It feels so good to be blogging!!! We are still without power, but the church has power. So, I rushed over here to check my e-mail and view pictures of my friend Elizabeth's new baby boy, James. I have been living vicariously through my sister Katie for the last few days, and I am very thankful for her willingness to post an updated entry to my blog.
Well, Wilma was a little stronger than we anticipated!!! We were in the outer eye wall, meaning we did not receive a respite from the storm. The eye missed us. It seemed as though it would never subside. Halfway through the storm our shutters flew off of the sliding glass doors, so we ended up with quite a view. Jonathan held the doors for what seemed like hours . . . we really weren't sure they would hold. The sliding glass doors leaked, and we experienced leaking behind our kitchen cabinets. Yes, the cabinets we just refinished. Water was steadily streaming from behind the top cabinets. We'll have to wait until an inspector comes to find out if anything must be done. We lost a lot of our shingles, but our roof remained in tact, and we lost a lot of our metal sophets (sp?) underneath the roof. We watched helplessly as our neighbors tree fell on our fence, but we were praising the Lord that it missed both houses. All in all, we actually faired well. Mobile homes were turned over and we have neighbors that lost their roofs or parts of their houses. We are very thankful! The last few days have been interesting. At night I feel like a pioneer woman. . . cooking over the grill, heating water over the grill, and washing dishes in cold water by candle light. But, in the daytime, when I am not cleaning up debris or being a mommy, I have been able to sit down and read during Hannah's naps . . . almost like a vacation. Our church partnered with the Alabama State Southern Baptist Convention and the Red Cross and has been running a hot meal and supplies ministry. So, Jonathan and Tim have been very busy ever since the storm, serving as coordinator and "go betweens" on a local level. Jonathan has even seen the inside of the EOC headquarters!We were finally able to take warm showers last night, as Krisy and Tim's power was restored yesterday evening. We are hoping that ours will be back on soon too! I have uploaded a few pictures from the storm.The calm before the storm.
In the midst of the storm.
Our side yard.
Mommy and Hannah survey the damage.
Tree on our fence.
Serving the community food.
Hannah visits the food distribution site-notice the boo boo on her nose.
This blog entry is being posted by Lori's sister Katie. Lori wants everyone to know that they are okay. Clewiston got hit harder than expected. They are of course without power and could be for up to 2 weeks. There was some damage to their home-a tree fell on their fence, lots of shingles off their roof and therefore some water damage. Because they don't have power, they are trying to save their cell phone batteries so it could be a little while before phone calls are returned. Lori or I will continue to keep you updated. Please keep the Brooks family and everyone else affected by the storm in your prayers.
Well, we continue making preparations for Wilma. After church, Jonathan and Tim went around town, helping church members board up their homes. I spent the afternoon collecting our framed photographs, scrapbooks, photo albums, and important documents and putting them into plastic tubs for safe keeping. I've ironed our clothes for the week and set up Hannah's Pack 'N Play in our bedroom. There's not much more you can do. Whatever the outcome, we know that God is in control.Last year during the very active hurricane season that sent several major storms across Florida, we did experience some damage, but the damage and inconveniences were minor in light of the recent Katrina fiasco. During Frances, one of our pine trees in the backyard fell, taking out our electricity, cable, and phone lines. Because the tree uprooted as well, it burst our water main. So, five days later, and long after our neighbors were enjoying electricity, we were still calling Clewiston Utilities on the hour. We faired well during Jeanne only having to clean up debris and roof shingles. One thing is for sure, I am thrilled that I am not 9 months pregnant this time around!!!
The "hurry up and wait" game has become a regular part of our lives during hurricane season here in South Florida. We have been speculating, planning, and waiting to make preparations for Wilma based on the track updates. When you live in South Florida (or anywhere on the Florida peninsula) you quickly get acclimated to the big bulls eye that hovers over Florida taunting each tropical wave or depression that forms during hurricane season. We are always in the "cone of error" and always wondering where and when it will really hit. They are still saying, however, that Wilma is heading our way. So, we can expect tropical storm force winds Sunday night, and the hurricane will move through, bringing stronger winds, on Monday. We are not in an evacuation zone, and because the storm is expected to be a category 3 or less, we will be staying home. In light of the impending hurricane, we had our traditional hurricane get together with the Bridges last night. I fixed dinner and apple pie, and Tim, Krisy, and Delaney joined us for some pre-storm; get rid of the refrigerated food; enjoy the power before it goes out fun and fellowship. Hannah and Delaney had fun playing together, and even decided to boogie down.Today, Tim and Jonathan boarded up our houses, while I mowed our lawn, cleaned, and got caught up on laundry. I have been trying to stay on top of the dishes and laundry, because it is inevitable that our power will go out. If you cough our power goes out.Please pray for our family as we hunker down Sunday night and Monday.Hannah and Delaney dancing.
Hannah watches Pastor Tim board up the sliding glass doors.
Jonathan and Tim boarding up.
There has been a plethora of "events" to write about lately, but here is a little glimpse of what is going on in our personal lives:Jonathan is currently working on a new website for the church. I was recently telling an old friend that Jonathan is kind of the resident computer/AV "go to" guy at the church. He has been updating the old web page and serving as the web administrator, but has recently decided to create a more eye-appealing, user friendly version. Jonathan is also currently taking the Highschool boys through a study of RC Sproul's book The Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, during his 6 a.m. Friday morning Bible study. We have an increasing number of boys attending our youth service and Jonathan's Bible study; and, we finally have about 5 girls who are regular attenders on Wednesday nights. Jonathan recently finished teaching a New Testament class for adults during our Life Enrichment Seminars on Wednesday nights, and he will be taking a break for a few weeks, while Pastor Tim teaches. He continues to learn new songs on the guitar, maintains our ridiculously fast growing lawn, devours theological books, maintains his blog http://hiswordistruth.blogspot.com, and is a wonderful husband and Daddy.As you know, Hannah loves babies. She purcha
sed two baby dolls and a stroller with some of her birthday money, and now my little baby can be seen pushing her little baby down the hallway. Hannah's new favorite phrase is "uh oh" (emphasis on the end of uh), and she wanders around the house saying it for no apparent reason. She is able to utilize the phrase in the appropriate context as well. It has been six long months since those first two teeth appeared, but finally, we have a third tooth!!! Her top, right front tooth came through on Monday, and it appears that the left one is not far behind. Hannah has recently turned into a bathtime maniac. She takes pleasure in playfully running from the bathroom once she is stripped and ready to bathe. She relishes in being "caught." Once in her little blow up tub (inside the big tub), it is like trying to wa
sh a moving target. She has started squirming and scooting all around (literally in circles). It's really strange. She has also decided she wants to learn how to blow bubbles in the water, so she leans all the way down with her arms flung dramatically behind her and blows, but really she ends up inhaling water. She thinks it's hilarious!
I am currently project free, with the exception of hemming a new pair of pants. Ever since I zipped through the sixth Harry Potter installment, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (two thumbs way up JK Rowling) in late July, I have been reading non-fiction. So, I stopped by our church library the other day to pick up a couple of "Christian" fiction books and I have had my nose in a book during each "non-mommy" free moment. I finished the first book in a 3 part series, Cape Refuge (by Terri Blackstock), in 24 hours. It was just so fun to get caught up in a great "who done it?". I am still running 30 minutes/2-3 miles a day, but I have found that instead of the quiet meditation I used to enjoy on my runs, I now have Veggie Tales songs stuck in my head! God is currently teaching me patience and providing me with snippits of wisdom, as Jonathan and I learn how to train and discipline a one year old. Yes, that sin nature rears it's ugly head quite early! I continue to serve as the Nursery Director for our nursery and pre-school ministry and I am a blog-aholic!
I have been meaning to post our recent kitchen renovations to my blog for days now. However, I first had to restore order to our home. The clutter and mayhem that resulted from Hannah's four day birthday bash weekend was a bit overwhelming. Now that the house is picked up and I have the laundry under control, I will gladly share with you our recent endeavors. I may have mentioned before that I have a nasty little habit of taking on several projects at once, and then frantically working to bring them all to completion. Well, I have done it once again!!! I love to fix up old furniture, and I stumbled upon a china cabinet that I loved in Goodwill this summer. I had Jonathan and some youth drag it home, where it lived in our office/"don't know where to put it, stick it in that room." It was a very dirty faded yellow color and I had plans for painting it a red color. Well, I slowly (emphasis on slow) worked on that project, while I proceeded to take on the role of Nursery Director at our church. Our nursery and pre-school ministry has not had a director for some time, so taking on the position proved to be no small task. I had to organize my volunteer workers, develop and produce a worker's handbook, schedule, organize the nursery, etc. Then, I decided I wanted to recover my throw pillows on the couch, in order to match the draperies I had made for the kitchen over the summer. Meanwhile, I started sewing dresses for Hannah. As if this wasn't enough, three weeks before we were expecting four house guests and planning to throw Hannah's big birthday bash, we decided to renovate our kitchen.
Jonathan and I have been wanting to do something with our kitchen ever since we moved to Clewiston. The light fixture was an enormous box that housed long fluorescent light bulbs, and our cabinets were as old as the house (around 30 years old). They were a dark brown color, and many were faded, mismatched, scratched etc. The hardware on the cabinets was dull and did nothing to help the appearance of the cabinets. We had painted our walls a pale yellow when we moved in, but our color schemes have evolved since we moved here, and the kitchen just needed more punch. So, we said lets go bold. . . we decided to paint our cabinets black. After research, we found out that we aren't that daring. Apparently, black cabinets are currently all the rage. Anyway, our little project turned out to be a VERY intensive three week project that sucked up all of our spare time and rendered our kitchen unusable. We took all of the cabinet doors and hardware off, then all surfaces were washed with TSP, thoroughly sanded, washed again, liquid sandpaper was applied, and then a primer sealer was applied. Once this had been done to all the cabinets, facing, and doors, we began the painting process. Remember, everything had to dry in between applications. Jonathan and I were walking zombies for 3 weeks, staying up until 2 a.m. at times, and let's just say Hannah watched a lot of videos. And remember my first cake gig? Yes, that happened right in the middle of the whole ordeal!
I do not divulge these details to complain, rather to encourage you to hire it done, should you decide to give your kitchen a face lift! We actually had fun, and I am happy to report that their were no fights during the process. When we finished the cabinets and the doors and new hardware were back on, I set to work painting our walls. All projects were finished in time for our company and Hannah's party, and we are currently enjoying our updated kitchen!!! I looked for "before" pictures, but really couldn't find anything that did justice to the previous appearance. Anyway, I have uploaded pictures of the process and finished product.
Before . . .
During. . .
After. . .
Before . . .
After . . .
Here is what I caught Hannah doing while I was creating my last blog entry (Please ignore the dog hair on the laundry room floor!):
Putting Raleigh's dog food into his water bowl.
Feeding the wet food to Raleigh.
Keep in mind this all transpired over a span of maybe 3 minutes. Hannah had splashed almost all of Raleigh's water out of the bowl. She was soaking wet, covered in dog hair, and slipping and sliding across the laundry room floor in order to feed soaking wet pieces of dog food to Raleigh. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry over the mess. I chose to laugh and grabbed the camera.
Our friends, Candy and Gordon Swaggerty, had offered to keep Hannah if we ever wanted to go out on a date. Their two boys are in college (we had their youngest, Drew, in the youth group) and they are starting to get the "grandparent itch." So, on Saturday, we decided to take them up on their offer. After a delayed start, we dropped Hannah off at their house just before 6:00 p.m. and headed for LaBelle (a neighboring town between Clewiston and Fort Myers). Jonathan and I decided to try a new restaurant called (get ready to laugh) . . . Boo Boo's River House. Over all, it was a pleasant dining experience. The food was average and the meal was a little pricey (for the quality), but it was quiet, slow paced, and time for us to enjoy one another as husband and wife, rather than parents. When you become a parent, you develop very high standards for childcare. As a result, the number of people you are willing to leave your helpless child with are few, and she ends up the third wheel on many a date night. In addition to our scant list of sitters, our lives have been so consumed with church programs, visiting with family, travels, and being parents, that we haven't done much dating sans Hannah over the last year. So, our evening out was a big deal. I am happy to report, that Hannah was unscathed! She had a wonderful time with Candy and Gordon. They even walked her to the park to swing.
Hannah and I traveled to Fort Myers on Tuesday. We had to drop Jonathan's mom off at the airport, and Hannah had her 12 Month "Well Baby" visit with Doctor Rodriguez. Dr. Rodriguez says Hannah is doing great, hitting all of her benchmarks early or on time, and is a very healthy baby.
Here are the numbers:
Weight: 20 pounds (slightly rounded up, about an ounce away) (35-40%)
Height: 28 1/2 inches (30%)
Head: 46 1/2 inches (75%- Breast fed babies are usually slower to develop physically [meaning size], so the head is usually a good indicator of the child's future size. . .while she is on the smaller side now [but not alarmingly small, still well within average range] she still has hope to outgrow mommy!)
She also received her Chicken Pox vaccination, her first flu shot, and a PCV7. So, she was running a fever yesterday and has a big knot on her leg (where two of the shots were given). But, she is a happy healthy baby . . . praise God!
On Friday evening, Katie and Jimmy, my mom, and Jonathan's mom all arrived for the weekend. Saturday morning was spent preparing for Hannah's big first birthday bash. The boys and Ruth Ann worked in the yard, and mom and Katie helped with food preparations and decorations. I was busy putting the finishing touches on the two birthday cakes (one for Hannah and one for the guests). Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day with a slight breeze. We were very thankful, considering it had rained all week. I put Hannah down for a nap around 2:30. Let's just say at 3:45, there were still noises coming from her room. She has never (in an entire year) missed an afternoon nap. I was concerned that she would be a grump, but she fell asleep for about 30 minutes, and when I woke her up for the party at 4:30 she was in a perfectly good mood. She was thrilled to see many close friends and family gathered at her home. . . especially the kids! Jonathan and Uncle Jimmy manned the grill, while the kids played with bubbles and balloons. We had a wonderful cookout! Of course, watching Hannah dig into her birthday cake was the main attraction.Hannah has been very blessed to have friends and family that love her so much. While we missed Hannah's Uncle Matthew, Aunt Kim, cousin Phillip, and great grandparents, we were very honored to have (many of) those dear to us join in the celebration of her first year of life. We thank God for putting such wonderful people in our lives!!!Cakes by mommy .
Playing with friends.
Blowing bubbles with mommy.
For me?
Yum!!!
What a mess!!!
Mommy, Hannah, and Daddy
Hannah and her Grandmas.
Party guests relaxing.
Hannah had a bit of a sugar rush after the party. Once she had been thoroughly bathed, she could be seen running around, riding on Uncle Jimmy's back and chasing balloons.
Crazy balloon girl.
Jonathan and I have never been good at patiently waiting to give each other gifts. We often return home from Christmas or birthday shopping and break down, offering our gifts that evening. Yesterday, Hannah's birthday present arrived at the house, and we couldn't contain ourselves. We theorized that the gift would still be a birthday present, even if it was given early; she could get use out of it for the next week prior to her birthday; and finally, we're the parents, so we can make that decision!!! We bought her a little recliner for the living room, and said good bye to the exersaucer. Of course, Hannah considered the enormous box that the chair came in a present as well. She was so cute this morning, as she reclined in her new chair, watching a Baby Einstein video. I am very happy that we did not exhibit restraint!
What is it?
My very own chair!!!
How do I get in it?
I love it!!!
This box is nice too!
Watching a video.
