Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast on Friday (Sept 12) and we got a horrible wind storm from Ike on Sunday afternoon. We had sustained winds of 55mph and gust of up to 70mph for over 3 hours. The kids and I were at Meijers doing our weekly grocery shopping when the storm hit. Meijers power went out with only a few registers working and emergency lighting on. Upon leaving Meijers, traffic was at a stand still due to all the traffic signals being down. It took us almost 30 minutes to get home and it was a scary drive. Debris from trees was blowing all around us. We saw numerous trees down in the short distance that we drove. I was thankful to get home without incident. We lost power for 36 hours total! We felt very fortunate because as of today, 110,000 people around Cincy are still without power and some without water too. We ended up renting a generator which kept our garage fridge and freezer going. We cooked our meals on the grill and were thankful for a gas water heater! Thankfully we didn't have rain or hot weather while being powerless. It's actually been an absolutely gorgeous week...mid 70's, no humidity and blue skies! The kids missed a couple days of school early in the week and were ready to get back into our routine.

Luke went for his 2 year check up this week. He continues to grow and thrive. He weighed 32 lbs and was 37.25 inches tall. At the age of 2 (for boys), they double their height to estimate what their adult height will be. So with that said...it is estimated that Luke will be almost 6' 3"....OSU here he comes!!

Grace likes to inquire about getting bangs cut in her hair. Her daddy has repeatedly told her (jokingly) that she can't do it till she is 18. She also tells us that she isn't going to college or getting married. Jason was telling her this week that we both played flagged football in college. She quickly told him that she is NOT going to college...she was going to stay home and grow bangs!

What a week! Luke turned 2 on Saturday...yes, the baby is 2! He loved opening presents and blowing out his candles. We let him blow them out a few extra times cuz it was so cute. We had gorgeous weather so we got to play outside with all the cousins. We also found out that Avery is going to be a big sister in April! On Sunday we had a family reunion here with Grandpa Jones and all of Uncle Larry's family. There were 26 of us here. Again, gorgeous weather allowed everyone to be outside playing on the swingset and trampoline. Needless to say the kids were exhausted heading into a busy week.

Grace went to the allergist on Monday to have bloodwork done to check on the treenut allergy and to check for environmental allergies. She was less than thrilled for the blood work but agreed afterwards that it really wasn't that bad.

Tuesday was Owen's first day of preschool. On the way there he asked me, "Mom, you are leaving, right?". He walked in, never looked back and emerged at the end of the day with a huge smile for me and hugs for the teachers. He had an awesome first week. He has 2 very loving and fun teachers and 10 other kids to play with. He'll tell you that his favorite is playing outside and the snack time! He wowed the teachers by already knowing the prayer they sing at snack on a daily basis. It's helps having an older sister teaching him the ropes.

Our church's 101'st Lawn Fete festival is this weekend and I'm helping out with coordinating the volunteers for the annual chicken dinner. I've been in and out of the church all week getting ready. Again, thank goodness that Jason works out of the house...Luke has gotten to stay home and have naps while I ran around this week.

Grace had a soccer game lastnight and another one tomorrow (Saturday). She does a good job of keeping up with everyone and can play great defense. She doesn't have interest in playing goalie at this time...who knows, that could always change! She is the youngest one out there...K, 1st and 2nd graders.