We are all OK in OK!

In case you saw the news about the 6 different tornadoes that touched down in Okla yesterday and wondered about us...

we are just fine! No damage to our home either.

I will add that we were given a heads up about the possibility of a tornado outbreak the day before. So we knew it was possible. I made sure we all had shoes on at 4pm. I felt like I was racing against the clock to make dinner and clean up and get the kids to pee one last time before it was our turn to take cover. I knew we still had about 45 min before the tornado would get to us (if it lasted that long). But when that siren went off, we calmly exited the house and promptly shuttled our kids and the three kids next door underground.

We spent a good bit of time yesterday evening in our storm shelter. Sitting. Perspiring. Listening. Waiting.

We have been sent to the shelter before, but never when an actual tornado was heading right for us! In the past it has been because we were experiencing a storm that looked like it could become tornadic at any moment, meaning it was lowering and rotating but still not on the ground.

We sat with a weather radio tuned into our favorite TV station and listened to the meteorologist pinpoint the tornado's location in between the blaring sirens and the national weather service announcements. We, and our neighbors, sat in our shelter and waited as we heard the words that the tornado was headed our way. We got the hail. We got some very strong sweeping wind. Watched a few pieces of debris fly by. Lots of rain. We waited for the "freight train" but it never did come. Thank God!

I saw some storm pictures today taken one block from here. It showed the tornado falling apart, lifting up, and quitting.

Picture from koco.com by yankee214.
Moore , 149th and Western - 19th st Moore, OK, KOCO's u local Photo - u local, Your Oklahoma Photos & Videos


Picture from koco.com by ulocal_mobile.
SW 149th & Western 5/24/2011 - KOCO's u local Photo - u local, Your Oklahoma Photos & Videos

In my opinion, we had plenty of warning and time to prepare for the possibility of a tornado yesterday. Considering the size and strengths of the many tornadoes our state had, it is a miracle more people aren't dead. (Last time I saw, 8 people were confirmed dead.) But these tornadoes destroyed everything in their paths. They were incredibly strong and violent and far-reaching. One tracked on the ground for 70 miles! The number of survivors is truly a testament to our excellent warning systems and meteorologists we have.

What will be hard to see is Joplin, MO when we drive through that area next month.

--Kate

Happy Easter

Since it was raining terribly on Easter I don't have any nice sunny pics of the kids. I did bring my camera to church in hopes of snapping a couple decent ones before mass. This is all I got. Cuties.

--Kate

Hello, is that you 1999?

Ring, ring....It's 1999 and they want their light back!

Last week, we installed our new kitchen light fixture. I thought we could use some modern touches around here! It was definitely a team effort. That thing was heavy.

Old light...

New light...

Quite Pottery Barn-esque.

--Kate

Thomas Underwear May Cause Disrobing

Let me start by saying I am not going to discuss the toddler bed any further today. But I am accepting suggestions for getting him to nap in said bed. Today's strategy is to wear him out this morning.



In the midst of getting the kids ready for school I found a naked Henry running up to me saying "choo choo. Choo choo".

Somehow he managed to unzip and remove his pj sleeper. He was clutching some Thomas the Train underwear and apparently needed to wear them immediately. We aren't even close to potty training. How does he know about underpants?


So I put them on. Never mind he is also wearing a big cloth diaper, too.

But I wonder if I can use Thomas to help me with the bed deal.

And please pardon those awful pictures. I took them with my phone. I have this fancy phone from which I can blog and I need to do that more often! I have vowed to not stress about the quality of my photos for this blog. What is more important is that I post something, even if it is shadowed and grainy and the skin tone color is waaay off and the lighting is horrid. : )

Sent from my iPhone

Do toddler beds really work?

Sooooo. This has already been a tough week in the sentimental-holding-on-to-the-last-baby-stages sense. Henry is just a mere 20months young and he had to make a couple big transitions this week that I normally place on a baby who is closer to two years old. But I had no choice here.

First the highchair broke. It is actually a miracle it withstood three kids and three moves. We even took it camping! But i placed it on the curb yesterday for bulk trash pick up and it was stolen in just a couple of hours. Never even made it to the garbage truck. Which makes me feel better that possibly someone is getting some sort of usage from it. So highchair out. Booster seat in.

Then it was the crib. This one has been looming for several weeks. Even though we have three kids, we have only one "climber"...#3. Nick never tried to climb out of his crib and we never gave Stella the chance. She threw her leg up on the rail but we put an end to that with a new twin bed. Both were in twin beds at 24mo (Stella at 23mo). But here we are with Henry at 20mo able to Houdini himself out of the crib in just seconds. I realize that this behavior is more "normal" and you are saying to me "welcome to my world". But we were caught off guard and without a plan.

Last week I stumbled upon a toddler bed at a consignment sale and bought it in hopes that it would provide a safer sleeping option and buy us some time until we are ready to buy more beds and rearrange furniture. I was thinking $45 = quick fix. I was also exhausted after two weeks or more of nobody sleeping in any bed! See how sleep deprivation can cloud your judgement?

But he hates the bed.
"do you want to sleep in your new bed?"
"no."

So we tried the toddler bed a few times. He fell asleep on the carpet after crying himself to sleep. I even put him in the bed before he woke up to trick him that he slept there (and that his mommy is not a heartless b* who locks her kids in their rooms ignoring their desperate cries and pounds on the door for rescue). No luck.

I gave up. Back to the crib. But now I had to rock him to sleep. And when he woke up in the middle of the night and climbed on the rail I would just sprint across the house to save him from falling. Every night. Every nap.

Yesterday after spending an hour putting him to bed only to nap for 45 min. I took extreme measures. In a huff I disassembled the crib. The crib just can't stay if he is climbing out. Then I reassembled the toddler bed (that shawn just took apart on Sunday). Still he wouldn't even climb up on the little bed. Totally despised it. I am desperate at this point.

Last night in this desperation I moved the little bed between nick and stella's beds in their room. Seemed like a good idea. He loves to mimic them...right?

And you know what...He actually climbed into it! Climbed on his little pillow. Snuggled in quietly between his big bro and sis. Just like the big kids. But when it came to bedtime the big kids were too giddy and my plan was sabotaged. I was overthrown and gave up.

Enter daddy.

I was told that I have been the common denominator in the bedtime defiance. Maybe so. Because Shawn took him and his bed back to his room. Sat next to him. And eventually walked out leaving a snoring baby behind.

Seriously?!

I think it was a fluke. As I know no one who has successfully used a toddler bed.

Stinker!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sent from my iPhone

Spring Break in an RV Part 3

Finally! A night spent in our rented RV. Which, by the way, got many compliments our stay. "Nice rig!" "This is a nice RV." "You got yourselves a nice one there."

Then we'd clarify, that this was our first time out and it was not ours, but a rental.

"Oh I thought you'd gone all in on your first one!"

Roman Nose State Park, OK

The weather had climbed well out of the 20s and into the 70s by our last day. I stepped outside and cooked our breakfast that morning on my Cuisinart Griddler/Panini Press. A fancy-shmancy appliance I got for Christmas. Not a camping item either. It was from my kitchen at home. But that is a camping breakfast! Hot pancakes and even bacon. That's what you smell in a campground in the morning- meat cooking outside. This was pretty special, too, considering we normally have pancakes for dinner. (I can't get up early and cook breakfast before the kids are up. They wake up too darn early and I am always tired.)

They devoured the food. All the food actually. For three days of camping, I packed a cantelope, a watermelon, a box of strawberries and a bunch of bananas. All of it- gone by Thursday morning.

We needed energy for this:

Taking walks.

More hiking trails.

Playing putt-putt.

S's first game of golf.

H's first golf game, too. But he mostly carried a ball around. Until he saw this hole.

Shawn, so serious about a hole with a giant mouse in the middle of it.

Lots of lounging, too.

OH, you have to see this! The kids sat in the bunks and watched the DVD players (that were in the bunks). This worked out great when I was making dinner. They needed the rest by that time of day. I needed them to not fight and be in the way.

H and S were small enough they could sit up in the bed.

And even cuter...this is what they look like from outside the RV.

I forgot to mention, we picked up the RV on a Monday and had to return it by 11am on Thursday. We pulled in around 10:30 or so. Total Chinese firedrill to unpack the thing. Then I followed Shawn over to return it. He said it was 11:06 when he pulled in.

...and THAT is how much we loved the RV trip!

--Kate

Spring Break in an RV Part 2

view from our campsite

So after a terrible night of sleeping- me and 3 kids in a king bed and Shawn on the floor in a sleeping bag (only room left!) and missing out on our first night of camping. We got the propane, checked out of the hotel, and went back to camping! The park attendant had just come by to check on us before we checked out, too. Very nice people. Everyone. Very nice.

We felt like pros pulling into the site this time. Pulled up far enough to reach the water hook up. Only had to level it once. Slides out. Boom. Done. Now back to vacation.

Not wasting any time, we hit a nearby trail.

Our iPhones read NO SERVICE the whole trip, except for the brief lapses when an occasional text message chimed in. Shawn and I were surprised how was nice to be unplugged from the phone. Funny though, I would still pick it up, slide it on, and try to check weather or something. Duh. No service means no service for apps, too.

After hiking, we put H down for a nap inside and we all stayed outside. That's when Shawn broke the strap to the awning, so we all got sunburned. Well just pink. And in his defense, the pins that should have held the awning up weren't working anyway. But he did snap the strap while putting the awning away. Bye bye damage deposit.

We let N ride his bike by.him.self. around the campground. This was HUGE. We're talking, like big boy privileges here. OK, the campground was small. We could see him the whole time. But to him, I bet he felt like he was big stuff.

The fire ban was lifted just days before, so we just had to make smores. So I bought these humungous marshmallows, Campfire Giant Roasters, to be exact. So big that one of them makes a smore that requires a full size chocolate bar! Didn't see that part on the bag. The kids had fun roasting and burning and taking two bites and throwing the rest away. But offering to cook more. Isn't is the cooking that is more fun than the eating, anyway?

Then we stayed out after dark. N and S say they are "like big kids" when they are outside at night. It was awesome to have no schedule. No bedtime. No wake time.

Good night little RV, good night!

Last part tomorrow!

--Kate