how much of a good thing is...bad?

lately i have been wondering - does hazel watch too many movies? by movies i mean the 30-40 minute sesame street episodes. before we moved to houston, our tv was hidden away in our closet on a rolling cart. we only pulled it out to watch our one tv show (lost) or a movie after hazel was in bed. needless to say she didn't watch tv. when we were preparing to leave utah, dad bought us a dvd player for our car and mom gave us some of mary alice's old movies and several things happened - hazel discovered the delights of elmo and baby bear, and i reveled in the freedom. because of this freedom i have a difficult time not giving in to hazel's demands for 'again...movie!' so that i can get things done or just have a moment to myself. before i know it she has watched three or four movies in a row! on the plus side hazel knows her abc's and i am better about keeping the apartment clean. any suggestions on whether or not i should be concerned?

psalms 30:5

so, i am feeling rather sheepish about last night's post - but mostly i am overflowing with joy. our power came on this morning at about 9:30 (hallelujah!), just after i had decided that i wasn't going to the store again, for ice. i never thought that i would be so happy to do the laundry. i am sooooo grateful to have the a/c back online - i will never take it for granted again (at least not today). i am so relieved that the girl's heat rashes will now go away. i want to break into a song and dance every time i hear the refrigerator click or the washer switch to the spin cycle. hazel has watched her third movie and just went down for a nap with visions of the fan twirling in her head. lucy is happily gurgling next to me. life is beautiful. what a far cry this post is from last night's. i guess Heavenly Father really does know how much i can endure.

where is the light at the end of the tunnel? (literally)

9 days!!!! is there no pity? i know i am not the only one without power here and i know there are so many worse off than me, but i am not it the mood to be fair or long-suffering. reading my 'lights out...' post, i can't believe i was so chipper. i don't think i can take anymore sweaty, sticky heat. the nice cool weather is apparently over. nothing but bugs come in the windows; not a lick of breeze. i have hundreds of mosquito bites, so do lucy and hazel. it is too hot to cook, too hot to sleep. i am sure i should be learning some sort of life-lesson here, but i am too lethargic to wonder what it could be.

HAPPY . . .

birthday Ruth!

lights are out and everybody's home

so we are coming up on 5 days without power!!! who would have thought we could survive so long? not me. i find it rather funny that we have no power but we still have access to the internet (when the lappy is plugged into the car, anyway. thanks again for the adaptor, dad). we have been really lucky with the weather the last couple of days. it has been staying in the 80's during the day and 60's at night, so with the windows open we get our apartment down to the mid-70's. it is great. even the humidity is mostly gone! it has been really nice for me to have nothing to do-can't do laundry, no dishes (i love paper plates!) and grant home to help with the girls. hazel has been doing very well without her movies. she starts asking for one and then says, "movie later, tv power broken." she misses having her ceiling fan on but knows that it is 'broken' too. despite the lack of sesame street, she has wow-ed us by reciting the abc's without missing a letter! i knew she had most of it down thanks to "abc bears" (s.s. episode with baby bear learning the abc's from big bird) but i was still amazed. she is so clever.

hazel 'reading' with flashlight

pictures

the slide show is up and running with pictures of our neighborhood after hurricane ike. enjoy.