No pictures yet, maybe later

Okay, so I've been busy. We had only minor damage from Hurricane Ike, mostly more roof damage and debris everywhere. The power went off for only a couple of hours. By the time Lance got the generator hooked back up, the power came back on.

And, yes, once again, we are full with evacuees- lots of children too. This time, they are from Hackberry, Crystal Beach, Vinton and etc. I wish I could help them like we did for the previous storms, but I'm all worn out- my doctor followed me out the door telling me to rest.

The children are catching up with school work and getting back into a routine, but they seem tired too. My dad is back in the hospital- I'm not even sure where to begin with that one, but it doesn't look good. Enough bad....

Lance and the older kids went to an LSU game last Saturday. Lance said they spent steak house dollars on burger joint food, and then wanted to stop on the way home because they were hungry! Does FEMA give out grants for bottomless pits?

We've started back working on symphony music (oh wait, I said enough bad- ha ha!). Our first practice is Monday. The children are in second strings, and I'm doing guitar for some of the Beatles tunes. I'm sure it will be good with more practice. We're also supposed to be performing at the Rice Festival with the rest of the group, but that's only a maybe since I'm eyeing possible vacation time.

My quilting is coming along slowly. I have a batik "storm at sea" (how appropriate) wall hanging I'm wrapping up for the fall festival at our church. Lance says I won't be able to go to the auction, because it will break my heart. I'm trying to learn "sacrifice" and "letting go". It seems to be a theme in my life!

We have a new "drop off" pair. This is where people "drop off" unwanted animals at our house. We adopted the last kitten, who now pays us back with attacking our legs and ankles as we walk by. He actually leaps out from behind a piece of furniture and clings to the highest point possible on your leg. It's rather alarming sometimes. His name is Junior. Heidi puts him down for a nap every afternoon and he sleeps in her arms for at least an hour. Our new pair is a white calico kitten and a blue heeler female puppy. They sleep together on the back porch at night and terrorize the chickens by day. I'm hoping to find good homes soon before they get too attached to each other and the children get too attached to them. Heidi and Matthew are already riding the puppy around in the basket of the bike!

Thanks for reading my ramblings. May God bless all those who are tired and heartbroken. May He give them the strength to carry on, and to find solace in Him. May God bless you! Kelly

Minimal damage, everyone safe

We were able to sleep in our house last night since the power returned yesterday afternoon. All the children except Nickel did fine. Nickel seems to have come down with a sinus infection and is not too happy with it. I'm sure the heat didn't help. The experience is not one I want to repeat again. I think everything would have been fine without five anxious children and no electricity. Here's what happened.

We moved into the hotel rooms on Sunday since we weren't sure exactly when Gustav was going to hit land and what kind of weather we might be facing. The children were all excited with an adventure. Everything was pretty calm with a decent wind coming off the prairie, but nothing too harsh.

Monday morning the wind had picked up, and by noon things were starting to get a little hairy. We stood in the corridor and watched as sheets of rain came by horizontally. The wind threw debris everywhere and howled and moaned like some invisible monster. By about 4 pm, Monday afternoon, the transformer blew and the power went out. Occasionally, we heard a crack from trees going down. As we listened to the radio, we realized that the eye passed to the east of us, so we didn't get the worst part of the storm. Winds were in the range of 80-90 mph for us. Things began calming down by about 8 pm which was a huge relief. No one wants to be in a hurricane at night. At least during the day, you can see what is happening. I came to a big realization. The reporters you see fighting wind and rain and drama on tv are only in the 30-40 mph winds before the main part hits. The wind was so strong, it looked like it would pick up the vehicles at any moment and put them in the soybean field across the street.

We started getting reports that Opelousas to Baton Rouge got hit pretty hard. Lance's little brother is in B.R. and so were two of my sisters. They will probably be without power for two weeks or so. Monday night, after the eye passed was when the tornadoes came through about 2:30-3:30 am. We didn't get any more damage, just more limbs. The lightning and thunder were pretty fierce for a while. What is amazing to me is that the people who evacuated to the North-- Alexandria up to Monroe got quite a bit of damage and no power too. My sister said that her high school in Opelousas lost their roof and some of the walls were collapsing from rain water. Her school will be closed indefinitely along with a couple of others in Opelousas, Leonville and Arnaudville. As we talk to more people in Eunice, it seems most, like us, only have limbs, roof & fence damage, along with power outages. There are downed trees throughout our area and curfews are still in effect. We have a friend who sent his wife and kids to evacuate. He ended up with a tree through his house. He says he's not staying next time either and wished he hadn't this time.

Hotel rooms are currently scarce to non-existent. Traffic is horrendous on the main thoroughfares with people trying to get back home. Gas and groceries are just starting to be more available as opposed to an 1 1/2 hour wait. Everyone is definitely relieved to see how well things are moving. I'll try to post some pictures and video in the next few days. Lance refuses to take down the plywood until we know more about Ike. I don't blame him. We've started the clean-up. It's a debate on whether or not to file insurance claims. Lance says our insurance rates are going up regardless. And it's definitely disappointing not to be able to watch the Tigers play this weekend, but I guess we understand. Hopefully, we'll be able to see them play next weekend.

My mom and dad are still without power. It seems the stress was a little too much for Dad. He had to go to the emergency room. The doctor thinks it's atrial fibrilation, but they can't seem to get a cardiologist. At least he's somewhat comfortable in the hospital since they have power and he's getting regular meals and hydration.

Thank you all for your prayers! They worked!

Go Away Ike!

Kelly

Winds picking up, but so far okay!

We're sitting out in the parking lot eating boudin and cracklins so you know everyone is doing well. Nickel is inside watching tractors and playing Thomas trains. The hurricane has made landfall in Houma and dropped down to a Cat. 2. Lance says it's still going to be worse than Rita. We're eyeing a couple of trees that may not make it. The worst of the storm for us will be later this evening. We've boarded up, taken down, put up and secured everything in sight. The margaritas & beer are in the fridge (unfortunately, no xanax here!). We took down the slides. Lance is pretty worried about the playground. When we built it, we joked a lot about taking shelter there, but I think that may be overstated. The kids are set up in their room with movies, laptop & PS3. They all cheered when we said the hurricane had dropped in level. It seems service personnel are ready to move, they all want reservations for Tuesday afternoon, including a Fema guy. Thanks again for all the prayers, messages and email! Kelly

Hurricane Gustav Preparations

First, let me thank everyone for your emails and prayers. They have really been blessings. We are currently making preparations and getting ready. We will not be evacuating. Our family will move into the hotel rooms since they're safer than the house. The hurricane is due to hit tomorrow, so things are really moving now and I'll try to write more later. Kelly

Summertime blues....

We have finally gotten through most of the summer camps- Camp Lone Star in Texas, Vacation Bible School, and Cajun-Creole Kids Camp. I feel like I have been busier than when school was in. Heidi only has one more camp in July- a culture camp. I have tried to work on some of my projects, but it's practically hopeless now. I was able to finish Matt's quilt-- just in time for a hot summer! Oh well, he'll appreciate it later in the year. I also made some nice baskets and other quilts for various gifts. We've been staying awfully busy with the hotel & campground. Apparently, oil companies are really looking for new sites. We've had pipeline & seismic crews keeping us almost full. Unfortunately, with gas prices and everything else on the rise, we're forced to increase our rates too. Believe it or not, the only expense that decreased this year was our insurance! Luckily for y'all, our loyal friends and guests, we are still almost half the franchise prices with more to offer!

My summer projects include container vegetable gardening, more quilting, taking care of lots of baby animals, canning, trying to get a schedule together for fall school, and last but not least, guitar. I have had beautiful cherry tomatoes, a few creole tomatoes, but no others yet. I planted late, so there's still time. I planted pole beans, cucumbers, yellow straight neck squash, herbs, eggplant and pablano peppers. Heidi has planted a watermelon. I'm curious to see how that turns out. It's some kind of black beauty with a really dark skin, but sweet insides. I was going to plant potatoes, but I waited to late for that. A local farmer told me to get the seed potatoes from the feed store and plant in mid-February. I'll have to plan that one next year (right before Mardi Gras; who knows maybe I will find the time!). The rain has been really nice for gardening this past spring, with cool days. But then summer hit with full force. Now it only rains once a week and seems to just make steam instead of cool air. The hobby farm is doing nicely. Both of our Katahdin ewes had babies, a set of twins and a single. The children aren't too impressed with the idea of eating the males (2), but it's that or the auction. Heidi wanted to get rid of the ram and keep the lamb with brown spots, but I don't think that would work with good breeding practices. Our buff hen hatched some chicks (3 little cute fluffy black ones). She was pretty ferocious with us when we tried to check on them. I think I'll put up a sign that says "Beware, attack chicken!". Heidi's two dutch bunnies also had babies. Speaking of ferocious, maybe I should post a sign that says "Beware, attack chick & rabbit!" She wants to sell the bunnies, but I'm dreaming of a cast iron pot for their futures. The goose is sitting on a nest of about 7 eggs. I'm not totally sure when or if they'll hatch, but I think I also need to add "attack goose" to my sign too. I have to wonder if I got like that when I had my babies. Lance would probably say an emphatic yes! We also bought some guinea keets. They're awfully cute. When I go out to feed them, they follow me around like I'm their mama. I hear some good and bad about guineas, so we'll have to wait and see. I think that since their diet is so much protein-based, their eggs should be very healthy. We still have our ducks, dog, cats and donkey too. They have kept to quiet lives with the exception of the cats. They're out in the front yard every morning stretched out in the shade, tormenting a poor mocking bird (Lance calls it breakfast theater).

I've only canned a few things this year, but the figs are coming in soon, and I think I'll put up some of them. I made stewed tomatoes and pickled watermelon rind. I have mixed reviews on the watermelon. It's kind of like a sweet & sour, a little like pickled ginger at the chinese restaurant.

Guitar is fun. I'm having a few issues with the barre chords, but I'm enjoying it. Bonnie, Lance's sister, is keeping me on my toes. We'll have a performance (with 30 other musicians & our kids) at the Liberty on Saturday, August 2nd. We're part of a group called the Prairie Cajun Fiddlers. Maybe we'll see you there!
Nickel & Matt are being serenaded on our last road trip. You can see what Nickel seems to think of the chorus!

Etouffe Title or Not....

Well, we didn't win this year, but Toby's etouffee was really great and we cleaned the pot. We had a wonderful time from Friday night to Sunday night with non-stop partying. If you'd like to check out pictures of us, you can find a few on The Daily World's website and a few more in their photo gallery. A Big Thank You to Toby Rodriguez soon to be Toby Pitre for cooking! Hopefully, I'll be back soon for more pictures.

Heidi, Alain and Camille have all started spring ball. We are practicing almost every weeknight and starting games the second week in April. The children are also doing a performance at the Liberty with Matt & Heidi on fiddle, Al on accordion, and Bonnie & I on guitar. This might prove interesting and somewhat entertaining!

Lance is having a birthday in May. He's working very hard on financing for Lakeview. We have also become Karaoke Revolution stars! Or maybe wannabe stars!

Also, for those of you waiting to see my quilt that I have been working on since August, you might have to wait a little longer. Eventually I'll finish it and you can bet your shorts, I'll have pictures posted everywhere!

Thanks for reading!