Touch-a-Truck

I took the boys to Touch-a-Truck in Edmond last year, and Clayton had so much fun that I knew I'd have to keep my ears open for the date this year.  Saturday was the day, the slightly cold and rainy day, but better slightly cold and rainy than blistering hot!

The event did not disappoint, and Clayton was in high Heaven exploring all the trucks.  Sadly, the tractors were missing this year, but other than that, they had all the different kinds of trucks one could imagine.

The event is always super noisy because all the kids are honking all the horns.  Last year Eli was terrified most of the day.  He was fine with the noise this year, but unlike Clayton, he was mostly content just to sit in the stroller and check out everything from afar.  Clayton on the other hand was pretty willing to climb up onto anything and everything.

A little boy's paradise...

These are two of my favorites from the day.

Driving the Gator.  Practicing for Uncle Tom's house.

And..

Eli less than thrilled about sitting in the back of the ambulance.  What's the big deal?

Of course then there's the long drive home...

Unwanted House Guest

These pictures are not great because frankly, I just wanted him (yes, him because I don't believe something so vile could ever be female) out of my house and out of my life forever!

So, the story...

I'm in my bathroom this morning getting ready to go to Bible study, which, on a side note, we've missed the last three weeks due to illness, and Clayton waltzes in. 

Clayton with a huge grin: Mommy, there's someone in the kitchen.

Me: Oh really.  Who is it?  Is it Dash?  He's very into pretending that Dash (from The Incredibles) is everywhere with him.

Clayton: No.  Come look.

Me: Is it Mater (from Cars, another often present imaginary friend)?

Clayton: No, come look!

I decide to oblidge, as I'm trying to be a good mom and supportive of my child's imaginary play.  Clayton takes me into the kitchen and around the back side of the table, and that's when I saw it.  Ugggggggg!  It was about a foot long and it was somewhere between a pencil and a sharpie in thickness.

Okay, I know it's small, but still.  A snake was in my house!  Inside my house!  How did it get there?  How long has it been there?  How is it getting out?  What if it slithers under my oven or fridge, or worse?  What if I lose track of it, and it just disappears inside our house only to later be found in one of our beds or the couch or something like that?  I immediately called my mommy!

It's a really long story, but it did take almost two hours to remove the said snake because I'm a weeny.  In the end Ryan had to drive home from work (30 minutes each way), and the two of us were able to get it onto a shovel and out the door.  He, the snake, was not happy and was repeatedly striking the shovel through the whole ordeal.  I did, once again, miss my Bible study, which I'm severely disappointed about, but at least my home is snake free, I hope.

I told Ryan that I think we are going to have to sell this house and move, but he assured me we are staying put.  How will I ever relax in my kitchen again?

Tornado Update

I just wanted to put a little note on the blog to let everyone know that we're doing fine after Monday's tornado outbreak here in our city.  Ryan had been TDY but was able to fly in early that afternoon.  We tracked the weather into the early evening, as we had been warned about this several days in advance, and we live in a particularly vulnerable part of the city.  At about 5pm we saw a part of the system coming in from Newcastle, OK that was growing pretty angry.  The sirens blared, and the forecasters were warning that it had potential to begin circulating.  At about 5:15pm it did indeed begin circulating right over our house and dumping some quarter sized hail.  We were about two seconds away from jumping into our shelter, but the system was moving so quickly that it passed over us before we had the chance to get in.  In hind sight we probably should have already been in there, but it's a steel box approximately 3 ft by 5 ft, most likely filled with spiders and who knows who else, and it takes a lot for me to want to get down in there with my husband and two small children. 

I've never seen anything like the clouds I saw that evening (we're obviously not Oklahomans).  When that system came over our house, the clouds began moving in all different directions, and they were almost exploding from the sky, one after one.  I told Ryan it almost looked like volcanic ash exploding from a volcano in every direction. 

We did not have any damage to our property.  There were a few homes in our neighborhood that sustained roof damage, and there were several downed fences, all pretty minor events when compared to other parts of the city.  Just 15 minutes after the system passed, I fired up the grill and went on with cooking dinner.  On the other side of the interstate, just a few miles from our home, softball sized hail fell and caused significant damage to a lot of homes and cars.  Ryan and I drove over there last night, and saw many rooftops that now look like swiss cheese.   We also saw many cars with windsheilds and window shattered.

We're feeling extremely lucky this week.  Several insurance companies have set up mobile claims centers in shopping center parking lots, and I've seen lots and lots of cars pulling up to those trailors.  I'm so thankful we're not dealing with that right now. 

Not So Fun Times

We were plagued with ear infections all fall and winter, and now this spring we seem to be plagued with stomach viruses. 

Dear Lord,

Please grant us some antibodies because we are tired of being locked up in this house, especially during the only few weeks a year that it's not freezing or sizzling outside!

Love,
Us