Hurricane Ike

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:) My kids and I just came in from playing in the rain, jumping in the puddles, and splashing A LOT! It was fun! Don't worry, we aren't getting it that bad. Thank goodness we aren't in Galveston! I still just don't understand why people do not evacuate when they are told to. I have family in Houston, and they headed to my mom's in New Braunfels. Apparently, they didn't get a drop of rain there. Have a great weekend- take the kids out to jump in the puddles. We had a blast. :)

If packing a small suitcase that is kept in the closet until any threat of bad weather passes makes you more comfortable then you should do it. Although it is unlikely it will be needed, peace of mind is important. I agree with the other posters about staying calm in order to not scare your children, so if it will help you do that then you should do it regardless of the necessity.

I'm like your husband - I love storms, too. The only thing that concerns me is the threat of tornados. We live in Murphy, not too far from where the Allen tornado hit a couple months ago, but that was the result of a regular storm - not even a tropical storm, which it what Ike will be when or if it comes to us. The chances we take with living in Texas, I guess!
I think packing bags may be a little over-cautious, but stocking up on batteries and water would probably be a little better in regards preparation efforts in case power goes out for any length of time.
All in all, my guess would be for sunny skies by Sunday afternoon, with a likelihood of our neighboor's already broken fence landing in our yard.
North Texas will 'weather' this storm just fine!

I agree, we don't have any concerns over a tsunami. However, depending on the path Ike decides to take we could get some pretty heavy rains, high winds, possible tornadoes and flooding from the heavy rain.

With kids at home, don't panic too much or you will make them scared too. I usually get our closet below our stairs ready when we are getting storms that could cause tornadoes. That way everything we would need is in there and the floor is clear for all of us to be in there and safe.

Make sure you have working batteries in your flashlights, water and food to eat. We could lose power. We have cleared our backyard of things that could fly away and such cause we did get hit really hard in April (I live in Allen). There wasn't a confirmed tornado, but if you looked at my yard the next morning you would have thought one blew threw.

Also, we have games ready for our kids. Board games, play doh, coloring books and crayons, etc. That way if we do lose power they have stuff to be entertained with.