Thursday

Well, this is what happened "in our neck of the woods", as Al Roker would put it on the Today Show.


This photo was sent to me by a friend and was taken about 5 miles from our house.

This one was taken on our street from someone's front porch.


Stephen was home with Bryson and watched it go over our house. I knew the weather was supposed to be bad that day but didn't know how bad it was at the time because I was across town. The sirens started going off and I called Stephen to see where the tornado was and he told me it had just touched down and was headed towards our house. He looked out and saw it in the sky. They were taking cover. He said it pretty much freaked him out. We didn't have any damage at our house but there was some damage downtown. It was only ranked an F2, which is considered small. It just hopped and skipped across town and was gone in no time. We did see a car this afternoon on the way to a birthday party that was crushed from a falling tree but didn't see anything else. I guess it has all been cleaned up already. No deaths were reported, just minor injuries. After being here through some rough tornadoes we realize how it could have turned out really bad.

Sara

After the Snow

So what do you do a week after a big snow in the south?

Go for a bike ride!


And put someone to sleep :)

This is what we did Friday afternoon after Stephen got home from work. Before dinner and grocery shopping, that is. It was really nice that afternoon. It was so nice, we didn't even have to wear our jackets! But when we went for our bike ride, the sun was almost setting. It didn't feel very cold until I got far enough away from the house to not be able to get my gloves. I should have grabbed them and I probably could have used a toboggan, too!


You know what they say in the south....if you don't like the weather, stick around a few days and it will change.

Sara

Cow Tipping

Bryson and I went and got our hair cut yesterday before lunch. When we left, I told him we needed to run by the grocery store to pick up a few things for lunch. It was time for the BIG grocery shopping but I didn't have my list made out yet and the plan was for all 3 of us to go that evening. So we went to Publix on the way home. Bryson promised he would be good if I let him walk instead of riding in the cart. Since I was only getting a few things I thought that would be good practice for him. He likes running away from me. I picked up my items then remembered one more thing to get. It was on the bottom shelf so I squatted down to reach it. Bryson put his hand on my right shoulder as I was squatted down, and gave me a good push.

Yes....I was cow tipped by my two year old.

Less Words Wednesday

I changed my title a little bit for today because I have to explain the pictures I am sharing with you. Some of you have already seen this on Facebook, so sorry to bore you.

When it snowed last week I thought I should go out and take pictures of the boys in the snow. You never know....they may be married with their own kids the next time we get a blizzard like that again! :) I thought since I am always the one taking the pictures and I am never in any, I would take one of myself with Brayden.


Little did I know that he was armed with a snowball and just as I snapped the photo he shoved it in my mouth.

Sixth grade humor. Got love it.

Blaine and his snowman. Look closely. In front of his right knee. Do you see it? Some of you would call it a snowball, but I guess it falls into the category of "is your cup half full or half empty?" It IS a snowman.

Bryson in his redneck snowsuit.


I hope you enjoyed your snow!

Sara

It Ain't Food Network, But They Eat It...Tuesday!

Okay, so maybe it is! Stephen found a recipe on Food Network over the weekend and decided that he was cooking dinner last night. When he told me what it was, I had a hard time not gagging in front of him. He was reading out the list of ingredients to me and when I heard ground turkey, to be honest with you, I stopped listening. I don't have a problem trying something new (with a small list of things that I will never put in my mouth) but I had tried making a recipe probably ten years ago with ground turkey and none of us could eat it. I even mixed it half and half with ground beef and it was still nasty. So when Stephen told me he was going to make this I tried very hard to tell him he wouldn't like it, I wouldn't like it, and the kids sure weren't going to eat it.

I went to get the big boys from Blaine's practice and gave them the speech on the way home.

"If you don't like it, it's okay to say so, but don't be rude and tell Stephen he should never cook again." And so on.

We get home and the boys were looking scared. I think I was, too! He sat it all in front of us and the boys were starving so of course, they dug in. They loved it!

Stephen looks at me and says, "You told them to tell me they liked it, didn't you?"

I explained not exactly, but I had told them not to be rude if they didn't.

So I sat down thinking to myself how I have found maybe two recipes that all five of us will eat (which are both desserts) and that I am going to be the one that won't like it. I tasted it and it was really good! It was so good, the boys have put it at the top of the favorites list! So I am posting a link for you to find it here!

And did I mention that he even did the grocery shopping for all this and cleaned up the kitchen? I told him he was HIRED!!

Enjoy!
Sara

Conversations with Bryson

Bryson saw me sit down today with a square of Hershey's white chocolate candy with oreo pieces. He asked me for some, so I gave him a square. A few minutes ago he brought it back to me and told me he didn't like it. I could tell by looking he hadn't taken a bite from it. I held my hand out to take it.

Me: "How do you know you don't like it? What did you do...lick it?"

Bryson: "No. I slobbered it."

Missed Me?

Sorry I have been gone so long (just in case someone out there has missed me) but I have been really busy. I am going to try to do a run through of some of the things I have been up to since last time, but I am sure I will forget something.

Starting Thanksgiving day, I have read the entire Twilight series. And I could read it again, it was so good!

I have sewn seven little crayon holders for my Bible class kiddos without a pattern. Next year someone please remind me when I tell them I am going to do something like this, that I am NOT Martha Stewart. It got a little hairy there for a few days. I ruined the first two, number 3 wasn't as perfect as I would have liked, and the rest weren't flawless, but they had to do or the gift giving wasn't going to happen before Christmas. I have to just keep telling myself that the little ones won't notice. I was going to take pictures to post on here but was in such a hurry getting them finished that I forgot. I had someone ask me to make them one, so hopefully I will remember to take a photo of that one when it is done.

We chaperoned a Jr./Sr. High weekend retreat in Gatlinburg one weekend. It was lots of fun and Blaine and Bryson got to go, too, so we didn't miss any time together. That ended up being the only weekend from the weekend before Thanksgiving until after the kids go back to school that we had together so I was really glad we all got to go. It was the weekend that we would have been able to have a birthday party for Brayden so I baked 2 ooey gooey butter cakes, smuggled them onto the church bus, and surprised him and all the other kids after dinner on Saturday night. We had candles and sang Happy Birthday and everything. That was fun! And the best part was I didn't have to plan a birthday party!

I finished one of my twelve turkey place mats and have a few more pinned together to finish but I am just not feeling the turkiness with my Christmas tree in my living room.

The best news:

WE HAVE POOP IN THE POTTY!!!! As of today, Bryson has decided he doesn't need to wait until he is four, as previously announced to the family, to poop in the potty. Since this summer every time he tells me he needs to go I ask him if he wants to go in the potty and he tells me he can't yet because he isn't four and that he needs a pull-up. He then proceeds to strip naked and bring me the pull-up. So today Stephen replaced both of our toilet seats. They are the kind that close by themselves so the kids can't slam their fingers. While I was helping Stephen take down the baby bed (I'll get to that one in a minute) Bryson starts screaming for help. I made sure nothing was going to fall on Stephen's head, then jumped up to see what was wrong. He was naked again (big surprise) and was trying to get on the toilet yelling, "Oh! Oh! I'm gonna fall in!" So I helped him up and kept him from falling in, because that can happen....trust me....and he giggled and pooped all at the same time. He was so excited, he has tried about seven times tonight. I had to explain to him if you have to strain that hard that he probably was finished. Then he explained to me that he was trying to get out the peanut butter cracker that he was still chewing.

And yes, he is asleep in his big boy bed as I type!! He got out about 30 seconds after I turned off his light, so Stephen went in and laid down with him and he went right to sleep. So we will see how long it lasts. Hopefully he will sleep all night.

It is good to catch up with you all again. I can't wait to start reading about what everyone has been doing the last month!

Sara