Wednesday, August 31, 2011

How We Tried to Make the Best of Hurricane Irene

I am just amazed at all the damage that Hurricane Irene caused through NC and northward into NJ and NY!! It breaks my heart at the destruction to beautiful landscapes, major roads, towns, homes and even lives :/ Even just driving through a busy city this week, we were just in awe at the damage ... so local!

And it reminds me how fortunate we were and grateful we should be... that we were soo spared! The biggest "problems" we faced was a BIG limb in the backyard
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a tin carport roof ripped off it's bolts and brought down (a foot or two) on the post
and thankfully Brian's intuition made him move our van!
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and loss of electricity for a few days.

Honestly, the electricity part was the hardest!! It effected our routine soo much and made simple tasks of "life" a bigger challenge! But in each challenge there was a do-able solution:) All our needs were met and we were able to be thankful in the midst of the "hard times"!

The obvious effect was keeping fresh food at the right storage temperatures and fixing meals!! Thankfully there was a cooler of ice that we were able to use and a generator at a neighbors where we could store our frozen goods. I had stocked up on a couple of simple meals... lunch meat for sandwiches, cereal and even freshly made banana bread:) And our grill.... what a life saver;)

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Brian cooks up a MEAN sausage, bacon, eggs and toasted bagels on a grill!! In fact the kids asked if he'd cook breakfast on the grill again next weekend;) And neighbors brought over some delicious pork chops that they had grilled one afternoon;)

HOT showers!! That was one of my biggest hesitations on missions trips.... would I get a hot shower.... I know, so superficial!! I've lost WAY more hot showers as a mom :) Anyway, we had warm water almost 2 days... being super careful! The kids played in freezing tub water for a bath. Finally when the warm water gave out.... neighbors with a gas water tank invited me over... so nice!!

What do you with no power and kids??? first kudos to friends who are just getting their power back in these last few hours... one has 10 kids, the other has 4 and is very preggo with #5!!

Saturday with the really bad weather was the hardest day... so I broke out the books... yep, we schooled through Irene:) And then after they napped the storm had a "lull" so we let them out to play in their dress-ups... gotta love Chris in his uncle's soccer shirt and a belt... truly styling:)
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Sunday and Monday we were all outside pretty early... grilling breakfast, riding bikes through the neighborhood, picking up tree limbs and just being OUTSIDE! And then Monday after being outside most of the morning we did some errands in a fully - lit town.

The hardest part with the kids was night time!!! All our kids are used to fans, a cool sleeping breeze and their nightlights!! So we all crashed in the living room... floors, couches and even a pack-n-play full... with windows open! There was still a little fussing... but we reminded them of all the things they should be thankful for versus complaining.... a solid roof, a comfortable house, no bugs/mosquitos coming into the house, full bellies, clean bedding, etc! It worked... we obviously were still warm, but definitely attempting to make it work!

And I have to say it was nice to see and be a part of neighbors coming together! Helping one another! Checking on each other! Makes me soo thankful to be a part of this community! We made it through these last few days (and many years) with them... they are soo precious to us!

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Yes and one of the GREATEST things about the hurricane was keeping Brian with us!!! You all will understand more when I get to blog about it.... but we have some changes happening around here and Brian's schedule is about to change in a BIG way soon....

soooo it was very nice to have him home with us all day Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday... sure he worked on a sermon (or two), some class prep, visiting 2 different hospitals to see church members and his online class... but he was with us;)

I have already asked the kids what their favorite part of Hurricane Irene was:

Chris (5 years): Having candles and flashlights at night!
Lydia (4 years) : Sleeping in the living room :)
Anna (7 yrs) : learning to play the "cup game" with Daddy:)

Pics of peace...

during the storm...
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and seeing this after... drying out!
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Photobucket




More Wordless Wednesday at
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19 comments:

Drea said...

ugh this post made me cry for some reason! LOL im a mess.
We miss our friends so much.

Glad you all have power now and everything was ok.

Mary@notbefore7 said...

Loved this. We survived with little damage and we kept power. I still have friends without.

LOVE the shots of the kids and what they will remember :)

deb duty said...

Glad you are all safe. The butterfly is lovely and the kids are so cute!

Stacy Uncorked said...

So much to be thankful for for sure! Love all the shots! :)

WW: First Day of 3rd Grade

Unknown said...

Nice! It looks like you guys made the best of a difficult situation! And the kids seemed to do wonderfully despite all the storm challenges! We spent a lot of time outdoors too! And last night you kids asked to turn off the lights and play Sorry! and Uno by candlelight! LOL

An Apel a Day said...

We go outside like you did.

We didn't have any hurricane to worry about, but did have major flooding. The interstate is closed from NE to MO and will be for quite some time.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like it was an adventure.

Felicia said...

I am so thankful that you all are ok. It is my biggest fear to have no power with small children. I really do not have much of a plan, although I need one! We are headed out to the Virgin Islands tomorrow and I am so nervous because of the next hurricane that is moving through. Please remember us in prayer if you think of it.

Jenny said...

That butterfly picture is beautiful.

I'm so glad you all are ok and I can imagine being without power would be so tough!

Brian's schedule change sounds like it might be kind of stressful, I hope everything goes well.

Gidget said...

Wow - it looks like you guys managed to have fun together even through the tough parts. I agree that when the power goes out, it's just so freaky weird. We don't realize how many lights are on everywhere and all the little noises. It's just plain weird to have all of those things gone.

I went through Hurricane Hugo in Chas, and the most amazing thing after something like that is the sense of community that comes out. We were without power and water for 2 wks - so, I totally get where you're coming from! It changes everything, that's for sure and you realize how much we have to be grateful for.

Thanks for sharing your experience and so glad to see that you're all doing well.

Wow...I didn't mean for that to be so long lol Thanks for stopping by Homeschooling Unscripted!

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Meryl said...

Glad to hear no one was hurt.

I think schooling through Irene would have been an awesome experience for all of you. So much to talk and learn about - and SO meaningful!

I'd love to know what you covered.

Anonymous said...

Scrambled eggs on the grill! I love it. Way to stay calm and use your resources wisely during a tough time!

Bunch of Barrons said...

Glad you have your power back! We were one of the few in our area who didn't lose it. We were so grateful! Sounds like you did a good job of making the best of it!

Unknown said...

It just warms my hear to know that your neighborhood is so close and that you were all looking out for each other. I love that. And I love that butterfly shot - wow!

Glad you're all safe and well...

Kelli said...

Thankfully you are all ok =) I love your blog, and your pics...stopping by from You Capture, but I am a new follower also. Looking forward to reading more =) Have a blessed weekend!!

Brooke said...

Love your photos of peace. And so glad you are all safe :)

Unknown said...

You certainly captured the scenes of Irene in words and pictures very well. I know what storms and hurricanes are like as I have experienced them in Jamaica. I am a new Follower from the Friday Blog Hop.
Judy

Teresa said...

So glad you made it through the storm as well as you did. I must say that breakfast on the grill looks yummy!

Laurie said...

Glad you didn't have more damage than you did! We've been cringing at the nightly news about Irene...seeing all the belated damage reports. Great pictures!