Jumping Ship for LA (Lower Arkansas)

By Friday (that would be 4 days without electricity) the boys and I had all the "camping" we could stand - so we headed for LA and warmer weather. That morning around 6 am as we all layed shivering in our beds we decided we had enough! Packing consisted of dumping the dirty clothes baskets in the car and grabbing some diapers. Poor Kerry had to stick it out, Breaux's had electricity and he had some Acme stuff to take care of. By the time the boys and I(and CoCo) hit Ft. Smith there were no signs of an ice storm! And Arkadelphia was clear and warm. They boys played outside most of the time and Mom cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner for us -- not a bad deal! Kara and boys (and Pam and Richard) came over one afternoon for some playing. By Monday we headed back, still no electricity, but Jayden had school, so we stayed at the lake house until our electricity came back on (Wednesday).

And down came the ICE!

I am writing this in retrospect... Yes, it has taken me this long to get back on track after the mess of the ice storm! The weather reports predicted that it was coming, but you know how that goes - how often are they right? Well, they were right this time! Schools let out at noon on Monday, even though nothing was really happening yet, by that evening the ice was coming down, and it just kept on coming! On Tuesday morning around 10:00 (right after I had a shower, washed, dryed and rolled my hair) the electricity went out! We spent most of the day pinned to the window watching as trees cracked and popped to the ground. That night was the scariest because all we could hear were crashes as trees and limbs fell all around us! On Wednesday we woke up to find tree after tree uprooted or knocked down. Not to mention that we were freezing! Here are some points to remember. . .

1) Kerry went and got the shrimp boiler (gas powered) from Breaux's to boil water for baths with. The boys all took hot baths and smelled like boiled shrimp! I, however, did not like the idea of smelling like a shrimp - so I just did without!

2) The only place with electricty to eat was the 1 stop - a gas station in Farmington, where everyone knows your name! Mr. Bobby cooked us up some eggs and bacon and even heated some of Kyler's pancakes up for him! As soon as we would wake, we would layer on some clothes and head out the door for the 1 stop!

3) Going somewhere in the car was like a vacation-- heat and a dvd player!

4) CoCo quickly learned the warmest spot in the house was by the Mr. Buddy heater and that is where you could find her most of the time.

5) On Thursday the Bunches got electricty and let us come over and take showers! Yeah!

6) We brought the boys mattresses in our room and kept the "Mr. Buddy" going so we could all stay semi-warm at night.

It seems so long ago now, but at the time it was quit the adventure and something we will not soon forget! I still have great appreciation for the simple things - lights, heat, showers, etc! I know that for years to come we will say, "remember the ice storm of 2009. . . "

Kyler's Birthday Party

On Sunday, January we celebrated Kyler's birthday with a party at Chuck E. Cheese in Rogers. CiCi, Pop, Auntie M and Uncle James-Alan were all there to celebrate with us. The boys all had a great time. Kyler got to eat birthday cake (again) and open presents! He was so funny opening his presents - he just loves superheros! He would just look in amazement at the packages and once he opened his presents he was done playing, he just wanted to check them all out!

The Little Stuff

I actually have a minute in the middle of the day, so I thought I would do a quick sum up of our week. Last weekend Kerry and I got to take a little vacation -job related, but still - it involved no children or puppy for 2 whole nights! The boys got to have a little get away of their own. They had so much fun playing with Morgan, Madison, Aunt G and Uncle G and then with CiCi and Pop! And I can't leave out CoCo - she got to go play with her cousins as well! Thanks to everyone who kept our little ones! We had a great time, so great that it took a little adjusting to get back into mommy mode this week. As luck would have it on Tuesday the dryer went out (again). A few weeks ago it went out, but being the mechanic that he is, Kerry tore the entire thing apart, and fixed it! But, it quit for good this time. So - on Wednesday I did laundy at the house and then hauled it all to the "Hawg Wash" to dry it. NEVER again will I go with 3 kids, 1 puppy, 5 loads of wet clothes, AND Kerry was in Mt. Home! Needless to say, I now see what a wonderful luxery it is to have a dryer in the home and started pricing them last night. Just in case you forgot - yes, our fridge went out a few months ago - our appliances are dropping like flies!

I guess that's it. Everything is pretty normal around here. The dog chews, the kids wrestle, Kerry cooks and sells and I clean and counsel!

Happy Birthday Kyler!

Sweetie Pie Kyler has turned 5! He requested a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and spiderman on it (of course!). Thank goodness they had a spiderman candle and I didn't have to attempt that with the icing! We had a mini celebration for his special day and will celebrate again at Chuck E. Cheese in a few weeks. He has had such a good year and is learning so much and what a funny little guy he is! Kyler is easy going, sensative and tough all in one , and those big blue eyes will just melt your heart. He is a great big brother to Evan and also gets to be a little brother to Jayden - the best of both! He loves to swim, swing, color and play - and he can play hard! Kyler will play with his toys all day and is very independent. He is becoming quite the artist and can draw Transformers with perfection! In the last six months he has gone through being totally into - Lightening McQueen, then wrestling men, then - Ninja Turtles, then - Transformers, Now - Spiderman . . . don't know what will be next - we'll see. It makes be sad to think that this is his last year at home before starting school, but I know that he will be ready and just love getting to go to school with his big brother - but, for now, he is my little home-body. To Kyler, there is no place like home! Happy Birthday Kyler!

Introducing CoCo. . .

Meet the newest member of our family . . . CoCo. CoCo was brought to the boys by Santa and was named by Santa. The boys just love her. Both Kyler and Jayden can be caught hugging and telling her they love her, multiple times during the day. I have even caught Jayden telling her that she is his "favorite girl" - to which I respond - what about Mommy? To that he replies - well, you AND CoCo are my favorites (glad to know I'm right up there with a dog!). CoCo goes in the car with us to take Jayden to school and pick him up, as well as any runs to Breaux's we have to make. Anything that doesn't involved everyone going in - CoCo is along for the ride! Evan is constantly consumed with her - and loves to let her out to "go teetee". Evan is also usually the one that gets the most nips by her - he is lower to the ground and he likes to ball up on the floor - she thinks he's playing! She's a handful - but lots of fun!

Christmas

What a wonderful christmas celebration we had for 2008. On Christmas Eve we headed to Arkadelphia and had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner. The boys got to open their jammies, checked out santa's radar on the computer, and put out cookies and milk - along with Jayden's gift he left for Santa (because "no one ever gives santa a present"). Christmas morning they were greeted by CoCo along with other toys left by Santa and then opened presents, ate breakfast and played! Christmas day we loaded up (thankfully, Pop and CiCi were coming to Fayetteville in a few days - so we left alot of stuff for them to bring) and headed to Carlisle. The boys played with CoCo and "Funny Guy Glynn" and we cooked a Christmas dinner. The next day we headed to Sheridan for more food and celebration. The boys got to open more presents, play with more dogs, and eat more food! Including seeing Morgan and Maddie - which the boys always love! Since we were all hosting a nice little cold virus and were all a little anxious to be home - we loaded up that night and headed back to Fayetteville. Although it was late when we got in, we were glad to be home. As you can see, Evan fell asleep in the car and after being brought in and taking off his soaking diaper - he just continued to sleep through all the unloading! Thank you to everyone for making this such a special Christmas - we have such a wonderful family and love getting to see everyone over the holidays!