We are Thankful!

Today was the Children of Joy! Thanksgiving Feast. It was fun to have 2 big boys at it this year. They both made great projects and were very proud of them...they also loved lunch. I arrived to Tyler crying with a bag of ice on his mouth. He had a collision with one of his buddies on the playground and bumped his mouth pretty good. His teeth are a little wiggley, hopefully they will harden up! Yikes...needless to say he was not happy and fell apart when he saw me. Ryan was so proud of his pinecone turkey and plate that he made. The brothers ate together and drank enough lemonade to float away! Dad had to miss as he is in Milwaukee for work...we missed having him there. It's hard to believe that it's Ty's last little feast at COJ! Here is Ry with a cupcake after the party...Mr. Sweet-tooth!

A little home repair has begun! We are finally getting our house repaired due it IKE. They are still working on it, hopefully a few more days.

This Past Month

Picasa Web Albums - Erin - October/Nov 08

A little live action of IKE...

Sorry so long!!!

Sorry it's been so long...starting to be a theme here. Anyways, things have been busy while we've gotten back to "normal" if you will. Are we ever really normal? Don't answer that...it took 2 full weeks to get our power back after the storm. We stayed in Dallas for a week, then ventured home thinking we would surely be getting power back any day...not so much. The rest of The Woodlands had power the Wednesday after the storm, we were 10 days after that! It got really hot, mosquitoey, and annoying about 2 days after we got back from Dallas. The kids were great...troopers and patient. FEMA brought ice to the Walmart by our house, but not until 13 days after the storm...gee thanks! By that point everyone back in our little section of town that STILL didn't have power at least had generators..At 40 bucks a day, to have a lamp, fan,and keep some things cool in the fridge. I'm hoping that the 25 years that they say has been between major storms is true..I plan to not be here in 25! we've started soccer again, went to a picnic for Chad's work, my parents are visiting, and the boys are loving school. The weeks are busy, but we are enjoying every crazy minute of it! Oh, and we have also purchased our Halloween costumes...that was a BIG decision for an unnamed 4 year old in our house!

these are from the picnic...Spiderman and a pirate. Ryan went first and then Ty decided he wanted it too.

Amanda and Deb took me for a day a shopping to celebrate my b-day that was overshadowed by a natural disaster...how dare He? Kidding! I still did turn 33, in spite of trying to forget about the day!


These are from Dallas, we went to the Ft. Worth zoo, played at a park(everyday) and swam. We actually had a great time escaping from our reality~

my neighbor's house getting a tree craned off her roof... oh the joys of IKE! We still have all our garage that needs repair and trees we need cut down that are dead from bending in half.
Gotta love those Wiggles powered by a generator...
First day of soccer...Tyler is currently more focused on his potential career as a NFL quarterback...he also told me today that he wants a Highlanders tatoo, that's the high school in town, oh joy!

Take a Hike IKE!

Well, here we are in our new "home" in Dallas...we are here, safe and with power, food, a/c, and good friends. We came here yesterday as the conditions in The Woodlands aren't horrible, just no power and a big mess...I guess it more a giant inconvience...especially with little ones. Anyways, we weathered IKE in our walk in closet all night Friday and into early Sat morning. It was freaky...wind like none other and lots of thuds felt through the ground of the house. Chad and I have decided that that we thought we were prepared...but not for more than 2 days. Our food all spoiled and the kids were crawling the walls. Needless to say...I was not being too nice either:) On our way to Dallas we heard on the radio that The Woodlands can plan on 2-4 weeks w/o power...the transmission towers have to be completely rebuilt and shipped in~YIKES! We really are'nt sure where we will go or what we will do after Friday...I may go to MN and stay until we get power back and food and gas are readily available. There is nothing right now as NO stores or gas stations are with power in our town...anyways, here are some pics of our entrance to Dallas and pre and post IKE pics of the house...We are also official FEMA evacuees...what a title!

Dallas...home sweet powered home!

Our house before the storm...a beautiful sunset disguises whats to come 8 hours later...

Some damage to the garage...these are our trees...missed Chad's car by 1 mm, literally! Our garage is leaking and obviously needs a little TLC, we're just thankful it's not our living space. My neighbor got one thru her roof.

The view is a little different now...We really are ok and feel blessed that nothing else happened to our family and friends...Hopefully we'll be home soon...

First Day of School!

Well, it's official, they're all in school for a few months anyways...Ryan was so excited to start "schoo" as he says. He did cry when we left, but you would never know it fromt the look before he left. Dad even came for the big day. Tyler was very excited as well,and in true fashion, nothing happened at school today...'It's a secret!" He won't give me anything to go on! Oh well...he says he had lots of fun, so back tomorrow we will go!




Yes, I am really getting that big... I went to the Doctor today for my 3 month check and everything looks, sounds great! I di have to say, this shirt is a little blousy...but probably not too much!
The boys in front of the school with their big boy backpacks. Notice Ryan's slick hair...he got into my pomade and did his hair for his new teachers...He smells like an Aveda salon.

Last week we had a little birthday party for Ryan's TX friends in our pool. He had a blast.

Some of my good "Woodlands" girlfriends

The Summer Olympics at the Brautigam Cube!

Tyler is quite the diver! We're hoping for the next Phelps! He can hold his breath the entire length of the pool! You never know:)
Children's Museum in Houston. Check out his native Banana Spider. Thank god it's not in my yard...the kids were amazed by this thing! It gave me the creeps personally!

Beach Bums!

So in the past week, we have been to the beach 2 times. Chad and I took the boys last Saturday, then last Thursday, as a last summer hurrah, a few of my girlfriends and I decided to take the kids for the day. We had a blast both times! I think that Ryan wins dirtyist kid of the week and Tyler wins "I've got sand in my eyes!!!!" crying award. All in all, after a couple showers at the shelter, he got over it and actually had lots of fun! The beach at Galveston was actually pretty nice and much cleaner than I had thought. It's been raining a lot here, so swimming has been limited this week, but Tyler is now diving into the pool and swimming like a fish again! YEAH! Next week we go to meet the boys' teachers for preschool-YEAH again! They are definately ready for school to start. Chad and I went to the Dave Matthews concert on Friday, and it was the best one yet...really! Saturday was my friend Erin's 30th b-day and we went to a fabulous surprise party for her. Very nice! Also, for those of you that haven't heard yet, the Brautigam clan is expanding once again! Yes, lucky number 3 is due in March. We're very excited! So here are the pics from the beach and let me not forget The Wiggles! Oh yes... they made a stop in Houston, so of course we had to go! Enjoy!

This was Tropical Storm Eduard day, when the world shut down for no reason at all. My kids don't quite understand the concept of painting...well Ryan doesn't at least! Notice, he's soaked from the head down...