"...It All Starts With an Earthquake"

As I am sure you know, because it has been all over the news, Tuesday brought not only the first day of school, but a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in VA, which was felt loud and clear here in MD. Other than shaking Owen awake and knocking some things off of shelves, the only damage we experienced was the loss of Ashley's prized sand dollar that she found whole in Myrtle Beach, cleaned up and preserved. She had it up on her bookshelf, and it fell with several books on top of it.

The following Thursday and Friday we spent preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Irene. Saturday night was really windy, and there was plenty of rain, but we did not lose power, and we had very little yard debris compared to the area at large around us. Therefore, I am glad to report that we weathered both natural disasters this past week well and really have no story to tell.

We do, however, have our own little disaster creator in our house. This week has seen the onset of the nickname Hurricane Owen. Since he could crawl, he has gotten into anything he possibly could. That of course escalated with his ability to climb, cruise and now walk. It is a constant adventure to see what he will get into or onto or take apart. He creates havoc with piles of laundry and loves to empty the silverware from the dishwasher. As a fun example, take this picture. One day this past summer, the kids had fries with their lunch, and Jon left his on the coffee table complete with the ketchup he had with them. I went in to check on the kids. Owen was in with them, which isn't unusual as he loves to be where they are. I found him pleased as he could be with himself, sitting in a pile of fries and ketchup with ketchup everywhere. They were within his reach, so he went exploring. This is just an example of how things are with our little hurricane. He sure is a cute little mess maker though, and it is a good thing he LOVES a bath as he needs one frequently.