $ with coupons but cokes were $4.50 a 12 pack. That is a crime. Coke must be watching Wall Street. I was happy not to buy them b/c they still had no diet coke caffeine free or cherry coke zero. Name brand coke is a must at our house, even on the budget. I went to HEB today and got them on sale 3/12 with an 8 pack of free powerade. I felt better.

If you made it through this post, you are very daring. Happy day! :)

Pictures nor words can describe it

I have seen footage and first hand pics of Bolivar for weeks. I have even seen pics of our "house" up close but until you see it with the eye, you haven't seen it. I cannot describe the devastation. It looks like hundreds of bombs went off all over the place. It is obliterated. The entire place is a total mess.

We scavenged for hours to find a few remnants of dishes or knick-knacks, none. Ma did find pieces of a cross she had made from shells. We dug the foot board to their bed out of the sand. I saw her R Lauren sheets buried in about a foot of sand, we decided to leave them.

Yes, there are houses that seem untouched. They used to be ocean front property and now they are garbage front. Debris is everywhere and I mean everywhere. It is bottom less pit junk.

Some neighborhoods are worse than others. Some additions are invisible, you cannot tell one from the other. Sandpiper had many homes standing as did Cobb's Cove & Lafitte's Landing.

Some homes look untouched from behind with air conditioners intact until you look at the front and the front of the house is gutted. I saw beds made up with pillows in place but no walls around them. Some cabins had stairs and appear perfect while others have nothing but a slab, some have just sand. I bet I saw 1,000 toilets stuck in mud or sand. I called it muck, I realize the meaning of the word. It is disgusting.

Most businesses have nothing left. Stingaree Restaurant had damage but was still standing. I think the water slide will be usable someday but with the present destruction, no one but city garbage can earn a living. Gas station, donut shop, hardware store, and tire shop are erased from the land. Post office looked good, I think it was built to last. We did not drive down far enough to see the school or the many homes on the bay or new ones closer to the Ferry. I heard many are still there.

It must be devastation in the billions. The real misfortune is that people made a living there, raised their family, it was their life. It is no secret that Crystal Beach was junky. There were some rubbish parts. Despite the 2nd home or retiree taxpayers, it was not a wealthy area. There is wealth there or was to the people who owned businesses or had extravagant homes. My in-laws spent a ton of money at the Big Store and so did us kids. I bet we could have paid the insurance premium over the past 10 years in groceries.

To many people, it was a get-away home, a vacation spot. But to others, it was all they had. It broke my heart to see them digging through rubble to find anything worth keeping.

Once again, we are reminded to build our home on the Rock, the only rock. It pains me to think of those who are so sorrowful for the loss and they do not know Jesus. What a mission field, they need Him so much but now they are scattered like lost sheep. I am glad I know the One who can find them.


We know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2 Corinthians 5 : 1

the cutest kids ever

The girls went to a football game with Auntie M & Uncle J on Friday night and now they are hooked, looks like I will have to start taking them to WB games. Oh the joy! Really, I do not mind football but chasing the 3 of them may be a task but Mere & J did it! Not to mention, won't it bring back memories?
I guess if he gets this happy, it is worth it. Beautiful eyes huh? Adrienne took this pic, he probably saw Uncle Nate. :)

A reason to party

Will & Lila love each other so much, a party hat was necessary for amusement during Hurricane Ike.

And playing in the ice chest, eating old ice, that is always important too. My refrigerator contents this morning was not a reason to party, according to the kids. I had 2 yogurts, 2 cheese sticks, 1 diet coke, 1/2 gallon of milk and a cup of mandarin oranges.

I used the lesson to remind them about starving children and why we support missions in the USA as well as overseas. Faith took the lesson in stride but when she went to play at a friend's house later that morning, she asked me if she could stay for lunch, she figured our lunch was scarce.

In order not to freak them out, I went grocery shopping. I did go to Kroger & Heb, b/c Kroger lacked my diet coke and mustard. You have to have mustard on a turkey sandwich, per Claire. I also refused to pay $2.99 for grapes when they were 99 cents Heb and I had to go anyway. I saw almost everyone I knew at either store, they were packed. One nice thing was no one had on any make-up b/c many are still without power. Too bad the no make-up rule does not apply anytime not just post hurricane time. If I did not see you at the store, you must not be home yet.

I took these pics when I got home. There were 8 lineman trucks on our street. I hope our neighbors get power today, then they may have a reason to party. Entergy must not play favorites b/c the Captain of Beaumont PD lives across the street and he is power less too. I offered the workers a bottled water, they declined. Maybe I should have suggested mustard with turkey?

This is our tarped roof, so thankful the hole did not bust all the way through. I think it was partially b/c Craig got the top of the tree off so fast and we were not away from it so long. Our neighbors next door are nice people but they have mean, sloppy trees. I am praying they trim them before we have to have a discussion. (we as in Craig and it does not look like they are going to do anything)This is my garage, Craig moved 1/2 his stuff in here, 1/4 in his box truck and 1/4 in MY dining room, or it is his dining room too. Bless his heart, he is trying to keep it neat in order to accommodate all of us. He looked at a bldg today but he does not want to make a quick decision. I don't want him to either. I am reminded to be thankful. Many people are in dire situations.

Evac to the farm

Ike & the tree barely missed the horse trailer. Dad said it will make great firewood.Dad had cataract surgery so he needed a little assistance at the farm, I am sure the girls were his 1st choice. The took feed up the hill to Mac & Jojo. Most of the conversation on the way up was about which horse was their own. Mac waited patiently, she was really hungry, especially since she is with child.

At this point, Faith decided Claire could have Mac, she wanted Jojo. Jo is not quite kid rideable yet but Faith said she will wait. She wanted to ride all-by-herself. Since she is a cowgirl and all.Claire just wants to ride with me or bareback with Ray Charles, aka as Papa and his glasses. Le Bleu is the newest addition to the fam. He is a strong new stallion with excellent blood lines, don't I sound like I know what I am talking about? PW has nothing on me.

This is Sam, she is really laid back and will be a great riding horse soon, once she is completely trained.

Will just kinda hung out and watched. Thanks to the collarbone incident, he was not in the mood for jockeying. I finally got him to ride with me. Who knew momof3 status included horseback riding?

We enjoyed our evacuation to Mountain Home, we are blessed to get to visit. I am glad they always want us!

The refugee card is running out

I am afraid I must go home tomorrow. Craig got power on Friday and went home to work in his mess-o-office. I have enjoyed my time in Mountain Home immensely. I mean who wouldn't? The entire fam entertained the girls and Nate helped with fussy Will. I guess if they need extra jobs (that do not pay but give me peace) they could nanny for me.

As nice as it has been, my husband misses us and we miss him too. I think he is worried we may never come back.

I did think about it. I don't think inner-city ministry jobs just pop up anywhere so I guess I must return to my real life. My real life that does not consist of someone else watching the kids, cooking, cleaning and making dinner and me on the phone for 27 hours with an insurance adjuster. Back to normalcy, which honestly is a blessing. I will take it but will things ever be the same again?

Well, I guess if it isn't, I know I have the best fam in the whole world. :)

So I finally decided to update

even though most of you have already heard from me. We evacuated to Tyler to stay with Kel and Matt.  (Bless their hearts, they want Hurricane season to be over as much as we do!)  The 5 cousins had a ball but we decided to take advantage of the time off and make a trip to Arkansas.  The kids and I came on Monday. We still lack electricity at our house in Beaumont, not to mention the water is crummy. It is improving everyday but since the kids do not have school, there is no reason for me to be there this week.  We just had a tad bit of damage at our house, a fist sized hole in the roof that has not leaked.   Craig already patched it and it will be fine. However, Craig's office was hit by a tornado so he has a mess there. He is still in Tyler so he can be closer to home.  

I do not really understand the destruction of Craig's office and all his hard work for others but I am not God and I know He can be glorified through this situation.  He does work all things together for good for those who love Him.

To add to the drama, when we got here Will fell off Auntie A's play set outside. After an hour of crying, I took him to the ER, he broke his collarbone. Yes, I am such a good mother. Actually, A's play set is a mini-version (maybe 4 ft. off the ground.) Mine is much larger at my house and my sister-in-law's in Tyler is even bigger than mine. He has continuously played on all of them, he is such a climber.   Anyway, so he is a bit fussy.

Want to know something funny? 2 1/2 years ago we were here Memorial Weekend, staying at a river house, we noticed Claire's shoulder looked funny while I was bathing her. Guess what? She had a broken collarbone. After many dr appts., we learned she was born with it broke, it never healed. Thankfully, Will's is not like that, it is a regular fracture that should heal. So, yes, we have collarbone issues.

Mom and I took the kids to the farm on Tuesday and Wednesday, they loved feeding and riding the horses.  I am enjoying seeing my family and not having to rush to do everything.  I am going to bible study tonight with Mere & Adrienne, Lord knows I need it!  

Anyway, I know all 2.5 of you were just dying for that update. Below, I post a pic of what used to be my in-laws beach house (yellow circle).  We will miss it dearly, such wonderful memories. However, we know now why God asks us to build our house on the rock, only Him, not anything else.  I know there are many people in horrible situations at this moment, prayer needs to be the most important thing we do, many need lifting up.  I pray Jesus does not tarry long.