Ice, Wind and Snow

Large piles of debris still cover Jonesboro from our ice storm one month ago. Large black trucks have decended upon our city to pickup all of the limbs and trees that people have moved to the curbs and sides of the highways. It was kind of funny to Kevin and I tonight to see those piles covered in snow. Also to note, about a week or so after the ice storm, we had a day of very high winds which brought down many of the broken limbs still hanging from the trees.

This pile of limbs is what sits on the highway as we pull out of our subdivision. We were hopeful it would be removed quickly because it blocks our view of oncoming traffic to get out of the subdivision. But after a week of the big, black trucks being in town - it still sits there.
This is what the streets look like ALL over our city. You don't go a block without seeing limbs or even entire trees cut up and placed beside the road.

This is one big pile that nearly blocks the house of the yard where it sits.

And I know, you've all been dying to know about my poor trees. LOL The weekend after the ice storm, Kevin staked them up and had them nearly perfectly straight. Then the wind came. The tree on the right was nearly all the way back to the ground. The wind almost pulled the stakes completly up. So he drove the stakes back in and got them pulled back up, but not as well. We are going to have to redo the stakes and rope, but every weekend it's cold and rainy here and he hasn't been able to get outside and do anything. Now, the snow is taking its tole. The weight of the snow is really causing them to bend again and we're not sure they can take much more. I would really like to try to save them, but it may be a lost cause. Again, they are already calling for us to have rain all weekend. Part of the problem is also that the ground is so wet, the stakes have nothing to hold onto. So we'll just see what we can do and in the spring we may just be planting new, smaller trees.

Oh - and bring on spring. I'm ready for flip-flops, capris and time outside to play.

Snow

We finally got a little of the white powdery stuff today. It rained a good part of the night, sleeted some here and there and finally switched over the snow around 1 p.m. It snowed pretty heavy at times. This was around 5 p.m. when we were leaving for church.

We are having a mission emphasis weekend at church and tonight we had a Chill Grill. Who knew when they named it that months ago that it would actually snow while some of the men were outside manning the grils. Thankfully we were in the MAC (Ministry Activities Center) and not outside.

We haven't been able to go out and play in it yet. We're hoping it hangs around at least for a little while on the grass tomorrow so the boys can play a little. As far as we know, we still have church and then lunch with one of the missionary couples afterwards.

The roads are covered tonight, but that doesn't mean they'll be slick in the morning, so we'll see. This is out our back door at 11:30 tonight. It has stopped snowing now though. We've gotten about 2".

Oh, and we'll take snow over ice any day!!!!

What goes around comes around...

Remember these? And remember a time when every life decision could be made with a little counting, a few flicks of the paper and a magical answer. Who would you marry, how many kids you would have, what color your house would be. Whatever you wanted to know - it was ready to give you a reliable and trust worthy answer.
Samuel brought this one home from school Thursday. One of the older boys in aftercare made it for him. It's so funny to me because I've been out of elementary school for 20 years (geez, that sounded wrong coming out of my head!), but the same little things carry on. The hand jives that we did, the little songs, the little rhymes, they all continue. Samuel will come home now and then singing a little song that I haven't even thought about in years and I think it's so funny because every generation continues to pass these down to the younger kids.

Here's the funny thing too, I can't remember exactly how this thing works. I know you right numbers on it and count for the number you open, but how do you start? Anyone remember exactly how you get those magical answers?

Marco the Cat

I've been thinking that there is one member of the family I have never really introduced or blogged about. This is Marco, our family pet. He's actually been our baby longer than our boys. We got him in May of 2001 when we bought our house. We actually got him and his sister Molly, but she died about 3 months after we got them. Marco is now nearly 8 years old and is a good cat to the boys. No matter how much Tyler bugs him, he never bites or scratches (de-clawed in the front). But he does spend most of his time driving me crazy. I swear at least once a week he's going to find a new home, but then he curls up in my lap and purrs and I forgive all.

He is kind of a unique cat in fact. He fetches and will go to his room (the laundry room) on command. Sometimes he'll go to the laundry room just when he sees us getting ready to leave because he knows he's going to get put up anyway. And yes, he's 100% an indoor cat. He will occasionally escape out the door, but after a minute or two, he's ready to come back in. I think he knows he's got it pretty good.

Tyler's First Girl Scout Cookies

Tyler has now had one of the greatest joys in life - Girl Scout cookies! He went for the lemon cookie and loved it. I don't think I've ever missed a year buying cookies. I was a Girl Scout for 6 years and sold hundreds of boxes of cookies during my time. I always thought I would grow up to be a troop leader, so far it looks like I may be a cub scout leader instead. :)

Wordless Wednesday

One Tip Wednesday

For months I had the constant struggle of picking up shoes in Samuel's room. We kept them stacked by his bedroom door, but that usually resulted in a big messy pile. I had thought about buying some type of shelving or installing something into his closet, but one day while hanging up clothes, it occured to me that I could hang his shoes as well. Using the loop on the back of his shoes, I slide it over the hooks on the hanger and hang them on the bottom rack of his closet (which we were not using). It keeps the shoes neat and tidy and he can reach them when we need them.

His flip flops will slide right onto the hanger as well.

In addition, I can hang his bicycle helment by the straps from a hanger. Inside are his knee and elbow pads. Again, he can easily get them when needed, but it keeps everything neat and tidy in his closet.

Not Me Monday

I did not at any point last week drive through 3 drive-thrus for lunch to get cookies from one place, a sandwich at one and onion rings at another. That's just crazy!

I did not go to KFC twice last week to get mash potatoes for Tyler because I was too lazy to make them. And my excuse was not that he needed something bland because he was sick. I am totally capable of making mash potatoes and do so all the time.

It wasn't me who did not let Samuel buy shoes that he liked and fit because I didn't think they were cute. Cute shoes are not that important for a 5 year old boy.

I did not talk him into these shoes because I told him they were cool and my real reason was NOT because they are slip on and I won't have to put them on him every morning. I can take 2 minutes to sit down and put his shoes on him.

I did not swear that I would never again go to Chuck E. Cheese on Saturday NO MATER whose birthday party was there. It was not that bad and 300 kids in a space made for 100 didn't make me crazy. It was also not me that snuck out half way through leaving my husband with both boys there so I could run to a photo shoot.

I did not spend all day redecorating two small areas of my kitchen - walking by changing things, moving them, swapping them out, adding, taking away...



I did not let Tyler sleep half the night Saturday night in the pack-n-play in the living room because he fell asleep because I was afraid to wake him up.

It was not me who laughed outloud last night when Samuel was praying and said "And God thank you for the aliens if you made any."

It was not me that ate nearly half of box of Girl Scout cookies last night. Maybe it was Tyler!

One Tip Wednesday

I have been thinking for 2 or 3 weeks about starting some sort of weekly blog about organizing. I have finally decided to do One Tip Wednesday. Each week I will post a tip about how I organize something in my home. If you like, grab the button and use it on your blog with a link back to mine, and tell about how you organize that same area of your home, or something different. Some weeks I may ask for tips on how to organize something I'm working on.


I thought a good place to start would be my pantry. Some of you know I have a love for Tupperware products. I sold Tupperware about 8 years ago, so I have a great supply of storage containers from them. They are my lifesaver when it comes to my pantry and even fridge.
The forth shelf of my pantry is nothing but Tupperware storage. I have all of my staples like sugar, flour, corn meal, brown sugar, tea bags, oatmeal, brown rice, white rice, barley and cereal in the containers. These make it easy for me to access them and scoop or pour out what I need while keeping them air tight.

This is just a shot of the back of that same shelf so you can see how many I have on that one shelf.

On a lower shelf, I have containers with snack items like Cheerio's, party mix and Cheese-It's so they are easy access for Samuel and we can eat directly out of the boxes and then easily put them away. While I no longer sell Tupperware, I do still have a source for ordering it through my old director in Little Rock. Let me know if you ever need/want anything.

While my pantry looks pretty full, it's usually very easy to find easily find anything and saves me lots of time in the kitchen.

Welcome Baby Aiden!

We are so happy for our friends Chris and Meghan who gave birth to their first son, Aiden Paul, on Monday night, Feb. 16 at 11:49 p.m. He weighed 9 lbs. 15 oz. and is 22" long. We can't wait to meet him in person - which we haven't been able to do because Tyler's had a fever since Monday night. I'm sure he'll be fast friends with our boys!

Valentines Night - Charity Ball

Valentine's Night, Kevin and I attended Charity Ball hosted by Junior Auxillary of Jonesboro. It is the largest of the balls held during ball season. While I go to basically every ball held each year, this is the only one that Kevin and I attend together. It was nice to have it on Valentine's this year and we had a good time visiting with friends.


While we attended the ball, Samuel had a date of his own. Our good friend Chris was the babysitter for the night. He voluntered to also watch Lily, a little girl from church. She is 3 1/2 and they had a great time together. They played his DS, played in his room and watched Wall-E togther while eating popcorn. She asked to come back to his house the next day at church, but we thought they needed to take things a little slower. :) If I had known it was a date, I would have dressed him in something nicer than PJ's that matched his little brother.

Valentines Party

Samuel celebrated Valentine's Day on Friday with his friends at Ridgefield. As with any school party, they were hyper, given lots of candy, cookies and other sugar and then sent home. LOL Samuel said the party wasn't long enough and was tiny, tiny. He thinks school parties should be like birthday parties with bouncers and last all afternoon. He is still enjoying his bag of treats from the party.

Showing how good they can be.

And how they really are. LOL

The boys. Luckily Samuel and Hadden go on Tues/Thurs and EJ and Tennison go on Mon/Wed/Fri or Mrs. Mary might have a handful. :)

Not Me Monday

I have been reading the best blog the last couple weeks. The writer is creative, funny and a photographer, all of my favorite qualities. Each Monday, her blog sponsors a post titled - Not Me Monday. I thought I would give it a try this week.

I did not let Samuel buy a DS game with his Valentine's money from Grandma after telling him he could not buy a DS game because I really wanted the game too, not me!

And I was not secretly a little happy when he got his DS taken away until Wednesday because he misbehaved at church last night because that means I can play the DS the next few days, that would be wrong.

I did not eat nearly all of my dessert at Charity Ball Saturday night and then nearly half of Kevin's chocolate cake too, he must have eaten more than he thought.

And speaking of chocolate, I was not having a chocolate fit one night last week when I made a chocolate cake with chocolate chips and chocolate icing, not sure what happened there.

I was not 15 minutes late yesterday for Sunday School where I teach 1 and 2 year olds. I mean, actually I was only 5 minutes late from the time the class was suppose to actually start. And the reason we were late was not because I was fighting with my 5-year-old about what he was wearing. And it was not me that yelled, "Get over it, you're wearing it! Get it in the car!" It was also not me that got tickled when he later in the day said "See how not whinny I am now that I don't have that shirt on."

And I did not buy a deep fryer on Friday just because we were having friends over for dinner that night and I wanted to fry fish and hushpuppies. I mean, I really needed one anyway! And this one can be used to boil, steam, fry, and more.

And I did not get a little disappointed when I realized that we couldn't go to Chick-fil-A Saturday night for their special Valentine's Day dinner because we would be at Charity Ball. That would be silly and I am not that addicted to Chick-fil-A, not me!

It was not me that had her nails done on Thursday afternoon only to take all the polish off on Saturday and redo it myself because I didn't like it.

Valentines

These are the Valentines we made for Samuel's class at school and a few of his church friends. For a while, we've been collecting broken crayons in a box to melt and remake into another shape. So with Valentines approaching, I thought this would be a great time to do it. I found the heart shaped tray at Target in the $1 spot - what could be better!We took the paper off all the crayons and put them into a ziplock bag to break them up into little pieces. Filled up the tray and put them in the microwave.We melted them on 1/2 power for about 6-8 minutes, stopping every couple minutes to check them. When they were pretty much melted, we let them sit until they began to firm up and then put them into the fridge until hard. Popped them out of the mold and here's what we got.Here's a tip though, you really do have to stop every couple minutes or the mold gets too hot. We had one on the second go around that burned through the bottom.  Also, I don't think you could use the mold more than 2 or 3 times for this. I threw it away when we were finished. But if you can get them for $1, it's worth it. 

Here's the finished Valentine. I used one of the crayons to write "Valentine, You Melt My Heart!" on the top. The bags are candy or jewelry bags and I used left over scrapbook paper folded like a bag of candy, just stapled on the top. On the back we wrote who it was to and From: Samuel. I think they're really cute and  Samuel had fun making them and seeing how each one turned out different. Oh - and really cheap!

Ten Things Tuesday

1. Antibiotics. I'm so glad to be feeling better and that they work quickly.

2. Electricity. Some of our friends are still without power 2 weeks after the ice storm. I'm thankful we have been able to get back to normal. Kevin also got power back at work yesterday.

3. Warmer Temps. It's been so nice the last 2 or 3 days. Plus, it's been raining exactly like it did 2 weeks ago, what a difference the higher temps make!

4. My e-mail is fixed! After 2 weeks I can again receive e-mail. It was a simple fix, but between the ice storm, no power and then strep, it was not high on my list. I'm just glad it was a simple fix!

5. Soup. I ate a lot of it last week!

6. Monday Bible Study. I'm really enjoying our study on Esther. Plus, it's with a great group of girls whom I enjoy seeing each week. Even though the people in the restaurants stare when we all come in together with all those kids! LOL

7. My garage. After getting the car loaded and the boys in the car in the pouring rain, I looked out this morning and was so glad I could do that in the protection of the garage.

8. Our home refinance is finished! While it wasn't hard by any means, it was time consuming and a little stressful until it all got done. I'm thankful we were able to do what we did and what it will mean for us in the future.

9. And I have to mention our friends, The Joneses, who let us stay with them for 2 nights while we were without power. AND that they got their power back on so quickly so that we could stay with them.

10. Healthy children. Not only have they so far not come down with my strep, but they are just healthy little boys. I've been reminded today that not all parents are that lucky. Health is fleeting and we should be thankful each day when our children drive us crazy that they are at least healthy enough to do so.

What is Normal?

Over the last 2 weeks, I have decided there is not a "Normal." During the ice storm I kept saying "I just want to get back to normal." And I came dangerously close. The laundry was all done and folded (not yet put away) and I figured I was only 1 day away from having the house all clean and all in order. All day Wednesday I had a sore throat, nothing terrible, just there. By bedtime as I folded the laundry, I wasn't feeling great, but figured a good night sleep would help. The next morning as soon as I woke up, I knew it was more than a sore throat. I dropped the boys off at their schools and headed straight to the Dr where I sat for 2 hours to tell him that I had strep throat. A culture prooved me right and I headed home to spend the day in bed. I haven't had strep since I was a junior in high school, 15 years ago! But I remembered exactly what it felt like!

Late that afternoon I had to peel myself out of the bed to meet Kevin at the bank. After nearly a month of working to refinance our house, we had our closing which is something you never want to reschedule. And I was so looking forward to getting it over with! We are dropping 7 1/2 years off our house payment by going to a 15 year AND lowering our payment slightly each month. Win-Win! So the next 2 days I spent in bed, which would seem like a luxury for a mom, but the fever and terribly sore throat made it not so appealing. Today I feel much better and am once again thinking - maybe we can get back to "normal" this week. But I think what is "normal" in our life is the chaos of everyday, never knowing what is going to happen. But maybe it's more fun that way. Well, fun may be too strong a word - let's go with interesting!

Ice Storm - Part 2

Here is the rest of our ice storm story. Before we left on Wednesday, we packed up as much frozen and cold food from the fridge as we could fit and took it with us to try to salvage it. Some we actually ate and some traveled with us for 3 days.
On Thursday morning, we started calling the house at 8:30 and about every hour after that. Around Noon, Kevin called and the machine picked up. I called a neighbor and she said it had been back up about 30 minutes. So we ate lunch and began packing up. At 3, with the car loaded, including the boys, Kevin called just to make sure it was still on - and it wasn't!!! It had gone back off, but we figured it was just to bring others in our area back on line and decided to come back anyway. When we got back, it was still off and we sat in the dark house, getting colder by the minute, waiting on our friends to get back from Little Rock. They did have power so we went to spend the night at their house.

Around 7, I called the house and the power was back on, but we went ahead and ran to pickup some dinner. On our way there, everything that had been off earlier was back on, street lights, stores, etc. We drove through Burger King and as we came back through, everything was off again - so I called the house and sure enough, no power. We were scared her power was off too, but it was still on. I called the house again around 10:30 and still no machine. Friday morning we began calling the house again. Early in the afternoon I ran to the house to check on things and called the power company just to make sure they knew our subdivsion was out although the highway had power (our power is underground). They assured me they did but filed another work order. Late in the afternoon I discovered that the front of our subdivision had power, just not our street. So I called again and assured the lady that our power was underground and connected with the front street. And 1 1/2 later, our power was on. But rather than risk coming home and losing it again, we stayed one more night at their house.

The following morning, I came home and cleaned our fridge from top to bottom, throwing out everything that had gone bad, which as you can see was basically everything in the freezer and all perishables from the fridge. I figured at least our fridge got a really good cleaning!

Later in the afternoon, we took a look at our trees to see if they could be saved. We staked them up and we think they may make it.

As you can see, they are still really leaning, but part of that is that we need some stronger rope. We're going to get them tied up a bit better this weekend, but at least they are upright.

We are very lucky. That was the only damage we had, but we have trees only along our back property line. Some in our neighborhood had large limbs on their roof and lost entire trees. This is the pile of limbs from our neighbor across the street.

Piles like this are all across Jonesboro. I was kind of amazed as I drove through town today and the piles of limbs that people have stacked along the road. I told Kevin, we should collect all the limbs from our neighborhood and have one big bonfire. Not sure what the fire dept. would say about that. As of Monday night, many in our city are still without power, including one friend who would love to get her power back! Kevin is also still without power at work. They installed generators so they could have lights and computers, but do not have heat. He luckily works beside the server room which is its own heat source, so he's not too bad off. He is actually working in the server room so that another employee can have his desk. They have heard they may get power on Friday, but that is left to be seen. The city where he works lost the main transmission lines coming into their city and are having to rebuild those lines. This has been an experience for us unlike any other and one I hope to never repeat. But living in Arkansas, it's like Kevin says, it's not a matter of if, it's just when.