February 22 - Sunny and 70

In true Houston fashion, less than a week after the worst winter storm in 30+ years, we had a sunny weekend with gorgeous weather. The kids and I spent a lot of time at the neighborhood park (we haven't been to the park since covid hit but we had to get out of the house). We just didn't get too close to anyone and sanitized when we got home. 

And last night we had the best news ever-the boil water notice was lifted. Yahoo!! Happy Monday everyone!

February 19 - Winter Fest 2021 Continued

HEB

Well, just a few hours after my previous post...

Tuesday

After dinner I decided to head out for gas and water. HEB, Kroger and Target were all closed (this was around 7pm). I found a liquor store that was open and bought soda and some individual bottles of juice. I could not find an open gas station. It was very eerie driving around as there were ice patches everywhere, most of the traffic lights weren't working and several roads were pitch black due to power outages (it's never pitch black here, all the roads, even in neighborhoods, have lights). 

Kroger

I got home and everyone was excited about the soda (I never buy soda). The excitement was short lived when our power went out a few minutes later. Then the local water authority issued a boil water notice. JD was irritated by the power situation and went to bed (it was around 8pm). My phone was almost dead so I got into the car to charge my phone while Julia and Luke hopped in and watched a movie. One of my friends had some extra water so we headed to her house at 10.30pm to pick up 2 gallons of water. 

Galveston Beach

Wednesday

Our hopes of waking up to a warm house were dashed when we woke up. It was chilly! Our biggest surprise came when we checked the water and discovered..nothing coming out of the faucet. Literally, not a drip. They turned water off completely in multiple parts of the city as pumps were frozen and leaking. I headed to HEB as soon as they opened to try to get water, zilch. I headed to Kroger and waited in line outside for 20min. I was able to score 2 bottles (individual size) of water.

There was no bread, no frozen or cold items. I then headed to Target, which was dark and had employees walking around with flashlights. I scored a 12-pack of mini waters and felt like I won the lottery (they had a few lights on in the check out area). I hit Target right before most people realized they were open because it because very crowded as I was leaving. I drove around searching for a gas station and only found 1 but the line of cars was at least 50 deep extended down a side road. Our power came back up late that evening and I've never been so excited to hear the heater kick in. 

Thursday

Power was out again during the night but up when we got up. No change in the water status. I immediately headed to HEB for a quick shopping trip. No water, no bread, no fruit, no veggies, no paper goods (luckily we have a healthy supply of paper plates, bowls and plastic utensils). I got the last gallon of milk and a few frozen dinners. We emptied the fridge and cleaned it out. Honestly, it was primarily leftovers and condiments that were pretty old so it wasn't a huge loss.

in lieu of showers..

I don't keep a lost of frozen meals so the freezer wasn't full to begin with. By dinnertime, our water pressure had gotten better. I filled more pots on the stove and boiled water (I didn't realize how much the dogs drank until I was trying to conserve water). 

Friday

JD was at HEB first thing this morning and scored a 4-pack of water. We are SO excited! It's the small things people! The house is warm and that is really the main thing.

This being Texas, it will be 70 in a few days. What a week. Thanks for all the calls and texts, we appreciate it!

Kemah, 15min from us

Galveston, 45min from us

All Texans agree

Fridge has never looked so good

Boiling water!

February 16 - Winter Fest 2021

Last week we started hearing "Cold weather is coming next week, be prepared!" Honestly, I didn't think much about it. The weather is crazy enough with hurricanes and tropical storms, what could a little cold snap do? Well, we woke up Monday (yesterday) to 17 degrees ('feels like 0'). There was a coating of snow/ice on the ground and we had snow flurries! Honestly, the kids and I were pretty excited. I took the dogs on our normal hour long morning walk, got home and then we promptly lost power. No worries-I lit the (gas) fireplace and the kids and I went outside to play. Turns out a boogie board is super fun on ice! Meanwhile...what did JD do?

He sulked next to the fireplace complaining about the cold, the incompetence of the state and lack of power. He only moved once to put on a jack and hat. The kids and I eventually found our way back inside. We moved the coffee table close to the fire and played cards and board games for a few hours. Luckily, we have a gas range and I was able to get dinner started (a huge batch of soup). Our power came back in the afternoon and we have discovered we are quite lucky. 

Our house got down to 57 degrees inside downstairs (much colder upstairs) but we are warm now. As of typing this, we know several neighborhoods around us that are still without power. The power company is telling us rolling blackouts are coming and we should be prepared to be without power for the next several days. The water company just sent out a notice to everyone requesting we conserve water as levels are very low (stop flushing toilets, do not run dishwashers, laundry, no showers/baths unless necessary). So...we'll see what the next few days bring. This morning was 14 degrees, the coldest day in 30+ years (The Bush airport broke a record yesterday for the coldest day since 1905). There dogs and I saw a lot of ice on our morning walk but we had some sun today so hopefully the roads are safer than yesterday. 

Winter Fest 2021! Never a dull moment!

Even the pouches were cold!

Morning View

Jokes on us

Snuggle buddies

Headband must be worn at all times!

February 10 - 100 Days Smarter

Congrats - 5th place!

Happy Wednesday everyone! Quick kid update...

Julia

The district XC championship was this past Monday and Julia placed 5th out of 100 girls. Great job Julia! Next up: tennis. She found out Friday that she made the team and practices start next week. There are ten girls on the team. The top 2 are singles and the rest make up 4 doubles teams. As she's never played before (other than 2 lessons just recently) I'm assuming she will be doubles team 3 or 4. We'll find out soon enough! She has a few friends that also made the team so she's excited to see them at practice. For those wondering-masks are required 100% during tennis. Thank goodness it's not crazy hot outside. 

Wolf Man Luke

Seventh grade is going well. She is taking an astronomy class through the magnet program and while it wasn't her first choice (she wanted biology but that is only for brick and mortar students) she is enjoying it. Otherwise, her favorite subject is math. Remote school is still going well for her although she is ready to get back in person this fall. 

Luke

Luke is also playing tennis! He's taking weekly lessons and doing very well per the coach. JD has been taking him the last few weeks and said he has a great backhand and eye for the game (whatever that means hahaha). So far he seems to really enjoy the lessons so hopefully that continues. 

Fourth grade is going well. Our elementary schools don't do grades anymore, they track 'grade level progressions' and he's on track. He is in the gifted program at school and this spring they are doing something called "Alpha." All the kids in the district ranked 5 different programs offered and were matched with one of them. He received his first choice, 'Natural Science.' There are 3 courses that make up Natural Science: Wildlife Research, Crime Scene Investigation and Chemistry. The class meets virtually every Friday for a few hours and is approx 30 kids (3 from Luke's school including him). Right now he is working on the wildlife portion and tonight he even has a nature scavenger hunt to find animal prints and some other miscellaneous things. 

Jillian

Our little hippie child is still full of life and imagination. Her grandma is still front and center in many conversations. She really goes on a lot of adventures with her grandma! Jillian still loves to go on bike and scooter rides, enjoys playing with Barbies, dolls and small figurines. She is quite sassy and funny. Last night I called her up to her bath:

"Jillian! Get your cute little butt up there now!"  - me

"Momma, my little butt wants to stay downstairs and watch Sophia the First."- Jillian

At dinner the other night:

"Momma, my stomach is so full I can't eat anything else." - Jillian

"Okay, no room for dessert then."  - me

"Momma. Momma. When I said I was full that doesn't really mean full, it means my stomach is just hungry for chocolate." - Jillian

She is too funny! This past Monday was "100 Day" at school and we made a t-shirt with 100 hearts. She came home with a "100 Days Smarter" hat and loved it so much she wanted to sleep with it. 

Love these kids! 

February 4 - Project Organization

How would you rate your organizational level? On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being extremely organized), I'm a 5 when it comes to work. I have a very detailed day planner where I keep track of everything. I make note of who I talk to daily, summarize what we discussed and my to-do list is planned out daily (and checked of when complete). JD thinks I'm crazy for using it (Why don't you do a digital version?) but this works for me. In terms of our home organization, I'm definitely not a 5. I'd say 3 although that may be a tad generous. We aren't total slobs but no one has certainly come to our house and thought 'wow, look how organized.' Our surfaces are generally clear of clutter but the status of drawers and cabinets is nothing to be desired. The kitchen is a hot mess. I started following Marie Kondo (organization guru) on Instagram a few years ago and she inspired me to reorganize the way I store my shirts and pants. Unfortunately, nothing else rubbed off on me. A few years ago we did a Girl Scout mom gift exchange with a 'As Seen on TV' theme. I ended up with spice organization racks. They were shoved in a cabinet for years until a few months ago when Julia and I came upon them. We spent a few hours one Saturday and organized the spices! (also-it was amazing how many duplicates, triplicates and expired spices we had because I previously could never see what was in there). We did this project a few months ago and I'm happy to say..still organized!

So, did the spice organization get me motivated to do anything else? Sadly, no. What motivated me next was randomly...tea. Yes, tea. I like to drink tea occasionally (especially in cooler weather) and JD rotates between coffee and tea. We have several different types of tea and I couldn't stand looking at all the different tea boxes on the counter toppling over each other. So I ordered a cute tea organization box off Amazon and loved how it looked. This randomly motivated me to take a hard look at our pantry. Our pantry has deep shelves so it's easy for things to get pushed to the back, unseen. I emptied the entire pantry (once again found duplicates and triplicates of things, not too mention a lot of expired goods), ordered bins and containers and...it's done!! I am so happy, we can actually see what we have!! 

I'm not sure what's next (maybe the junk drawers in the kitchen...we have 4). Stay tuned!

Tea!

So Happy with how the pantry turned out!

February 3 - Challenger Park

Last week, while Julia was at cross country practice, I took Luke and Jillian to Challenger Park only a few miles away. The last time we were there Luke was 1 so it's been awhile. I forgot how beautiful the park is. There are ponds, walking paths, a few small playgrounds and best of all-a nature trail!! We also saw several deer which was pretty amazing. The park was also completely empty which was a nice perk! 

January 25 - Social Hour

I read in bed for a few hours every night. My reading has been interrupted recently by Julia and Luke, who have decided 9.30pm (their bedtime) is the perfect time to come to my room and chat about everything. On one hand, it's great because they fight most days and are little best friends at night but on the other hand, sometimes those two snuggle up right in bed and don't want to leave. No joke, I deadpan "Get out" and they laugh hysterically telling me how funny I am. Cute? Yes. Exhausting? Yes. But I know these times are fleeting so I'm trying to soak up as much as I can ...man I love these kids!