Posting after the storm...

Last week our power was out. ALL week. And not because I forgot to pay the bill (at least I think I paid it!). :) The remnants of Hurricane Ike hit Ohio causing wind gusts up to almost 80 mph! All told, almost a million homes in Ohio and Northern Kentucky were without power for some period of time during the week. Ours was out from Sunday, September 14 at 2 pm until the next Sunday, September 21 at 4:30 pm. THANKFULLY the wind brought with it cooler weather, so it was not unbearable living conditions, but we did lose most of the food in our fridge and freezer (although I did learn that you can cook a lot more on the grill than just hamburgers and hot dogs - my mom made french fries and baked beans and scrambled eggs. She did NOT figure out a good way to make coffee though, so it was a rough week for her, lol). We were also very thankful that we did not suffer any major damage to our house or property from the storm.

Praise the Lord we only had to replace one section of privacy fence from our neighbor's tree falling on it.

All afternoon while the wind was blowing, we'd hear different trees and limbs cracking. At one point we kept hearing these cracking noices getting louder and louder, until I realized it was the HUGE tall tree across the street from us. Eventually it fell, but didn't hit any of the houses around it.

Same tree, different view. We thought for sure our neighbor's house was hit when the section of tree fell, but it didn't. The city street department came and removed MOST of the tree (what was in the road), but Kevin and some guys down the road ended up clearing it from the power lines on Sunday, September 21 - because by then, poor Kevin was so tired of having no power, he wasn't about to let trees delay the power company from getting it turned back on! :)

Did you know that Katie is STILL this smiley, even when the power is out???
You just have to use a flashlight to see the smile. :)
The blanket she's laying on was made by my awesome Aunt Bobbie. Aunt Bobbie had never seen the colors of Katie's room, yet matched them perfectly. Aunt Bobbie, Katie said to tell you she loves this blanket and appreciates you making it for her (can you believe she already knows the word "appreciate" ??? She's a smart kid!). :)

The quilt she's laying on in this pic was made by my Aunt Charlotte (who is also awesome to take the time to make such a nice quilt). I wish I had a picture of the other side of it, because it has outlines of my mom's hands, my grandmother's hands, my sister's hands, and my hands all around the edge of the quilt. Aunt Charlotte surprised me with this at my baby shower, and told me that the little space left around the edge is for Katie's hands. It's really a sweet idea for a quilt.