Portrait of an Unhappy Heart

For my dear readers that are following this blog- Joely is taking a nap, she's in a diaper during her sleep, so I thought I'd share a little diddy about Precious Prince David.

Last Night apparently David lost his mind and made a rare bad choice. The only consequence that fit the crime was the worst one known to David--- NO VIDEO GAMES ON FRIDAY-- ever Since first grade for D-money (as we like to call him) and Q-bone and now Allie Cat- we don't allow video games during the week, it was a smart request from his principal, Kim Buckner of Henderson ISD, in east texas. (I think that was a way run on sentence) So DAVID loves the weekends, he usually makes good choices all week, he literally can not stand to lose this privilige, except for last night.

When he got off the bus, he looked liked a slinky. So low to the ground were his precious shoulders. He begged to be able to earn back his precious video games, but I explained that "Rules and Consequences prove that we love you." He quietely muttered, "I don't feel the love" So I told him he could help me make a snack that my friend Jo told me about. I found it on Rachel Ray's website, It's called Banana Sushi.
He said he'd be glad to help, if afterwards he could play his Xbox 360, I told him no X box, so he said he'd help but (and he did have a wee twinkle in his eye when he said it) he would NOT have a happy heart.

So this is him not having a happy heart, and doing his darndest to not smile.

And this is him with his creation in his mouth, again no smiles

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Mullens Family mantra of a "happy heart." It started innocently enough with a family home evening lesson about happy hearts. When the kids are irritated about chores etc, I remind them of their Happy Hearts, It used to bring smile and joy to their faces, but now it brings evil smiles and rolled eyes, nonetheless, I perservere! And sometimes, on the rare days that I grumble, they remind me to have my happy heart.

Robert will be Happy

BUT I'M NOT!!!!

I'm boycotting Dancing with the Stars this season, after Monday nights choice of music and the young kid trying to act sexy and the dominatrix/trannie outfits. I guess I"ve lost my sense of humor, but I DO NOT like the song "I kissed a girl" and it's wildy innapropriate for a show that sells itself as family entertainment. I guess the funny thing is that Lance Bass danced to it and he's not attracted to girls, so it was supposed to be tongue in cheek.

That song is hideous, I was listenting to a regular radio station instead of a cd one evening and it came on and I found myself singing along with it, I still can hear the chorus and it appals me! Seriously- and then my friend who lives in Blackfoot IDAHO, the potato capital of the world, tells me she passed the high school and saw two girls making out- this is in podunk Idaho--- I'm thinking that the media that makes this all mainstream is helping to encourage children- YES CHILDREN- to make lifestyle choices they are not equipped to make and will be very hard to come back from.

Stepping off my soapbox-

I'll be out of touch for awhile, we/I are potty training with Joely. So far I'm getting trained on her physical cues and although she had only one success she has had her accidents in the bathroom, so I think she'll be good to go pretty quickly, but it takes CONSTANT VIGILENCE, so I won't be able to e-mail, blog or basically use the phone for a couple of weeks, If you need me I'll be sitting on the side of the bathtub, cheering on the cutest little Mullens of them all.

I changed the music to reflect Joely's taste. I also added a personal favorite, "the rainbow connection" Recently I fell in love with it again because it was sung on the Office in pig latin. But it's been a personal favorite for years. Here is a funny memory- I always associate it now with a very very young 12 year old Chris Mason. I can still picture his angelic little face and his proud mom! He Sang it at a Talent Show in I think 1985?? He was adorable up there with all his confidence. I wonder, does he still sing? Does he still know the song by heart? Does he remember the Talent show? Also why do I only remember his performance and not any other?

Queen Bee

Today Alice told me that when she grows up she wants to be the Queen Bee. I had to fight the urge to sarcastically respond by saying, "sweetheart you are already there!"

She also told me she was planning on adopting children so I could be a grandma and that she wasn't going to take her children to church because she'd hate to bore her children! AWWWW the pay that doesn't come in an envelope!

Here is Alice pictured without a happy heart while "helping/being forced to help" us clean up the backyard one day post Hurricane Ike

a Picture Tag from Kristy Sinks

The rules of the game. Go to your pictures folder and take the fourth picture from the fourth file and post it. That's it. Then tag four friends:)

This picture is from Easter this year. The Library hosted an easter egg hunt on a day that I think Quentin must have been home "sick" or maybe it was during spring break, not sure.. Anyhoo, this is him helping Baby Joely. Funny thing is today, she's wearing the same pants,

How fun to get tagged for pictures, I was tagged for recipes before. This is way more fun!

I tag Hiedie, Aryn, Meghan, Karla, Jan and Renae!

Home Sweet Home, or an Inconvenient Truth

We are home now and we have power, cable, internet,phone and cell service!!!

Good times, Good Times!

A few days ago my friend Jan Mason posted the following quote on her blog and it really gave me pause and made me think about this little inconvenience we went through for 12 days- I wanted to steal the quote right away but I thought it would be nicer if I waited a few days, today it's very appropriate.

“One of life's best coping mechanisms is to know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you've got a problem. Everything else is an inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. A lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat and a lump in the breast are not the same kind of lump. One needs to learn the difference.”~Robert Fulghum

I have to admit that I felt like things were horrible but really in hindsight, it was just an inconvenience, we had no loss to our property, everyone was healthy and safe and we had plenty to eat. Also when it got bleak we had places of refuge. The kids and I were pampered in Austin (I have my savage tan back) and Robert was able to get back to work pretty quickly. Some people are still out of work and that is a problem, who can afford to be out of work for 1/2 a month or longer?

The kids are back in school today, if you ask David he'd say that's a problem, but Alice felt the whole two weeks off was very inconvenient, after all Mrs. Randolph really misses her! Quentin is getting over a flu (an inconvenience that delayed our trip home by one day) but I think he'll go to school after gym today.

Two material things I'm greatful for are our propane grill (and propane products) and our little am/fm radio. It was great to hear the news without the luxury of tv and warm food was great-.

As promised here is my photo log of the days of Ike.

This is Friday Night when the power went out a full 8 hours before the storm even hit.

These are some pictures that my husband took when he went out into the EYE of the storm, even though they say NEVER GO OUT IN THE EYE OF THE STORM- I was yelling at him from my mattress in the house.

I guess it was pretty cool, but I was afraid to go out there and then get blown to OZ or something.

Assessing the Damage, aka the Morning After

Our front yard, we lost 5 trees from the front and back, but none landed on the house!

The Port O Can on Port O Call

Livin' Like Refugees

The Monkey's Uncle

Since we were with mom and dad for 9 days we actually got to see Brian on his days off- He's nocturnal but made a day appearance in the pool to appease Quentin. When he came out I thought maybe the Jonas Brothers or Hannah Montana had came out- because everyone was screaiming with Delight. Even Joely became friends with Uncle Brian on this trip, I think the Oreo cookies helped, but now she's a fan. He spent a couple hours being jumped on by the boys and appeasing many requests to "throw me, throw me" and "one more time, please" And for some reason I only got pictures of him and Alice, but he was bombarded on all sides. Thanks for being a good sport Uncle Brian.

At the wildflower center of Miss Ladybird's fame

The wildflower center was celebrating the launch of it's spanish language website, so it was all about latin america, good food and fun crafts all for a buck!

Day ten, still no power

Power is coming back to Crosby, just not where we live. A couple of friends in the neighborhood report power and we are supposed to have it by end of business today. We shall see.

Robert has spent evenings with his parents in Baytown, they got power back on Friday and we are still in Austin. We have been swimming non-stop and seeing a couple of old friends (ann and luci). On Friday night we went to the wildflower center in way south austin, in fact I've never been so far south on MoPac before, it was an adventure. It was a lot of fun and the admission was only one dollar for the "nature night" which included food and crafts. It's usually the exhorbitant amount fo $7 for adults and $5 for kids and it's not worth that, but it's worth a buck buck buck! I took pictures and will post them when we get back to Crosby with power.(shout out to Jan- they have these about ten times a year, they would be a great cheap activity girls or scout activity- the next one is in October-you probably already know this though!)

The superintendent of Crosby ISD informed us school will resume on Thursday, so I hope that means we'll have power before that. Robert reports that Sammi Jo is very very very unhappy with the turn of events and hates being an outside dog. Quentin really missed his dad yesterday, he didn't watch any football, good thing it was just the cowboys! Alice said she missed dad so much her stomach hurt.

Livin' like a refugee

I didn't think to put my camera cord in my bag when I fled from Crosby, but if I did you'd see we are not exactly having a bad time as refugees. Dad heated the pool two days in a row. It's been a blast to lounge and swim. Yesterday Alex Pena and her boys Daniel and Jacob came by to swim and play. They are fellow Crosby Refugees, Cub Scout pals and best friends. They are staying with their Aunts in Bastrop. Tonight we go see Luci and her clan and play in their parklike Backyard. Grandma is in hog heaven with all the little people around.
I checked out centerpoint energy's restoration website, and it doesn't bode well for Crosby. They have assesed the damage and it's on the list of to look at after the 22nd. Most of Houston should be with power by Monday, the places hit harder will have to wait. Robert's plant brought in a generator so he and his people can get back to work. They hope to have full power by Monday also.
We miss Robert and Sammi Jo.

Maybe Rick Perry Read my Blog

Hmm I received an automated phone call this morning from the superintendent of Crosby ISD. The National Guard was set up in the High School giving out MRE's, Ice and Water. IN my very egocentric mind, I have to beleive that Rick Perry,(click here for a photo of him-he's in the hat) does not want me angry with him! LOL-
My friend Mellissa called and her grandma has power. She lives over by the Kindergarten, so that's good news. She also spoke with some linemen on her street and they were there accessing damages and would be coming back. So I guess Recovery is finally making it to Crosby.

If the Hurricane doesn't getcha, the "recovery" will

Day FIVE-
We are still without electricity. I finally gave up and became and evacuee. The kids and I are in Austin. Robert and Sammi stayed behind. Robert is hoping his plant will be up and running tomorrow or Thursday, if not he'll come spend the weekend with us in Austin.
It is very frusterating living in Crosby. Technically we are covered by Harris County Precinct three. I feel totally left out without any kind of city government. The Fema "PODS" are not anywhere near Crosby. Well as I type this they did add one in Highlands, which is close, but before this afternoon they had several in areas that had electricity. Now we as a family did ok, we ate out of the freezer, a ton of pork products and only had to get into the actual 72 hour kit for breakfast this morning. The cold ice ran out yesterday. The most insane part of this mess, is the lack of gas. It's crazy, I was in line for hours to get gas. People in Crosby are getting crazy from the frusteration and are ready to blow. I nearly witnessed me a killin' while in line when somebody cut in line, (allegedly just trying to get into walmart for formula, it was apparently a baby daddy) Things will get worse before they get better.
I am totally greatful that things were not worse for us and that we have a nice place to stay (with a pool) but I'm still sad and frusterated about my wee town. Pray power gets restored to all areas, not just the west side of Houston.
I'm also very sick of hearing the anti-Christ Rick Perry talking about patience and the Texas Spirit. Get some gas in the station butt munch and some ice in people's coolers, then we can be patient. So while He and George Bush are jetting around galveston, we can't get fuel for our vehicles.
We were told "don't evacuate" so we listened and now they won't even get us gas- that should be the first thing that goes out and it shouldn't be too hard logistically. Literally, I could see the Exxon refinery as I waited for gas in Baytown on Monday.
Do I sound bitter? I am!!!!

Weathering the Stomr

My friend Alex came by with her laptop and wi fi connection,so I'm doing a quick post. We are without power for a long time. I can't imagine that it will be up this week. She drove me around the neighborhood and their are trees uprooted, houses ruined and it's just one smalll comunity. Gas lines are insane. I thought it wasn't too bad, we were indeed blessed. We lost a lot of trees, but no house damage. A special thanks goes out to BRother Matt Clinger he came over with his chainsaw to cut the trees for Robert. We were able to get all the debris picked up real quick after that. We are forever greatful to him.
We lost power at 7:00 pm on Friday night, long before the storm even hit, and hte kids began to be apprehensive. So David said a very sweet prayer and asked that we all have courage and that our house would be safe and the inside would be safe. I believe it was the prayer of a faithful little boy that kept our house safe. Especailly now after seeing the destruction. My inlaws are ok and although they live in Baytown they did not flood. We just pray for the Centerpoint Energy workers to get us in power quickly.
I probably won't be able to post for awhile. We'll also probably leave and go into austin tomorrow or the next day. Look for us mom- our cell signals are sporadic at best. We still have plenty fo food and water, just really bored right now--(The DS's are no longer working and the kids are plowing through the books we checked out.)
I'm just glad it wasn't worse.
Love
Kareena

One Last Painting...

Robert finished grilling our burgers and then we boarded up the back door. The Rain had started to sprinkle, but Alice still wanted to paint. I thought it would be funny to put the Oz reference. Alice painted some flowers and had me paint "Alice's Garden" and she's covering up her words, but they say "I love Ike"

She's adorable.

Ok so now we are officially HUNKERED down!

Hopefully it will be awhile before the power goes out and I'll post again-

We did meet some neighbors across the street, they needed some clips for their brick windows, so we helped them out. Nobody else (that I can see from my Gladys Kravits viewpoint) has boarded up.

David and Quentin join the fun

This was designed by Quentin and sums up his feelings towards the hurricane- No School, and also that Halo Rocks. I like that He spelled Ike Iike, this coming from the boy who scored over 100 on every spelling test last year.

David designed the Do not Disturb. He for some reason is not pictured, probably because he beat feet back into the house to finish up his mission on the computer or on Halo 3. He's sooo happy to be off school, we don't have the heart to explain, he'll make it up later.

Robert added a little to Quentin's board and put a picture, or his rendition of Paw Paw. A little tribute to the man that made it all possible.

My friend Heather Moulton called today and apparently Anderson Cooper (the tool) anounced

"Evacuate or Die"

Well I just want to calm any fears, there is no need to evacuate from this area, we are not in the realm of a storm surge. We don't live near the Bay. We live by the San Jacinto River and Lake Houston, but far enough away that no damage can brought on by a storm surge.
Galveston and my beloved Surfside however aer another story. They havn't even received rain yet and the storm surge has completly flooded Surfside Island and has made it impossible to leave Galvestion (allegedly, I'm using the new as my guide, and we all know they are biased)

Keep praying to the "God of your choice" that the winds are not to rough and that the pressure rises so the storm's intensity falls.

I'll post again before the power goes.

The calm before the storm....

Here are some fun photos of Robert, Alice and I having fun at Ike's expense, we are sooo hoping he has a good sense of humor. Below are pictures I took to prepare for my law suit against the builder next door and Harris County/TXDot

Ok so they tore down the forest next door and began building this house in June. It should be done by now, right? Well it's not and not only is it not done, they went ahead and left a ton of debris out front, debris that the news says could turn into a missile. "If you can pick it up, the wind can throw it"

So I'm sure the "extra strong" orange plastic will keep the debris from flying at my house-- So if there is anyone in Crosby who thinks I overeacted to boarding my windows, this is why. I live next door to a dumpsite!

To be honest, I'm a little greatful they left the Port O can, just in case the sewer backs up, we'll have a safe place to "take care of business"

Ok, so Harris County, working in Concert with TX DOT (texas department of transportation) approved like a gazillion dollars to "improve" the drainage on our street. This "improvement" means they spent a couple of months tearing up curbs and yards to put in basically the same dang curb, only in white instead of standard issue gray. They didn't repair the roads when they were "done." Well on Tuesday, they had the bright idea to come and destroy the curbs next door and across the street, and just leave it there with wood and the highway cones. I'm sure this won't cause a problem with drainage or wind damage.

This is my driveway and my post box to give you an idea of how close this is-- Pretty lame, especially given the fact they didn't work the whole month of August. Robert and I assumed that they stopped getting paid. Clearly they get paid by the hour and not by the job.

I'm sure I'll post more and more until Ike turns off our power. We are ready, the laundry is done and put up, the dishes are clean, the freezer has ice and we'll be filling our drinking coolers soon. I just need to vacuum. Robert wants to set up a little camping area so we'll do that soon too. They are expecting landfall sooner than they said before and the bad weather (before the storm) will probably be here by lunchtime.

Let the Games begin!

Huff and Puff IKE, Huff and Puff

So here is Robert, Following the orders of the Honorable Mayor Bill White of Houston to "Hunker Down and Shelter in Place."

So began the process of keeping Ike at Bay. While Robert and I were dilligently nailing the plywood to the windows, we couldn't help but notice our neighbors, preparing a different way, preparing by stocking up on liquid refreshment and playing horseshoes, ordering pizza and getting louder and louder....

I say we were nailing the plywood to the windows, Ideally we would have been screwing them in. After all, Robert has a power drill and a cordless drill, in fact I think he has two cordless drills. Turns out, according to "rob" I didn't get wood screws. HMMM.... Ibeleive it's a bad athlete that blames the equipment.. so I pose the question are there screws specifically for wood and then specifically for not wood?

Again I digress...

So we got boarded up with the minimal collateral damage, a black and blue thumb on Robert and about 10,000 mosquito bites on my legs and feet.

After we finished, I tackled the garage, you may remember(or maybe not) how I cleaned the garage for Eduardo, so that made todays task very easy, I merely had to put the bikes up again,( I'm thinking we should get those hooks,) and then con Quentin into moving the water into the house. He insisted on sweeping the floor. So the cars are secure, we have our non perishables, about 40 library books, batteries and fully charged Nintendo DS's.

Like I said Ike, "huff and puff" we are ready for you.

As it turns out, he's probably going to keep heading east and then this will all be for nothing, but as I kept telling Robert while he was nailing away, "an ounce of prevention baby, an ounce of prevention." You can imagine the love in his eyes everytime I said a cute little colloquialism.

Here are the kids not helping us put up the plywood.

Paw paw had suggested that the boys help by holding the plywood. I understand the value of work and how it helps children appreciate what we give them, but seriously-- anyone out there agree that sometimes the best help 4 children can give, is to stay in the house and play their electronic games?

As it turns out while we were sweating and practically dying, Alice had helped herself to some makeup,not just my regular makeup that I never wear, but she was busy using the glitter makeup to create some fabulous craft. The evidence was found just a few moments ago when I was clearing off the craft desk anticipating a full night of scrapping. I decided to blog instead. However Alice does look adorable in this picture as she is clearly not helping with the hurricane preparations.

Now this is adorable!!! The whole time we are boarding up, she's going from room to room inside and knocking on the windows, asking for her Mommy. She is just too too cute!!! She would have loved to have been outside helping us, but we felt in the interest of her survival, she not be around dad flinging a hammer and nails and mom potentially dropping the plywood on her cute feet. She was very happy when I finished in the garage, because I brought in the container of little people. It's a blast to find an old toy and make it new. She stayed busy for hours.

Paw Paw is a ROCKSTAR!!!!

So this morning after the kids were on the bus, Joely and I were snuggling, just ready to have a little cat nap, when I hear the doorbell. When I got closer I saw a man messing with my windows, I was ascared, but then I realized the man was PAW PAW.

Paw Paw? You ask?? Well Paw Paw is what southerners call their grandpa. So in reality it was Robert's dad, also named Robert but referred to by family as Bobby.
He had come to make the plywood I purchased actually useful. You see when a hurricane is coming, you dont' just buy plywood and put it in the garage or shed, you need to cut it to fit the windows. So that's what he did this morning for two hours. His only paycheck was two "gimmee shirts" and a warm feeling in his heart. At the end he was talking about Hurricane Alisha. He said that was the only time they boarded up windows etc. I said, "well you are set then, you won't have to do any work, just clip them in."

Well actually he had used the plywood to build something for his Father in Law, so he's going to buy some plywood and cut it up for himself. He took care of us first though! He's a good man!

He brings his own tools and saw horses, you'd think he was an eagle scout since he's always prepared!

He Even showed me how to install them. IT shouldn't be too hard even with Robert's help.

Bobby thinks we should leave the windows boarded up, just to make it easier, if Ike hits this weekend. What do you think?

Warning- Prepare for Schmaltz, if you are diabetic, take a shot of insulin, it's 'fixin' to get really really cheesy!

I'm so glad we live by family. I can't tell you how many times Paw Paw has come to the rescue, once when my battery died, he took the kids to school, changed the battery, bought me a new one and installed it. He's watched the girls countless times to make things easy for me. Sue (aka Maw Maw) is helpful too, but since she's not retired yet, she helps out by spoiling kids on weekends/holidays and giving them new shoes, clothes, DS and Wii Games!

Robert's Maw Maw (Bobby's mom) and Paw Paw Walter and Dorothy (Sue's parents) are fun to visit and I enjoy my time with them too. They are good for spoiling the kiddos. They live close by Robert's parents.

Mom and Dad live about 200 miles away, but still its close enough that they don't miss out on games, performances, birthdays or Performances. Right now Mom (we call her grandma, I aint from here) is sewing some skirts for Miss Priss who hates pants and doesn't like the current selection of hoochie mama looking skirts. Also they come and watch the kids for me too, I know if Paw Paw wasn't here, Dad (grandpa) would bring his saw and help us cut the wood. It's nice to know we are not alone in this little joyride through life.

I also love that my kids have sooo many aunts and uncles that adore them as well. They are very loved and cared for!

In fact if this Hurricane Ike has it's way, my parents will miss out on their first Grandparents Day Luncheon, and that will be both Bogus and Sad. OF course they can come any day and make it Grandparents day and the boys will understand, I just wonder about Alice....

A few things I've worked on lately...

I belong to an online group of likeminded scrapbooking ladies. We've been "virtual" friends for almost 4 years-- well part of our friendship involves sharing our creative outlet. Last year I started a circle journal as a sub group within the group... (if you are interested in what a circle journal is click here) So these are some pages that I have completed recently.
DISCLOSURE--- this is only interesting if you like scrapbooking, and really only marginal at that. Specifically it's interesting to Arcalee, Lori, Brenda and Amanda Hugnkiss--

The picture at the top of the blog, is what I made for Lori's CJ last year, of course being late and never on time (same thing, redundant, discursive) Lori is just now getting it- It's a good thing Lori is loving and kind, and has 4 kids, one husband a home business and teaches school. I think she also recently got a new puppy from Nigeria.

This is for Lori's Circle Journal (CJ) her journal is about our dream vacations. Since meeting Robert we've talked about going to Costa Rica. I've done different research and learned about it, after visiting Brazil again, I'd like to go to Cosat Rica. This is a two page layout.

This is for Brenda's CJ- her Journal theme is "what Disney Character do you most identify with?"-- Realistically I relate to one of the princesses, I'd like to have servants etc. But Disney princesses are usually mired in tragedy and have step-mothers. That's sooo not the case with me. And well I like to BELEIVE that I'm like Cinderella (pre-prince charming) and go around singing "Day and night it's Cinderella, do the dishes do the laundry...etc." we all know that's not realistic... I would have chosen Tinkerbell, she's awesome, but I know Nichole (another circle journaler and all around cool cool person- my sister from another mister) already chose her, so I went with Kim Possible. She rocks she can Do ANYTHING!!! I would have liked to have been as cool as her in high school or now- I love the show.

This is for Amanda's CJ- Her theme is Friendship quotes. She was also very specific on the color scheme, of course I did not have enough of the colors that were pretty, so I went with this combo, which was allowed in her instructions. She has the "virtual" friends from Missouri to her house each month, so she has a ton of Friendshp pictures to scrapbook.

And Last but not least, this is an "altered" journal I made for Amanda. These are fun to make and I get to use my favorite retro item, Modge Podge.