Isaac, You Little Trickster...You!

This storm has been an unpredictable mess. First it was headed right for us, but then went to Louisiana. Then it tricked us into thinking it would not do much damage by being just a Cat 1. Well, he sure showed us "I may be small, but I am slow, so let the rampage begin....buahahaha." Now, he waits until my children go back to school to start with his demon spawn again, tornadoes. This shows how we human beings really do not have control over anything but ourselves and our own personal decision. Everything else is circumstance and controlled by someone or something else.  

I wish all the best to those affected by this monster!

On a lighter note, I finally finished Charlie's apron thanks to the hubby being off and Isaac playing nice yesterday. I am also way ahead on homework, of which I plan to stay on that path.

Recently I have been asked to make lots of things for people. I would absolutely love to do this. Does anyone know of any way for me to keep it all straight and how I can try to stay on task to get them all done? I thought about doing a written list on my craft closet door and give myself suspense dates.  (the Air Force in me...lol)


I am also getting ready to make my first batch of french milled/triple milled/re-batch soap. This process helps to keep a stronger scent for essential oils (I am partial to these over fragrance). My planned scent will be a blend of tangerine, nutmeg, and patchouli. If it comes out awesome I will be making some lotion bars or whipped body butter in the same scent. I am also planning on experimenting with lip-balm too using tangerine, nutmeg and ginger. I have ensured they are all "lip-safe" essential oils, but I still only plan on using a hint of these in my balm recipe. So EXCITED!

Isaac Sent His Spawn to Visit Instead

Staying busy while waiting out the tornado warning.

A few hours ago we just finished two back to back tornado warnings (the spawn of Isaac). Apparently this is what happens when you are on the east side of a hurricane. I was not prepared for this. Either way, we took cover in the two safest places in the house: Charlie's bathroom and the laundry room. When the second warning happened during the first "take cover." I decided to run out and grab water and some snacks just in case we were under cover for a long period of time. Maybe not the smartest idea, but Charlie was so restless due to being hungry. On the way back to the bathroom I also grabbed a few things to keep her occupied. These items are now a permanent fixture in her bathroom until this thing is over.

pretty gross to have food in the bathroom, oh well

When we were able to come out we finished stocking up these areas with water, snacks, food for the dog, books, magazines, blankets, pillows, and medicine to calm the dog. It might seem like overkill, but taking cover with 6 people, 4 of them being children, for long periods of time in very tight spaces is just asking for drama. So, we are prepared for the next set of warnings.

I am also moving my two children that sleep on the opposite side of the house to my side of the house which is closest to our "safe" rooms. I have been through tornado warnings before, but this seems so much different than the other times, so I do not want to leave anything to chance.  This is some scary stuff!



I am so grateful that we do not have to experience a hurricane and at the same time I am sad for those who do. I hope everyone is as safe as possible.

Pictures from earlier:

Santa Rosa Island, Florida 28 Aug 2012

Gotta love the wind-blown hair-do

The birds taking cover from the wind

Some businesses remained open and some were boarded up and closed

My house is still boarded up. Better safe than sorry.

Where are you going Isaac? Don't you want me anymore!?

Apparently Isaac decided that Northwest Florida was not his ideal vacation spot. We are still keeping our boards up and preparing for the worst in case he changes his mind.

 
It was pretty nice out so I decided to take Charlie to the beach. She was so excited to see me in my swim wear when I woke her up that she sleepily jumped out of bed and immediately put on her swimsuit. The rest of the morning she added things to wear and bring. She even had me change "Baby" out of her nightgown into a swim suit. Look at those cute little pink wolf ears. I think those are quite appropriate for the beach.



I figured it would be red flag when we got there and I was right. I just really wanted to get her out of the house. I only grabbed a bucket and two shovels out of my large stock of beach gear.

We lasted all of about 5 minutes before the flies started biting us. The couple that left when we got there warned us and suggested staying close to the water, but that did not help.

Charlie was very sad about leaving. I had some coupon shopping to do, so I tried to make it up to her by letting her play a bit in the stores. They were quite empty so we were not bothering anyone. She even pushed the cart in one of them. Despite the disappointment, I think her morning turned out alright. I saved a total of 77% after all of my purchases. I am no extreme couponer, but I think I do alright. I also got her a donut and blue slushy so she was quite content when we got home.

We took a long nap and then the older girls and I began pulling our furniture from the yard in preparation for Isaac's tail that is supposed to hit us in a day or two. Charlie happily played on the back patio with her tricycle and chalk. It seems that she is quite ready for the storm. Look at that pretty pink scarf for the "snow."

Isaac is coming....maybe?!

Yesterday was an extremely long day for my family. My husband and I got up early and headed to the local home improvement store with the intention of buying wood and asking them to cut it. We measured all our windows, drew out diagrams; we were ready to get these windows covered.

At the home improvement store, we ran into a little snag. Their wood cutter was broken. Plan B, buy a decently priced saw (so we can use it in the future) and cut the wood ourselves. A wonderful worker helped me pick out a saw. We payed for our purchases and we were ready to get started.

I was very nervous that we would not be able to get everything done because Lew has been at work all day and night the day prior and I was worried he would be called in yesterday also; and I was right. Luckily the other person "in charge" with him was headed to the beach and volunteered to stay either until we were done or until they let everyone go home. Lew kept his phone close just in case they needed him and he was called quite a few times. It makes me extremely happy that this person volunteered to help us out. I am not sure that I could have completed the task while refereeing 4 children.

Anyhow, we measured and cut and measured and cut. We (I) had one measuring mistake, but we bought some wood for our sliding glass doors and decided that the window we messed up would be more exposed and needed to be covered instead. We worked until almost noon just cutting. We put those boards up and took a lunch break. After that we decided to cut and put up each time.

We had to figure out some issues along the way. For instance, our bay windows are not the easiest windows to cover. We had to "rig" them and we are hoping it holds. The clips we used are not meant for siding, but we had not choice. Also we have some odd shaped windows and lots of pieces of wood so we "puzzled" a few together to try to not waste wood. We had to find a way to make the clips tighter on the wood. I tried using the pliers, but I was not strong enough. Then I used my foot and it was "wonky." Lew ended up having to tighten all the clips with the pliers.

I guess I miss home ;)

We also had to try to keep 4 children from either beating each other up or tearing up the house. They survived! Bonus! My husband and I only had one tiff while doing this project. That is amazing for us. We had some good laughs too. We made fun of how our house looked like a condemned "crack house." I mentioned how my dad was amaze at how nice our cities are here. He said "where is the trash?" I think that was his way of saying I lived in a nice place. I grew up in Long Beach, California. We have trash all over the street, graffiti everywhere. It is definitely different here.

BTW, we are the only people on our street with boards up so far. I would rather be safe than sorry. 

Hello Isaac!

blog.beaumontenterprises.com

We are preparing for a hurricane here and it is my first time having to do this. It is very nerve-racking. Every time I get on Facebook I see posts about being scared or making fun of the people getting 20 loaves of bread at Walmart. I am trying to take a more common sense approach to things. I also thought I would share my feelings and doings during this storm threat.

When I first found out yesterday that we should start preparing I just figured I would keep my gas tank full, make sure we have some batteries and flash lights. I had the hubby pick up some water and charcoal (which was already on the list to get due to an awesome sale).

As time goes on and I read Facebook posts I start to realize that maybe I should be more worried and start hoarding things. Maybe I should go buy a generator so I do not loose the $400  in meat in my freezer (of which I never buy this stuff in bulk and I am kicking myself for doing it last month). Maybe I need to buy a gun to fend of looters. I do not want to be a crazy, but to say that I am not worried would be lying.

www.accuweather.com

My husband and I compromised on some things and we decided to just get some extra ice to have on hand to try to save as much meat as possible and as far as the rest we will just figure it out as things happen.

I had to have the preparation talk with my kids by myself tonight because my husband was called into work to prepare for the coming storm. I had to be careful not to scare them, but also prepare them for the worst. I explained the plan for sleeping arrangements in order to have people in the safest possible place. I explained how we can prepare and survive a power and water outage. We started bringing items in to the garage so they cannot be launched into our windows by the wind. We will finish up the larger items tomorrow when Lew is home.

I honestly do not think that someone could possibly be perfectly prepared for natural disasters. I think you do the best you can and what you think is right. When a situation arises you put on your common sense cap and shield of bravery and deal with it.

As time goes on I will try to post about what we are going through unless we lose power. :D

Annual August Road Trip Part II

After our busy day of shopping on day 4, I really needed to just relax on day 5. I decided to take Kailah, Kairah, and Kaijah to the movies. We went to see Step Up 4. They just love these dance movies. Their uncle Jeff is in quite a few of them, but did not participate in this one unfortunately because he is an awesome dancer. Any how, we really enjoyed the movie and the theater food. Seriously, everything IS bigger in Texas. My nachos were huge. I could not even finish them. One of the funniest things during the trip happened at the movies also. My goofy daughter got nacho cheese all over, not just one, but both of her bare feet. Kairah and I have a bad habit of taking our shoes off in theaters (usually mine are cold because I am wearing flippy flops so I bring socks to put on) and she forgot that she had put the nachos on the floor under her feet. She stepped right in it. I laughed so hard. The rest of the day we just relaxed. We had a big day ahead, our trip to Dallas.

We spent day 6 and 7 in Dallas. We stayed at The Great Wolf Lodge which has this awesome indoor water park that is included in your stay. I dropped Lew and the older girls off at Six Flags Over Texas and myself, my mother in law and Charlie visited Legoland. I cannot tell you much about the girls time at Six Flags because I was not there, but we had a great time at Legoland. I found it interesting that the mall in Dallas not only housed stores, but also Legoland and ...wait for it...wait for it... an Aquarium.....WHAT!? Legoland was pretty cool. We rode a ride kind of like Buzz Lightyear Space Rangers, played with lots of legos and watched a show. Charlie adopted a lego cow and played with that thing almost the entire time. It went down the slide and even went to the show with us. After Legoland we went back to the hotel and got busy in the water park. It was a blast. Charlie had to have gone down the "blue slide" over 20 times. This activity was a great lesson in following directions, being safe and standing in line. She had a few time outs for running and cutting in line, but she still had a great time. We ended the day at Joe's Crab Shack right before picking up Lew and the girls. I will say that there was not a lot of talking going on at the dinner table except for Charlie. My mother-in-law is married to a seafood hater, so it was awesome for her to have someone to enjoy some good seafood with. We chowed down! I even wore the bib.

The next day we ate at the Character Breakfast. The food was delicious! After breakfast, the older girls got to experience the water park. It was a ton of fun. We were having so much fun that we did not snap very many photos. Each of the girls got to spend time with each adult. I think most of us rode most, if not all, of the rides at least once. Charlie really enjoyed the wave pool and outside pool. Kairah loved the slides and Kaijah loved the big bucket o' water dump (had no idea what to call it). I think if we stay here again we should add a day or two and snag the package deal that includes Magi Quest (an interactive adventure in the hotel). We headed back to Killeen that evening after a fun filled, we were extremely tired, day.

To be continued...(we are up to 8 of our 10 day trip if you are trying to keep count)

Highs and Lows of the First Day of School

I have not forgotten about the rest of my vacation posts, but I thought it fitting to squeeze in a post about the first day of school (today for us).

The day began a little rough like all first days. I am very happy that I prepared school lunches the night before. I woke my middle schoolers, Kailah and Kairah, up 15 minutes after they ignored their alarms. They fought over the bathroom of course. I served them up a fourth of a Happy Shake. They were not impressed, but they still drank it. (I am happy to report that Kairah said she felt awesome today and I think it has something to do with the shake :D) They were ready on time. I snapped a photo and watched them leave for the bus.

Kaijah got up and was so not happy with the happy shake. It is always difficult to give her new things when she did not have the idea, but she eventually chugged it down. She tried to just throw something on and not do much with herself, but I convinced her to put a little more effort in. When she returned to me, she looked wonderful and handed me a necklace and earrings that she needed help with. Then her morning turned bad. The bus did not come to our house as it did last year. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with transportation trying to get information being transferred and hung up on. We usually take care of this at orientation, but transportation was not around after our orientation and had closed before I could call them. She was in tears. I felt so bad for her. I got Charlie out of bed and put her in the van in her PJs to take Kaijah to school and we found her bus on the way. I am sure the bus driver thought I was crazy because I watched it in my rear view and stopped when it did, waved it down and let Kaijah out. I did not want to be in the huge mess at school of parents that cannot let their kids go to school like normal on the first day.

The rest of the morning went smoothly. Charlie watched TV after breakfast while I tidied up the house. I even got all the dishes done and counters wiped down in the kitchen. I did my FLY mission, not only to my room, but everyone else rooms also. We made cupcake pops, colored, and played with blocks. It was so nice and peaceful.

After my nap, while Charlie was still sleeping, I got myself ready for my first day of school. Charlie got up 30 minutes later ready to play. We got her dressed and spiffed up. Then the drama began. Kailah and Kairah arrived home.

Even snapped a pic of Lew this morning :D

I do not know what happens to Kailah during the school day, but she almost always comes home with a crappy attitude and tired. They get home an hour before she has to start homework. This week "homework" is paperwork and organization time. I asked her to wash her lunch dishes and get a snack. She refused snack as always and fought with her sister over the sink. She gave up quickly and hit the sheets. I woke her up 10 minutes before homework time and I got the ugly monster in return. Gotta love teenagers! I guess dad will be filling out paperwork with her tonight or she can get in trouble at school.

Here I am, ready for my first day of school

Kairah had a wonderful day it seems. She was very chatty about her classes and sat at the table with me while I filled out her paperwork. She has some classes with her friends which to her means the world.

Kaijah has only been home for about 15 minutes, but she seems to be in a good mood. She said everything went well once we got her on the bus. She has a friend from last year in her class.

Charlie is now a hot mess! Hanging all over me and whining. She is a completely different person when her sisters are around.

I hope everyone had/has more highs than lows on the first day of school.

Annual August Road Trip Part I

Kairah being silly at IHOP in Mississippi

Heeeeeyyyyy! Nice to be back in my house. I love being on vacation, but it is so nice to come home also. I always come home with new eyes, ideas, and ready to get things done.

 Our annual August road-trip was lots of fun. We headed to Texas again to visit my husband's mom. The first stop on the way was to Alexandria, LA. When we got into Alexandria we popped by the Kent Plantation which I had planned to tour, but we were 5 minutes late for the last tour. Apparently you cannot be on the property unless you are a part of a paid tour. The lady offered to give us a partial tour for full price of which I started to agree to, but thankfully the universe stepped in and killed the phone line to their credit card machine. We ended up just going back to our less than stellar Hotel and swam. For dinner we headed to Ryan's where a lovely couple gave us a coupon in the parking lot. It saved us from paying for one kids meals. Awesome! The people that worked at Ryan's were so sweet. We went to bed early because the hubby and I were already not feeling good most of the day.

The next day I was greeted by pee colored water coming from the sink and decided "lets get the eff outta here!" I convinced the owner to provide a partial refund for the trouble of not being able to shower and we hit the road. Day 2 was more miserable than day 1. Lew was suffering from food poisoning and 2. I was paying the price for a glutenful doughnut I ate a few days prior. We worked hard to stay pleasant with each other and the kids and made lots of stops.

First stop in Texas

I was so happy when we hit Texas, my second favorite state to visit or live in. It only took a few more hours to hit Killeen, home of Fort Hood, the largest Army Base. My father in-law is retired from the Army. Unfortunately he was out of town when we visited. He is a blast!

On Day 3 my baby turned 3 years old. OMG! I cannot believe how fast they grow up. This day began a new stage for her. The clingy to mommy stage. Ugh! Oh well. I spent the first 3 years of her life trying to hug on her and now I get it back 3 fold....lol. Lew, Kairah, Charlie and I hit the PX and Commissary to pick up a few things. When I got back to the house Kailah and I made Charlie's cupcakes. We used these cool silicon baking cups from Wilton. No cupcake pan needed and they are reusable. We opened presents and Charlie decided that she wanted to have dinner out. We went to Texas Roadhouse (love this place!). When the crew came by to sing to her, she hid behind her sisters. It was too cute. We all wore bows (except Charlie) at Charlie's request. She wore her Burger King crown from earlier.

 

After getting her ears pierced

Day 4 was full of shop-shop-shopping. We shopped 'til we dropped; oh yes we did! We wasted some time being swindled in the mall in a suit shop, but ended up walking out with nothing. "You cannot fool us Mr. Suit Man!" It was extremely entertaining people watching in the mall. Texans definitely have their own sense of style. Some good and some bad in my opinion. I would love to have Clinton Kelly next to me in that mall. We all got some cute stuff and Charlie left with newly pierced ears.  She was so upset with me which absolute hurt my feelings, but it was short lived. We took her to Lion's park to get her mind off it and blow off some steam.