Monster. It's What's for Dinner

Sophia's story she "read" to Matt Matt today.

"Once upon a time Kristin and her friend Sophia went to look for a monster. One came CRASH through the gate. Then one was in the closet. But they were not scared. Then they caught the monsters and cut off their heads, and their arms and their legs. And mommy cooked it for dinner. And Daddy ate it too. And MattMatt and Kristen and Sophia. "

Eeew.

The Big Storm

All day they had been predicting tornadoes. With no basement and pictures of Joplin all over the news, tornadoes were on my mind.
So around 8:00 when the trees and every animal went still and the sky turned yellow-green I started upstairs to wake the kids up. Matthew was out for the evening, so I felt I had to be really calm and give myself lots of time to get all three kids corralled. Grabbed some books, blankets, and the couch cushions and threw them in the bathroom. The kids were asleep and limp in my arms as I carried them downstairs. X was asleep and I parked him in his carseat.
Finally the four of us were huddled together in the 4ft by 4ft bathroom downstairs (that includes space for a toilet and sink!). The golfball sized hail started to hit the windows and I could hear the wind. I had turned the news on loud, so I could hear it in the bathroom.
The kids after realizing the couldn't lay down in the tiny room started getting crabby. I wisked out the the flashlight and the books. Matthew was so excited to be able to hold the flashlight that he just grinned and crowed with delight. I wedged the cushions over our heads to make a "tent" and I whispered to Sophia about our new secret clubhouse. Matthew was still thrilled to be holding the flashlight.
The newsman said that a tornado was at Love Field, a few miles away. Wait. He recanted. A spotter at Love Field saw a tornado. At the edge of Irving. Then, they looked the radar I guess because he said 'We have an area of rotation crossing Loop 12.' That's 1/4 mile away from us and we are about 3/4 mile from the edge of Irving.
The hail had stopped and I was so scared that I would hear the wind roar at any second. I asked Sophia to pray the Guardian Angel prayer with me. She did. Matthew was still excitedly flashing the light around our tent. Then the power went out. Then it was really quiet.
I felt like I was seeing my kids sweet faces for the first time. They were both so not scared, so trusting that we were just having a great time being cozy on the bathroom floor.
I knew I needed to trust God. Just as my kids were trusting me at that moment.
I asked Sophia to sing one of her songs from school. Her little voice started to treble... "Jesus we adore thee, we lay our lives before thee..."
Isn't it amazing how we are given exactly what we need in those scary moments.

---

The weather passed and we sustained hail damage on both the van and the car. Our neighbor's rear car window was broken. We found out later that a policeman was struck by lightning about 1/4 mile away (he's okay). There was rotation that never dropped.
I can't wait to move back to the midwest and have a basement.

The Great Escape

Until now, we have been very lucky. Sophia never climbed out of her crib. Matthew Jr. never showed interest in climbing out either. Until now.

Encouraged by his sister, it's a challenge they have taken on together... to bust Matt-Matt out from behind his bars.

One night we heard a suspicious amount of noise coming from their bedroom. Beyond the usual singing and bedtime chatting about sandwiches, school, and bugs (or whatever else tiptoes across a child's mind before they go to sleep). I peeked around the corner to see Sophia stacking a laundry basket and diaper box in front of the crib and Matthew working to arrange books inside the crib (that Sophia had no doubt passed to him). "Now you step there, Matt-Matt," Sophia was saying.

It's almost a shame to put an end to such a wonderful display of sibling teamwork. But, it had to be done.

A few mornings later around 6:30a.m. we heard a thud and cry from the kids' room. By the time we managed to get to the room Matthew was fully recovered and all smiles about being out of his crib. And in his bed was the telltale stack of books.

'sigh'

So in a few weeks we will be introducing Matthew to a real bed (if that's what you want to call a mattress on the floor). I'm sure this is only the beginning of the shenanigans. Let the games begin.

The Beetle Resurrection

I think I need to get back into writing about the funnies that go on around here. That way, I can look back at them when I'm having a hard time keeping my sense of humor as my grown-up world crumbles to pieces.

This one is in honor of Easter. Most of you few readers I have probably already shared this with... but just in case...

This was the first year Sophia seemed to really understand that Easter was about Christ's death and resurrection. They talked about it at school and she really liked sharing her knowledge at home too.

We were working outside and I dumped an old pot of dirt into the kids' dirt pile in the corner of the yard. In it there was a dead beetle, which Sophia immediately noticed with a girly, "EEEeew." She ran away to play somewhere else for a bit, then returned to her dirt pile.

She took a look, gasped and then ran over to me shouting "Momma! Momma! He ROSE!" Apparently, our beetle friend was not quite dead and was wiggling his legs.