Tornado Warning!!!

I have come to realize that the worst feeling in the world is to be 4 blocks from home (where your 11-year-old and 5-year-old are) when the Tornado warning siren goes off.

Luckily, we weren't hit by a tornado. But the few minutes it took me and hubby to get home, driving down our main street with pouring rain and high winds, were just the beginning of one of the scariest hours of my life.

We did have 60mph winds and our town siren went off 3 times. I'm usually not really scared of weather, and I've always wanted to be a storm chaser. But, NOT NO MORE! I really thought, as I sat in the basement clutching my bible, praying like a madwoman, that in just a few minutes, we would be left with nothing but 3 bottles of water, 4 blankets, TOO many boxes of toys that haven't been unpacked since we moved, and the 2 50# boxes of photos that I hauled down the stairs into the basement.

Praise God, the worst of it was a dent in the car. And of course it was our 2002 car and not our 1995 car, but better a dent in a car than in a kid!

We did have some downed power lines and there was a tornado spotted about a mile outside of town, but we didn't have any major damage in town beside the fallen tree branches. Of course today was a beautiful, sunny day, just like nothing had happened. I believe there's a bible verse that says something about the Lord's blessings being new every morning!

And even though, I'm sure I'll remain calmer the next time this happens (my son's 5th grade classmate told me this morning that I'll get used to it!), I think I may be suffering from some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder. When the sky started to look sort of menacing this evening, I had to make a conscious effort to not come un-glued and rush everyone and everything back into the basement. And, much to my surprise, I really became un-nerved and kinda scared when my husband jokingly imitated the warning siren noise. So, I seem to be a little skittish right now when it comes to all things storm-related.

If I had to come up with something positive about the whole experience, I guess it would be that I now know what I need to keep stored in the basement. And knowing how to operate the storm radio would probably be helpful too.

Who is this child's mother?!?!?

Ever been somewhere and noticed a mom who is just on the brink of losing all sanity right then and there in the middle of the store? She's torn between screaming and having a fierce outbreak of physical violence, but she knows she's in a public place, so she must keep some sort of lid on it, so as not to appear a complete lunatic who cannot get a grip to save her life? Who, in the midst of all this inner turmoil is wondering, "I'm in a christian bookstore! Why can't some sort of divine intervention happen here and save me from this mental and emotional anguish???"

Well, I must sadly admit that I am that mom. I realized today that if I have not trained my child on how to behave in public, that even helping my 11-year-old pick out a bible, will not protect me from all the 5-year-oldness that my darling angel may decide to unleash upon me.

My obvious lesson for today was, "You reap what you sow."

Joey's 5th Birthday!!

Joey turned 5 on Sunday and we actually had time to have a relaxing day! After going to church and running some other errands, we were able to come home and enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Joey was quite excited to put the sprinkles on his cake! If you've ever let a 5-year-old do this, you know they should really be called 'dumples' and not 'sprinkles'.

Here's Joey sitting very proudly with his cake. We had also walked to our local store to get some ice cream. He picked out Mint & Chip ice cream without any coaching from mom! Obviously he's being raised with good taste. We will be having a Chuck E. Cheese party in a few weeks when our daughter's out to visit, so it was nice to be able to relax on his actual birthday! After cake and ice cream, we went outside to watch the boys play with the new bat, balls and tee that Joey got. The weather was perfect for being outside. It was definitely one of those days when we could sit and reflect on all the wonderful things God has blessed us with!