Rainy Day Became...

rained out ballgames.

Which became yummy, warm, home-cooked supper.

Which became relaxing dusk time on back porch.

Which became early kids' bedtimes (super-early for boys!)

Which became DVR'ed Earl, Grey's, Lost.

Which became a 2nd-day-in-a-row blog entry.

And all in 48 words.

Technology & Tornadoes

Yeah, it's awesome we have the ability to see this amazing event occur live. And it's cool to have the ability to edit and post online for the world within a couple of hours of its occurence.

But the coolest thing?

Psalm 135:
6 The Lord does whatever pleases him
throughout all heaven and earth,
and on the seas and in their depths.
7 He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain
and releases the wind from his storehouses.
(NLT)

Cataloging Current Chaos & Contemplations

Alphabetically.

Alabama lawmakers. Ugh. I can think of another "C" word (notice the alliteration of the title?) that could describe a bunch of them. It's definition is "not straight; bent."

Ball season. It is SO upon us. Thank you, God for sending the much-needed rain that has allowed us a slower start than originally scheduled. We'll be ready for a full line-up soon but right now, having each of the 4 kids practicing only once a week instead of twice, has been really nice! Stay tuned for what I hope will be really great ball videos and pictures.

Birthday parties. If I had more time and money I could probably come up with a few incredibly cool ideas but with a tight budget and even tighter calendar, the planning required for the March 27, May 7, May 29, and June 22 events is a little cheated sometimes. Captain's 1st bday party was with very little fanfare, poor fella. I think the other 4 might get mutually themed events...all motivated by a certain mouse we'll be visiting in February 2009. We are now in countdown mode so I think the kids would enjoy some Diz-themed celebrations. But not just a Princess or Mickey thing! No, I'm thinking something specifically related to our favorite things on our previous DW trip. Hmmm...

Blogs. Adding lots to my reader lately. Watch the sidebar because most will probably make it there in the near future.

Houses. I have a folder of online bookmarks for 12 houses. These are the ones we are interested in seriously considering once ours sells. Unfortunately, one of these 12 became a "pending" status this week. I guess that's OK, though because it's a different one that actually has my heart-rate speeding a little when I think about it.

Kids. Mine are awesome and amazing. Sometimes, in between the rebellion and disobedience, the fussing and fighting, the name-calling and hitting, my kids will laugh and play with each other and obey simple commands. Sometimes they will do what they need to do without being told. Sometimes they are fall-out-of-my-chair funny! Sometimes I look at them when they don't know it, and I just stare and smile because I can't believe how gorgeous and wonderful they are.

Living with parents. It's still good but it's still not home.

"Preparing For Adolescence." - This is a class I am teaching to 6th grade girls at the church. It's one of those classes where parents have to sign a permission slip. It's one of those classes where I had to meet with parents before we started. It's one of those classes where students are allowed to write anonymous questions and put them in a box. Yeah.

Reality TV - We're too interested in too many of these silly shows. But they are SO much fun. Project Runway was great and I will miss watching it. The Biggest Loser is new to our schedule this year and was only added because of Bama's Roger Shultz. We are now REALLY loving it and hope Rog goes all the way! It makes me want to exercise, which is a good thing but I often find myself eating uce cream while I watch it! Survivor is still an old standby. We haven't let the kids watch it this year, though. I don't have a favorite yet. American Idol is great, of course. I had high hopes for David Arculetta (sp?) but tonight's bombing worries me. Jason Castro is gorgeous. I don't mean that in a lustful way but in a way that means I truly think he's beautiful. I like looking at him like I like looking at sunsets. The Apprentice is another new one we added to our viewing list. It almost didn't make it because we were unsure we'd like it but it's been very enjoyable. I don't know if we'll watch it when the Celebrity season is over. I don't know if we'd enjoy watching regular people. (as an aside - is anyone watching Breaking Bad?? It's not a reality show but... anyone see it? It's horribly, and I mean HORRIBLY as in a bad-way, fascinating.)

Ron Paul. I am sad he won't be our Prez and will miss his campaign (this girl ROCKS!!!).

Teething. 12 teeth in Captain's little mouth now. T W E L V E ! He's not even 13 months old (will be on the 13th, though! YIKES!) These four molars have been tough but we're nearing the end. Two nights ago was restless. Last night was better but not perfectly sound. Tonight is lots of drool but a happy mood.

TGM - As mentioned in the Birthday Parties entry, we're in the early but serious stages of officially planning our next Family Disney World vacation (with Henry's family.) Even though I stuck my nose in the accomodations-planning portion for a short period of time, I have since given all authority of that responsibility to Pa Trippe. I know he will do a fantastic job in that department and I'd much rather focus on the itinerary portion of the trip. Too soon? NO WAY! Farnsworth and I do a bang-up job of this and with the wisdom of Tour Guide Mike, we are certainly expecting another smooth, relaxed, fully-packed, but well-rested vacation.

Tornatows

If you Google "tornatow", my blog is the first English-speaking one to come up! I actually get a bunch of hits from this. What a stat!

I talked to a friend from P'ville today that was witness to the twister that hit there a couple of weeks ago. She explained, in response to my question, that they do INDEED sound like trains. I asked if it sounded like, the "woo woo" of a train whistle or if it was a "chugga chugga" sound. I wasn't being smart alecky but wanted to know what sound meant "Run for cover!"

Her description said that it was like the low "whoooo whoooo" of a train bearing down on you. Gave me the willies. Please, Lord, I don't need to hear it in person.

Hope Monday doesn't bring us any reason to write more about tornatows.

Let It Sn....Nah...Too Easy

I wonder how many Alabama blogs have titled their entries from that famous song over these past few days?

Y'all know it's cold outside when it snows, right? That's why Ray is the only one in these pictures. P-Paw and Ray were the only two willing to brave the wintry elements for the Kodak cause. Indie and He-Man stepped outside for a little bit but they were much like their Mommy in realizing that snow is much more enjoyable from a window inside the house.

Poor Rocky has had a zany "sleep virus" accompanied by some fever and nausea, and it kept him from going out at all. Of course, I wasn't going to take Captain out in it (sorry if that makes me a 'bad' Momma) so these pictures show a very determined and happy little girl who knows the real meaning of making the most of a rare opportunity!

A snowman and snow angel were absolutely mandatory to Ray and I thank her for her dilligence! And a tip of the hat to P-Paw for helping her out when everybody else was being a whimp to the cold!

It's Snowing

Hopefully it will be a Kodak moment before the end of the day.

What Is That Noise?

Thunder? RAIN!?

Praise the LORD!

Now I'm ready to sleep. Love it!

Long-Sleeves & Leaves

All of the big kids were dressed and ready for the day when I stumbled quietly out of my parents' guest room this morning. They were all smiling and telling me it was cold outside! They each had on long pants and long-sleeved shirts. He-Man was the most excited and said, "When can we go jump in the leaves at Uma's house?"

Ahhh! THIS is the kind of temp that would make a weather-bottler a millionaire!

*****

The girls had a slow school morning and had to skip the treat of outdoor-playground-day at (gasp) Mickey-D's. I hated they had to be cooped up in the house but also glad that my Mom was home so that I could use this as a learning experience. It's only day 29 of school and they're already trying to get behind in their work. Grr.

The boys really enjoyed playing outside at McD's and I enjoyed chatting with some ladies I knew. We didn't stay long but enjoyed every second of fresh air!

On our way back to the van, I got a call on my cell from Indie. She cracked me up.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Mom..."

I laughed. Was she buttering me up?

"Can we have a Capri Sun?'

Bless her heart...

After lunch, I took the boys to the for-sale house. We needed to do our fairly-frequent gerbil check (yes, we still have Junie. She's pushing 5 years old!) and I wanted to just see that everything was OK for Sunday's Open House. I didn't allow the boys inside at all so they played on the trampoline with the teaching money they found in a drawer. Play money and breezy days can make for a long clean-up time.

I took Captain out to the baby swing for a little while, too. He thought it was fun but nearly toppled out because of his desperate need to see what his big brothers were doing at all times. He enjoyed the motion but would not be content to face away from the trampoline.

After leaving the FS house, and while the two youngest were sleeping in their carseats, Rocky and I enjoyed driving through a new neighborhood on the outskirts of Butterville. It was one of the neatest neighborhoods I have ever seen...but I was kinda nauseated at it, too. The prices are obscene and I just felt like there was a lot of snobbiness. Of course, it could be some jealousy causing me to feel that way but I think most of my readers would agree that it is a little excessive. Ultra-neato but gagging at the same time.

*****

Captain has 4 teeth now. Teething is no fun.

*****

My brain is tired and mushy. I don't feel like proofing this post. Y'all just have to deal. Sorry.

Dinner At Home??

That's right! We had dinner...together as a family...at home...and it was COOKED HERE! OH....AND we ate it at the dinner table! What a concept!

It felt so good! We did some fun summer activity thingies early today and then we CAME HOME! I wonder if Captain was confused about why we didn't head to the ballfields. He's spent more evenings of his life AT the ballfield than he's spent at home! I believe that is probably a true statement and not an exaggeration considering that his birth occurred right at the very start of ball season and once practices got into full swing, we spent 5 out of 7 nights at a practice or a game. And this year, we didn't have the blessings of past years by having an occasional rain-out. Nope, every week was filled with softball and tee-ball. And the two nights we were NOT at the field, we were at church. So it honestly is a nice change of pace to be at home.

The dark part surrounded by the silver lining is that Indie's team did NOT win the District tourney. We were very disappointed by this fact but knew that it would be OK. Indie did a bang-up job playing ball this year and will be a great player again next year when she moves up to the "big girl" league.

I will soon have a ball-season montage posted here but it's not ready yet. Stay tuned :)

Let's see if I can bring y'all up to date on what's been going on. Captain is rolling and pushing himself off of every blanket we set him on. Today we experimented with sitting him up and letting go and he actually DID sit for a couple of seconds before leaning over. It was so cute! His head is still super-bald but has a light fuzz on it so he's trying to grow some hair.

He-Man is cracking us up with his grown-up antics. For example, last night he told everyone, "Let's GO people!" And he amazed us when he brought us some flash cards of "sight words." I bought these cards at the same time we bought the state cards but they never really kept his attention so I put them up. Yesterday he found them and would you believe he knew 3/4 of the words??! I KNEW he was getting close to reading but my goodness!! He's such a smartie! :)

Rocky turned 7 last week. I know, I know! I'm a TERRIBLE Mom! I didn't post a big sweet post to him to honor the special day. Agh. Poor guy has been getting the short end of the stick for the last couple of years when it comes to his birthday. It has landed during All-Stars two years in a row! We did have a teeny little party for him with a couple of friends and family so that was nice and he got a chance to spend the night with Leland and Feff and go to the Water Park. (THANKS UMA & ARTHUR!)

And speaking of that trip to Uma's house, let me tell you about this new addiction the kids have. WEBKINZ! It is truly an obsession and Leland & Feff gave one to Rocky for his birthday. Now all the kids want to do is play with each other ONLINE with this silly game. It's marketing GENIUS! Why didn't I think of it??

OK - I have to stop posting now cuz Henry is ready to watch the season finale of Scrubs online. We totally missed it (AND the season finale of Prison Break!) because of this silly ball stuff. I don't really like watching stuff online but I've been telling him we could so....

Y'all don't forget to pray for rain!

Not The Most Current But..

 
Still a cute picture I thought you'd like to see!

I have FINALLY uploaded and ordered prints of the digital pictures on our camera. It was nearly 300 pictures! Way overdue. I had to get it done because my memory card was full and I can't let many more days pass before I take pictures!

It's sad that during all of yesterday's uploading and now today's blogging, everything is hunky dorry here but on TV I see reminder after reminder of how VERY fortunate we are that yesterday's terrible weather barely even touched us. It's so weird watching the big CNN, Fox, and other national/international broadcasts of Enterprise, AL. So sad. We really need to pray for them.

Draft In Waiting

I am nearly finished with another blog-segment of my trip post but this doofy blogger won't let me upload pictures. Since that is important to the story-telling, I will keep it in draft until this thing decides to be nice to me.

While I'm writing, let me just say that I love December weather in the 70s!

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Do y'all know that children's song? It's so true...our eyes have to be protected because what they see gets into the heart.

Sometimes that's good, though. I think eyes give the heart reality. This is good when what the eyes see are factual. Not so good when the eyes see something protrayed as fact yet is wrong. Boy, I could totally go on many tangents with this thought but I won't. My point of all of this is that the reality of the terrible tsunami tragedy was only words until tonight. I saw a terribly graphic and horrible photograph of the carnage. The body count was unbelievable and grotesque. I won't link it here. Too disturbing. I wish I had not seen it. But on the other hand, the reality is in my heart now. I feel more pain for the people who were affected. Absolutely unreal. And as the person questioned who posted the picture I saw ... Why has God shown such mercy to me? Why has our family escaped such tragedy thus far. There is certainly not anything I have done to keep danger away.... In fact, as a sinner, I deserve death. That's mercy. That's what Christ is. He bore the death I deserve and redeemed me. Amazing.

Update from Ray

The weather got worese in the night. There was a Tornatow warning but my brother and sister did not know a thing about this and just kept on sleeping. In the morning the power went out and all we got to do was play games and color. At 5:00 the power came back on and we were going to spend the night with my grandparents but the power came back on and my mom dad and brother was at home and the kids spent the night with my grandparents just for fun. My other grandparentshad to bring there dog over to our house. It still was very busy!!!

Hallelujah!

We are so very grateful! Thank you God that Ivan wasn't as terrible to us as was predicted. We were without power for only about 9 hours. Our cable TV/phone/internet was off for longer than that. In fact, it only came back very recently.

The popcorn tree in the backyard is missing a couple of limbs now and there is a ton of debris everywhere. The sounds of chainsaws can be heard in the neighborhood. Almost everyone with a Bradford pear tree is doing clean-up of massive limbs or entire trees. They did not withstand this storm well at all.

Things we did while there was no power:
played dominos
played "Trouble"
colored with Color Wonder paper and markers
watched the little bit of weather and news we could pick up on a battery-operated 5 inch b/w
cleaned out too-small clothes from boys' room
straightened kitchen a little bit
ate trail mix
re-heated cold spaghetti on gas stovetop & ate it :)

David REALLY wants me to play Trouble again so I can't concentrate to write much more. Maybe I'll get Shayne to write more later. Off to play...

It is absolutely amazing what has happened to the roadways at the beach because of Ivan. 

Even if our condo is still standing (which we're not sure of right now -- not really OUR condo, just the condo we rent every once in a while), it looks like it's going to be impossible to vacation along our favorite beaches any time soon. 

Kinda doubt we're going to the beach Thursday. 

I decided to let Ray write today's entry :) ********Today was a very busy day. We had to go buy lots of things just incase the power goes out and we have nothing to do. Tomorrow and Friday we have no school. It is very windy and it is rianing a lot! We are talking about Ivan at school and at home. The traffic is VERY bad and we can not even get to school. We have been ready for trees everywhere and power out. I have been checking the wheather channel to see where Ivan is and how fast he is. I am getting one last time to get on the computer cause we will not be able to get on it.(the power) We do not know if we are able to go to the beach next Thursday. We hope that we stay safe. We have lots of trees around our house but none of them has fallen on us before. Our dog Lucy gets very scared sometimes. I was scared at first because I thought it would pick up our house like a tornado but when my Mom said that it's just a lot of wind and rain I wasn't scared that much. God is going to take care of everybody. 

I guess the rain will start tonight. Wind will probably start tonight, too. We could be in for a pretty rough ride. I hope the worst part is during daylight hours. How scary it will be if we have to hunker down at night....They're saying this bad boy is probably going to make landfall as a category 4. Whew. Praise God that He is in control of this. I trust Him. 

You know I don't like to share with strangers exactly where I live because of the 'creep-factor' but I will divulge that I live somewhere in this "cone" (as our weatherman calls it).