Three 4's, One 3' and Others

On Wednesday when I blogged about the tornado, I took over 2 hours to press send because of the steady stream of people coming by my desk to swap tornado stories.  Everyone had one (obviously) and they were all pretty much the same:  "Are ya'll okay?  Yeah we did just fine.  We packed a bag and headed down to the shelter for a while.  We had about 20 people & 6 dogs in there!  We were pretty lucky.  Did you hear about ____?  They got hit pretty hard."  Here in Oklahoma we don't tell short stories, but that was pretty much the gist of each one!  I have read stories about 1300 people in one public shelter and I know that every available shelter was over capacity.  And TEN people in OK died.  And if you see the destruction, you know the tornadoes were bad.  But I just saw the ratings.  There were three F4's, a 3 and a 2 and one other but I didn't see what it was.  So I have to say, once again, that our meteorologists and news stations are the best of the best.  They were able to strike the fear in people that we needed that day.  When the tornado was headed from El Reno straight for us (before it turned north and hit Piedmont), Kristine was really getting worked up and I told her "Don't worry- we're underground and the whole city is praying right now and so is my mom."    She laughed at the last part but you'll never convince me that all of those things didn't come together to protect my family that day.  Then Kristine had to explain to the drug rep from out of town that it would probably be okay.  I felt bad for that lady.

My Water Boy

 What do you do when the front yard is flooded from playing in the sprinkler and mom won't let you get in the pool? 

Right.  Of course you would sit on the porch in a pool toy.  Just as fun!  I wouldn't let him bring it inside so he just sat on the porch.

Sunday was super hot and I was helping Kristine & Joe work in their garden so Peyton got a slip & slide.  We all had a bit of fun with that!

 Monday night it rained but he was still in the 'water mood'.  (when is he NOT?)  He is SOO pleased with himself for getting me to let him bring the thing inside.  The day before I wouldn't let him. 

But I let him sit there while we talked about the storm and watched it.  He usually likes to go lay in the yard and watch the clouds build but there was lightning.  That night we talked about lightning and tornadoes and what you would do if there was a tornado.  We talked about how if you are at home, you go to the bathroom and sit in the bathtub until Mommy & Daddy tell you it's okay to get out.  He reminded me of that when we were on our way to the shelter at the mall the next day.  We had to expand our discussion a little bit. 

Also- that toy is currently in my bathroom because this morning he came in with it to sit in the bathtub.  (no storms today) 



Just for Mom

Mom is the only one who will really appreciate these pictures and updates.  Sorry, everyone else!  (The pictures are still pretty...)

I could not help myself.  I had to have the new Lemonade petunias we saw at Home Depot.  And I put in several pieces of Forget Me Not from the yard.  And some other stuff.  There are some other flowers in there but I didn't take a picture before the blooms fell off. 

The clematis are starting to grow!!

We got the box but I have so far failed to tell you that!  (Sorry!)  Peyton really loved the stickers... 

And we have already used the gloves enough that they need to be washed.

And the shoes fit and I love them!

Peyton hasn't completely figured out the spinner toy (I dont know what its called) but he thinks is pretty cool when I do it.

And I haven't tried on the shorts yet but I will. 

 

We're Good

We are fine, everyone we know personally is fine and our things are fine.  Yesterday was a crazy tornado day in OK but, it seems, most Oklahomans heard what was predicted and were as prepared as they could be.  A lot of homes were lost and several lives were lost and I can't read the news without a lump in my throat.  So far today I have only heard of one co-worker who lost everything.  I still haven't heard what category they are calling the tornadoes but there were several and they were big.  Most of the businesses in town sent their employees home which, to my knowledge, has never happened before yesterday.  Around 1:00 news stations began telling people to get prepared for the storms that would arrive around 5.  Between leaving work early to prepare for a tornado and seeing a veteran Oklahoma meteorologist look into the camera and say 'get under ground or get out of the way', well, I will say I was slightly shaken.  In 11 years of tornado seasons, I have never felt that way.  I totally lost track of time after I left work around 2:45 but I had exactly enough time to run home, pack a bag, jump in the car with Brandon, meet his family (who had Peyton) and go to the storm shelter at the mall.  Sometime around 5:20 (I think) a tornado hit Piedmont which is about 15 miles away from where we were.  As it turns out, I believe our house only recieved heavy rain.  If we got hail it didn't damage anything.  So it turns out we could have watched everything from our couch (as long as we were out of traffic- thank goodness we left early!!)  But I'm still glad we were underground in a shelter with 300 other people.  It was cramped, it was hot, it was loud and I knew all of that going in.  But I couldn't NOT go.  And I will say that my first experience in a public shelter wasn't all bad.  A mall food court is a pretty good place to be during a storm as long as it is underground.  My friends who were in other shelters were also cramped, hot & uncomfortable but at least we had chick-fil-a!  The one and only problem with going to a shelter is that you don't know what's coming.  I take a lot of comfort (rationally or otherwise) in knowing where the tornado is and what direction it is moving.  But knowing that an F4 or 5 is 2 blocks away and headed straight for me while I wait in a bathtub ... I didn't think that would give me a lot of comfort.   And as it turns out, listening to people at work who did watch TV were not as comforted as usual because there were so many tornadoes the weathermen could not keep up with updating on where they were.  Moore seems to have been mostly spared as well.  Brandon worried about his restaurant and employees but they were all okay as well.  So today we are thankful that, once again, we were out of harms way & talking about how crazy the tornadoes were last night. 

Maybe I should stick with a weekend update.

Surprise!  It's Friday and I'm going to blog.  Really I'm bored and I'm attempting to steer away from the Weekend Update that this blog has become.  But seriously, we are quite boring/a blur during the week.  Is it the pinacle of boring when I eat the exact. same. thing. for breakfast, lunch & snacks every day?  Or is it working-mom-genius of me to pre-portion and prepare everything I need for lunches for the week?  I'm sticking with the latter.  And don't tell me if you don't agree. 

But its Friday and I'm anxiously anticipating the weekend.  Tonight I hope to sell an antique table that has been squating in my garage for a few months.  Tomorrow the Thunder play (and hopefully will win!) and then, you know, the sky's the limit for Sunday.  Wow I'm optimistic right now. I wonder what snuck into my afternoon coffee.  Or maybe its the sneaky Nutella.  And it IS sneaky.  A month ago I had never tried it and, honestly, thought it looked pretty questionable- chocolate flavored spread that's part of a complete breakfast?  Sounded fishy.  But the Crest Anniversary Sale got me again.  Seriously- its a good thing that's over.  I buy things that I would NEVER otherwise buy because its, like, free.  Anyway... I opened the jar and fell in love.  I LOVE hazelnuts and I LOVE chocolate and the two together... heaven.  So two jars later, I decided I might had better read the label and see what on earth I was eating.  Turns out its nothing good (for me).  Comparing the nutritional labels on a Hershey's chocolate bar (we can talk about how that arrived on my counter later) and a jar of Nutella- same thing!!!!!!!!!!!!  So now I still eat my Nutella but I dip walnuts in only 1 tbsp and its just as wonderful as, say, eating it a spoonful at a time right out of the jar.  And one day not too far from now I will finish my current jar and probably not buy another one.  I wasn't eating 1/2 a Hershey's bar a day before and I really don't need to be doing it now.  (2 tbsp of Nutella is equivalent to 1 Hershey's bar)  Right now I have a swimsuit motivating me (NO ONE wants to see a Nutella butt at White Water or the lake or my backyard) We'll talk again in November.  Oh- and marketing team that places this stuff next to the peanut butter and calls it a hazlenut spread with a hint of cocoa- kudos to you (I bought it) and also shame on you (I ate it). 

Do you ever really hate me for making you read through my random thoughts?  Don't tell me if you do. 

Also- the Hershey's bar wrapper was in my kitchen because sometimes when I'm crabby for no reason at all my husband surprises me by bringing one home from the gas station.  I caught on to his strategy years ago but I didn't tell him.  I just eat it.

A very busy weekend at home

Friday evening we had several people over to watch the Thunder try to make it to Round 3 of the NBA Playoffs.  We had a good time, even though we lost. 

Saturday morning, Peyton noticed a stuffed monkey Kristine had left for him and he HAD to have it!  He said it was a baby Bobo.  So the rest of the weekend Peyton carried around his two 'grown up' Bobo's and the new baby Bobo.  Here they all are watching cartoons.

Then Peyton spent all day Saturday at the zoo with Kristine and Joe.  He had a GREAT time!  Before he left he said he would come home after he had seen all the animals! 

So you may be asking yourself what I could do with 9 hours of ininterrupted time by myself. 

You must not have children.   

I can...

Do the dishes

Finish an illustration

Start a load of laundry

Fold that load of laundry

Clean up a neglected area of yard

Transplant plants into the cleaned up yard

Wash my hair and shave my legs in one shower

Sit on the deck admiring my work while playing Words With Friends

Only one person will appreciate this picture but, trust me, its a vast improvement!

Right, Mom?

It is very hard to see on this picture, but I transplanted a bunch of iris, a rose bush & a hosta.

I also planted clematis & lobelia seeds.

And a lot of other stuff but you'll just have to trust me on this one.

Sunday afternoon Peyton and the Bobo's and I had a picnic before we watched the Thunder finally make it to Round 3!!  Baby Bobo is sitting across from Peyton.



Its The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

I think summer is pretty great, too, but Peyton REALLY loves summer.  Even if he doesn't know it.  He loves to play outside and REALLY REALLY loves the water!  Please pardon my yucky green water.  I filled the pool (and I DID clean it) but I learned that the filter was broken after I was very committed to filling the pool.  For now we will just call it a lagoon.

He loves his 'shooter' from Aunt Joann

And he loves that (until we get the pump fixed) he can stand up in the pool and play on all the 'big' toys.

And this is Peyton's other favorite summer water passtime. 

Those are my peas, broccoli, onions, garlic, shallots & lettuce in case you were wondering. 

But he is watering the hibiscus and clematis that mom planted while she was here.  You don't see it??  ... Me either...  :(

Easter Pictures

I just got these pictures from Peyton's school egg hunt. 

My Glowing Spring Tirade

What is it about a mother's brain that can transform the memory of a chaotic, uncomfortable (even painful) event into a glowing, "I can't wait to do it again" feeling?  Maybe there is a hormone to blame or something comes unplugged during childbirth.  I don't know.  But last night the glow faded and then returned on one of those memories for me.  Brandon's words were the best:  "What would I rather be doing tonight?  Sit through a preschool concert or move a friend into a third story apartment?  Oh wait!  I get to do both!"  Not to worry, though.  The glow will return by the end of this blog post.

Peyton's Spring Program was last night.  This is the night that the kids (or more accurately, the teachers) prepare for all spring.  They practice songs and make paper flowers and everyone is so excited!  Its wonderful.  Ok its actually horrible.  The program starts at 7:00 which is one hour before Peyton's bedtime.  And its on a school day.  Which means no nap.  So the working parents bust their butt to get the family fed, bathed, dressed & on stage with minimal tears.  And you know which ones are working parents- they are the ones half asleep in wrinkled shirts & jeans.  The non 8-5'ers are talking & wearing pressed pastel dresses & shirts.  (more on that below)

But this is really about the kids.  Most of them look like they have been abandoned on stage while their poor teacher loudly whispers two songs with the parent paparazzi eagerly snapping behind her.  There is a lot of nose picking and waving and falling off of chairs.  (not the parents- the parents who aren't taking a gillion pictures are sleeping, talking or playing Angry Birds on their phone).  And then the 'big kids' take the stage and they DO sing - or yell - and there is more nose picking and spinning off of the stage.  And by then the babies are crying and the parents are talking louder and its bordering on chaos.  And then they bring ALL the kids to the stage for the grand finale.  I didn't even try on that one.  Brandon got up and took video of it because my options were to stand on a chair, squeeze between people up front or sit and wait in my seat and watch the video later.  That's actually not so bad.  The kids do well with that part.  And then all hell breaks loose.  The kids are supposed to go sit with their parents for the tear-jerking slide show.  I don't know why.  So think about that.  All of the kids are on the stage.  All of the parents are in a herd about 3 feet in front of them.  And they are supposed to meet up.  It kind of sounds like it would work but it SO doesn't.  At least not in an orderly fashion.  But then we watch the slide show of the kids throughout the year and the kids point out their friends and really, its very nice.  The glow begins to return.  Then there are cookies & lemonade and we go home.  I left with A LOT of pictures!  Here is a sampling: 

Yes, Peyton is the only boy up there. 

There is another boy in his class but he wasn't at the program.

Isn't he just the most adorable little thing up there? 

And now you can go ahead and put a glowing halo around this whole event because its when I get the ME book.  Its a scrapbook made by the teacher (bless her!) and this was the last page of this year's book.  You may have to click on the picture to read the text. 

Yep, I can't wait to do it all again next year!

And in full disclosure: I think I only exaggerated a little bit but I wouldn't have it any other way.  For some irrational reason, I DO want them to have a spring program and I DO want to sit through it, I DO think the director and teachers do the best they can and I really DO appreciate that they have it at a time that I can be there.

A creative weekend

Saturday we loaded up and went to the arts festival.  We try to go every year and this year Peyton was old enough to participate.  Everyone had a great time!

This was a "community art" project where kids tied ribbons to a shell that ended up creating something like a tunnel or a hammock.  Peyton tied his ribbons to the tunnel.

Peyton made a bracelet and strung all of the beads himself.  He also wrote his name himself on a scratchboard and did a rubbings collage.  I don't have pictures of those two, though.

Sunday it was cold and rainy so we played inside.  This was his super tall tower.  He kept building until it was taller than him.

And here he is helping me with the dishes.